Paintballs and Diapers

Having taught here for nearly 6 months, I have had an opportunity to reflect on international teaching as a whole. There are obviously many advantages, disadvantages, and neutral differences involved with international teaching but one thing stands out to me as an advantage. Being isolated from your friends and family, and sharing difficult experiences and adjustments to a new area galvanizes a group. The group we came here with has quickly evolved into a very tight group of very good friends. We are there for one another and serve as surrogate families.

Resting Up for the Next Round

In the spirit of this surrogate family mentality, this past weekend we celebrated three members of our group who will be entering fatherhood soon. The only traditions I am aware of that come with pregnancy involve ladies hanging out and doing the whole baby shower thing. Well, we decided that we had to have a male equivalent to celebrate our friends and send them off into parenthood with a few supplies and a celebration; naturally we were talking about a paintball and diaper party. The idea of course being that everyone brings diapers for the new daddies and we all shoot each other with marbles full of paint at high speeds.

Furry One is on My Team

We all met up at around noon this past Saturday at a local paintball field, got our equipment, and set off for the fields. Now if you've never played paintball I have to explain; it’s one of the most fun, sometimes painful, exhilarating, and funny things you can possible do. It was the perfect “guy version” of a baby shower. All of the guys left with well over 300 diapers each, we had a blast, and went to grab a bite to eat. There was yelling, some adult beverages, a few welts, and hugs and handshakes at the end. It sounds like any other family gathering I've ever been a part of.