Comedy in Translation

I tried to do the responsible thing a week or so ago and tell my mom what I was about to do.  For those of you who know my mom (probably through my stories of her), know that this was not a good idea. Now let me say that my mom's story is worthy of an Amy Tan book - yes, complete with her American daughter at times loving and wanting to strangle her at the same time. Mom met my dad in Korea where he was serving in the Army and was convinced to join him in the states where they went on to be married almost 40 years until he passed away about 12 years ago.  Mom always managed to be too busy to really master English and by the time I showed up, the parents thought it was best to raise me with only English. Today, that leaves a very limited vocabulary for the two of us to communicate in.  Couple this with my mom's firm belief that all bad things she sees on television (and she watches a lot of it) happens within a 3 mile radius of wherever I am... and things can get complicated.

But I was so excited, so honored and thought - come on, I'm an adult. I should be able to tell my mom.  However, trying to explain the location of the UAE... there are really no landmarks that my mom knows that will not elicit a reaction. Although, traveling to Philadelphia elicits about 90% of the same reaction from her.

I was a little nervous myself at the prospect of traveling to Dubai.  What's it like? Just how much will I be expected to cover up? How hot is it? What's it like for women to work there?  Do they have decent coffee? The more I learned about Dubai, the more comfortable I became with traveling there.  Funny, I'll get off a plane, hopefully find Rachel McGinnis (who should arrive an hour ahead of me) and the two of us will make our way to baggage and a shuttle to the hotel.


Since mom wasn't getting it, I e-mailed my brother and told him that I'd manage communications via Skype and save her the worry.  So, he went over to the house and told her I was going to India. 

I'm excited to get to Dubai and meet our students and staff there. In my preparations, I know to dress modestly, to be very diplomatic - never say anything critical of the governance or culture, and to take extra time to greet and get to know people (there's lots more than that but...I do have to pack).

Hopefully in a few weeks, I'll be able to show my family what it's like to be in that part of the world. Likewise, there are a lot of people at RIT who will be working to connect our Dubai and US students so they can learn more about each others' worlds...and maybe they'll have their own stories to take back to their own parents.

So, if my mom calls and asks if I'm in India? Just go along with it for now.