My head was still in a deep contemplative fog when I arrived in Graz, and that wasn’t a good mix for trying to find the connecting train from Graz to the small village outside of Graz where Claudia lives. Long story short, a major bout of absent-mindedness meant I added two hours to my journey back to Claudia’s house. It wasn’t so bad though. I was able to indulge in more of my books, thus plunging even further into my absent-minded fog. ; ) It also meant I had less time to get ready for the Multi Kulti Ball though. By the time I got to Claudia’s, I was in a rush!
The Multi Kulti Ball is a yearly event that’s meant to showcase the international culture thriving in Graz. Persian, Latin, Asian, European… it was all there. But, it was the African beats that lured Claudia and I in first and we bounced to those beats throughout the night. Oddly enough, all the books I’ve been reading and that have been impacting me so much lately have strong passages about deserts. As the African drum beats mingled with the tales from exotic sand dunes already swirling through my mind… the call for me to journey into the desert swelled within me like a sand storm, sweeping through all the little nooks and crevices of my mind. I couldn’t help but think that I should have simply stayed in Cairo when I stopped over.
My blood is pulsing, calling for more adventure. I’m coming home. But I can tell you right now, I won’t be home for too long…
Check out the videos. Look at life sparking out of the musicians’ hands and smiles, out of the girls’ dancing, out of their eyes.
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Grandeur of Vienna
It was late, half past eleven, when I finally met Vincenc in Vienna. So my first hours in that thriving city of European crossroads were spent getting acquainted with Vincenc while he and I scurried about in the windy chill of the night, catching the various trams and busses we needed in order to find our way to the warmth of Vincenc’s small dorm room. Vincenc is a student from Kosovo who has been living, working and studying in Vienna for the past six years.
It was a tight squeeze in Vincenc’s room. The extra mattress took up what little floor space there was. But, it was comfortable and cozy and a warm refuge from the windy, Viennese chill.
I accompanied Vincenc to a local coffee house near his work the next morning. From there, he explained how I could use local transportation to get to Schonbrunn, Vienna’s summer palace. Unfortunately, I was visiting just as winter had only begun to fade away, thus I was missing out on the palace’s true glory: intricate mazes from trimmed hedges and large, stately expanses of flowers in delicate design that backed up to a rolling hill of kelly greens. Yet, despite the bare-branched trees and bushes, the freshly turned beds of earth that were still void of any buds or flowers, the magnificence of the palace was unmistakable - its poise and elegance evident no matter the season. I spent a good two and a half hours wandering around the palace grounds, before rushing off to meet Vincenc back at the coffee house.
When I hurried into Coffee Day, a bit late, I found Vincenc surrounded by friends. We spent an hour there in the coffee shop chatting and trading stories before Vincenc, another couchsurfer - Roger, Vincenc’s friend - Arber and I headed out to explore some of the city center. Vincenc possesses a wealth of knowledge about Vienna. It’s incredible how much he knows about Vienna’s history, culture, and politics. Unfortunately, Vincenc’s excitement in sharing the richness of the city means he jumps from one landmark to the next, barely leaving time to digest its significance, let alone time snap some halfway-decent pictures, before rushing off to the next attraction. I must say, we got a lot in, in just one evening. I also have to add how impressed I was with Vienna’s university. I haven’t seen too many of the Ivy-league colleges in the U.S. first-hand, but I would venture to say that the grandeur of the University of Vienna (the oldest University in the German-speaking world) easily surpasses that of any American university.
Where we ate dinner that first night is a perfect example of why couchsurfing is really the best way to indulge in the hidden treasures of a given city. Vincenc took us to a small family-owned restaurant that served a small buffet of Pakistani cuisine. The restaurant’s motto: “Eat as you wish. Pay as you wish.” For two and a half plates overflowing with food I paid just 6 euros… and I had even dished out a little more than everyone else since it was my first time. You couldn’t beat that! I would have never found the cozy little restaurant on my own or in some tourist package. After dinner, we met back up with Vincenc’s other friends for some drinks at a local bar. The bar was rather smoky though and I was still fighting jet lag, so I was pretty low-key. I enjoyed the great company, but I was grateful when I finally got to plop down on the mattress in Vincenc’s room and fall into a deep sleep.
On day two, I met up with Roger while Vincenc went to work. Roger and I had planned to go sightseeing, but lunch took a bit longer than expected and we enjoyed a relaxed afternoon of cooking, talking and reading before meeting up with Vincenc at Coffee Day again. This time it was just Vincenc and I for round two of the blitz like tour of the city center. That evening, I enjoyed a home-cooked Italian dinner with tortellini and sangria. Giorgio, another couchsurfer, hosted me, Vincenc, Roger, Arber and two of his friends in honor of my visit to Vienna. I must say, I’m getting spoiled by all these dinner parties! I expect nothing less for my return to the U.S.! Kidding… I’m kidding.
Friday, my third day was full of beautiful landscapes and introspective contemplation. I set out for a prominent hill just outside the city as Vincenc set out for work. The hill offers an incredible view of Vienna’s sprawling European metropolis. Distinctly European. There were just a handful of skyscrapers, none of which were too grand. That’s because, until relatively recently, a law in Vienna regulated buildings to a height no greater than the city’s Dom (main church). That’s why European city landscapes are such a cozy picturesque with a sea of red, brown and black tiled roofs dotted with islands of church steeples and ornamental government buildings. After taking in the Viennese landscape, I planted myself on a nearby bench and cracked open one of the books I was currently reading, The Zahir. As I mentioned before, the last few books I’ve been reading have left me considering what I don’t know and reconsidering what I thought I knew… among other things. Their words have been urging me to look more closely at myself, who I am, what stories and personal histories define me, which stories and personal histories I should perhaps let go of… I still have to share the passages that have stuck with me. I’ll get to them in a post or two.
In the meantime, my contemplative mood stuck with me as I headed back down the hill and worked my way through the public transportation system to the Danube River. In most city squares, you feed the pigeons. At most lakes, ponds and rivers, you feed the ducks. Along the Danube in Vienna, you feed the swans. I’ve never seen so many swans at once before… at least twenty, perhaps even thirty. Even when huddling while being fed, these stately birds are poised and elegant, just like Vienna it seems. And that’s what they’re doing… huddling. Not clustering. Not in a frenzy. Just gliding into a cozy huddle near the breadcrumbs floating on the water’s surface. Every so often, one swan would expand its broad wings, as if stretching to keep things from getting too cramped. But never was there a feeding frenzy. Further along the Danube, the swans dispersed. Now, there were open runways and I glimpsed a couple swans racing across the miniature river waves, that were dancing in twirling pirouettes.
That evening I got to take pleasure in one the city’s defining characteristics: the music of Austria's classical prodigies Mozart and Strauss. Vincenc works for an online ticketing agency, so it was just a matter of making a phone call to secure us tickets for the live classical concert that’s popular with tourists. Like I said, I was delighted! It was my last night and I really felt as if I was leaving the city on the right “note”. (Yes, the corny pun intended.) The evening of classical dramas and melodies lightened my contemplative mood from earlier and I hummed in amused delight as I remembered Wednesdays spent in old Catholic school hallways listening to my parents practice with the church choir, Sundays spent with those same voices belting out hymns from the church’s choir loft, and later, Thursdays practicing with my own singing group that preformed classically-themed Disney productions. I recalled the poignant experience of singing with a trained, professional choir. I participated in but a small piece of the production of Carmina Burana. But, as my voice sang in harmony with all those other powerful, resonating voices, I felt as if I was inside the music. Yes, the hills of Austria are alive with music and their notes ring true and clear throughout the Danube river valley in Vienna.
On Saturday, I left the classical poise of Vienna. But, thanks to Arber I was able to bring some of Mozart and Strauss with me on my laptop! That night though, I would be bouncing and writhing to very different beats. I had plans to attend the Multi Kulti Ball in Graz with Claudia!
Appendix:
I LOVE traveling by train! It really is such a shame the US has not properly developed its passenger railway system. I was listening to Mozart Symphony No. 40 In G Minor when I was chugging past little Austrian villages tucked between the corners and bends of the foothills of the Austrian Alps. It was ride of bliss… looking out the window of the train and comfortably encountering the Austrian countryside while listening to the world-renowned Austrian composer on my way from Vienna back to Graz. Truly, one of life’s little treasures…
On yet, another train ride through more Alps, foothills and valleys (this time Graz to Salzburg), I looked up from writing and see a lone mountain coated in a creamy frosting of early spring snow. It’s actually a warm spring day, but just several hundred feet up from the green valleys and purple evergreens are jagged, slate-gray, rocky peaks sprinkled in the snowy frost. They’re alluding to a chill that hasn’t quite lifted despite the day’s sunny warmth.
It was a tight squeeze in Vincenc’s room. The extra mattress took up what little floor space there was. But, it was comfortable and cozy and a warm refuge from the windy, Viennese chill.
I accompanied Vincenc to a local coffee house near his work the next morning. From there, he explained how I could use local transportation to get to Schonbrunn, Vienna’s summer palace. Unfortunately, I was visiting just as winter had only begun to fade away, thus I was missing out on the palace’s true glory: intricate mazes from trimmed hedges and large, stately expanses of flowers in delicate design that backed up to a rolling hill of kelly greens. Yet, despite the bare-branched trees and bushes, the freshly turned beds of earth that were still void of any buds or flowers, the magnificence of the palace was unmistakable - its poise and elegance evident no matter the season. I spent a good two and a half hours wandering around the palace grounds, before rushing off to meet Vincenc back at the coffee house.
When I hurried into Coffee Day, a bit late, I found Vincenc surrounded by friends. We spent an hour there in the coffee shop chatting and trading stories before Vincenc, another couchsurfer - Roger, Vincenc’s friend - Arber and I headed out to explore some of the city center. Vincenc possesses a wealth of knowledge about Vienna. It’s incredible how much he knows about Vienna’s history, culture, and politics. Unfortunately, Vincenc’s excitement in sharing the richness of the city means he jumps from one landmark to the next, barely leaving time to digest its significance, let alone time snap some halfway-decent pictures, before rushing off to the next attraction. I must say, we got a lot in, in just one evening. I also have to add how impressed I was with Vienna’s university. I haven’t seen too many of the Ivy-league colleges in the U.S. first-hand, but I would venture to say that the grandeur of the University of Vienna (the oldest University in the German-speaking world) easily surpasses that of any American university.
Where we ate dinner that first night is a perfect example of why couchsurfing is really the best way to indulge in the hidden treasures of a given city. Vincenc took us to a small family-owned restaurant that served a small buffet of Pakistani cuisine. The restaurant’s motto: “Eat as you wish. Pay as you wish.” For two and a half plates overflowing with food I paid just 6 euros… and I had even dished out a little more than everyone else since it was my first time. You couldn’t beat that! I would have never found the cozy little restaurant on my own or in some tourist package. After dinner, we met back up with Vincenc’s other friends for some drinks at a local bar. The bar was rather smoky though and I was still fighting jet lag, so I was pretty low-key. I enjoyed the great company, but I was grateful when I finally got to plop down on the mattress in Vincenc’s room and fall into a deep sleep.
On day two, I met up with Roger while Vincenc went to work. Roger and I had planned to go sightseeing, but lunch took a bit longer than expected and we enjoyed a relaxed afternoon of cooking, talking and reading before meeting up with Vincenc at Coffee Day again. This time it was just Vincenc and I for round two of the blitz like tour of the city center. That evening, I enjoyed a home-cooked Italian dinner with tortellini and sangria. Giorgio, another couchsurfer, hosted me, Vincenc, Roger, Arber and two of his friends in honor of my visit to Vienna. I must say, I’m getting spoiled by all these dinner parties! I expect nothing less for my return to the U.S.! Kidding… I’m kidding.
Friday, my third day was full of beautiful landscapes and introspective contemplation. I set out for a prominent hill just outside the city as Vincenc set out for work. The hill offers an incredible view of Vienna’s sprawling European metropolis. Distinctly European. There were just a handful of skyscrapers, none of which were too grand. That’s because, until relatively recently, a law in Vienna regulated buildings to a height no greater than the city’s Dom (main church). That’s why European city landscapes are such a cozy picturesque with a sea of red, brown and black tiled roofs dotted with islands of church steeples and ornamental government buildings. After taking in the Viennese landscape, I planted myself on a nearby bench and cracked open one of the books I was currently reading, The Zahir. As I mentioned before, the last few books I’ve been reading have left me considering what I don’t know and reconsidering what I thought I knew… among other things. Their words have been urging me to look more closely at myself, who I am, what stories and personal histories define me, which stories and personal histories I should perhaps let go of… I still have to share the passages that have stuck with me. I’ll get to them in a post or two.
In the meantime, my contemplative mood stuck with me as I headed back down the hill and worked my way through the public transportation system to the Danube River. In most city squares, you feed the pigeons. At most lakes, ponds and rivers, you feed the ducks. Along the Danube in Vienna, you feed the swans. I’ve never seen so many swans at once before… at least twenty, perhaps even thirty. Even when huddling while being fed, these stately birds are poised and elegant, just like Vienna it seems. And that’s what they’re doing… huddling. Not clustering. Not in a frenzy. Just gliding into a cozy huddle near the breadcrumbs floating on the water’s surface. Every so often, one swan would expand its broad wings, as if stretching to keep things from getting too cramped. But never was there a feeding frenzy. Further along the Danube, the swans dispersed. Now, there were open runways and I glimpsed a couple swans racing across the miniature river waves, that were dancing in twirling pirouettes.
That evening I got to take pleasure in one the city’s defining characteristics: the music of Austria's classical prodigies Mozart and Strauss. Vincenc works for an online ticketing agency, so it was just a matter of making a phone call to secure us tickets for the live classical concert that’s popular with tourists. Like I said, I was delighted! It was my last night and I really felt as if I was leaving the city on the right “note”. (Yes, the corny pun intended.) The evening of classical dramas and melodies lightened my contemplative mood from earlier and I hummed in amused delight as I remembered Wednesdays spent in old Catholic school hallways listening to my parents practice with the church choir, Sundays spent with those same voices belting out hymns from the church’s choir loft, and later, Thursdays practicing with my own singing group that preformed classically-themed Disney productions. I recalled the poignant experience of singing with a trained, professional choir. I participated in but a small piece of the production of Carmina Burana. But, as my voice sang in harmony with all those other powerful, resonating voices, I felt as if I was inside the music. Yes, the hills of Austria are alive with music and their notes ring true and clear throughout the Danube river valley in Vienna.
On Saturday, I left the classical poise of Vienna. But, thanks to Arber I was able to bring some of Mozart and Strauss with me on my laptop! That night though, I would be bouncing and writhing to very different beats. I had plans to attend the Multi Kulti Ball in Graz with Claudia!
Appendix:
I LOVE traveling by train! It really is such a shame the US has not properly developed its passenger railway system. I was listening to Mozart Symphony No. 40 In G Minor when I was chugging past little Austrian villages tucked between the corners and bends of the foothills of the Austrian Alps. It was ride of bliss… looking out the window of the train and comfortably encountering the Austrian countryside while listening to the world-renowned Austrian composer on my way from Vienna back to Graz. Truly, one of life’s little treasures…
On yet, another train ride through more Alps, foothills and valleys (this time Graz to Salzburg), I looked up from writing and see a lone mountain coated in a creamy frosting of early spring snow. It’s actually a warm spring day, but just several hundred feet up from the green valleys and purple evergreens are jagged, slate-gray, rocky peaks sprinkled in the snowy frost. They’re alluding to a chill that hasn’t quite lifted despite the day’s sunny warmth.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Making the Most of the Time I Have Left...
I feel like everything inside of me is going topsy-turvy. False illusions are crumbling – some quickly, others decaying rather steadily, but slowly. And that’s a good thing, because my desires and dreams are coming to fill the voids that these crumbling illusions leave behind… and my desires and dreams are becoming more of my reality everyday. I’m learning that so many “truths” that have been impressed upon me might not even resemble the real truth. Each day, I learn more and more about what I DON’T know… and that comforts me. I’m also discovering/learning new things… and that’s exciting. Passages from several books I’ve been reading have been aimlessly drifting around inside of my head, ever-present, but unsure of themselves. They have certainly been affecting how I interpret what I’ve been experiencing during this last part of my journey. I’d like to share them. But first, a little about my adventures since my return to Austria!My first few days in Graz were spent relaxing, catching up on various to-dos, sleeping off jet lag… and, gasp, securing a flight back to the U.S. The date is set. I fly into KCMO from Frankfurt, Germany on April 7th. I’m not going to lie. When I booked the flight, I started to panic a little bit. That was it. I had booked the flight back to reality. The flight that would tear me away from my dream life as a nomad and plunge me back into well, what we refer to as “the real world.” Three things saved me from succumbing to full-blown anxiety: 1) I booked a roundtrip ticket. I am scheduled to fly back to Europe, via Frankfurt on October 16th. Yay!!! 2) Of course, I am excited about seeing all my sorely-missed family and friends, enjoying the good ol- times with them once again! 3) I had two weeks to fully adjust to the idea of returning home, meaning I had time to fit in some last minute travels and adventure. Again, yay!!!
The last-minute hoorahs began the next evening when I went out salsa dancing with Claudia and her friend Mua. Then, the next thing I knew, it was Easter. I enjoyed a laid-back Easter celebration, helping Claudia hide eggs and other treats for her daughter Lisa, sharing in Lisa’s joy of the holiday and tasting traditional Austrian dishes in an Easter feast at Claudia’s friend’s house. The main Austrian Easter dish is a platter of various meats topped with slices of hard-boiled egg. You usually pair these with a slice of bread (and European bread is never the poor excuse for bread in the States mind you… sorry but it’s the truth), cheese and perhaps some mustard. I also enjoyed my first bowl of zucchini soup and devoured some delicious asparagus dish.
The next day, I met Reini, an active couchsurfer living in Graz and studying engineering at the university. I quickly found out that Reini is the king of hospitality for couchsurfers and foreign exchange students alike in Graz. I met Reini at his apartment and then we set off to explore the city in local student fashion on a couple of old, rickety European bicycles. There was a biting chill to the air, but I loved it! If I were studying here, this would be a part of the student experience. We cycled to the city center and decided to visit the Schlossberg clock tower, which Claudia had introduced me to before back in December. The scenic look-out point was a lot less crowded than it was during the Christmas holiday season and offered a nice relaxing atmosphere where Reini and I could chat and easily get to know each other a bit better. 
Reini and I had spent… maybe… a half an hour together before we started making plans for more adventure when I returned in October. We plan to go trekking, camping and rock climbing in the Austrian Alps near the town where he grew up. We will go visit the islands of Italy, Sicily and Sardegna (since Italy is so close!). We will organize Sunday dinners every week for interested couchsurfers and foreign exchange students. We have a lot to do when I get back!In the meantime, Reini and I strolled along the River Mur and spotted a kayaker battling the frigid rapids just under
one of the main bridges in the city. We also enjoyed a bit of urban bouldering. This is ingenious! A portion of wall formed by the roadway running alongside the river is covered in bouldering pegs. Reini explained the pegs were attached to the wall during the same time Graz built the eclectic Art House and Moor Isel (Island) during it’s celebration as the cultural center for Europe in 2003. I think the bouldering pegs are a great way to add culture and function to a typical highway wall. I think every city should do this… especially the city where I went to college. There’s a decent rock climbing community in COMO that would appreciate a few extra places to boulder for free!
That evening, a handful of couchsurfers, students and foreign exchange students met us at Reini’s apartment for an impromptu dinner. Reini and a couple others were planning on exploring a bit of Eastern Europe for the remainder of their Easter holiday and were leaving the next day. Reini used that as an excuse to invite everyone over and use the remainder of his food to prepare a creative feast. We dined on Czech-made Weiner schnitzel and mashed potatoes and one of the most inventive and delicious salad’s I’ve ever tasted. The salad consisted of a mixture of whatever salad ingredients Reini had on hand: sliced tomatoes, 
sliced grapes, chopped spring onion, cubed pineapple, corn, and chopped walnuts all coated in olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, a pinch of salt and pepper and spoonfuls of cinnamon. The salad was a success and none of us could get enough of the imaginative concoction. After dinner, we all stayed there huddled around Reini’s kitchen table laughing, sharing stories and enjoying each other’s company.The next day I met Reini and the two others leaving for Eastern Europe in the evening. I had already planned a trip to Vienna and that happened to be the first leg of their trip, so we decided to travel that leg by train together. In Vienna, I left Reini and the others to go meet yet another delightfully interesting and entertaining batch of csers.... !
Friday, March 21, 2008
She's a Tiger... Growl
Ha! It's been what... nearly a month since I've posted. Sorry bout that...Munich was a shock to the system. The air bit at my skin, sending shivers of chill that I had completely forgotten about in SE Asia. Wasn’t in March? What’s going on here? Everywhere I looked, it was mostly white people, people similar to my height and build… something I found… strange. I have been mostly surrounded by small, petite Asians for the last three months. I was no longer a white giant, but just your average Jo… or Julie rather.
I put in a hard workout before I left Thailand. My flight from Phuket to Bangkok didn’t leave until 9:30 pm because my flight from Bangkok to Cairo then on to Munich didn’t leave until 12:45 am, so that meant I could fit in a whole day of training before I took off. I was grateful for how that worked out. That way I could spend the day working out and rushing around getting last minute pics with trainers and friends instead of dwelling on the cloud of melancholy disappointment that threatened to hover over my head. I didn’t want to leave. I was comfortable with my surroundings, with my daily routine, with the companionship I had found. I know why I liked Chalong (the area where I was staying and training in Phuket) so much. I was training hard about 7
hours everyday – that’s something I’ve missed and yearned for, ever since my second knee surgery ended my dreams of becoming a soccer star. I was, for the first time in SE Asia, more properly delving into the local culture as I befriended my trainers and shared in a local custom (Muay Thai) that makes up their way of life. I still had access to plenty of Western comforts because Phuket is immensely touristy, but I was staying off the beaten tourist track in Chalong. I had stability with the trainers and long-term guests and I had exciting, new prospects with the flush of guests that cycled through more quickly. I had time in between workouts to cruise out to the beach on my motobike, relax, reflect and read. I really felt like I had it all. 
Physical pursuits and mental development. Stability and constant change.But… the cash flow was drying up. I was training and not working. The longer I stayed, the faster I burned through what I had saved. In the meantime, I was improving quickly in training and becoming addicted to Muay Thai. The new sport was also giving me an added confidence. I’ve been traveling around the world on my own without knowing a lick of self-defense. Muay Thai is more of an aggressive sport than a defensive one, but I now know that I can pack proper punches, jabs, hooks, uppercuts, elbows, kicks and knees. I can also read another’s actions well enough to, more often than not, block myself from damaging blows coming at me. Not bad.
So… Muay Thai, boxing, kick boxing, whatever… is a skill I definitely still want to develop. That’s why I promised the owner, Will, and all my new Thai boxer friends that I’d come back. (Will shares my last name… ironically enough.) Better yet, the owner promised I would get to stay and train for free when I come back provided that I would serve as head photographer and capture all the trainers’ fights while I stayed. So I get to trade doing something I love for something I love. Not a bad deal! I went to the fights on my own and took pics… because that’s what I do. I showed them to the owner and he loved them. Sweet! And, only with that promise of being able to return, I was able to tear myself away.
I was rather surprised at how those at the camp demonstrated that they might miss me just as much I would miss them. So many people are coming and going everyday, but Will took the time to put a special post on the Website message board about my departure. He also had the manager, Cori, follow me around and take pics of my final day of training… so I would have pictures of myself, he said. 
It was an immensely humbling gesture and, well, I felt good to know people care. Will also commented several times about how hard I trained. He told me that if I had managed to stay two more days, he would have put me ringside… in a fight. I had no prior experience in boxing or martial arts and I had been training in Muay Thai for less than a month, but people thought I was ready. That meant a lot more to me other than the fact that, hey, maybe I could fight. I’ve always said, perhaps exuding a bit of self-pride, that if I had had the proper training, 
I could have played soccer with the best of them. It’s just something I knew that I thrived on… competition, physical challenges, sport. The fact that I did so well in something so new helped reassure myself that I wasn’t making claims full of bs. I’m an athlete and if I put the proper time and work into the sport, I’d like to think that I’ll be great at it. And come to think of it, maybe that’s why I travel like I do and go after things… a bit recklessly… like I do. Becoming a great athlete is a dream I lost… and, I just don’t want to lose any other dreams. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed in ways I could have never imagined and it seems everyday I get to realize a new dream!
I think I’m still struggling with losing the “great athlete” dream though... I read this book, Shantaram (excellent you should read it, it's too complex to get into what it’s about right now though). It had this quote – “interested in everything, but committed to nothing.” That line kept echoing in my mind. As happy and content I was at the camp, the successful training also unearthed a disturbing disquiet. I ke
pt thinking how that might be me as Muay Thai training reminded me of my “great athlete” dream. I want to keep skipping all over the world. I want to stay in one place long enough to learn the local language and culture. I want to train hard. I want to be on the move. I want new and exciting adventures. I want familiarity and stable friendships... and stable romance. I want to be a scholar, an athlete. I want to be an observer and a learner as well as a doer and a teacher. It all makes my head spin with uncertainty about what I should do, when and how often. What to pursue? What not to pursue? What to pursue more than
others?Sigh… I left bits of my heart scattered throughout all the stops of my recent travels. Though it seems the biggest bits are the ones I left at Tiger Muay Thai. I long to go back and I look forward to returning soon…
In the meantime, I’m back in Europe to collect the luggage I left here and then try to make my way home.
I spent the night in Munich, where a couchsurfer stuffed me full of scrumptious, warm and traditionally Bavarian dishes on a cold, chilly night. It was so easy to step back into the German atmosphere. It’s funny, before, I felt like a wide-eyed stranger in wonder at Germany’s misty magic and Chistmas cheer. Now, I feel like I’m visiting an old acquaintance and discovering her irresistible charm all over again. On the train to Graz (where my luggage is) all the ski resorts dotting the German-Austrian border are still open. Skiers and snowboarders are still zigzagging down the slopes just like when I left, be it there is a little more green at the bottom of the mountains. I’m back in Europe for just 24 hours and already I want to turn all my plans upside down again… and just stay. Find a job here, enroll in university and become a great… snowboarder.
Sigh…I still have a flight to Australia. I just post-poned it. I’m now supposed to be flying from Phuket, Thailand to Sydney on December 2nd. The plan is to go back to Phuket a month before the flight to train, play around in Australia and New Zealand and then go back and train some more. But, I’m also supposed be enrolled in University and becoming the next great snowboarder. Hmmmmm….
Check out the videos of me doing pad workouts and clinching workouts at TMT!
I look forward to seeing all of you soon!!!! Er, that is… if my plans don't do another 180… aha.
Here's a video of one of my trainers at his fight. I was taking the pics for this fight. Ritt is the one in the red and yellow shorts. His opponent was actually winning during the fight, but then Ritt got the knockout. It is customary for a fighter to celebrate his victory, even if it's a knockout. Ritt isn't showing bad sportsmanship. Others from the Tiger Muay Thai team went over to check on the opponent while Ritt was celebrating.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
