New chapter

I am scared, anxious, and excited. I have already lived in 5 cities – Gomel, Tallinn, Oslo, New York, and Kuala Lumpur. Next – Edinburgh.

It is going to be the new chapter in my career, no doubt. But it will also affect my personal life – family, friends, social life, habits, life style. Experiences don’t have the same power to change people as boring routine does. This is the beginning of my new routine, and the change, it seems, will be the greatest ever. And that is what scares me…

Short life

The kitten is dead. Twenty-four hours after he marched into our lives, the kitten was out in a wink of an eye.

He found his way out of the kitchen this night and got killed by one of our dogs. I heard heart-breaking mewing outside when I was brushing teeth before going to bed. I rushed out and there he was - lifeless on the ground with his eyes and mouth open. This little creature, whom I was hoping to save, whom I was feeding and petting all day, who followed me everywhere.

I can think of many little things I could have done differently to avoid this horrible nightmare, but what’s the point. The kitten is dead. That’s life.

Cats

My selfish and arrogant cat Kitty does not deserve my love, I know. Well, those whom we love often do not deserve it, or at least are not able to pay back with a decent degree of mutual affection.

This morning, another cat walked into my life in its confident and decisive manner. This cat chose me.

To be precise, it is a tiny kitten. I don’t even know if it’s a girl or a boy, but let’s call it a “he”. We saved this little bastard last night from sure death by our neighbor’s vicious dogs. I gave him some sour cream and left him in the back-kitchen to think of his fate and make a decision about his future.

This morning, when I came down to make coffee for Vishen, I had totally forgotten about the kitten. I found him behind the kitchen door - scared. My own cat was sulking and refused to have breakfast (a little diet will not hurt my fat cat). Vishen’s dog was totally excited, jumping around the kitten and whining “Play with me! Play with me!” Vishen was resolute – "We have to get rid of the kitten as he upsets our pets."

By noon, a new box appeared in our kitchen. It contained a bowl of water, some Whiskas for kittens, and two fluffy toys. A few hours later, I was trying to clean the kitten with pet-wipers. Now, we are all puzzled as to what to do with our midnight intruder.

I saw this great cartoon online about how cats walk into our lives and become our masters. Well, to be fair, not all humans are cat-lovers, but those who are – too bad for us. It is a brilliant cartoon, but it’s in Russian.

How I feel today...

In 9 days, I'll be back in Estonia! This is how I feel today...

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Stealing lives

My colleague Elvira is from the Philippines. She used to work as a nanny in Malaysia to support her parents and siblings in a small Philippine village. Later, she got married with a Malaysian man and had to move here for good.

I have never asked her what exactly she had been doing before. I believe that people tell you their stories when they want to. But sometimes, half a story is just as good - what a fairy-tale without mystery?

Recently, Elvira brought to the office a book. It is about her when she was a little girl, 10 years old.

Elvira used to work for an Icelandic couple. When they left Malaysia, her employer wrote a book about Elvira. Unfortunately, it is in Icelandic and I can hardly understand a dozen of words in it. But a proper children's book, it has nice illustrations of a small Philippine girl, who had to work in a rice field to help her big family. There were pictures of little Elvira studying and a few words revealed that she was a good pupil. It looked like a positive and kind story of struggle and success, but even Elvira doesn’t know what exactly it is about.

Every time when I meet interesting people, I feel like sharing their stories. There are different kinds of interesting people - some are super-achievers, some are weird eccentrics, some are strong personalities, and some are just ordinary people like you and me. Those ordinary people are probably the most exciting to write about, because we relate to them.

I have a doubt, though. Do I have the right to steal someones life, show it through the lens of my understanding, twist and turn it a little, and share it with the rest of the world? I've usually been shy with this scenario, but the Icelandic book about Elvira has given me confidence to give a positive answer to this ever-bugging question.

Of course, I can steal lives of my acquaintances, friends, and strangers as long as I respect and sympathise with them. Just give your heroes a little love and compassion, and their stories will flow as if you've lived their lives.

Crooked

Yesterday, I was watching "Layered Cake". It is a very enjoyable movie. Yet, it made me think of how often we side with the 'villains' when we watch cool and classy acts. We forgive their wicked traits and try to explain their vile adventures. Good directing can make us relate to the feelings and thoughts of movie criminals.

There's no harm in sympathizing with the lawbreakers as long as they are on TV screen. Yet, what about real people in real life?

I've met many different people. Some of them are truly brilliant and amazing. But not a single one was perfect - everyone has a bend. In fact, my most outstanding acquaintances tend to have the most striking flaws.

I often wonder how completely contradictory thoughts and feelings can live in one body. How can a genius have the most horrible personality and an outlaw be the nicest friend?

Here, I should stop if I want to keep the real people discrete. But there is just one question I cannot help asking. What do you do if your friend is wrong - do you preach, do you turn your back and give up, or do you give him another chance? I never quit giving another chance.