The Bahamas for Christmas

I know I'll never get to have family Christmas traditions with my extended family just because we're all so far apart and it's hard to all get together. So my parents and I tend to go visit someone different each year. We used to go to my mom's brother and sister in Berlin every 2 or 3 winters but then we discovered that going to Berlin in the summer is more fun so it has been over 10 years since we've spent Christmas with them. And sometimes we go to my dad's sister's in Eastern Kentucky/Western Virginia but that can be a bad drive and my dad doesn't really like going. So lately, we've spend Christmas just at home with the 3 of us and then gone off to a bridge tournament in Charleston or Myrtle Beach right after Christmas.

This year will be a different adventure. We're going in a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas and I'm trying to get myself excited about it. I guess it'll be fun - it will be the first true vacation I've taken in a very long time - I mean, the first vacation in years that's not totally filled with a bridge tournament and/or lots of activities, but one where I could relax and sleep a lot. I'm mainly concerned that I'm going to be bored and won't find other 20-somethings to hang out with on the ship. But I bought another Albert Camus book - A Happy Death - that I intend to read. The Stranger by Camus is one of my absolute favorite books but I never ventured into any of his other books yet. I generally have too much other stuff going on to think about reading.

Anyway, last weekend I tested out my PUA (pick-up artist) skills at bars and night clubs in atlanta and found that they stink. Not that I was any good before at striking up a conversation and meeting girls at bars before, but I could hardly get a hello out despite all the recent new confidence I have gained (from the acting experience). So, I guess more than anything, I need to prepare my body to take it easy and just relax.

Reflecting upon Traditions

I’ve had more than my share of big adventures in the last year or two but being in a play tops them all, except maybe seeing my huge family in the Philippines for the first time in 15 years.

Trying to be in a musical isn’t something I would ever have done on my own, and I probably wouldn’t have done this if I had to audition. But I am incredibly happy that I did act in the play and apparently do pretty well, and I just want my whole facebook network to know that, even the many friends I have who have no interest in even being a theater-goer. This first theater experience far exceeded my expectations and certainly won't be the my last.

It took awhile to warm up to most of the people but I eventually grew to love the cast and crew almost like my own family. With me rarely getting to see my extended family, the family feeling we had was truly great, and I will miss it: the late night coffee/dinner with David and Louise and sometimes others, playing with Sadie and Ella among others backstage, the mall scene (my favorite part of the play), working on the set. There is one little sore spot, but what would life be without a little conflict and I’m sure that will subside over time. Thanks to Emory for thinking I would do well and like being in the show, and to Sylvia for accepting a complete novice to fill the important role of Nevarre. Thanks to my mom and Hillery for doubting my abilities, thereby initially giving me even more desire to succeed, although in the end i got virtually no satisfaction from proving them wrong. The joy was in getting to meet all the wonderful people, hearing the audience’s applause and congratulations, and learning about myself.

So, I want to have a big family get together which apparently isn't happening this Christmas, but I have a couple of moderately big non-Traditional trips coming up that should be fun. What will my next adventure be? 2010 is looking wide-open right now. I’m open to suggestions.

Holiday Vacation Planning

Despite having only 13 vacation days plus 11 federal holidays off each year, I am not lacking in vacations. I take more than my share. But they're all short trips - usually just 1 day off from work. I've been assigned the task of organizing the holiday trips. First, a trip with friends, supposedly to go skiing the week before Christmas. I've had 2 others interested and excited to go since the planning process began 2 months ago but I really want more people to go. This is strange since I don't generally like big groups. Several others have shown some mild interest but for various reasons can't go. I guess we'll go ahead with the trip anyway, but I'm not too excited about it at the moment.

For Christmas, I want to go see my cousins Ron and Charles and their kids in Blacksburg but they haven't contacted us and my parents don't fancy asking them about us coming up there. So my parents want to go on a Caribbean cruise. My 2nd option is actually to go to NYC. I guess my parents have a recent fascination with cruises since their 8 day cruise on the Danube River last month, and I have a renewed fascination with theater so I want to see a Broadway show, probably Mama Mia. My guess is that I'll give in to the cruise, which is Dec 24-27, so I won't have to take any time off work. It could be fun. I would be all for it if I someone I like that's my age would come along or if I had some guarantee that I'd meet someone I like hanging out with. I'm just afraid that I'll be bored, even with the massive amounts of entertainment they have on ships these days.

For New Year's, I assume I'm going with my parents to Myrtle Beach for the bridge tournament but I don't know. We haven't talked about it. And I'm thinking about going to the Orange Bowl to see Tech vs. Iowa, but that's on a Tuesday which sucks because it means I'll have to take at least a day off work.

San Diego

Last week, I was fortunate to spend 3 days in San Diego for the fall nationals. It really wasn't enough time, though. That's how it always is at national bridge tournaments, though. Each one I go to is more fun than the previous one. I got to spend some good quality time with 2 of my favorite bridge people - Sean Gannon and Giorgia Botta.

Aside from the bridge tournament, San Diego was a wonderful city to hang out in. It's kind of small for a major city but we stayed at the Hyatt Hotel right on the bay. It's so beautiful, the streets were all really clean, and they have the cutest mall I've seen. It kind of reminds me of a video game with its bright colors and maze-like structure. The gaslamp district is certainly noteworthy for the large food selection and late-night activity. I never heard why it's called the gaslamp distrct. oh well.