57th Stop: Minneapolis, Minnesota (Part 1 of 3)

Home sweet home... or home sweet home away from home? It’s hard to say now where I’m really from. I guess Minnesota will still be my home--away from Nice.

Hitting the slopes in the G-suit

The first thing that strikes a kiwi-tanned face with a hint of SoCal is the biting cold that chafes at your skin when you step out of the airport terminal building. Remember, this is Minnesota, the only other region in the world that records as much climactic variation as Siberia in the winter. Just one week earlier, our sports stadium, the Metrodome, imploded from the weight of snow!

But I wasn’t going to be deterred by cold weather. The very next day, I joined my good friend Casey for a late afternoon ski outing at Buck Hill. We didn’t last long: not sure if it was the cold, the call of tap beer in a warm tavern, or my inappropriate clothing for the occasion... Thanks Dave for letting me use your GS suit :-)

Later that night, I met up with Casey again in uptown to go to a house party his roommate was invited to. Minnesotans are very health conscious and aren’t particularly fond of smoking indoors. It’s quite a sight when the few sweaty smokers leave the dancefloor, get bundled up in boots, winter coat, hat and gloves, and huddle around with determination in sub-zero temps on the back porch to light up!

Casey, cute girl, and me at a house party

Translation from English to Burmese

On Tuesday, I ran a Wordfast training by the Minnesota state fair grounds and a winter snow storm set in, again. Luckily, I had an hour and a half to make it to the airport to pick up my son Louis, friend Thomas and his family (ex-wife Christelle and twin children Guillaume and Caroline).

“So how was the flight?” I asked Thomas.

“Great, Louis was really funny. When he got on the plane, he insisted on sitting next to a stranger and singing In the Jungle for a good half an hour. Luckily, his neighbor was patient and enjoying the song!” he replies.

Mall of America tourism

“What about leaving Nice, everything ok?”

“No problem, except when we got to New York. The custom’s officer looked at all of our passports and then Louis’ and was perplexed. ‘And whose child is this?’ he asked. So I explained that we were going to Minnesota and accompanying my friend’s son. The officer looked at Louis and asked, ‘Do you know these people?’ Silence. Louis didn’t say a word! Come on Louis, help us out here! He finally said, ‘Caroline’ and that seemed to satisfy the officer. Whew!”

The next couple of days, we did some traditional Minnesota tourism: Minnesota Zoo, Mall of America, Minneapolis skyways, and a puppet show. This was the first time Christelle and the kids had been to the United States so we wanted to give them a good first impression!

The Frenchies, Louis and I were being hosted by my sister Maria and her husband Dave. Everyone got along nicely, it’s hard not to laugh at Thomas’ jokes and smile when Christelle smiles at you. The kids were great too and the hosts some of the best ever. Thanks to all of you! If you want to hear Thomas’s joke about the crocolion or see the number trick, let me know the next time we meet!

Mural done by my mom Rita at her school. See the letter?

Thomas enjoying American lunch

Minnesota Zoo: Louis and cousins

Undisclosed location: whisky, guns, and cigars. God bless America!

Making a snow fort

It's colder than it looks

Minnehaha Falls

To be continued...

44th Stop - Sydney, Australia

Have you ever had one of those dreams that make you do things unwittingly? I did, on the flight from Japan to Australia. At one point, I reached out to grab my neighbor’s hand. I was in a daze but I think he pulled away his hand. He didn’t speak to me for the rest of the flight. I think I made him feel uncomfortable.

I was originally supposed to stopover on the Gold Coast, but the pilot had a problem so they put everyone on the flight to Cairns. I had never heard of this place before, but it seems quite nice: great barrier reef, tropical rain forest, salt water crocodiles, and tiny jellyfish that sting like a bee with rabies. Nice, except for the jellyfish and crocs.

I arrived in Sydney and left almost immediately for Manly, a quiet beach town a short ferry ride across the bay. I met up with Adam and Fran, my hosts, and we got ready to go for a swim at the beach.

Sydney Opera House

Adam grew up in Tasmania and Fran in Detroit and they met up through the magic of couchsurfing! Adam is now a successful headhunter in Sydney with a couple of on-line ventures while Fran recently left the retail merchandising business to move to Australia. Interestingly, Fran lived in Chicago and after we became Facebook friends, I soon realized that she’s friends with people who are friends with one of mine, Molly E., from Minnesota. The world is contracting people.

We went for a nice swim that afternoon, then back to Adam and Fran’s for a BBQ and beers before Will's wife’s birthday party that evening. We were enjoying our drinks on the terrace when Fran scared the wits out of me by telling me to keep an eye out for the deadly red-backed spider that could kill me. Apparently, there are quite a few around the house.

Time to celebrate at the hippest club on the beach, the Shore Club! When we got there, Adam and Fran went up to the private function and I stayed downstairs for a while. I got my first drink, but my credit card was refused. The man in line behind me blurted out, “Don’t worry about, I’ll get his drink. I’m really impatient.”
“Are you sure?” said the bartender and me simultaneously.
“Yeah, no worries mate.”

Manly 'n' Me

I thanked him and we started up a conversation that continued for a good hour or so. Ian was from London and in the debt collection family business ever since he was a wee lad. By debt collection, I think he meant loan sharking because it didn’t sound pretty some of the things he had done. In fact, he was looking for ways to atone for what he had done in the past. Now, he was working as an account manager for a major IT firm and was very successful. But that didn’t seem to make him all that happy. I told him about my work and what I’ve been doing in my community with JCI for the past few years and he was inspired. So inspired, he insisted on buying me drinks all night. Thanks Ian, I enjoyed our conversation and hope you find what you’re looking for.

Ian introduced me to an oilman from Northern Ireland and after chatting a while, he too wanted to buy me a drink. Were it not for the conversations and vague hints at Ian and this other guy's interest in women, I would have thought I was getting hit on by men all night!

I eventually went upstairs to the private party, met some of Adam and Fran’s friends and ate some pizza. Then we all went down to dance the night away.

We kicked it on a smaller beach in a cove on Sunday before heading to the Newtown music festival in the afternoon. Then I made a poulet aux morilles (sans morilles) for dinner.

Adam

Newtown Festival

Fran

Random Japanese who looked really cool

Finally, Monday and surf lessons! The weather wasn’t so nice but all the better. There were only 3 of us with the instructor. The waves were perfect for learning too. Needless to say, we were all getting up on the board after just a few attempts and surfing! What a thrill, feeling the power of the waves through your entire body.

Thanks again Adam and Fran for hosting me in Manly. I had a great time with you and look forward to seeing you both again soon!

You always get more with crazy John's tongue

Next stop: Sydney (this time for sure) and Stockton Beach, Newcastle!