MONTANARON'S RAMBLINGS

Tuesday, November 4th

A Few More Photos

I've been walking quite a bit on weekends around the city and have taken some more photos, a few of which are shown below for your perusal. The nights have become rather chilly, but daytime is still pleasantly mild. Early morning jogging requires at least half an hour before I can work up a sweat. Winter is just around the corner, but luckily, this area receives no snow, I'm told.

Here's a photo of a church just outside of campus, nestled in the trees below a mountain. As far as I can tell, Korea's Christian population is split between Catholics and Evangelicals, and, of course, there are the occasional Mormon missionaries bicycling around town. Hopefully, I'll get to some of the Buddhist temples soon.

Yeosu Church (160k image)
Church Beneath the Mountain

Here's a shot of some of the fall foliage spicing up the campus. This was taken just up the hill from the dormitory where I live.

Yeosu Mountain in Fall (146k image)
Yeosu Mountain in the Fall

I hiked down to one of the harbors a few weekends ago and caught these scenes. The first one is of the famous Dolsan bridge, leading to the island of Dolsan. There are many nighttime photos of it, when it's structure is highlighted by multi-colored lighting. That's one of my assignments--getting some night shots of the area. That might have to wait until the weather gets warm again.

Dolsan Bridge (114k image)
Dolsan Bridge

This is a view of the harbor looking away from the bridge.

Yeosu Harbor (95k image)
Yeosu Harbor

Though there doesn't seem to be much cargo ship traffic in this section of Yeosu, there is plenty of activity, including tour boats, ferries, fishing boats and this boat-building yard.

Boat Building (186k image)
Shipyard in Yeosu Harbor

Nai tells me that Laos is getting hit hard by the weather systems that have inundated Vietnam, with heavy rains and thunderstorms dominating their weather the last several days. I doubt, however, it is enough to cause the Mekong to flood again. More later.

randersn on 11.04.08 @ 05:25 AM Yeosu [link]

Monday, October 20th

Over the Edge of the Cliff

Oops, it's been another long break between posts, so there are lots of events I could comment on. However, I'll try to keep from going overboard with the length of this post.

First of all, bye-bye Boston. To paraphrase OGM's latest comment, "Bring on golf." (Yeah, yeah, I know--at least you were in the playoffs. Wait 'til next year!) Congrats, though, to the Tampa Bay Rays for a highly improbable season. Naturally, I'll be rooting for them in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, since I can't stand the National League.

The precipitous decline of the won vs. the U.S. dollar seems to reflect the current economic situation in the financial markets. When I signed my contract to work here, the value was about 1030 won to the dollar. Now, it's plummeted to 1322. (Several days ago it was 1450.) That drop has effectively cut my wages by close to $500 per month. Not good, obviously. I can only hope the bottom of the cliff off which the won has fallen is getting closer. I'll have to keep my eye on the currency market, because it is very volatile, so that if the won strengthens all of a sudden, I'll transfer some money back to my stateside account.

In addition, a couple of Nai's family members have been in the hospital recently. His mother had been ill for a couple of weeks and his sister's year-old daughter was suffering from chronic diarrhea. I sent him some extra money to help out, but it really cut into my cash reserves. Oh, well, there's not much I can do about that--I'm certainly not going to let them wither away without trying to help.

The first 7-week session of the semester has seemed to fly by. We're off until the 27th, so I hope to do some more hiking, and I want to (finally) visit a few of the beaches. Fall is kicking in and the weather is becoming crisp, with most of the trees beginning to show off their fall colors. It's not as spectacular as New England, for example, but the change is eye-catching nonetheless. Below are some photos I took on a recent hike to one of the higher mountains. The trail-builders didn't seem to know about switch backs because there were ropes strung up the side of the very steep trail to help folks get to the top. Quite a hike, but worth it.

It was a hazy day, but I did manage to get a few decent shots. Here's one of nearby mountains from the summit.

Yeosu Mountains (151k image)
Yeosu Mountains

Here's another shot from the summit, looking down toward the university. The brown buildings in the center are some of the university buildings, and the white buildings at the right hand side are the dormitories, one of which I live in.

Yeosu Skyline (131k image)
Looking Toward the Uni

There are many traditional burial mounds up in the hills, but here is a type I hadn't seen before--a mausoleum of sorts. It was about 30 minutes into the hike when I spotted it.

Mausoleum (138k image)
Resting Place in the Woods

randersn on 10.20.08 @ 08:40 PM Yeosu [link]

Friday, September 26th

This 'n That

Today's weather in Yeosu felt a lot like early autumn in Montana. The wind was blustery, threatening to strip the trees of their early fall foliage, there was a slight chill in the air and a wan sun competed with a slightly overcast sky. Still, that hasn't' stopped the last day of a 3-day student festival at the university. Various student departments (majors) and clubs have set up tents on one of the main open areas on campus, where they've been selling food, beer, and soju (the unofficial Korean national drink) from 6 p.m. to the wee hours of the mornin'. There are also various arts and crafts exhibitions, and one of my classes has a caricaturist, one of the students, drawing interesting portraits (for a price, but cheap = $3) of customers. He did a decently humorous job on me and I'll try to take a photo of the final "work of art" and post it here soon. All in all, it's been a very good time.

Yes, I've been keeping up with the developments in the U.S. about the economy and the campaigns. I won't post my thoughts here about them--it's not worth the heartache that might ensue--but those of you who know me know where I probably stand.

But the bigger news is that the Yanks won't make the playoffs this year for the first time in eons. Well, in the immortal words of the late, lamented BROOKLYN Dodgers--Da Bums. No, no, that's not right. The correct quote should be "Money can't buy me love." (If you actually click on the link and watch the video, I'm not really sayin' that the Fab Four's antics remind me of the way the Yanks played this past season.)

Finally, to all my Muslim friends--I hope you've had a blessed Ramadan. Insha’Allah. More later. (Insha'Allah)

randersn on 09.26.08 @ 09:16 PM Yeosu [link]

Wednesday, September 17th

Weather, Baseball and Down Home Guys

Although Tropical Storm Sinlaku might have an effect on our weather tomorrow, with a 70% chance of rain predicted, the conditions here have been beautiful lately, with blue skies and moderate temperatures. We had a bit of rain Monday evening, but overall it's been very nice.

It looks like the season is over for the Yankees, with only a snowball's chance in hell of making the playoffs. Hmmmm, then who am I rooting for? Not Boston, not ever, no way, no how--except for one condition. I would root for them, possibly, only if they made the World Series because I HATE the National League, but as far as the American League Championship goes, may the Red Sux be playing golf in late October. I suppose I might be prodded into rooting for Tampa Bay, but -- and a BIG but -- and in contradiction to what I stated above about the NL, I might root for the Cubs if they make it into the Series and if they play against the Red Sux, if they make it. That would actually be a fantastic Series, one for the ages. Not sure if it'll happen, though. Both teams tend to disappoint. (An understatement, at best.)

So far, Yeosu, and, in particular, the university, has been superb. My students, for the most part, are very nice kids -- respectful, willing to learn and willing to interact with me outside of classes. (Remember, I posted before tht I live on-campus.) The city itself, which I haven't seen enough of yet, is also quite nice. In many other cities in the country, foreigners are, in a way, frowned upon. Yeosu citizens, however, have been nothing but friendly to me. It's really a nice place, the city and the university working conditions. I can see staying here for at least a few years, and I recommend the area, especially since it is hosting the 2012 World Expo. One upshot of having the Expo here is that the Yeosu City Hall is pushing for their employees to take English lessons, so I'm teaching a couple of classes a week that are exclusively for City Hall workers (very welcome overtime hours).

One observation that is quite a bit late. I was VERY impressed with Montana Governor Schweitzer's address to the Democratic Convention a bit back. The guy was very folksy, yet oratorical. A credit to the state. I hope ALL Montanan's, whatever their political persuasions, are proud of his appearance in Denver. More later.

randersn on 09.17.08 @ 11:27 PM Yeosu [link] [1 Comment]

Saturday, September 13th

Settling In and Hurricanes

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth--just busy settling in at Yeosu and teaching classes at the university. This weekend and Monday is the Korean holiday of Chuseok (chew-sock), so I have a bit of time off to catch my breath and make a post. I promise I'll try to do better with the frequency of entries.

Right now, though, I'm watching CNN International and following the landfall of Hurricane Ike along the Texas Gulf coast, an area where I lived when I was a youngster. It looks to be quite bad in Galveston and other areas, so we can only hope for the best for those folks. My brother in Fort Worth might also see some severe effects of Ike as it passes through his neck of the woods.

And speaking of hurricanes, the island of Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, has also been hit extremely hard in the past month or so. I guess I left just in time, more or less, and my sympathies go out to those people, also.

We've also got a typhoon, Sinlaku, heading in our direction, but it's predicted to turn to the north east and rake the eastern coast of Japan. For now, though, we've had some very nice early fall weather, with clear, blue skies and mild temperatures. The area is quite beautiful, where mountains meet sea, and I've posted a few photos below and more on the new Yeosu section of the Photo Gallery.

Everyone I've met so far has been extremely friendly and I've struck up good friendships with the other 4 foreign teachers. There are 2 Aussies, a Canadian, and a fellow from just north of Boston (but I forgive him for his baseball loyalty to you know what team). Word is that the uni is hiring another teacher from New York, so maybe we Yankee fans will be in the majority.

Here's a night shot of Yeosu from the campus, which sits high upon a hill overlooking the city.

Yeosu at Night (89k image)
Yeosu at Night

I took a hike in the surrounding mountains last weekend and caught my first view of the ocean from the top of high hill. The photo I took is below. I rode my motorbike down to one of the beaches (didn't have my camera), and it was quite nice, though not exactly the type of beach I've been used to for the last few years. smile

Yeosu Harbor (80k image)
Yeosu Harbor

Here's a view of the Cheonnam National University campus.

Yeosu Campus (101k image)
Yeosu Campus

And, finally, a shot of the building in which I work, the Health and Human Sciences building where the Language Education Center is located. More later.

LEC Building (115k image)
Language Education Center Building

randersn on 09.13.08 @ 08:28 PM Yeosu [link] [1 Comment]

Friday, August 29th

In Yeosu

First, I've posted some photos at the bottom of the previous entry, showing some of the flood waters from the Mekong in Laos and Thailand. Scroll down to take a look.

Yes, I'm finally here in Yeosu and getting settled in, which is the main reason I haven't made a post lately. I haven't taken any photos yet, but I'll get some up as soon as I can.

Yeosu is very beautiful, but the campus here at Chonnam National University is even more so. It's built high upon a hill, so getting here from the bottom of the main road is quite a hike (195 steep steps up--I counted 'em). The dormitory where I live is down the other side of the hill, so getting to classes is also a hike up, but not as far. The small campus is covered with trees and vegetation, and I woke up the other morning with wind whispering through the pine trees just outside my cozy (cozy = very small) apartment.

I haven't really gotten out to explore the area that much, but I plan to do so on Sunday morning, when the traffic is lighter. I'm not that used to riding a motorbike, so I want to take it out when it's a bit safer, though Yeosu is small enough that traffic doesn't seem to be a big problem.

Classes begin on Monday, so my schedule is going to be very busy again. I have 18 hours of university classes and 8 hours of "other" classes each week (that means 6 hours overtime/week). The "other" classes are for City Hall employees learning English for the 2012 Expo and for advanced level classes for the community in general. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are my busy days, with Tuesday and Thursday being easier ones (M,W,F = 7 or 9 hours/day and T,Th = 2.5 hours/day). Everyone here has been extremely friendly and helpful, and I think my time here will be enjoyable and productive.

Right now, though, Saturday at 9 a.m., I'm going to hike up to my office and work on lessons for the upcoming week. I'll get some more posted as soon as I can.

randersn on 08.29.08 @ 07:58 PM Yeosu [link]

Thursday, August 14th

Update-Friday 9:00 a.m.

Nai and I took a tuk-tuk to his village yesterday. As expected, the Mekong was spilling over its banks for most of the way that it neared the road and sandbagging was active in the area around the capital. However, no such activity was occurring in his village, and, again as expected, his family compound was under water. The narrow dirt road running past the houses was just a bit less than knee-deep with water, but the housing area drops off a bit from the road and the water was waist-deep there. Of the 6 houses, two were under water, but they were temporary quarters, made up of plywood and tin siding. The other 4 "real" houses are still habitable, due to their having a second floor or the first (and only) floor being built a bit higher on its concrete base.

For the kids, the area is one big swimming pool, and they were frolicking in the water as I waded to one of the houses, which belongs to Nai's sister and her husband and two young children. The adults seemed to be looking at the flood as a slight inconvenience more than anything else, and life continues as before. The major effect is that their croplands are under water and those who depend on farming for their livelihood are in a bad situation. Some of the family work outside the farm, so all is not desperation. Still, I gave them a bit of money for food and water and will give them some more when we go back to visit on Sunday, the birthday of one of the kids--Kim, 6 years old.

The water is still rising, although very slowly, and, despite a very heavy, but brief, downpour last night in Vientiane, today's weather looks very good, with clear blue skies--no rain in sight. Hopefully, the worst is over, but one never knows. Here are two brief reports on the situation. One suggests that this is the worst flooding since 1966, and the other reports that flooding will abate this weekend.

After Sunday, I'm going to Nong Khai for a day, then will take the overnighter to Bangkok, staying there until flying on to Korea next Sunday. Hopefully, Bangkok's annual flooding will not take place early this year. More later.

Sandbagging along the Mekong in Vientiane

Sandbagging (116k image)
Sandbagging in Vientiane

Here's Nai taking a walk in the floodwaters at his house.

Nai in Floodwaters (103k image)
Nai in Floodwaters

Some of the kids having fun.

Children Playing (97k image)
Children Playing

And here's the flood from the Nongkhai side. This jetty/pier extends down a good 7 or 8 more feet, but it was underwater then.

Nongkhai Flood (96k image)
High Water in Nongkhai

randersn on 08.14.08 @ 10:27 PM Yeosu [link]

Tuesday, August 12th

Flooding Update--Wednesday 8 a.m.

After my post yesterday, we took a walk along the river and had lunch. All of the numerous open-air restaurants that line the Mekong were open for business as usual, despite the rising waters. Sandbagging was just beginning, but there was no sense of urgency, no air of desperation. In fact, most of the police, soldiers and ordinary citizens engaged in the activity with mirth making, laughter and playfulness, which seems to characterize Lao attitudes in general.

While we sat in a restaurant, I marked a spot on one of the posts supporting the platform on which the restaurant rested. The waters rose only about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in the 3 hours we were there, but later in the evening, the river had come up to several feet short of the sandbags, which are stacked 4 or 5 high, 2 rows deep. This morning, I saw that the river had not risen too much in the night and was still short of the bags. Hopefully, this marks the end of the rise--perhaps the crest has passed.

I think we're going to try to go out to Nai's village today to see what we can do to help his family, though they seem to be coping ok by the phone calls Nai has made to them. The first floor of his house is about knee-deep in water and everything has been moved upstairs. The rain has fallen off and the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies in the upcoming days. Let's hope there's no more rain here or elsewhere along the Mekong, though it's only about half way through the rainy season. More later.
randersn on 08.12.08 @ 09:08 PM Yeosu [link]

Monday, August 11th

Catastrophe in the Making!

The rain here in Vientiane, Laos, has fallen gently throughout the night and into this morning. Gentle is usually associated with soothing, but the rain is anything but that. Nai phoned his family last night, and the Mekong had flooded his family's croplands and was threatening to rise further and inundate the various houses in the family compound. Most of the houses are on stilts or are two-story affairs, so hopefully they can gather their belongings and move them to the higher locations. I fear, though, the worst for that area along the river--it looks like it's going to be devastated. The overnight rise in the level of the river here in Vientiane has caused the flood to approach street level in the capital, which normally sits 10 or more feet above the Mekong. It looks like at least some parts of the city will be under water soon.

Nai and I were going to go on to Vang Vieng today, but we'll stay here at the hotel along the Mekong another night and see what happens. (We're on the 4th floor.) I doubt there's anything he can do to help his family, and, in fact, the road leading into the village is probably under water in many places, leaving it inaccessible (though I don't know that for a fact). Well, let's hope for the best, but this appears to be one of those 100- or 500- year floods. I hope I'm wrong. The rain continues to fall, though, but not so gently. More later.

randersn on 08.11.08 @ 10:17 PM Yeosu [link]

Saturday, August 2nd

In Thailand and Laos

It's been an uneventful trip so far. The flight over to Thailand was long, but there were plenty of entertainment options (movies, games, music) on board the China Air plane, though the food wasn't up to the standards of my usual carrier, Thai Airlines. I learned that the Taipei airport was shut down several hours after my flight left there, due to a Category 2 typhoon that hit the island.

I spent a pleasant Monday evening in Bangkok with my former Moroccan supervisor, John Scacco, and his wife, who invited me to their condo apartment for a delicious home-cooked meal. Then, on Tuesday evening I took the overnight train to Nong Khai, where I met up with Nai.

There has been plenty of rain here in Nong Khai, but not enough to prevent me from going to my favorite massage parlor, Healthy Garden. If you're ever in Nong Khai, I highly recommend that you visit the place. Another nice business is the hotel that I stay at when I'm in Nong Khai--The Pantawee. Good rooms for $30 a night, free internet, nice cafe, close to the Mekong. Give it a try.

Ok, so today we're heading into Laos and I don't really know when I'll be able to post again. Perhaps in a week or so, hopefully. More later.

P.S. I've turned on comments again, in case OGM wants to say something about the Manny Ramirez trade (snicker).
randersn on 08.02.08 @ 12:28 AM Yeosu [link]

Monday, July 14th

Final Dominican Post

Yes, that's it for the lovely Dominican Republic. I'm leaving the land of perpetual summer tomorrow around noon. I've got a long flight ahead of me, stopping first in Newark, NJ, then over to Minneapolis-St.Paul, and finally into Great Falls at 10:45 p.m. I've said more than a few goodbyes already, but still have to say adios to many of the players, staff and coaches. It's really been a wonderful experience here, but I guess all good things have to come to an end. However, I'm sure Korea will also be good, and, of course, there's a month in Thailand and Laos to look forward to before then.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately, and I probably won't be posting too much until I finally arrive in Korea on the 25th of August, if everything goes according to plan. If you've tried to post a comment on the blog lately, I've had to turn off the comment feature for now--I was getting mercilessly spammed by porn sites! I'll try to find a workaround for this or maybe I'll go to different blogging software or to one of the online sites, like Blogger.com. More later.

randersn on 07.14.08 @ 09:46 AM Yeosu [link]

Saturday, June 28th

Goodbyes

There are some very nice personal advantages to working here, among them, these. First, the camp is tranquil, despite all the baseball, and beautiful--quite isolated, surrounded by scrubland and forest, with lots of birds, woodpeckers and yellow thrushes especially, making their homes in the trees. Next, we're only a 5-minute ride from a beautiful beach--swaying palms, turquoise waters, and gentle, cooling breezes. Finally, living at the camp 24/7 naturally leads to good friendships with many of the players. That's also a downside. A number of players have been released lately, dropped from the academy and sent home, mainly due to lingering injuries that just never fully healed and negatively affected their performance. Some of these guys had become good friends, and when I found out they were leaving, I shed a tear or two. Three in particular, who were released in the past month, stand out.

First is Jean Paul Conde, a handsome and friendly 19-year old Venezuelan pitcher with a confident attitude. With his dashing good looks, he would have been a major celebrity if he had made the big leagues with the Yankees. Here's a shot of a rental car with Jean Paul on the left, Richard Martinez in the middle and Nixton Perez outside the car (all from Venezuela), along with a few chicas that Jean Paul had attracted.

Conde with friends (193k image)
Jean Paul and Friends

Then we lost Andres Varilla, an outspoken and high-strung Venezuelan. He is a good English speaker and we had more than a few discussions about Venezuelan and American politics. He plans on going to university and he'll do well in whatever he decides to do. Here's a photo of him (on the right) and Jean Paul with Reggie Jackson from November, 2006.

Reggie and Players (145k image)
Reggie and Players

Finally, my favorite player was also released a short while ago. Juan Lopez, from Nicaragua, is such an easy-going, friendly 19-year old that no one could help but like him. He speaks decent English and helped me out in a few of my beginner classes. I was taken by surprise and stunned when I found out that his smile and optimism would no longer grace the camp. Here's a photo of him (on the left) with Gabriel Tatis, a Dominican player.

Lopez and Tatis (109k image)
Juan Lopez and Gabriel Tatis

Of course, I wished these guys well when they left, and I'm going to try to keep in contact with them vie email. Unfortunately, there are many more players who have become friends and whom I must leave in a few weeks. I never thought that would happen when I first took the job. It's going to be a bittersweet departure from the D.R. More later.

randersn on 06.28.08 @ 09:39 AM Yeosu [link]

Saturday, June 14th

Family Reunion

My sometimes over-the-top brother thought it would be a good idea for the family to get together in Montana before I leave for Korea. He suggested that he would drive from Oregon to Great Falls around the time that I arrive there and, subsequently, he would rent a vehicle or two and pay for rooms at a hotel/motel near Glacier National Park, everything on him. Who am I to argue with that? big grin

He also emailed my brother in Texas to ask if he would be able to join in on the festivities. Yes, he can. The upshot, then, is that the family is having a reunion, the first time that all my brothers (minus one) and I and my mother and some assorted nieces will be together in a long time (since 1992, according to my Mom). I'm looking forward to the occasion.

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge only one of my brothers, the one still living in Montana, is a Yankee fan, but, also unfortunately, he's a Republican fanboy. The Oregon brother, though having more progressive leanings, is, equally unfortunately, a Detroit Tiger fan. The Texas brother seems to be neutral, though I suspect he's a closet Texas Stranger and Dallas Maverick aficionado. Me? I root for, besides the Yanks, . . . ? wink

Anyway, it should be a great, but short, reunion. I want to be in Missoula on July 20th, so we're probably going to have to leave early on the 19th, perhaps tour the park that day, stay overnight about an hour away, then get an early start on the 20th for the 3- to 4-hour drive to Missoula. Of course, the timetable will have to be flexible enough to take into account the intense traffic to the park, despite high gas prices. It's not hard to understand why people will still drive long distances, paying $4 a gallon for fuel, to visit Glacier. It's one of the most beautiful locations in the U.S. and the world.

My time here is certainly winding down rapidly--after this week, only 4 remain. I'm beginning to feel the pangs of leaving the baseball camp and the country. It's been a fantastic experience, but something new beckons, just over the horizon. Ameliorating my sadness about leaving is the knowledge that it won't be long before I get to return to Thailand and Laos, and, later, South Korea. And farther down the line? Well, who really knows? More later.

randersn on 06.14.08 @ 09:34 AM Yeosu [link]

Tuesday, June 3rd

Born Under a Bad Sign

Well, my friend Nai has done it again or it's been done to him or whatever. The guy just doesn't have much luck at all, though I doubt luck has much to do with it. As you may recall, he was in a bad motorcycle accident a few months ago, and it has been only recently that he seemed fully-recovered. He had a bout with malaria recently, too. A week-and-a-half ago, he told me his mother was sick. She was in the small local hospital (woefully inadequate) next to his house, and he had been going over there to bring food to her and to sit with her. He had also been working in the Vientiane morning market, getting up at 2 a.m. to go there to sell rice, making a bit of money, becoming somewhat self-sufficient. (I gave him the money to get started in this.)

A few days ago I called him to say hello, but his brother Pui answered Nai's cell phone and said he was at the hospital with his mother. "OK, I call back tomorrow," I told him. The next day he was at the hospital and the day after that. Finally, it hit me that he wasn't seeing his mother, but, instead he was IN the hospital himself. I confirmed that with Pui. "Nai have accident?" "Yes," Pui said, "Nai accident. Hospital Vientiane."

Then I got an email from his father yesterday, written with the help of one of Nai's English-speaking Lao friends. Apparently, Nai had been getting more and more tired from working the market that time of day, and, when he got up to go to the toilet and get ready to go into work again, he fell (fainted? passed out?) and smashed his head on the concrete floor. It sounds like he suffered a concussion, at least. I talked to him this morning, finally, and he was pretty much out of it, groggy with the medicine he's taking and his head in a lot of pain. He said he might have to go to the hospital in Nong Khai, across the river in Thailand, maybe for a couple of weeks. His mother is also still very ill, apparently, and, of course, the family has no money to cover hospital, doctor and medicinal expenses. Guess who does? Yes, I was asked by the father, who is a very dignified old gentleman and not one to beg, if I could send a few thousand dollars to help the family. My finances lately are really hurting, but I couldn't say no and let them suffer without medical care and medicine. I can hardly wait to get back there in July to say hello and see in person what's going on with Nai and his family. I'm always happy to see them and they make me feel like part of their family. I'll spend most of my time in Laos staying with them and save money by staying out of Vientiane hotels and guest houses. I just pray they're all in good health soon.

Talking about my faltering finances, my mother told me that I had been getting calls the last few days from one of my credit card companies, telling me to call them about possible fraudulent use of the card. I thought it was probably just a response to my using it to purchase my plane ticket to Thailand, but, no, someone had been using the credit card number in California, mainly for small purchases at Target and McDonalds. How they got the number (and then made a fake card out of it) I don't know. I'm sure it was nothing they found online, since I'm very careful about covering my tracks online and keeping my anti-virus, anti-spyware programs up to date. I used that particular card in Santo Domingo the past several weeks, at FedEx and at D'Luis Restaurant, a respectable, somewhat upscale establishment. Could someone there have copied my cc info and sold it? Possibly, I suppose. Anyway, the card was canceled and a new one is on the way to my Montana address.

In addition, I am now waiting for the other shoe to drop on my income taxes. The IRS told me it would take about 6-8 weeks to render a judgment on the fees and penalties I owe, and that's right . . . about . . . now.

On a brighter note, we had some sunshine today. Only a couple hours worth, so far, but sunshine nevertheless. Also, in a follow up to my last post in which I was somewhat skeptical about the current state of affairs in the U.S., here's a speech given by Pulitzer Prize-Winning reporter Chris Hedges. It pretty much sums up my feelings. It's long, but give it a go if you're interested. (And I'm sure many of you are not. smile )
More later.

randersn on 06.03.08 @ 12:52 PM Yeosu [link]

Sunday, June 1st

Oppression

Here's another news article about UXOs (Unexploded Ordinance), particularly cluster bombs, in Laos. Though the U.S. is one of the countries helping to clear Laos of these things, it's still shameful that the U.S. dropped all these devices on Laos in the first place. What's even more disgusting is that the U.S. government refused to sign a treaty Friday banning these horrors. Granted, China, Russia, Israel, India, Pakistan and Brazil also refused to sign, (WARNING--going on the soapbox) but it seems that the U.S. USED TO, at some distant time in the past, try to set a shining example of adhering to humanitarian ideals. I could be mistaken about that since recent history seems to show otherwise. Sometimes, I don't recognize the USA anymore. It has become, in many ways, a totalitarian, war-mongering state, one that seems to be completely at odds with the beacon of light it could and should be. (OK, I'm off the soapbox.)

The weather has really been oppressive lately, enough so that it almost--almost--reminds me of Missoula in the winter--always cloudy, very little sunshine. We had enough rain a few days ago to render the warning tracks a bit muddy, but not unplayable. Still, what boring conditions for a tropical location, not to mention how clammy it's been, with no breeze to speak of. Geez, I'm so tired of the weather that I'm thinking of leaving in several weeks. smile

It's a bit tough (tongue firmly in cheek) sitting on the beach in Boca Chica under this unwanted cloud cover when you've got ants in your pants to go somewhere else. Being not that far from the airport, you can see all the larger international jets soaring into the sky, leaving for South America, Mexico, Europe, and other destinations. You wish you were on one of them and going to somewhere sunny, somewhere like, oh, . . . Thailand, for example.

Or Laos.
Or Korea.
Or Somewhere.
Soon.

More later. Especially if the sun comes out today. (And then I won't want to go anywhere.) cool eh?
randersn on 06.01.08 @ 10:19 AM Yeosu [link]