As I sit here, and a sunny Sunday morning, in a period of time that has been the hottest for a very longtime in the UK, I am listening to the radio, as runners of the London Marathon wait with anticipation the start that will see them put to use all that they have been preparing for, perhaps months, and I think about the marathon I will be embarking on tomorrow morning.
I will be up at 5am to catch one of the first flights out of London’s Heathrow airport to go to Milan, Italy, to give a PhotoReading course. On arrival I will go straight to the Hilton Hotel and prepare the room with the helpers and Elena my translator, for the start at 1:30pm.
My Turkish colleagues want me out in Istanbul as soon as I finish in Italy.
Do I fly direct or come back to London? What do they want me for? How long do they want me for?
We start Monday and not Saturday? Its a holiday in Italy on Monday, but not in the UK.
I am getting confused.
Monday in Italy is Liberation Day, it is celebrated on April 25th, and commemorates the liberation of Italy in the Second World War, and especially the lives of those who served as partisans in the Italian Resistance are especially honored.
Not only is it a holiday in Italy but in other countries too. Turkey celebrates Sinai Liberation Day, or perhaps it is called the National Sovereignty Day or Children’s’ day for example. I have asked a friend in Turkey, they say it is Children’s day, but my diary says Sinai Liberation Day, I am more confused. (Can someone help me here, post a comment please.)
We all live in our own little world, perhaps not knowing what is happening to our next door neighbour or to the person next to us. In the UK at Christmas, the whole world stops for two days, Christmas Day (25th December) and Boxing Day (26th), yet in other parts of the world, life goes on as normal, the two days have no significance at all, the work as normal.
As I travel such a lot, I have to prepare to step outside my normal understanding of British thinking, our celebrations, and consider other cultures and beliefs.
Open your eyes and ears to other understandings, use Phillip’s sausage.
As the runners of the London Marathon have prepared for many months or the run, so have I, my course materials, my passport, my tickets are all ready, my mind is ready to accept, make changes to my plans, and do a great job.