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Latest Bali Journal Entry:
CLICK HERE
Last China Journal Entry: CLICK HERE |
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January 2003 |
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I thought I'd start 2003 off with a review or summary of all my exploits in 2002. So here goes (click on the link to read the details and see the images): January - My first weeks at the new job at VisionTechAsia. My 'perfect' job as Executive Director and assistant to Paul, the President. It's a software and web design company. They provide me with a daily driver ☺ and I work 4 days a week. I did a lot of marketing (preparing material and writing) and personnel management - what fun. Christina Gere arrived for a two week stay (which turned into 6 weeks as I got her hired on at VisionTechAsia). She got SCUBA certified while here and we did a lot of diving together. She was fun to be with. I also completed my PADI Advanced Open Water certification. I want to slowly add more of these courses. The next one is PADI Rescue Diver. February - Christina & I worked hard at VisionTechAsia! March - My friends Ellen and Scott & Justine arrive for a few weeks. Christina heads for home (San Francisco) and some rest. Ellen, Scott, Justine, and I head to Thailand to visit our friends Chris & Ben who live there part of the year (the rest of the year in their new, beautiful home in the Oakland hills). We stayed in Chaing Mai for about 10 days then I headed to Bangkok for a few days before I came back to Bali. Really enjoyed Thailand - the people are wonderful, and the temples are much different than Bali. Thailand still has a King and has never been conquered by outside forces - an oddity in the history of the world. Met Richard Lair of The Thai Elephant Conservation Center. Check Amazon for the CD made by the elephants there: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005B19H/104-0963142-0474313 Started my new business and website: BaliTravel-Insider.com, a Destination Management and Travel company. Experienced my first Nyepi celebration. This is when the evil spirits are frightened away from Bali for a night and when they return the next day, they don't see or hear anyone here so they go somewhere else! Maybe the US should try this! My long-time friend Craig and his fiancée left my Oakland house where they had been acting as the property managers, they moved to Wisconsin (?). But my downstairs tenant and friend Greg moved upstairs and took over u April - This website is created. It contains all the BaliUpdate emails I've been sending out sine August 2001. Plus it has much more information than the emails can contain. Lots of photos, some movies, lots of links and more. (The mailing list is now up to 93 friends and relatives ☺ Thanks to all who had their friends ask to be added - it started with only 28 people! Started making plans for my return visit to California which ended up being in early August to mid-September. May - My friend John Kassner, the esteemed inn keeper at the venerable West Point Inn in Marin County was here for a visit. We had a great time meeting new people and traveling around Bali. John was here for several weeks. On the day he left, my long time friend and Oakland neighbor, Dave arrived. Dave came here after some wonderful adventures in Vietnam. Since he was a diver we do a lot of diving on the fantastic north coast of Bali. I also started looking into doing here what I loved doing in California for the last 12 years - teaching. After talking to several of the International schools here, I discovered that I really need a teaching degree to be able to teach at their schools. June - Dave left and two more friends arrived. David Coffey, the president of the West Point Inn association arrives for a too short visit and the niece of my great friend Becky Lewis, Sara. We had a great time seeing Bali with my girl friend Made. Sara spent loads of time traveling around Bali on her own and even made it to Lombok for a stay. She was fun to be with. And, since David was also a diver, we got to do even more diving. It was month of diving for me! After 5 months working at VisionTechAsia, I was burned out. Even though I was expected (and compensated) to work 4 days a week, I was actually going in 6 days a week (and some times 7). But, I accomplished all I had wanted to while there. Added a lot of business procedures and processes to make the office run more efficiently; met some wonderful people and friends; made loads of business contacts; learned much about Bali; and had a great time - stressful but fun! I also obtained my KITAS, which makes me a official 'temporary Indonesian Resident'. It also allows me to stay here without having to leave every 60 days, as I had to do with my Tourist Visa. My California trip got nailed down to Aug. 20th thru Sept. 10th. June and July brought the trade winds to Bali and the Bali Kite Festival. I updated the web site with many photos of these incredible kites. Take a look. July - Sold my 1994 Suzuki Sidekick. I rented a 1995 Feroza which is very similar, just larger. Larger both inside (for me) and a larger engine. It was always my intention to drive the Suzuki for only 6 months to see if I could get used to driving in Bali (I did and love it) and then trade up to a larger car! Added more pictures from the Kite Festival and started getting some work as a web design/marketing person. Friends of Chris & Bens, the Pohers visited. They live in France and were fun to show around Ubud. Prepared for my California trip. August - Left for California! Stayed most of the time at my house in Oakland (thank you Greg for being so hospitable). Also stayed at the Tahoe house of Suzie and Wayne - very beautiful and had several wonderful dinners and spent time just visiting with Suzie and Ellen. I had many things on my list of 'to dos'. Many friends to see, many favorite restaurants to visit, and much shopping for things I can't get in Bali. I also packed a huge box of things from the house to bring back to Bali. And lastly, I took out a 2nd mortgage on the house for some extra cash to get me thru until I sell the house next year. September - Continued my stay in California with a trip down south to see all my relatives there. My sisters and brother had gone 'above and beyond the call of duty' to plan everything down to the minute. Visited, of course, Disneyland, stayed at (almost) all my sister's and brother's houses. Got plenty of time to visit and just hang out with them. It was a great 'catching up' type of visit. My friends Jim & Kelly threw a huge party. It was a combination, Jim and my birthdays and a party or me. Almost all my friends were able to make it so I got to see people I hadn't seen for over a year. What fun. Jim & Kelly decided on a return visit to Bali, and a stay at my house. They had their honeymoon here last year, so this visit was to be a real R&R visit! October - I published a nice article I had written about all the sounds I associate with living in Bali. This was followed almost immediately with the tragic Kuta Bombing on October 12th. I was not there and the bombing did not really effect me in any direct way. However, it had a devastating effect on Bali. It is so sad because the Balinese people (96% Hindu) are the kindest, sweetest, and most generous people I have ever know. And to have this thing happen here shows how callous these terrorist can be - and how stupid! November - My friends Jim and Kelly arrived. We really toured the 4 corners of Bali. Jim, being the consummate web techie, was on the internet almost every day updating his web site that chronicled their visit with pictures using his incredible 2 cameras. We visited Kuta to see the damage - total destruction in a radius of about 300 yards! L I stopped seeing the beautiful Made. It had been building even before I left for California. It boiled down to 'language', she really didn't want to learn ANY English. I was adding more and more Indonesia but she wouldn't meet me half way. Oh, well. We had many happy times together and she really did help me learn Indonesia. They say the very best way to learn a language is to move to the country and get into a relationship with a native. Yup, worked for me u Luckily the Balinese are a very friendly lot. I met a new friend (Yanti) soon after Jim & Kelly left. December - I decided to obtain my TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate from Trinity College in England that is taught all over the world. A VERY intensive 4 week course that ran from Nov. 25th until Dec. 20th. I worked very hard (sometimes only 5 hours sleep a night) and learned a huge amount. I had no idea that English had so many rules and that each rule seemed to have thousands of exceptions! It is a wonder to me that any non-native can learn to speak English well! Please be impressed when you meet someone who had to 'learn' English. 2002 - books, movies and video games Here is a short list (in no particular order) of material that either impressed me or entertained me or taught me things in 2002: books:
movies:
video games:A new one out is called Mafia. This might be a 'guy' thing, but the impressive part of the games is it's realism and detail. It takes place in Chicago in 1933-1938. You have many things to accomplish, but you can just 'drive around' Chicago as it was in 1933! INCREDIBLE detail and realism!Well, now that I have my certificate to teach English, I am hard at work putting together a course aimed at the local Hotel industry. I've added the images to the web site of the brochure I created. (It's a 2 sided brochure to be folded into thirds). I'm in the process of speaking to local hotels about doing classes for their staff. Planning a trip to Thailand (was there last year). I'm looking at flying to Singapore then taking a train all the way to Chaing Mai. I'll be seeing Chris & Ben and, hopefully, Ellen and Kelly there. I'd also like to work in a side trip to Cambodia to see one of the wonders of the world - Angkor Wat. I am also considering leaving Bali! Well, only for 6 months to a year. If I can find the right opportunity, I'd love to see China and/or Japan by teaching there. So 2003 looks like a year of new adventures for me. I hope for you too. |
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