Country and Culture

An Aboriginal guy said to me a little while ago, I think about it a lot, it reflects the whole human race.  And he said, "You know brother, there is culture and there is country.  Country will always take care of itself, whether the culture is good or not". - Xavier Rudd, Musician

I am pretty sure that I am living in a country that typifies this!!!  The culture is pretty bad here. We were ice skating tonight and I think that every obnoxious kid in Doha was there. From littering, to standing on tables, to getting in fist fights, we saw it all. And to top it off, a 18-20 year old pushed Nate off the bench to put his ice skates on.  I said to Ais, "Did that guy just push Nate?"  She said "Yes".  I shared some words with him and he said, "Is he crying?"  I took the high road, but use your imagination as to what might have been floating through my mind.

This is a crazy place. There is a new vehicle all smashed up on the side of the road everyday.  People drive like maniacs. They bud in front of you in line.  They don't hold the door open. They don't say thank you.  The list goes on and on.

I take great pride in imparting my values on my students.  I have talked to them about paying it forward. About asking people how they are doing. About stacking the chairs for my buddy Iqbal at the end of the day. About turning the lights off when the room is empty. Perhaps these little things will sink into the mind of one kid. Who knows?

We are off to a beach club tomorrow with some of the new staff. A much needed break for Linds and I. These 5am starts are catching up.  One more week of work and then a week off. We are going to Dubai for five nights. We are pretty excited to check it out!

See ya,

Ed