Part 1 of 2: "I love to laugh/Loud and long and clear"

My blog post was sooooooo loooooong that I had to split it into two parts.

I feel like this week has been a week full of laughter. Last weekend was a long weekend. The Kuwaiti LOVE holidays! I spent the whole afternoon on Thursday chatting online, catching up with an old friend. I haven’t spoken to this man in many years. He moved to the Middle East many years ago and we haven’t even really had a GOOD talk since he left. It was an unexpected surprise and a great way to begin the weekend. Saturday I had an awesome Skype date with my sister and my father. She showed me new clothes she bought and also opened some parcels that had arrived for me. The laughing began when my sister stated that my father has a new hobby: squirrel-chasing. To clarify, I’m not poking fun at my father. I love him and respect him. He’s a brilliant scholar: He obtained his PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo. He then continued his academic career by graduating from UWO’s prestigious Richard Ivey business school. Never one to quit learning, he continued to study (on his own), the dictionary (no joke. He reads the dictionary “for fun”), and then wrote two novels (published in Japan) on the topics of the linguistics of Japanese and English. His brilliancy leaves me in awe. So, why is my genius father chasing squirrels? My sister said he’s taken over our dog’s duties; our dog passed away this past summer and was on official squirrel duty most of the 8-years of his life…To be fair, the dog chased after birds, too. Now my father chases the squirrels away. As my laughter subsided at the thought of my father LITERALLY chasing the squirrels I couldn’t help but wonder if he missed the dog THAT much or if he had some other ulterior motive. His reasoning was so sweet it made my heart hurt: he was making sure the squirrels weren’t eating the seeds my sister had planted in her garden. I hated myself for it, but I explained that Emi had planted those seeds before I left for Kuwait, and if nothing had sprouted yet it never would. I couldn't help it, I was still laughing inside picturing my father banging on the glass window pane trying to scare the squirrels…Oh, Ranma (our dog), would have been proud!

The work week, although long, was full of laughs. I don’t know if we were tired or bored, but the Irish chef and I were munching on almonds one afternoon when I had a brilliant idea: he should let me see if I could throw almonds directly into his mouth. No…I’m not 5 years old, but maybe spending so much time around teenagers is rubbing off on me. I kept hitting him in the face which made me laugh harder until I thought we were going to get in trouble, so we stopped. I felt like my mom who, if you knew her, was always a kid at heart. At one of my sister’s birthday parties my mother got us all excited by suggesting a crazy game of hide-and-seek in the dark (at night), and then scared us all by yelling “boo” and squirting us with water when she found us.  Another time a few of my male friends came over (including my friend who just got married and the other gentlemen who I mentioned told me I seem sad). My mom suggested we play spoons. She was notorious for, when she had collected all the necessary cards, grabbing a spoon and then throwing the remaining spoons all over the place so the other players would scramble like mad. This particular time when she sent the spoons flying, my friends also went flying and one went flying over our dining room table.

I don’t know why I noticed laughter so much this week. It wasn't just me laughing either! At the end of the week I was busy working at my desk when I heard my flatmate and one of our female co-workers both burst out laughing really loudly! It was that genuine, deep-belly laugh that’s infectious and it made me start laughing. I had NO IDEA what they were talking about, but I just started laughing. It made me think of Burt and Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins, hahaha! Just hilarious! I love laughing! I love feeling happy and smiling! As my American friends celebrate their Thanksgiving this weekend, I feel I should add to what I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for the moments here that make me laugh....To be continued.