I survived!

July 25, 2005

I survived an earthquake!! A 6.0 in Tokyo… one of the biggest they have had in ages. I was on the 31^st floor, and had just checked into the hotel. It was like turbulence on an airplane- nothing too it (yea, right!). If this were to happen 1 hour earlier I would have been on the train from the airport… imagine a Tokyo train during an emergency- not many people speak English!

The rest of the trip was wonderful, although difficult logistically as the trains were not working until later in the evening. Some colleagues took us to a lovely restaurant where there were at least 9 courses—including live octopus! He didn’t move too fast so wasn’t hard to catch—He was a slippery sucker though, so chopsticks were tricky. I also ate an oyster the size of my hand. The night ended as traditionally as it should, with Karaoke…. You’re right… I don’t Karaoke…. Until Japan, in our own private room, with music blasting, and everyone else doing it, it was better to just join in, so I did.

It has been a year that I am here, and I have not done close to half of what I wanted to so far. With Just a year to go, I have to get hopping and see more sites! So I took the liberty this month to do nothing but travel as much as possible.

Phuket is beautiful, the people so sweet. Every person there has been touched by the Tsunami, with personal losses from family to economy. It is still a tropical paradise, with loads of islands—really mountains, which are like doughnuts. In the center there is a hole, and the only way to get in the hole is by going under the rocks during low tide (or I suppose you could climb the mountains, but that would take ages). We took a canoe trip where guides took us under the rocks--- through caves that open out into the center of an island! The caves reminded me of the science programs where they stick a camera down someones throat--I was the camera!

I also did two dragon boat races—one in Penang and the other in Okinawa. Penang, well you heard that story a few months ago, lovely place, tropical paradise, we lost the races! Okinawa on the other hand was a lovely place, tropical paradise, and we lost the races! We went with the Japanese team from Singapore, so not much English being spoken. Okinawa is one of the last towns untouched by Esprit, Calvin Klein or other global products. Yes, there was a Starbucks, but that’s about it—This little surfer town was a long way from home. They rarely took credit cards anywhere, and if they did, they needed help to figure out how. There were no cash machines and I almost ran out of money, getting to the airport with enough change to buy an Orangina. Money was like water, with things really expensive--even by NYC standards. We slept on the floor on Tatami Mats. The hotel room was a regular room, with a room to the side that was huge with no furniture. 10 women in one room… we all slept in the room with no furniture- there were these cushions and sleeping bags. It looked better than the picture describes and it was a great way to get 10 people in the same room. I did some scuba diving but with a Typhoon going on in Taiwan, it wasn’t all that.

Borneo was another trip that we went on to see a world music concert—of course, I met the band that I liked the most. A Polish Celtic band that was awesome on the bagpipes. Borneo is a lovely island that was just an hour flight away. Of course that doesn’t include the hour delays that the a flight may incur, and yes, we stayed there longer than we planned. The concert reminded me so much of String Cheese in central park!! We danced the nights away. This island is a natural habitat for Orangutans, and we went to a preservation park that helps reintroduce ones that were captured as pets, for example. They were amazing!

So I cannot believe it has been a year! It has felt like a few months at the most, especially with the way you have kept up the emailing. I feel like I am still home in so many ways! There are some things I miss (but not as much as my people). Pizza, being familiar with the streets and the food sold on them, not having to worry about bringing my passport everywhere I go, bagels, and just being home—my couch and music. This move has been a total brain exercise, learning new things, and meeting new people. I suppose to the extent that things have been hard, things have been good too. So many times I take out my pictures from NY and I feel that I am right there with you guys. And I need to be with you so often! Hug each other and pretend I am there—because I am in so many ways!