Sunday, August 14, 2011

Do you want meat balls?

I've lost my motivation to write (but I'm going to anyways)...but on the flip side, Karma spends the majority of his time at home writing in his journal. Someday I hope he'll write it in English, but it's in Tibetan for now. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to know what he's writing!! :)

Last week Karma started training at a Subway in Oakland where his friend, Tashi, works. He hates his hour-long commute (each way) and has tons of food vocab to memorize (I hear things like: "tuna, black forest ham, honey mustard..." while he's practicing). He had a moment when he came home and said, "My father's lineage goes back 800 years of Dharma teachers and I'm spending my day saying, "Do you want jalapenos?" I think he felt humbled. I felt sick to my stomach. I also said, "Hey, I warned you." Which I did...but it still doesn't make up for the fact that immigrants who come here start over in so many ways (think about doctors who aren't recognized as such when they get here).

I'm happy that he has somewhere to go everyday and is training with a friend who speaks Tibetan, so he can really help him understand, but he and I both know that this is just a jumping off point. Hopefully he can jump in and out quickly. The idea of getting money from a fastfood corporation goes against pretty much every moral I try to live by these days. Again, I get ill at the thought of it. "Factory farmed, gmo corn-fed, shipped across our nation, environment-killing, filled with preservatives, heart attack-inducing....."

*Karma just walked in as I was typing this and asked me to quiz him on his vocab. He's memorized how many pieces of meat go in each sub. It's still gross to me, but if I don't analyze, his pronunciations are hilarious. He also does this thing when he acts tough, shakes his fist and asks, "Do you want meat balls?" This comes from the fact that he came home on Friday totally exhausted and was saying how a woman came in who couldn't make up her mind and that he wanted to reach across the counter, grab her shirt and ask, "Do you want meat balls?"(I died laughing.) This is first time I've really heard him use sarcasm and be openly frustrated.
Welcome to America, babe.

I'm actually quite grateful Karma has found something that will give him the opportunity to practice his English and work with people. He's going to register for fall classes this week, too, so he'll be going back to English classes soon.

Our trip home to VA in July was amazing. It was the first time I've thought about moving back to Virginia in years (since I did so from Austin in '07). I'm just craving being near my family...I'm also savoring the fact that I love them that much and that we have such close relationships now. Karma also really loves being around them. He and Daggy (my grandpa) really connected. Daggy is teaching him how to golf (and has since shipped a box of balls, indoor putting holes, tees...), which is great because no one else in the family is interested in golfing. That alone makes me want to move back.

(I'm being interrupted now to help Karma pronounce "pastrami" and he's walking around saying, "Do you want pastrami? Yes, tonight!" And now he's dancing around in his boxers singing "pepperoni, pepperoni, pepperoni...you want pepperoni, tell me!" He even put his Subway visor & apron on to really get into character...still in his boxers, mind you. LOL. I momentarily thank Subway for making this possible.)

How can I possibly go one when there's this wonderful show unfolding in my home?

"Teriyaki chicken, roast beef, Subway melt...." I think my grumpiness is melting.... =)

No comments:

Post a Comment