Heading Down South

Saturday morning, 19th of December, I caught a flight out of Tokyo to Bali, Indonesia. My headphones did not work for the in-flight movie, but the flight was otherwise agreeable. My traveling companion was Jess, another ALT from my city. On arrival, we were hung up getting the Visas, and so we were the last to the luggage claim. The conveyor was stopped and our two bags were in the hands of three uniformed men. With an assertive nature the porters swept us through the final steps of the airport, nearly barking orders at us. “Hand over the pink slip here.” Exchange money there.” Then it was over and they asked for a tip. I rummaged in my fresh envelope of Indonesian cash and gave the man who carried my bag a pink bill. Then the other two put out their hands. Okay, two more notes. The cab ride was near an hour, and about halfway through I decided to count my rupies. My first observation was that the pink bill is 100,000 rupies, or $10. I gave three guys a ten dollar tip each. And so did Jess. $30 rendered for a (no lie) 100 foot walk through the airport, more frustrating than helpful. But that was the racket.

WELCOME TO INDONESIA!


The Airport is actually fairly close to the city center, but traffic gets pretty thick. I have no idea where so many people on scooters need be to going, but there they go. For the first few days we stayed at Sugi Bungalow in Kuta, Bali. Kuta is the tourism focal point of Indonesia. The spring break/Cancun/party central destination of Bali. We stayed about ten minutes of narrow street walking from the ocean. The hotel was a gated compound, complete with broken glass molded into the top of the fence. A pool, outdoor dining area, and a scattering of quaint bungalows gave little reason to leave.


For three days we hoofed it around town enjoying the international cuisine (lots of Mexican) and avoiding being made suckers. Kuta is a playground for tourists (mostly Australians) and a hunting ground for local vendors. I say “local” but it seemed that folks came from all over Indonesia to tap into this thriving tourism community. I have read that tourism has been down due to terrorism in the last decade, but it is hard to imagine there being many more people.



The beach is something else. A few miles of sand against the Indian Ocean. The sunsets are nothing short of amazing. The beach is well attended throughout the day, but especially at dusk the people pour out. And mostly locals at that. Its great to see people recognizing the good stuff that they have. But on the flipside, the beach and water are in a terrible state. Hundreds, no, thousands of fish are washed up dead on the shore. I don’t know what killed them, but I doubt it was kindness. In addition, garbage is everywhere. Not sure if its the locals or the tourists, but its bad.




I wanted to hang around the beach town to observe the Solstice. How grand it was to celebrate my second Summer Solstice of the year. The day loses a little flare being so close to the equator, but I enjoyed it just the same. Unlike those heathens in Japan who celebrate the Equinox. Dinner was at the Havana Club. Great food, good wine, and framed pictures of Che Guevara all over the walls. Then it was bedtime. The morning would include an early flight to Jogyakarta on the island of Java.

February 28th, 2010

It has long been a life goal for me to run a marathon. Yet I always pictured myself doing the race a bit further down the road. My friend Jackson did the Tokyo Marathon last year, and this year he put a little pressure on me to join him.

I applied back In August. I was notified of my placement in October. And today I started training.

I am fortunate for the race placement. I have heard about 300,000 apply, and 30,000 get in. To date, 10 miles is the furthest that I have ever run. I accomplished that feat ten years ago on a Saturday morning high school cross-country running practice. I now have 26.2 miles of Tokyo street to look forward to.

Since the start of October I have run most days. Now, under my 16 week training program, I am looking to run 5-6 days a week. It feels good. At present, my only concern is with my knees. I think I may have to do some additional strength training for them. I am not so excited about that part.

I’ll keep you posted.

Hello Again!

I have always relied on the kindness of strangers. This was certainly the case for my internet connection the last 15 months. Odds are, that my neighbors are not so kind as they are just slightly ignorant about modern technology. Specifically, insufficiently securing their wireless router, and thus providing free internet for the neighborhood. This worked out quite well for a while. Recently the connection has been growing more weak and less frequent. It made tasks, such as updating a blog, not worth doing. I finally just sucked it up and decided to pay for internet. It took a month and a half for them to hook me up, but here I am. It feels nice.

I am a fan of karma. One good turn deserves another. I am appreciative for the year of free internet, but I am not a fool. My router is secure, and there will be no squatters on my bandwidth.

Cambodia part 1

So long, June and July. Summer vacation in Japan is just August. I suffered half of my month to sit in the Board of Education office. There, we can work without actually having to work. And that is the worst part. Summer in an office is unfortunate. Summer in a workless office is hideous. August is time for travel, and so for the second half I did.

For previous travel I have had to start with at least two train rides to Narita airport in Tokyo. This time I rode the bus to the newly opened Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport. From there I hopped to the much larger Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea. I hung out for a few hours, got excited about finding the Minnesota based coffee chain, Caribou, then I caught a plane to my ultimate destination, Cambodia.

I arrived on August 16th, at about 10pm. In my online booking I had arranged for the hotel to send a taxi. After waiting 40 minutes, I found my own ride. The driver took me to the hotel, but they were full, and seemed confused by my reservation. The driver then took me to the hotel’s “other location.” They were also confused by my reservation, but at least they had room. I went to bed in my windowless room. Rough start.

My travel companion, Jackson was not set to arrive until the 18th. I had a full day to myself, so I walked through some markets and neighborhoods of the capital Phnom Penh. Cambodia has laws, but limited enforcement. All of the street signs and traffic signals were little more than soft suggestions. The only law I saw steadily observed, was an unspoken rule similar to the food chain. Pedestrians made way for bikes, bikes moved for motorcycles, motorcycles for tuk-tuks, tuk-tuks for cars, and cars for trucks. I came closer than is comfortable in testing this hierarchy. It is engineered into my brain that cars will stop, or at least slow for pedestrians. It took a local yanking me out of harm’s way to shake this instinct.



Before Jackson’s arrival, I confirmed his reservation and taxi with the hotel. The taxi still failed. Despite the hotel’s failings, the area was quite accommodating for travelers. Many the buildings hold a strong French influence. A lasting mark of the country’s colonized past. The easiest thing, is finding a decent meal in a country that strives for the international spread of its neighbor, Thailand. Eating was always an agreeable event, and quite vegetarian friendly.


The day after Jackson arrived we took a bus to our next destination Siem Reap. The bus was no common vehicle. It came equipped with a karaoke system and wireless microphones. Upon setting out, the two guys in front of us sang Hero by Enrique Iglesias. That was the only song sung on the six hour ride, and I am ever so thankful for that. Whether it is a polite warning or a threat, it is common for the bigger vehicles to honk as they approach others on the rural roads. I will stake money on the fact that our driver beat a random pattern into the bus’s hideously screechy horn at least once every 30 seconds. The countryside was lovely.

3 dishes

I woke up at 5:07 this morning. I never really thought about what it would be like for an entire city to wake up at the exact same time. And I was not thinking about it this morning as I jumped from mattress and positioned myself in the door frame. Things shook and made noise. I really wish that I had had the clarity to take good mental notes of this morning's earthquake. When I find myself in a new and exciting experience, my internal voice kicks in and narrates the scene until I can find some paper. There was no voice at 5:07 am. I heard noise, I saw and felt things shake.

It must have been over within a minute, but I didn't have my watch on. And it is doubtful that I would have checked it. In my apartment, things that were almost a mess, were now a mess. A mirror fell, but did not break. Less lucky was the houseplant that it fell on. The recycling was less orderly than it had been.

Casualties are limited to a glass, a cup, and a plate. The glass had come from Okinawa back in March. There are two left in the set. The mug often sported coffee and the occasional tea. It is survived by its twin. The plate, split down the middle, leaves two other plates behind. The losses of all are felt.

I picked up and dealt with the remains. Curious of the earthquake details, but more anxious for sleep, I crawled back into bed. I laid there for an hour feeling the aftershocks and hearing the alarms outside. When I did get up, I saw that the quake measured 6.4 on the Richter Scale. It struck off the coast, 20 miles S/SW of my city. None of the locals I have spoken to can remember a stronger quake in their lifetime. One lady said this was even the strongest for her 75 year old mother.

details

Happy 233rd!

The Fourth of July, brought with it a strong taste of home. At noon, about 15 ALTs and friends of ALTs, converged at a park a couple blocks behind my house. This was convenient for me, as I biked there with a grill in hand. The grill always takes about an hour to get going. The available charcoal is simple burnt wood. A nice burn, but a pain to set fire to. In the meantime, there were plenty of other potluck options.



I then set up the lawn game. Earlier that morning I went to the big hardware store, Jumbo Encho. Its like Menards, but not owned by a jerk (I have no idea who owns Jumbo Encho). In addition to a box of charcoal, I was hoping to find some form of driveway marking stick. There are few driveways in Japan, so I was not sure how to communicate this. Finding some wooden dowels was easy. Tracking down an employee was difficult. Once I had someone, I showed him the dowel, and asked for a plastic version. He understood instantly and took me to some corner. The clear plastic tubes he showed me were expensive, questionably flexible, and a meter at best. These would not do.

I was making to leave when another possibility caught my attention. Long, brown, organic, I eyed up some bamboo sticks. I am not sure what their purpose was, perhaps fishing rods. All I cared, was that they were cheap and absolutely perfect for the best yard game since the advent of gaming in yards.


I widdled a couple feet off each of the four sticks. I then placed them in pairs a frisbee and a fist apart, and approximately 25 feet from the other pair. The game is Cups, and I learned it at an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in college. I have played very little Ultimate Frisbee in recent years, but Cups has become a staple. Until I came to Japan, I was always in possession of one, maybe two, sets. Upside-down plastic cups are placed on the sticks. Players throw a frisbee and knock off/catch cups for points. Simple, and great for people of any frisbee ability.


I teamed up with a Canadian, Rob, and we went 3-0. We probably could have kept the court all afternoon, but we opted to let more folks try. Playing Cups for the first time in eleven months, was seriously an exciting event. Lawn space is sparse, but I hope to get many more games in.


Once the grill was finally ready, I threw on my black bean burgers. Something about the Fourth of July demands grilling, and I abide. Folks were curious about my meatless burgers, but anxious to try. I was so busy running around, that I let the patties go a bit dry. Fortunately I was able to wash it down with a fine selection of American brew. I stood outside that morning, waiting for the import store to open so that I could buy up their entire selection of American beer. I came away with Anchor Steam, Brooklyn Lager, and Samuel Adams. Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi... Take a hike!


The day ended by doing something very un-American. We went to a soccer match. My friend Mark had some free tickets, and I had wanted to see a game for a while. Even though I had threatened Mark all week long with tar & feathering if he came to the Fourth of July (he's British), he still shared his tickets. What a chap!


I did purchase a package of fireworks, we launched a few bottle rockets and blasted a couple of roman candles. Most of my explosives remain, and so I will have to find other events to commemorate with combustion. There was no big fireworks display for the Fourth, but the big boom season is just around the bend here in Japan. Late July through August has plenty of fireworks shows in nearby cities. I am certain to be satiated of any sulfurous lust.

...the news

Way back in the beginning of February I was presented with a rather tough decision. Upon making up my mind, I began telling friends and family, but I neglected to make any large announcement. Then I just started assuming everyone knew. Some friends have recently asked about my upcoming plans, and I realized the lapse in my communication.

My English teaching position works on a yearly contract, and I can extend it up to five years. While some folks come here with five years in mind, I was quite resolute about staying for only one year. I was only six months into my contract when the paperwork for the following year came due. It was a simple sheet of paper that required date, signature, and a circle of yes or no. I signed and dated it, and then I stared. I stared at it up until the last moment of submission.

YES. I am staying in Shizuoka, Japan, teaching English until August 2010.

Coming here was easy. Deciding whether or not to stay, tore me apart. I am exceedingly grateful for my time abroad, but I do long for home. I have a great job, a good living situation, and the whole eastern hemisphere to explore. Economic security is generally not a significant factor in my decision making process, but now seems a proper time for exception. …Times is tough.

Alas, my triumphant return to the States is postponed to the tune of one year. I will be back. In the meantime, for those of you hankerin’ to see Japan, the window for visitation has now been extended.