The Office

The Office, live streaming from Netflix.

28 November 2010 - Houston, Texas

I had never seen the American version of ‘The Office’ until about a month ago, so that’s what I’ve been doing: watching every episode starting from Season 1, Episode 1. It is hilarious.

During the early days of my London Life, [bxA] I rented the British version of ‘The Office’. I’ll never forget sitting in my tiny 6th floor flat near Marylebone Station watching the first episode. I laughed until I cried, because that had become my life.

Eventually the laughter stopped and I just cried…

..because that had become my life.

* * *

Speaking of my London life, last week I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in five years. Driving home afterward, I recounted where I was on each of those Thanksgivings that I missed.

Nov'09 - Sirius motoring up to anchor at Ko Pi Pi, Thailand.

Last year I was on a sailboat en route from Langkawi, Malaysia to Phuket. The previous two years I celebrated makeshift T-days in South Kensington with my London BFF. It took me a while to remember how I spent my very first Thanksgiving across the pond.

It was just another workday in the UK so I was at the office. My American friend Kirstan and I made last minute reservations to eat the turkey dinner on offer at the Hard Rock Cafe .

I didn't remember much else so I went to my journal.

According to the journal, later that night I called Houston and my family passed the phone around the dinner table. My four year old nephew told me about Buzz Lightyear and Spiderman. I told my brother-in-law that during dinner at the Hard Rock everyone sang aloud when the sound system played 'Living On a Prayer' by Bon Jovi.

Over the next two years, I learned that any time a London pub gets really loud and crowded, eventually 'Living On a Prayer' comes on and everyone sings at the top of their lungs.

Later in my journal I wrote a long whinging paragraph about work, which made me laugh hysterically last Thursday, but I can assure you I wasn’t laughing when I wrote it.

At the end of my rant about intolerable life at the office, I said I wanted to quit my job and drive across the US.

Huh???

I have no recollection of wanting to drive across the US. My only guess is that back then I was afraid of traveling alone? Thought I’d be more comfortable in the US? Who knows.

Aug'09 - Roadtrip from Lattakia, Syria to Beirut, Lebanon.

The last line in that journal entry was, “Do I dare?”