Pomp, circumstance, foot in mouth

Did you ever think that the different cleaning products we use are different only in their marketing? Like dish soap, bar soap, and shampoo? I know I’ve washed my hair with bar soap before, showered with only shampoo, and washed my hands with dish soap. Well, today I shaved with Head and Shoulders. Yes, the beard is gone (for now). Despite positive reviews, I decided to play it safe with my interview Thursday. So I figured why not shake things up for the graduation ceremony too? It was a very nice day, actually. All the students were dressed up and taking photos. Smiles and joking all around. Some expressed sadness at seeing us leave, which was nice as well. We’ve given out our email addresses and I’m curious to see if anyone sends me any email. Today was my birthday as well. So the students (Sha in particular) sang me happy birthday before the ceremony and I got that on video. It’s very funny:  A couple funny stories from today. I was talking to N, the sort of philosophical one in the class. And he was saying, “I know what Jon is going to do when he goes back to USA.” “Oh, yeah, what’s that,” I asked. “I think you are going to get married.” “You are getting married?” someone else asked. I crossed my fingers, looked up at the sky, and said, “I sure hope so,” with only the lightest dash of sincerity. “I hope that you will get married,” N said. “I should have asked the students if they have any sisters!” I said jokingly… Silence. After looking at someone else for some edification and shaking his head, N said, “Uh, what?” He will find this funny, he just didn’t understand me, I though. So I continued, “I said, I SHOULD HAVE ASKED THE STUDENTS IF THEY HAVE ANY SISTERS… So I could…get married…here…” But Naqib had already joined the others in turning away. I blushed and sweated through more solitary silence before D whispered, “Afghan people are very sensitive about their sisters…you can see from their reaction…” “Uh, yeah—that was really stupid.” And that’s when D is supposed to come back with, “Naw, don’t worry about it.” But out of respect for how stupid it was, he didn’t. “Ask about the family, you know, it is no problem…but the sisters…” Hila (Afghan-American gal who is working on a project here at KU) got a hearty laugh out of the story tonight at dinner. Later, I was saying goodbye to Sha, who is this smart guy with a short attention span—a great student, but just frustrating because he was so high maintenance. I would love the guy as a fellow student, but he was frustrating for the instructors. Anyway, I had given him a hug and then I was shaking his hand for a bit, and finally said, “Son of a bitch…” and the guys nearby started just roaring laughing. Sha smiled and said, “Ah, you too.”