Hello all, good to see I am not alone. That was a concern for a while. Anyway, on with the introduction.
I was suprised when I signed up to see the question about what type of TCK I was, a global nomad, army brat, missionary kid or diplomat kid. No, I am a Rig Rat, one of the bastard spawn of the oil industry. Ok, I may not be illegitimate but it is still a fair descriptor for the group as a whole (no offense to any other Rig Rats here, but we ain’t the most genteel or cultured group to roam the earth). To make matters worse, I was born to two army brats turned roughnecks (a geologist and chemist working for the same wildcat oil company). Oh yeah, we moved.
When not working, we lived in a small town less than an hour from the Mexican border in Texas. When they had a well running, my parents dragged us where ever the money went. I spent a great deal of time (in one to three month segments) in Mexico, six months in Panama, and a lousy winter in Alberta Canada among other places. My father also loved to sail, so after a successful well we would drive to Florida and take our boat out to the Bahamas until the money ran out.
By the time my oldest brother was ready for high school (I was in middle school at the time) we moved to Florida “for good” (though of course we kept moving every two years at best). After high school I decided to spend some time as a missionary and went to Knockpatrick, Mandeville Parish, Jamaica to work with the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf. Then I came back to America to go to university and become a Mechanical Engineer. Lasted until my senior year when I decided to drop out and become a writer. Wrote almost three quarters of a million words on various subjects and short stories, decided I’d rather work with plants. Now I work in the Garden section of a Home Depot while I skimp and save for my next foray into the wide and wonderful world.
Thats the short version. Not as interesting as some, but its my life not a competition.
My two most enduring hobbies (because if you can’t tell I have a little trouble staying focused on one thing at a time) are languages and religion. I’ve met a few people who objected to listing religion as a hobby but to me it is and I don’t even see the contradiction of having the serious matters of the soul as a lite and frivolous use of time. I enjoy learning about different religions, studying their history and core beliefs, and trying to amalgamate them into a cohesive whole. Eastern Religions are the easiest to integrate while I’ve been deadlocked on the big three Abrahamic faiths for a while. There’s no difficulty being a Taoist Buddhist, but being an Islamic Christian is just a bit tricky. Languages are also a lot of fun once you get into them. A working knowledge of Latin makes learning Italian Spanish Portuguese and even French easy. I’m not fluent in all of them, but I can make myself understood or puzzle out the meanings eventually. Spanish and French I am best at, and can even puzzle out Haitian Creole in a pinch. I had one girlfriend teach me a few phrases of Hebrew and Arabic, and another that liked to scream at me in Russian. I always took it as a good sign when they lost the ability to speak English from sensory overload. I’d love to learn some eastern languages but sadly I am trapped in the western hemisphere for the moment so it would all be simple academic study.
What makes me passionate? Food, the truly international language. What made me settle for my current city is the staggering amount of food available. I not only enjoy Thai food, I have a preference about which restaurant to visit. Indian, Greek, Sushi, Thai, French, German, British, Italian, Mexican, Cuban, Jamaican, Texas Barbecue, Carolina Barbecue, Kansas City Barbecue, Falafel, Kabobs, Pitas and Hummus, there’s even a Hungarian eatery in my city! All the variety a man could ever want right at my fingertips. I might miss the sights, sounds, smells and experiences of the rest of the world, but so long as I live here… It always tastes like home.
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