Not Your Typical Summer Vacation
Not Your Typical Summer Vacation
Saad Behbehani
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A teacher instructed her students to complete the following assignment
Assignment: write an essay about your favorite summer vacation. Include in your essay places you visited, things you saw and places you ate in.
One student wrote: My favorite summer vacation was when I went to London with my family. London is so much fun. I met up with some of my friends we had a really great time. I love London because there is just so much that you can do in this city. Everyday, I wake up at 2PM. After calling my best friends, we would go out to Lunch. We love eating Shawarma at Beirut Express on Edgware Road. The Shawarma over there is a bit overpriced, but the size makes up for that. You definitely get full when you eat the whole thing. And their French fries are to die for: it is extremely crispy. I also love their Mango juice, with the food. After lunch, we walk to Marble Arch towards the Starbucks right around the corner next to the Odeon Cinema. I love their Mocha Frappuccino with extra-extra caramel and some Chocolate drizzle. Some of my friends hate the taste of coffee. Instead, they either get the Triple Chocolate Chip Cream Frappuccino with extra whipped cream and caramel or the Strawberry Cream Frappuccino with extra whipped cream. We sit outside, enjoy our cold drinks, and chat about various things. After Starbucks, we head to the one and only: Trocadero. We love their arcade section and we are obsessed with collecting tickets dispensed by some of the games. We all dream of the day when we have accumulated enough tickets to get the iPod Nano! After Trocadero, we cross the street to Friday’s. Of course, the wait at Friday’s determines where we have dinner: if the wait was too long, we would go to McDonalds or Burger King instead as we would usually be starving by that time. Afterwards, we go to Rendez-Vous to get a taste of the best bottle of water in the world.
To tell you the truth, by the time we get to Rendez-Vous, we would already be full and do not have the appetite to get anything including their gelato. However, that is never an issue, we still end up going there. Frankly, I prefer Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream, but that’s not the point here. Rendez-Vous is just amazing. We sit on Leicester Square and watch people strolling with our 6 Pound a bottle water.
At midnight, we all go to Net House! The famous internet café on Baker Street. We all log onto our MSN/Facebook/Yahoo/AOL accounts and chat with our friends, many of whom are in the same Internet cafe. This would go on until 3 or 4am, depending on our moods. And finally, it is time to sleep.
This is what I do in London, everyday. When I grow up, I would like to learn to be like my brother and go to these new and hip places that he goes to. Everyday, my older brother wakes up at 5pm, and sometimes at 6pm. He meets up with his friends at the Harrod’s pizzeria. He always tells me about how good the pizza is over there. After the pizzeria, they head to Krispy Kreme for Original Glazed doughnuts. Life is just not fair. He then gets to enjoy even better bottles of water at Ladurée. After Ladurée, they head to the Shisha or Hookah place behind the Churchill hotel. Over there, they drink tea, smoke and chat. When they have had enough, they would go and relax at one of the many hotels in the area. They would either lounge at Carlton Tower’s lobby, or the Churchill Hotel. And when they get bored, they leave the hotel, smoke, and then head back in. Don’t I just envy my brother! I can’t wait till I’m able to do all of these exciting things!
And meanwhile my brother and I engage in all of these exciting activities, my Mom and sisters are on a never ending hunt for the perfect pair of shoes, bag and more importantly, designer wear apparels.
After reading this student’s essay… the teacher couldn’t help but wonder… Seriously?
So the teacher devoted the remainder of class time describing the never-ending touristic attractions in London including the Natural History Museum, the Tate, the British Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, Shakespeare Globe, Buckingham Palace and Tower of London.
Tags: kuwati, london, nebras, not your typical summer vacation, NUKS, saad behbehani
I see your point in this, and I do agree with the teacher to an extent, but I’d like to say that people are different. Some might prefer these activities over all the attractions in the world, simply because of the warmth of the company of friends or family,. we have to respect every person’s prefrences no matter how much it doesn’t make sense to us
it’s a good point to bring up and discuss
GREAT JOB SAAD. This is so Funny and SO true. And above all, this is extremely sad
First of all, Naser certainly has a point. People do have different priorities: some like to shop, some like to eat, and some like lingering in the hotel. However, this piece is very unique because this is what a typical Kuwaiti kid would write. We are not talking about adults here, we are talking about children. If a child is not taught how to explore a city, how to discover new areas and how to interact with foreigners, if a child is not trained in changing his lifestyle thousands of miles away from home, but left to live his life in and out of his country, this child will not only miss our on a lot, but will have a hard time living.
I believe that the point in traveling is to break away from routine. And this can mean many things. To some people stepping away from their routine could mean sleeping in instead of waking up early in the morning for work. To others, it could mean going to places one would normally not find himself going to on a typical day, such as museums. If we do not teach our children that there is more to life than just Starbucks and arcade, I’m sorry, but we have failed in life.
As Kuwaitis, we are lucky that we travel in luxury: we afford the five-star hotels, we afford the overpriced minibar, and we afford the best restaurants in the city. However, we do not take advantage of this luxury. I have been going to Geneva over and over again for the past 15 years and never knew that there is life beyond the lake! Yes, there is more to see than the hotel and the restaurants.
When I stalk my friends on Facebook, and look at the images they take in Paris, for instance, somewhere I’m sure many of us have been so many times, I do not recognize the places. They are insanely beautiful. Unfortunately, we are too busy shopping on Faubourg St. Honore instead!
What I’m trying to say is that we should try to explore the city a bit. Even if for a day! Let’s show our kids that there is more out there, there is more to see, and way more to do!
Thanks Saad for bringing this up. You are an inspirational writer and a great entertainer! Keep up the good work.
Shamayel!!
The sad face is supposed to be a happy face in my previous post!
LOOL sorry for that!
Shamayel
Well said
you made me realize a point i missed in this
i didn’t see this issue as being said by a child whose traveling and missing out on all the experience and the main purpose of traveling (foreign intercultural communications and learning)
this among other points you discussed.
Saad, I hope you didn’t get my previous comment in any bad way. I’m loving your writing already
Nasser: Thank you so much for your kind words. Its good to know that you are enjoying my writing.
Shamayel: Thank you for your continuos support and encouragement. I really appreciate it