Awkward introductions are the best

The word blog is an ugly one. I associate it with the word blob, flubber, flab, or the sound a large guys stomach makes after he eats a big meal. It's hard for me to imagine many attractive bloggers, mainly because of the word. I just picture a bunch of guys giving their opinion on how the president is screwing up this week, or how they got to level 50 in WOW. That was until today, when I signed up for a blog.

I've been reading my friend Emily's blog that she created when she arrived in Thailand, and read my friend Stephanie's blog while she was in Africa. Both terrific reads, mainly because they involve different cultural experiences. Emily posts really funny stories from her experiences in teaching to little children in Thailand, and Steph posted stories and pictures about her religious and cultural experiences aiding children in Kenya. I haven't been to Thailand before, and to be honest with you, now that the World Cup is over, I don't even feel like thinking about Africa.

Well...I'm in Qatar for six months to support a war. I don't have many stories about helping children here, as I am in the middle of the desert, in the middle of Qatar, in the middle of July. I'm not sure if that makes me a bad person. I sure don't feel bad. This is the best I've felt in years. Which brings me to my first real discussion. Do I belong here?

I've had my doubts about my decision of joining the military. Why did I join? I joined because I was afraid that I wouldn't get into schools like West Chester or Kutztown. I didn't really want to go to college anyway. 17 or 18 years old is way to young to decide what you want to spend a buttload of money on tuition for a career you want to work in for the rest of your life. I'm 21 and I still don't have a clue as to what I want to do when this career ends. I joined the military to put a pause on life, so maybe I can figure out some things before I went to college.

Well, now I'm 21 and I love alcohol and chasing after girls and women who have little to no interest in me. Sounds like I belong in college, no? That's why I was having doubts. But the more I have thought about it, the more I feel like this is where I belong. My life is much more interesting than going to class 4 days a week for a few hours, and then partying every weekend. I'm in Qatar. How many people actually knew that was a real country?

I intend to use this blog as a place for me to store things that happen to me on my travels. Whether or not I show it to people, not sure yet. I may just use it for storage, in case I get out of the military and become a comic. Or maybe I'll use it for my book "Memoirs of an Airman". Believe me, some of the things I've seen and people I've met, they just need the world to know about them. I promise this won't be all sarcastic and negative stories about how I hate everything and everybody. Hopefully I'll post pictures and stories from my travels around here on base, and out in the country of Qatar. Maybe if I like writing about my experiences, I'll write about my experiences back home.