Hi all. I hope you all had a great holiday. I did, and it seems I’ve been on the road ever since. I’ve just come back from Singapore where I picked up my 4th active project. The additional work must be in an effort to get me to stay as late as everyone else. I’m… Continue reading Christmas New Year
Equality
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s never received a Valentine’s Day Card. I’m not the only one who, the next day, either had to admit it, or concoct a story of some secret admirer and make it sound so hot that I couldn’t show anyone. In the west, that’s something you deal with.… Continue reading Equality
Meeting
I stood in the snow for two hours waiting to meet George at the appointed time and place but he, it turns out, had slept in and was having a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. While I tried to track him down and started calling the vendors to delay the meeting and to make arrangements… Continue reading Meeting
Money
“Oh, don’t talk to me about Canadians,” said an American voice. “They’re almost as bad as those fuckin’ Australians. They never tip.” It was an effort not to join the debate. I was one of those ‘fuckin’ Australians’ who hated tipping. In my experience, the worse the service someone gives, the more they expect a… Continue reading Money
Martial Arts
When I gave up the basketball club at school, I put all my energy into martial arts. My host mother had found a small doujou near home where the sensei taught a style invented by their father, combining aikidou and other styles with a few of his own moves. The senior sensei demonstrated the power… Continue reading Martial Arts
Festivals
Believe it or not, it’s been over two months this time. Summer is over and the second rainy season of the year has arrived. This one isn’t as gentle as the first and is aptly called typhoon season. We had one the other day and it was quite an experience. There were about 30 in… Continue reading Festivals
Teams
The acts varied, including a foreign dance, a song and a mock TV game show among others and everyone joined in. The idle members of the department sat back with beer, sake and whiskey and laughed and clapped equally to each skit. The team building, I realised, was in the preparation, not in the activity… Continue reading Teams
Sports
Everyone sat quietly, but I could feel an energy in the crowd, and when each team came out that energy erupted from the whole stadium. I don’t just mean the people supporting that team – I mean the whole stadium. A chant started. It wasn’t the disorganised rabble calling out a mix of ‘Go the… Continue reading Sports
Ablutions
It’s been a while since I last wrote. I made it through a whole six weeks without bothering you all with another 5 pages. And I can’t really claim that I ‘made it’ through a whole month. I’ve been involved in a few personality conflicts which combined with the heat stopped me sleeping too well.… Continue reading Ablutions
Alone
I’d really been looking forward to a BBQ at the beach the following weekend, but even that became a frustrating experience. It was organised by the company volleyball club – the only place I’d found untainted by gaijin – and I was looking forward to being able to swim, eat good food and get to… Continue reading Alone