Off to Learn English

My friend Brian should be arriving in the US about now, if everything went according to plan. The original plan was to leave last week, but the paperwork was not in order. Anyone who lives in a foreign country must have their own tales about scrambling for documents, getting signatures, etc. Brian's problem was that he had no immunization record. “Do you know what hospital you were born in?” I asked him. He laughed at me as if I had just asked him how it felt when the doctor slapped him after being born. “How am I supposed to remember that?” He might have thought that was a moronic question, but I had only just begun. “Does your younger brother know where you were born?” I asked. Brian then explained to me how younger brothers are born after their elder brothers.

It turns out that I didn't need to ask. Brian already had a new immunization record. At the tender age of twentyfour (more or less) Brian had been inoculated against measles, mumps, and rubella. I hope things go more smoothly in the future and I hope Brian learns all the English he hoped to learn.