Out of Touch

One of my sons has moved from London to Singapore. That is a part of the world that I

have read about but I am not sure exactly where it is. Failing to have a world map posted on the wall in front of me I have to resort to the big G (Google) and find my way around the world. I still like to have PAPER maps – old fashioned I know. Atlases and the Oxford English Dictionary.

I am reminded of the time years ago back in the late 1950’s when I was studying for my Master’s degree in Geography at Northwestern University. Passing a final oral exam was one of the requirements of the course. I came before the board which consisted of 3 professors who posed the questions. If memory serves me right – they were all seated and I was standing. All was going well until they asked me about the geography of Java. Java had not been part of my course where I had specialized in urban geography and geomorphology. Far flung from Java! Nevertheless, I vaguely knew where Java was (probably from my stamp collecting days and just general reading) – so I fudged through with an acceptable answer and passed the exam.

Back to Singapore – there is a 19 hour time difference between my location in Seattle and my son in Singapore so the window for phone calls is very narrow – either early in the morning or late at night.

One good thing is that I now I have a new focus for my postcard collecting. Singapore here I come – February 6th is the next meeting of my Postcard Club.