Moving on: farewell to Saudi Arabia

We moved out.

The last day of classes was the 24^th, then a day of staff meetings and cleanup on the 25^th.

We departed Jubail at 8pm on the 25th, in the hot evening, in a nice new Toyota SUV, to the Bahrain causeway one last time. Strangely, at both points – Saudi emigration and Bahrain immigration passport control booths – the officer made us go to the supervisor's office; and in both cases, the respective supervisor scolded us for bothering him, said to go back outside. No problem, except that the Bahrain computer evidently did not record our entry to the country, so when we – one hour later – went through Bahrain emigration control at the airport, they had no record of us. Another visit to the supervisor, who this time politely helped us, evidently by recording our official entry, so that they could officially stamp us out. Just smile and act patient. We then enjoyed a drink in the Irish Lounge, and coincidentally met again with French-teacher colleague Marie-Christine. Bon Voyage!

Gulf Air to Frankfurt where we tried to use our newly-purchased DeltaLounge pass, but found it required transiting from the international zone to the Euro zone – two very intrusive security checks and long walks later, we enjoyed the Air France lounge. Then back out of Eurozone to board American flight to Dallas, no problem. But we note that US carriers have older equipment without those nifty individual seatback video monitors – the old-fashioned way to fly. The food/drink quality is slightly lower as well, than on Asian carriers.

Flight delays causes tardiness in reaching San Antonio, but still enjoyed greeting by sister Jan and father on arrival. Our first order of business: to adjust to the time zone – Jan's swimming pool and hospitality ease our transition greatly.

Comments

Fleeing Trump, Americans go to Portugal

Fleeing Trump, Americans go into exile in Portugal. “I'm afraid to go back” Not only minorities feel threatened by the Trump administration. Three couples, a mother and an academic tell us why they chose to live in Portugal. Some say: the American dream is over. The above is today's headline article in our favorite trusted newspaper in Portugal, O Publico . It's a centrist newspaper, owned by a big supermarket corporation. Let's combine this with the recent news that Portugal's Air Force is now shifting away from its planned purchase of F-35 jets. Even though Trump has not even mentioned Portugal in his various diatribes against former allies, Portugal and the rest of Europe are reeling from the attacks. We hope it has the ironic effect of freeing Europe from American dominance and improving the chances for centrist leadership (against Trump-like parties that have been gaining prominence). The original text follows: Em fuga de Tru...

EUA: tanto estrago em tão pouco tempo

As part of my effort to learn about Portugal, both the country and the language, I'm subscribing to the centrist newspaper, O Publico . There are plenty of newspapers: conservative tabloids, and socialist and communist-sponsored daily papers; I find O Publico to be most sober, with consistently interesting columnists and opinion pieces, in addition to some local (Porto) news, with just enough sporting news to keep me chatting with the taxi driver. Today's opinion piece sums up, I think, European pundits' view of the U.S. government. As the title puts it: so much damage in so little time. I shudder at the rank incompetence and corrupt behavior, demonstrating a cynical attitude toward public service, showing indeed that the cruelty is the point. What scandal, what damage will be the tipping point to collapse this government? And what will it take to recover from the damage? Who will be able to trust the US government again, ever? Only ni...

Seoul Lantern Festival 2014

The Seoul government spends a lot on cultural and tourist events, to the great joy of locals and foreigners alike -- and to the businesses that sell to them. The Lantern Festival has grown into an art display: no longer small lanterns floating on a stream, but rather large hollow paper sculptures lit from within by electric lights, fixed to the streambed. Thousands of people flock to the ChangyeCheon stream (a waterway analogous to the San Antonio Riverwalk in that it was renovated into a public walkway) to see the dozens of sculptures on a cold November night.

Thomas journals

Search This Blog