Don't Bother Trying to be a Good Samaritan

I'm hoping that being in Belgium gives me a free "opt-out" of the whole being thankful thing today.

I went to Liège last Saturday with a bunch of exchange students (it seems like that's all I do, doesn't it?) to celebrate the birthdays of my Serbian and Californian friends.  The day was going pretty well at first, walking around the city and having fun, until I ran out of money and had to stop at the ATM.

There were two ATM's side by side and a lady was using the one next to me.  I put my card in the machine, entered my PIN, and chose to withdraw some money.  Suddenly the ATM next to me started beeping.  The lady forgot to grab her card.  So I grabbed the card and sprinted after, got it to her, and made it back to the ATM in about 15 seconds - just enough time to have my card swallowed!

I went back to Liège yesterday to see if I could get my card back.  It turned out that because I was only at an ATM, and not a bank with real employees, the card was destroyed as soon it got sucked back into the ATM.  So now I'm without money on the other side of the world until I get a new card mailed to me.

I was raised listening to Bible stories like "The Good Samaritan". I ran the lady her card by instinct.  Can't you see the real problem here?  If it weren't for our Puritanical society trying to force its idea of morality on us left and right, I wouldn't be in this mess!

Now enough of my bad humor.

I felt like I was spending too much time doing nothing during the school week, so I finally started an extra curricular activity.  I walked to the tennis club after school because the instructor wanted to see what group level to put me in.  It was a weird feeling when I realized I hadn't played in three years.  I explained my financial situation to the club too, and they were nice enough to tell me "play now, pay later".

Since I've finished complaining about my life, I guess I have time to mention what I'm thankful for.  I'm extremely thankful for my family that bend over backwards for me, even when I'm all the way across the Atlantic.  I'm thankful for my friends that stay with me through the best and worst times, and that it will only be a matter of time before I'm back screwing around with them.

Obviously I'm thankful that I'm an exchange student.  I have a host family that's happy to have me and have made a lot of good friends within these past few months. I'm thankful that I'm able to spend a year in Europe, to help me learn about the rest of the world while learning more about my life at home at the same time.  Believe me, I never realized how grateful I am for my life at home and the people in it.