So excited as today Downton Abbey is back season 2.... no just joking I am excited but talking about something else today is SUMO day. SUMO is the Japanese national sport and these days the world championship is taking place in Tokyo. This morning we joined the same people we went on tour with for Mt Fuji avoid tours at all costs Too much time on buses and little time enjoying the co
the long way home
Today I treated myself to a creme brulee. And Nadiath and I cooked for our host family. I made steamed basa fillets with ginger soya sauce and Nadiath made a yam ragout. We have officially declared our team efforts in cooking ChiBenois food. Dumplings and a Beninese grain dish to follow. p.s. my host family is lovely.So work placements start on Monday. The past 2 weeks have been spent on educati
Rotarua Auckland and Fiji
Hello EverybodyIm going to start this blog with a few shout outs to various people who I know have been reading. So Hi Dad Mum and Nan looking forward to seeing you all. Nan I saw a boat the other day called Frisky Freda in Fiji haha made me laugh. Uncle Clive and Keith not sure if you are still reading but if you are a big hello. Warnay hope your good not heard much from you but t
Ciders Hikes Tapas Oh My
Saturday July 2nd After a wonderful two weeks abrigado thank you and tchau goodbye Portugal. We spent the day on a long scenic journey from Porto on the western coast of Portugal to Ribadesella on the northern coast of Spain. We fell in love with Ribadesella a little coastal town cradled by the lush green peaks of the Picos de Europa National Park. Restaurants and popular ciderias wra
Pisa and marching bands another regular weekend.
With no plans set for the weekend at all Meredith and I looked at this weekend as an open opportunity. We decided that we would attempt to explore Italy a little bit more. On Friday we decided to have a roomie date day and have adventures around Florence. Our two main goals pizza and gelatto yes I am gaining weight thank you for asking. But not just any pizza and gelatto the BEST pizza and g
First Week of Classes at the University
Hello all and my apologies for not regularly updating my blog. I was recently told that if I did not update more often I would be removed from the Christmas list so obviously much more effort will be given.Well since last Sunday I have done a lot I suppose. Sunday night we shared a nice meal because it was Virginie39s last night here. She was a swell young lady who always had a smile on her
Pay it Forward
I was bored at work yesterday and had access to the internet so I went online and perused the Monk Sponsorship site at http://www.monksponsorship.orgI39d be in a great deal of trouble if the bosses knew I was pissing about on the computer and not doing my work but hey they39ll get over it.I often look through the long list of Tibetans desperately seeking sponsors wishing I could help more when I
Little Fat Bums
Blog Day 1014I told you to stop calling me that I said to Andy as he referred again to Little fat bums. Im not he says its just that you promised me koalas and we have only seen one resident koala who doesnt seem at all interestedGood point but I did promise a wilderness of Koalas so I am going to have to do something about that today.It was great life
Award winner
It all happened this weekend Alex won an award for all his help at the local children39s hospice shop where he cleans polishes sorts and irons items that have been donated. He had to go to a ceremony to receive it but the photo is taken at home. I managed to park my car over the edge of the drive how efficient is that. Luckily no damage though I needed a truck to winch it out fortunat
Grindelwald the famous village a 1 hour drive from home
Grindelwald the famous village in the swiss mountains is just a 1 hour drive away from our home. Well it is indeed a very touristic place nevertheless we love to spend some time there as the landscape is amazing and there are still places where you can escape from the crowds. With this blog we would like to give other travellers tips where to go and what to do in this area.1. If you want to go
Squat Toilets
Several times while traveling Ive mistakenly walked into a restroom stall and found the commode seemed to be missing. In its place I saw what looked to me like a hole in the ground. Perplexed I quickly scanned the WC and usually found a toilet I could use of the type to which Im more accustomed.When I first came upon what I later learned was a squat toilet I thought it was something
Lugala Visit
Lugala September 2011On Sunday September 11 2011 we made our first trip to Lugala along with two students from the village Wiston and Yowel and one of their friends Baraka and a colleague pastor Lynn Clarke. It was a full car load and one of the students had to ride in the back trunk compartment. However the trip is only about 20 km on a good paved road. It was an incredible day. The road g
Oktoberfest
The first trip we took while working in Germany was to Oktoberfest. I knew three coworkers also from DC that were working in Heidelberg Germany at the time. I convinced a coworker working with me at Ramstein Bill to come with us. We all drove down to Garmisch Germany together. Hotels in Munich were sold out and train tickets were super cheap so we decided to stay farther out. The mountains
What’s the Chinese for Lagerphone
Photos ..autumn is approaching by slow degrees. After another spell of 30C plus weather clear skies it39s clothing is now only damp rather than dripping after a day in the classroom . Since the last issue we39ve had our second week of teaching my schedule of back to back afternoon classes still hard to get accustomed to a trip to the historic canal city of Suzhou at the end of t
Night Of The Living Owls
This entry should be dated the 7th of September. Don39t know what39s wrong with the date selection on here at the momentAfter the success of finding a Giant Rat I felt really good about trying to now finally find a hanging parrot. Just out of Ruteng is a little village called Pagal and just beyond that is some roadside forest which is supposed to be a good site for both the Wallace39s h
Phuket Sept 2011
Hello from sunny Thailand or not so sunny but thats ok rain when its warm is all good We39ve been here just over a week and we had probably 2 days of terrential downpour and the last few days have been beautiful and nearing 100 pool time.Our hotel that was too good to be true turned out too good to be true...doh The Sunwing at Kamala beach was beautiful and pretty much 5 star but o
Antigua
Today we left amazing Lake Atitlan and our wonderful stay at Pasaj Cap and headed for Antigua. Antigua is quite possibly the most famous city in Guatemala well known for its Spanish schools and colonial architecture. I would like to say our trip to Antigua was uneventful but it turned out to be quite an adventureIt all started about half way up a switchback road leaving San Marcos La Laguna.
"Snakes nature’s quitters"
And this entry should be dated the 8th of September. For crying out loudAfter last night39s owl hunt I returned to Ruteng about 8am had some breakfast then set off to the town of Lembor about two hours away roughly halfway between Ruteng and Labuanbajo. Near Lembor is a place called Istana Ular the snake palace a cave where apparently dozens or hundreds of pythons gather for some myst
Custer’s Battle Field and Devils Tower
We rounded up the group and headed off to Custer39s Battlefield at Big Horn Mountain. Ed is a history buff and a wonderful tour guide. We started our tour by walking the battlefield down to the ravine. There are headstones placed along the field where the remains were found for the Soldiers and the Indians. The soldiers headstones are white and the Indians are red. It is interesting to see
Welcome to Korea
I39ve never been so happy to be off a plane I originally had thought that the ride from Seattle to Seoul would be 13 hours but then they announced that it was only 11 12 hours. The trip definitely brought back memories of going back and forth to Germany and all those 10 hour flights. I39m glad that I don39t have to do that again for awhile. If I was leaving in only two weeks then I a