October 14, 2005
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Topic: religion
The last 2 days I observed the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. I’ve been a Jewish slacker basically my whole life, and about a week ago I was still in an anti-anything Jewish mood. But…decided to stop “fighting everything,” and to embrace the little bit of tradition and culture that is expected of me.
So…I fasted, and I went to temple Wed. evening and from 3-6 on Thur. Didn’t seem nearly as long and painful as when I went as a kid.
The rabbi gave a sermon each day, both were very good. The first one was about change…he started w/ a funny anecdote about a Charlie Brown comic…his baseball team always loses. In this game, there’s a pop-fly to Lucy in the outfield. She obvoiusly drops it, and this infuriates Charlie Brown. Instead of focussing on the ball, she was busy thinking about all the balls she’d dropped in the past, all the times they’ve lost.
“Sorry…the past got in my eyes.”
Deep…right? From there the rabbi went on to talk about those who managed to move on from their pasts. From the biblical figures who gave up idols for one god, to the current Pope who gave up anti-semitism. He went on to talk at length about the relationship between Christianity and Judiasm, especially the often bad relationships between the Pope and the Jews. He explained how the relationship had begun to change, and that it is within us all to become better people. Most people just show up to hear the sermon, as the rabbi is speaks quite eloquently, and provides food for thought and some encouraging words of wisdom.
To end the fast yesturday…traditional bagels and lox. Oh so good.
Topic: Sports
Cardinals vs Astros is shaping up to be a good series. Great pitching duel last night, Roy Oswalt vs. Mark Mulder. With the series split at 1 game a piece, the Cards need to steal at least 1 game in Houston to bring the series back to St. Louis
World Cup qualifiers are nearly complete. 32 teams will be in Germany this summer. The US has already qualified, and in their region Mexico and Costa Rica are coming along. In S. America, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Paraguay have qualified. In Africa, 3 teams from the West have qualified, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Togo, along w/ Tunisia in the North, and Angola in the south. The Asian conference brings Iran, Saudi Arabia, S. Korea, and Japan, and Europe is loaded, bringing 14 teams w/ Germany automatically qualifying.
27 of the 32 teams are set…w/ 6 European teams playing-off for 3 spors in Nov. (Spain vs. Slovakia, Turkey vs. Switzerland, and Norway vs. Czech), plus Bahrain playing against Trinidad and Tobago (who finished 4th in CONCACAF which is the USA’s conference), and Australia vs. Uruguay (who finished 5th in S. America).
Topic: Work and int’l stuff
Well…it’s taken over 3 months, but I finally figured out what exactly my org. does. I’ve been so focussed on just learning the basic office tasks that I do, and also worrying about my social life, my financial life, my future, that I haven’t really had time to get it all together. Basically…my company does 2 things…we help US citizens get matched w/ companies abroad for 2-18mo. “traineeships,” and we also help US companies bring non-US citizens to come work for their companies.
My office is more focussed w/ bringing trainees in. I work closest w/ 2 visa officers, who in turn work w/ immigration lawyers to ensure that their clients have their paperwork together to enter the US w/ a valid J-1 visa.
This is becoming mildly interesting to me. Firstly…I went out a few nights ago w/ a college friend who spent about 9 months in New Zealand, so he gave me the rundown on the visa situation there. Apparently, you can go to a wide-range of farms on a work permis, and make almost $200NZ a day!!! My friend was able to buy a used car ($300) and pay for a week of rent ($25) after just two days of work. Also…the best time to go he said is just after their winter, which would be next Sept. which I think is a fine time for me to go explore the land below the land down under.
