60th Stop: Washington DC, USA

What's in that big box?

After meeting up with my host Rob, we took a walk and had dinner at a Salvadorian restaurant called Las Placitas. It wasn’t the best ever but the company more than made up for it. Rob works in the House of Representatives as a staff writer for the congressional office. It was great talking to Rob, one story led to the next and there seemed to be quite a few parallels in our lives (teaching English in far away places for one).

On Thursday, I got a Library of Congress card and sat in the rotunda for a few hours... surfing the internet and checking e-mail! The mission of the Library of Congress is to serve the legislators, providing references, data, facts and any other things they might need to argue and vote on laws.

Later that night, I met up for happy hour at Masa 14 with a longtime friend from high school, Briana, who now works at the World Bank. In May, she’ll be riding a bicycle from NYC to Washington DC to raise money for climate change prevention. Kudos to you Briana!

Checking e-mail in the LoC

After a few drinks and appetizers (get the tuna wrap, it rocks!), we went for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Thanks to the saleswoman from Cisco who bought us all dinner!

One more stop before calling it a night: meeting up with Meredith from couchsurfing.org to listen to some jazz at U-topia. Meredith and I had a lot to talk about. She works for the government, helping Pashtun and Farsi teachers write lesson plans. We discussed language learning strategies and swapped some good ideas... She recommended using Declan Software and www.quizlet.com. Thanks Meredith!

The Wordfast Pro training on Friday was full :-) Thanks to everyone who came and a special thanks to Gwendolyn Gurley and Renate Cords for making donations to buy some bednets!

One more night in DC and what luck, my longtime friend from high school and soccer buddy Brian and his wife Kristen were in town for a conference! That night we ate a delicious Ethiopian meal at Dukem  and then wnet back to U-topia for more jazz and wine. Great seeing both of you and hearing about your future plans to travel and work in some exciting places. I'm looking forward to our next adventures together... bamboo bike ride?

One last incident to report: early Saturday morning I took the shuttle to the airport. At one point, the driver went onto the wrong side of the road--on a divided freeway! Luckily, I was half awake and alerted her to the oncoming bus. We were all a bit shaken up, but even happier once we arrived at the airport and got out of that shuttle!

Thanks again to Rob, Brian and Kristen for hosting me and to Meredith and all the colleagues that attended the Wordfast training!

Next stop: West Palm Beach, Florida!

P.S. - Sorry for the crappy photos; for some reason I forgot to take some in DC :-(

59th Stop: New York City, NY (Part 3)

On Sunday afternoon, I left John’s place to meet up with my new hosts, Charles and Liz, at the Museum of Modern Art. John lent me his university ID so all three of us could get in for free. Thanks John! I was really surprised by all of the beautiful women I saw, “just waiting to be picked up, picked up” (I’ll send you a post card from Estonia if you can figure out what song this comes from).

Later that night, we went for a gourmet meal in one of Liz and Charles’ favorite restaurants called, Momo Fuku. They told me about their work and travels: Liz works for a handbag design outfit and Charles works from home as a day trader. They were recently in the Galapagos islands and will soon be traveling to Barcelona (lucky!).

On Monday, I went up to Harlem to run a private Wordfast training and on Tuesday stayed in downtown for the training. Why is it that every time I’m on the Eastern seaboard during the winter, I always get a snow storm, blizzard, or ice storm? Impossible for some people to get to the training, difficult for the trainer as well!

On my way there, when trying to hail a cab, I asked the guy who arrived after me where he was going and if he wanted to share one. It turns out he was going in the same direction, only farther! When I got out, he insisted that he’ll cover it and thanked me for letting him share (cabs were few and far between in light of the ice and flooding conditions).

We managed to have the training but got off to a late start. A big thanks to Kristyna from Wordfast for inviting everyone for lunch!

One more night before leaving and I took Liz and Charles out for dinner. I had been dying to go to La Bonne Soupe, a restaurant my Aunt and Uncle recommended to me about 15 years ago. I was 16 years old when I went there for the first time with Dave M. during a high school theater trip. We had the lunch menu which consisted of a salad, bread, soup, mousse au chocolat, and wine or coffee. When the young waitress asked with her thick French accent if we wanted wine or coffee, I replied wine. We were amazed, getting served wine in a restaurant when you’re only 16 years old considering the fascist liquor laws in the USA.

John, Charles and Liz

We walked home that night and saw a few sights: Rockefeller Plaza, the MET... Thanks for showing me the really cool whispering echo effect at Grand Central Station!

Can you hear me?

Don't shrug!

The next day I was on the Amtrak train to Washington DC (with a slight weather delay, go figure). Thanks again to John, Liz, Charles, and their respective roommates/family for hosting me. Thanks also to all the Wordfast trainees and Kristyna! See you soon, but definitely during the spring, summer, or fall!

Next stop: Washington DC!

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...

46th Stop: West Pymble and Cottage Point

Art hosted me on Sunday night after our trip to the beach, and we enjoyed an excellent dinner in the company of a few other CSers. One of them, a Frenchman named Julien, showed us by accident a wicked finger trick. You’ve got to see the photo to believe it. Amazing!

A couple days of Wordfast training the following week (I’ll spare you the details, but it did go well. Thanks to NAATI and Gary H. for letting us use their rooms for the training!) and then I would meet up with Nicki, an Australian I had met in Nice. Before I say anymore, I want to tell you about Nicki’s mission.

Nicki will be swimming 2.5 km to help fund breast cancer research. She recently lost her mother to this disease and is doing what she can to help make a difference. If you want to help her reach her goal, you can make a donation on this site: https://www.cantoo.org.au/

Cottage Point

View from West Head

Nicki picked me up at the train station and we went to her dad Ian’s place at Cottage Point. I must be lucky because she is currently subletting her place and her dad’s is out of sight. Imagine a beautiful home on a river estuary in the middle of a national park with a handful of homes around it.

We went out for dinner that night and Nicki told me more about her fund-raising project and work. In the morning, Ian and I went kayaking on the river and saw some beautiful jellyfish and aboriginal stone carvings.

Kayaking

It was great catching up with you Nicki and meeting your father. Thanks so much for hosting me and showing me some of the most beautiful places I have seen so far in Australia! Thanks again Art for the great camping trip and hosting me in West Pymble!

John and Nicki at Cottage Point

Next stop: the Gold Coast, Australia!