Times have changed. I still remember hearing about the “Internet” for the first time. My aunt Sandy was visiting our family in Islamabad, Pakistan when she started describing this fan-dangled form of electronic mail, dubbed “e-mail”. Now, the students I teach have never experienced a world where the Internet was not in their vocabulary and at their fingertips.
My day was a fantastic testament to the advances of Internet communication. I arrived in Hong Kong at 6:00am local time, and paid to spend the next 5 hours at the airport Travel Lounge. (So totally worth it…!) Here I showered, had a neck and back massage (yeah, you bet!), grazed on an unlimited supply of food and drink, and made full use of their WiFi connection. I FaceTimed my sister in PEI, and as the video screen popped up, I realized I hit the jackpot! Amanda, Ryder, Mom, Kaylee, Sandy, Chris, and Barb were all on the other side to give a wave and marvel in the ease of communication between Hong Kong and Chelton Beach. Amanda could have propped me up on the couch, and I would have been right in there with the cottage gang! Instead, I got passed around like a baby. No complaints.
I continued to check time zones (this becomes important now…) and make use of my worldwide communication. I did a Google Hangout with Dad in Tampa, who is sporting a new Samsung tablet and is learning to rule the world from it. Then I Skyped and FaceTimed with Victoria, and soon I hope to have a chat with Montreal! Today, communication feels EASY! I am emphasizing “today”, because I have no idea what my Internet will be like in K’du.
I’m remembering those days in Pakistan when we would have wait for letters from friends, send Christmas cards in October, and talk to family on the phone only on special holidays. Yep, times have changed! And today, I am preaching the benefits of FREE chat!
Voyidges 