Translation Requested

I am looking for someone who is willing to translate Chinese to English. At least this page. There is an entire 48 page manual which needs translating, but who has that kind of time? If someone is interested, I can guess at the critical pages and send them to you. 

This is the operating manual for the microhydro unit that I mentioned in a previous blog entry. It clearly has application for a lot of the places that I visit.

This is my last entry in this 40 days of blogging. I didn't quite get an entry in every day, but it is a testament to the availability of internet (truly worldwide) that I missed as few days as I did. I wish I had something profound to share with you , something inspiring, but in lieu of that I have posted this song. Please don't be put off by the artist, or the style of music.

Happy Easter.

The thing that seems to happen is that whereever I happen to be is the reality, and those other places I've been just recently? They seem to be a very far. distant memory. In fact was I really in Korea earlier this week? I think the brain just naturally filters out stuff. It's like what they say about people with photographic memories. In some cases their brains can't distinguish between important and unimportant information and it impedes their decision making ability. They have to work at trying to block out or forget some information just to be functional.  Still, in this case, I have to do analysis and report on those far away places, which means I have to dive back in and immerse myself in that memory again. Except Korea, that was just a tourist stop. One of the few times ever that I've allowed myself, even briefly, to be 100% tourist. 

Random photo of some random Korean tourist attraction. I didn't even write down the name of it, or find out how many hectares of land it is on, or what kind of crops they grow around there. Take that serious part of my brain!

Last night I had a chance to meet a group of people from a local church who are working with a community of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. I really admire the fact that first of all they are concerned about some folks living in some really difficult circumstances, and second that they are thinking about and wrestling with the best way to reach out to people in need. It was a chance for me to learn and also to be encouraged.  So often, you see kind of the opposite, that is, general indifference, or people trying to help without thinking it through and doing more harm than good. If you've taken first aid training you know about this concept; people trying to help an accident victim and causing even greater injury. 

For those of you who are thinking it is a strange coincidence that I would show up in S. Korea one day after the N. Koreans launched their missile, so am I. I didn't even know it had happened until I got their and our tour guide was talking about it. She claims that S. Koreans are not so concerned, and that the Japanese are more worried. I myself was so taken by the beautiful spring weather and the impressive airport, that something so menacing seemed far away and of little importance.

I made it. Minus one bag of course. I am beginning to wonder if  there is something about that particular bag which makes it easy to lose, since my record for lost baggage is well over 50%. This particular time it happened to be Air Canada, but the previous time, in March was SwissAir.

I arrived last night and slept til about 8 am this morning. When I awoke, I thought, "Great, I'll get up, have some breakfast, maybe take a walk, and start to get back into this time zone...". About 10 hours later I woke up again, realizing I had missed my opportunity. Well, perhaps tomorrow.

Sorry for going on and on about this airport. At this stage I feel more like I am documenting my slow descent into the emotional and physical exhaustion that is the end of a trip. It starts to become about the smallest of things, like I am so happy to see the sign posted that my flight is departing on time, at the proper gate. The next relief is to actually see the plane at the gate, being prepped for the journey. Probably why I would make an entry about the potted plants for example. Those of you who have experienced this know that it is a feeling of unreality, almost an out of body experience, like you are actually sitting in the seat beside yourself, hoping that everything goes smoothly and that you are at home in your own bed as soon as possible, but knowing the whole time that you have miles and miles to go before you sleep. 

What the future holds? Purchased from a McDonalds quality coffee facility, a cafe latte as good as any at Starbucks. Also breaking the rules of travel (see post from March 01). Not to mention another travel rule which I didn't mention: always eat local. 

Incheon Airport

I used to think that Singapore airport was the nicest one I had been to, but now I believe it has been replaced by Incheon. This is a beautiful facility, with all the things I am looking for, free internet of course, seats with no  arm-rests which allows one to find an unoccupied area and stretch out for a nap. It is also very clean. Maybe that won't last as it starts to age, but it really makes one feel much better about hanging around.  Even the bulgolgi I had for lunch was quite delicious and would be worthy of and 'outside' restaurant. And little details like the plants, which are real, and it appears that the airport may have designed their own containers to hold larger shrubs and trees.  I think you can see that the plant in the photo is even labelled, which I love. 

They have also set up these 'Korean Cultural Experience Zones' where visitors can see various cultural items, make crafts, and hear live performances. Below is a musician in traditional dress, playing some sort of Korean guitar (sorry I don't know the name). The sound is very woeful and just added a whole other dimension to my visit.

In general, the airports of south east Asia are in great shape, and seem to symbolize the rising fortunes and power of this region, just as much if not more than tall business buildings and sports facilities.

So I did it. I left the airport and did the temple tour. Which turned out to be 10 dollars not 5, but oh well. It was nice to get out and walk around, and learn bit about history, culture, and language here. Our tour guide was really very good. It was also nice to not have to feel too responsible, just play the dumb tourist and point my camera at random stuff. The plant ecology here is strikingly Canadian, and I think they may even have the same species of pine, P. sylvestris (Scot's Pine), or something remarkably close. It was also quite cool, about 7 or 8 C, much like I expect it is in Ontario at the moment. In about 24 hours I'll be able to tell you myself.

Early spring blossoms in a temple forest in Incheon, Korea

Korea

Currently in Incheon airport just outside Seoul. Nice airport. Had a shower for 6 bucks, feel much better. Free internet. There's even a temple tour for 5 bucks, which would get me outside the airport, and therefore allow me to add S. Korea to the list of countries I have officially visited. Still, I don't know if I really have the energy to do so. Plus I just visited the display of Korean ceramics inside the airport, does that count? The also have a Traditional Korean Culture zone which I intend to see as well.

Funny thing about travel days, is that the place you start out in seems like a distant memory by the end of the day. Right now I'm sitting in the BKK airport, at quite literally the end of the day (11:44), and I looked in my wallet and saw a 100 Riel note, and wondered what it was. It took me a couple seconds to register that I had actually been in Cambodia at the start of this day. I once saw an article in Scientific American from the 18oo's which was questioning whether the human body could withstand speeds of over 25 miles per hour which it would be subjected too by the coming modes of transport. Seems silly now, but personally I think the way we (I) race from place to place may be physically possible, but is probably not great for the psyche. And the way I'm feeling right now, I don't know if that article was so far off on the physical side either.  Never mind, only three more flights to go, 12 times zones and a date line to cross, and a 10 hour layover in Seoul...

A 100 Riel note, worth about 2.5 cents US.

...

the journey home

And so the final leg of the journey begins. I've had a number of airline related mishaps this trip, so we'll see what happens. Still, it has been a good trip otherwise. I feel like my brain is full and it is going to take some time to digest everything. Sitting on a plane, semi-comatose and fading in and out of movies is precisely the holiday my brain needs.

Phnom Penh

This is Phnom Penh capital of Cambodia. Quite unlike the rest of the country, or so I am told. Sadly, I am only here 5 days, and won't really get to see the 'reality'.

Microhydro in Burma

Here's the promised shot of a microhydro unit. I love the fact that we are carrying a technology out of Burma which has potential to benefit other parts of the world. I could see cottagers in northern Ontario using this:

I'm sitting in an office of an NGO in Phnom Penh. We just finished our meeting with staff and begged some internet time before our next meeting. We had a chance to ask a whole lot of questions and are starting the learning process for a new region. I have to admit that I am woefully unprepared for this trip. Normally I would read up more on the country, study the history etc, and learn some basic language stuff. This time I don't even know how to say 'thank you', which is embarassing. 

I am in and out of Burma. No way to post any posts for 2.5 days. It was a good trip, lots to say, some to leave unsaid. I am carrying out a technology that may be useful in some of our program areas--microhydro. These are 1-3 kilowatt generators that run on as little as a 2 metre drop in water, and are being used all over this part of the country now to power just a few houses each. So I bought one for 75 bucks and hope to take it out as checked luggage, through Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and then onwards to Canada. From there I'll probably take it to Haiti for a field test. Picture later, got to run to my next flight to Cambodia...