You know you went to international school if...

I had this forwarded to me a long time ago and just received it again... it's pretty spot-on, so I figured I'd post it. I think I personally relate to about 75% of them, but they're all pretty spot-on.

Edit: Implemented Chang's good idea of bolding the ones that applied to me, along with random parentheticals; the ones that don't are largely a function of attending the same school the entire time in a relatively safe country :)

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1) You can't easily answer the question: "Where are you from?" (multiple locations and includes origin of the parents and grandparents)

2) You speak two (or more) languages but can't spell in any of them. (speak is a low bar here...)

3) You flew before you could walk.

4) You have a passport, but no driver's license. (finally got a license near the end of freshman year at Stanford)

5) You run into someone you know at every airport (esp at Narita)

6) You have a time zone map next to your telephone.

7) Your life story uses the phrase "Then we went to..." five times (or six, or seven times...).

8) You speak with authority on the quality of airline travel. (esp since I always travel coach)

9) National Geographic (OR THE TRAVEL CHANNEL) makes you homesick.

10) You read the international section before the comics.

11) You live at school, work in the tropics, and go home for vacation.

12) You don't know where home is.

13) You sort your friends by continent.

14) Your second major is in a foreign language you already speak.

15) You realize it really is a small world, after all.

16) You feel that multiple passports would be appropriate.

17) You watch a movie set in a 'foreign country', and you know what the nationals are really saying into the camera.

18) You haggle with the checkout clerk for a lower price. (pretty terrible at bargaining but paying full price seems wrong)

19) Your wardrobe can only handle two seasons: wet and dry.

20) Your high school memories include those days that school was canceled due to tear gas, riots, demonstrations, or bomb threats. (silly bomb threats.. at least we didn't have it as bad as Jakarta)

21) You get back to the states and seriously cannot remember the currency exchange

22) You think VISA is a document stamped in your passport, and not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.

23) You automatically take off your shoes as soon as you get home.

24) Half of your phone calls are unintelligible to those around you.

25) You go to Pizza Hut or Wendy's and you wonder why there's no chili sauce, or why there is no beer. (just the chili sauce, not the beer)

26) You know the geography of the rest of the world, but you don't know the geography of your own country.

27) You have best friends in 5 different countries.

28) You can only call your parents at 8am and 8pm (the time windows pass by too quickly)

29) You never really use a seatbelt

30) School trips meant going to a different country (i miss this!)

31) Your high school football team had to play against itself.. if it had one

32) When you were in middle school you could walk into a bar and order a drink without being questioned (not that I actually did this; I just could)

33) It wasn't unusual to find a lizard or cockroach in your house (roaches are gross)

34) You got to go home twice a year ...that's if you're lucky

35) Home almost felt like a museum (ours was actually pretty tame by comparison to most others

36) You are a pro packer, or at least have done it many times (hate checking in bags!)

37) Living out of a suitcase, you find, has it pros

38) You bump into your old teachers all the time

39) When you return to the States you are overwhelmed with the number of choices in a grocery store

40) You literally have real friends (not facebook friends) from different schools all over the nation on your friends list

41) Most of the 1st graders have cell phones

42) You get excited when a relative sends a video tape of regular TV with commercials.. its in ENGLISH!

43) There was only one grocery store.. usually at the embassy that resembled the ones at home.

44) Once you get home you miss your adopted home and visa versa (this is especially annoying)

45) You are never content in one place, be it city, state or country for long. You're a mover.

46) You never had a job until you reached college

47) Your passport has more stamps than a post office

48) When you carry converters because you actually realize there are different types of outlets (it sucks when your electronics get fried)

49) When you constantly feel like you have to catch up with TV programs, actors and other people or songs you are not familiar with (still trying to understand pop culture that I missed)

50) You don't think it's strange that you haven't talked to your best friend in a while because you know you will always have a unique bond

51) You wake up in one country thinking you are in another

52) You don't feel at home at home anymore

53) When you speak many broken languages at once when you are drunk

54) When your friends take you to an 'ethnic' restaurant as a joke and you can read the menu, order food for them and actually stomach the meal

55) When you start introducing yourself followed by your country of origin....

56) Famous people like Uma Thurman went to your school and you had no idea until you researched

57) Paying a cop is not considered a bribe

58) You've dated people from other countries

59) You start to keep your experiences overseas to yourself because people look at you as though you are spoiled for having the opportunity to indulge in a new culture..

60) You are afraid to go back to visit your school because you know no one will be there that you used to know, they all moved

In my guesstimation...

I realized last weekend that I'm pretty poor at estimating quantity. I thought I was reasonably good at math, but I was always terrible at those games where there's a huge jar of candy like M&Ms and people can pay a nominal fee to guess the number inside, with the closest person winning all of said candy.

The latest example was when I was asked to bring a fruit salad to an Easter dinner at my former college pastor's place. For 12 people, I bought two pineapples, two honeydew melons, and a four pound container of strawberries. At least I was consistently off because it only took half of everything to fill up a casserole dish:



It was quite an experience as I couldn't really remember exactly how a pineapple is cut so I had to call Ruth to get some guidance. I can't really take credit for choosing the ingredients either, as that's the combination that is served daily at Google :)

We thankfully finished most of it at dinner, so there wasn't much by way of leftovers. But I had to cut up the rest of the fruit, filled up another dish, and have been eating fruit the entire week!

Lucky in lottery

Wow, in the midst of another trip to NY for work, I scored rush tickets, picking up the last available ticket (again)! This time it was for Avenue Q, which presents a challenge with only 12 tickets available, usually resulting in 6 winners with most people trying to score a pair. Except.. the sixth winner this time only wanted one ticket, presenting an opportunity for another winner.. which I scored!



It's an excellent show... I think I tend to like shows set in present day so I don't have to think to hard to pay attention. It's apparently going on national tour and going to be in SF during August. I likely won't be around for it, but you should definitely check it out if you are here. It was so good that I might even buy the CD... I don't remember the last time I purchased a CD.

At this rate, I should stop doing things that require luck, build up some big-time karma, and enter WSOP 2008!