Tempe, AZ

So i just came back from a Fulbright Enrichment Seminar in Tempe, AZ. 120 Fulbright students, of which only 10 were Americans, representing 75 countries. my job as one of the 10 US Fulbright Alumni was to bridge the cultural gap... very exhausting meeting so many people in a short period of time. i don't think i'd enjoy those speed dating things.

Conference topic was "Managing and Protecting Natural Resources".

Best anti-American point was made by a Chilean. "There's a hole in the ozone layer over my country, and the U.S., as the biggest contributor to air pollution, won't sign the Kyoto Protocol."
His statement was followed by cheers from everybody, except the official from the department of state, who looked, well... concerned...

Coolest speaker: Sir Crispin Tickell... coiner of the term "global warming". Inspired me to coin a term one day.

Best talent show act: Japanese guy's rendition of Handel. he was good... really... but he spent the first minute of his act getting everybody to cheer for him so he could take a dozen pictures of the audience. so Japanese!

Greeks are hot. Middle Easterners can dance.

Under any other circumstances, I probably would not have thought much of being in Tempe, AZ. But since I was surrounded by foreigners, bent on meeting locals and experiencing American culture, I too felt like I was on an adventure or foreign country. Talking to breakdancers on a street corner, introducing ourselves to scantilly clad bartenders, asking people to explain why Arizona state is trying to relax their gun control laws...

Got back to New York today and turned on MTV2. Ever seen the new jackass show? It's like jackass meets national geographic. They were in India, where they explain, touching someone's foot is a sign of respect. So Steve-O goes up to a street beggar, licks his nasty feet, and then gags for about 2 minutes. Disturbingly, I laugh... definitely back in America.

a bird shat on my head yesterday. but overall, i'd have to say the situation was a sign of good luck, because 'luckily', i was wearing a hooded jacket.

on a similar note, or maybe not... for those of you who don't know, i am currently a paid intern for a non-profit public health organization in nyc. mainly i'm working on grant applications and so far, no complaints.

the other day at work, i noticed that i forgot to take the sticker label off my new tie, so i peeled it off and slapped it on my forehead. moments later, while eating my lunch, i peeled off the sticker on my apple and stuck that on my forehead too. one of my coworkers walked into the room and saw me sitting at my desk, eating an apple with two stickers on my face. i'm no mind reader, but from the look on her face, she thought, "the ex-fulbright intern has gone mad!"

i dont want to grow up, i'm a toys-r-us kid! sometimes, i seriously feel like i'm in post-college rebellion.