A land of contradictions

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 13:13:08 +0100

The last couple of days I have racked my brain, trying to figure out, what makes the Japanese people so different to the other Asians. Apart from being an industrial nation and therefore being much richer.

But as already mentioned in our first blog, we have to limit our observations to Tokyo, bacause we don‘t know if it‘s like this in all of Japan.

Still, we aren‘t any wiser now. But the rules, the contradictions and the behaviours are striking. I‘ll write down some examples, hoping you‘ll understand what we are talking about.

Rules:
It is noticeable how everyone follows the rules very strictly. For example, no one crosses a street as long as they don‘t have green light (even when the street is completely empty). Or you are not allowed to talk over the phone on the trains. Or another example is suicide. When you really want to commit suicide then throw yourself in front of a train on a not so busy line, because it is forbidden to kill yourself on one of the busy train lines. And whoever kills himself on the busy line, does this to take revenge on their family - because they then have to pay a high fine.

Contradictions:
The contradictions are the most bewildering thing for us. For example, the Japanese can dress and do their hair styling totally crazy, but tattoos are by all means taboo. It is also a taboo to walk through the streets and eat a snack. But it is okay to walk around and drink a beer. Indoors you can smoke everywhere (even in Mc Donalds) but it is forbidden to smoke outside on the streets (how strange is that then?!).

Behaviour:
The behaviour of the Japanese is also very different to the rest of Asia. When the Tokyoite see a queue, they stand in line aswell, even though they don‘t know what the people are queueing for (but it must be good, when all the others are queueing for it). They live secluded lives. No one waves or tries to start a conversation with us anymore. We can even be glad, when we can make eye contact at all. Even though there are no garbage bins, the streets are all clean. And the trains all run on time.

These are just a few examples. But they don‘t really say that much about the culture here. I talked to Chad about this last night and said, that I am looking for words, how to describe our impression of Tokyo. But I can‘t find the right words. He then just replied that he lives here now since 3 years and that he still cant wrap his brain around it.

I guess that says everything. I believe either you love it or you hate it. We love it... even though we will never understand it.

Tokyo was the perfect last stop in Asia, before we leave this continent. Tomorrow night we fly to Santiago de Chile and are looking forward to the exciting new continent South America.

Bye bye Asia.

Tokyo Days

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 13:09:55 +0100

With every new day the temperatures rose and we could get to know Tokyo during a beautiful Japanese autumn.

Even though we walked many miles and used the always punctual trains during the last few days, we have only seen a small part of this city. Because Tokyo is the biggest city in the world (followed by Mexico City and Mumbai). But thanks to Chad (who took a couple of days off for us), we got a very good insight and overview.

Here a short rundown:

On that freezing cold morning that we arrived in Tokyo, the sky was so clear, that we could see the Mount Fuji through the train window.

In Shibuya we crossed the streets with at least 2‘000 styled Japanese at the same time, while the lights of the ads reflected in our glasses.

We strolled with the rich upper-class (and the women dressed in kimonos) through the Ginza, after visiting the Sony Building with all the newest gadgets.

In Akihabara we blended in with the Otakus, didn‘t waste any money in the arcades, laughed about the manga porns and chased the costumed promotion girls.

In Nakano we fell under the spell of the anime figures and looked for relatives of Takumi LaFleur (our little blue friend in the top picture). Unfortunately without results.

We walked through Shinjuku, bought a new camera lense for Paul and cut our way deep into the red light district Kabukicho, where we watched the hustle and bustle of the Yakuza, hostesses and Love Hotels.

This weekend we had our main program. Yesterday the three of us went on a day trip to Kamakura, a city outside Tokyo, with old temples, shrines and a huge Buddha. Our timing was perfect. That weekend the Shichi-Go-San (Seven-Five-Three Festival) was on. For this festival the parents dress girls aged 7 and 3 and boys aged 5 in wee-kimonos and head to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. This sweet festival celebrates children of these tender ages, who were thought to be in danger of imminent misfortune.

Today was our Tokyo highlight. We chased the Cosplay-Zokus (Costume-Play Gang). These are mainly young people that gather on weekends, dressed up looking like their favorite anime character, in the style of a band they like or just as whatever is fashion in this subculture (like the gothic lolitas). Back home in Switzerland we had a whole book full with pictures of these characters, so now I could hardly wait to see them in real life. Unfortunately they weren‘t as many as expected, because of a big demonstration against the American Army bases in Okinawa, but that didnt matter to me. I was happy to see any at all.

Later that day we walked through the autumn leaves in the Yoyogi Park, where the atmosphere is more relaxed and funny punk bands and greasy rockabillies entertained us. On days like this, Tokyo really is my city.

And last but not least: we ate sushi every single day. On some days even twice!

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Hardboiled Wonderland

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 13:46:43 +0100

Before we left Cambodia we googled Tokyos weather several times and were relieved to see that we could expect at least 20 degrees Celsius. What we didn‘t expect was the sudden onset of winter in the night before we arrived. On Thursday morning we got off the plane with chattering teeth at only 6 degrees Celsius.

But hey! Who cares what the Celsius thermometer says? We are in Tokyo! Japan! In the land of Haruki Murakami. On the playground of the Harajuku Girls. As a reflection in the shop windows of the pricy fashion designers. And in the restaurants with the endless sushi conveyer belts.

Our friend Chad invited us to his lovely flat where we sleep the night through on comfy futons. During the day he is a fantastic guide and a persistent tarmac runner. He‘s been in Tokyo for three years now, teaching English and he is not short on funny but also incredible stories about Japan - that only fuel my flames of curiosity and fascination for this country and its people.

The Japanese are wired differently then other Asians. But I‘ll go into that in a later blog, after I have sorted and grasped all the impressions.

Unfortunately we don‘t have the funding to travel through Japan and get to know the country better. That‘s why we can make this statement only relating to Tokyo: Everything here seems possible - in a tangle of contradictions. It is wonderland, a hardboiled wonderland.

Pictures will follow soon...

The last three days in Cambodia

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 07:07:28 +0100

We wanted our last day at the orphanage to be a fun day. In the morning we played a lot of games where the children could win small prizes, in the afternoon we sang all the songs we taught them on our Music Days (of course some of them are Depeche Mode songs) and we danced a lot.

Up and until mid-afternoon the mood was cheerful and happy. But the closer the goodbye came, the more crying children were in our arms.

I don‘t want to write any more about it. The pictures in our gallery speak for itself.

That night we went to bed with a lump in our throat. The next day would bring more goodbyes.

On Friday morning Phoas had organised a big goodbye picnic at West Baray. In the evening Vanna invited us for dinner at her home. At night we had a great goodbye party with all our other friends. (But instead of writing too much about it, I recommend you just check out the posted pictures).

That night we went to bed with an even bigger lump in out throat. The next day was our departure day. We ate breakfast with Kengo, Phoas and Fi, who then accompanied us to our guesthouse. Our other friends were already there and all waited with us for our pick-up. A last hug, a last wave, a last goodbye.

We are in Bangkok now and fly to Tokyo tomorrow. Japan has always been a big dream and we are looking forward to seeing our friend Chad again... but we do miss Cambodia already.

More pix under ‚pictures/back in cambodia‘

Spaghetti feast

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:31:09 +0100

Juerg really got us into a difficult situation here. My cooking skills are not beyond any doubt and everyone who knows Sara, knows that she isn‘t of any help when it comes to doing something in the kitchen. But Juergs requirements to build the kitchen were very clear.

The kitchen has to be finished before we leave Cambodia.
When it‘s finished, we have to cook for the whole orphanage.

Cooking for 5 people is the most I have ever done, so I really didn‘t know how to handle 65 hungry people. Additionally to that problem, it was also the first time I had to cook on charcoal. The children had never eaten western food. Their culinary experiences are limited to fish soup with rice (for breakfast, lunch and dinner). We decided to cook spaghetti with a tomato-beef sauce. Luckily Phoas helped us with the shopping of the ingredients.

Shopping list:
7 kg spaghetti
4 kg beef
8 kg tinned tomatoes
4 kg fresh tomatoes
2 kg carrots
2 kg onions
1 kg garlic
1 kg salt
1 kg fresh cream
sugar, pepper & oregano

With the help of the orphans from our morning class the cooking went quite well. It was fun and even the neighbours came over to see the strange dish the Westerners were cooking there. The only problem left was, that the food had to be finished by 11.30 am, because our morning class had to go to Khmer school after lunch. But I am happy to say, that even though I had my concerns regarding the timing, in the end we made it and could serve the spaghetti at 11.30 sharp.

The spaghettis were a big success, as we could tell by the empty pots, full stomaches and beaming faces all around us.

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A new kitchen for the orphanage

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:21:11 +0100

When Dad visited our orphanage in August and saw the „kitchen“ (two fireplaces under a palm tree), his chef-heart cried and he decided that a real kitchen has to be built. That‘s how we started our second building project in this orphanage, with his help as the fundraiser in Switzerland.

During the last 1 1/2 months the orphanage built the new kitchen and dining room. Today they finished the work and we officially named the new building „Dragonfly Kitchen“.

Everyone at the orphanage is really happy. They send a big thank you to Juerg and Monica, who made this project possible and to all the sponsors in Switzerland for their financial support.

These are (in alphabetical order):
- Felix Ammann
- Peter & Esther Bachmann-Wallimann
- Andrea & Christian Balzer
- Marcel Bischofberger
- Cecile Brugger
- Franz & Gretel Brunner-Jölly
- Patrick & Monica Burgy
- Karl Dobler-Kaegi
- Charly Dohr
- Bruno & Ruth Eberenz-Hubacher
- Rolf & Betty Eberenz-Lienhard
- Marcel Ebner-Dankleff
- Peter Egli-Stoeckli
- Kurt & Daniela Exenberger
- E. & G. Ferraino
- Isabel Fischer
- Susanne Furlenmeier
- Arabelle Gabathuler
- Christine Gabathuler
- Monica & Jürg Gabathuler
- Paula & Walter Gabathuler
- Sherif & Sidonia Gaber
- Rene & Sandra Gaehler
- Patrik Galli
- Dr. Oec. Patrik Gisel
- Elisabeth Haas-Bielik
- Bruno & Angelika Heer-Mirus
- Paul Heiniger
- Sabine Hetz
- Ingrid & Jürg Jent
- Ursi Kaufmann
- F. & U. Keller
- Margrit Kilchenmann
- Magda Koscherov-Achermann
- Gertrud Lauber
- Nina Lauber
- Josef & Bernadette Leisibach-Züsli
- Beatrice Locher
- Adolf & Margrit Locher-Zingg
- Peter Marthaler
- Nicole Meier
- Marianne Meier-Huerlimann
- Petra Meuer
- Paul Morger
- Bernhard & Cynthia Niggle
- Sonja Oehler-Herzog
- Parkhotel am Rein, M. Bisig
- Martha Pfister
- Felix & Irène Pfister-Huber
- Gianni Rizzello
- Jacky & Guy Rom
- Hedy Schärer
- Marie Schneider
- Verena Schultheiss-Leu
- Barbara Singer
- Paul Stein
- Uwe Wöcke

The only work left to do now is to get the children to understand, that a „kitchen“ is not the same thing as a „chicken“. But until then I guess they will keep calling the new kitchen „Dragonfliy Chicken“.

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Thank you for your donations

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:27:38 +0200

During the last four months some of you have made generous donations to the orphanage.

A big thank you goes to:

Brigitte Gabathuler and Niklaus, Marie & Ruth Wallimann for 2‘500 kg rice and 600 school books (in July 2009).

Corina Lampert-Hollaus for 49 new school uniforms and medicines (in August 2009).

Alain Hasenboehler, who took over the child sponsoring for Srey Jane.

Uwe Woecke for sponsoring the picnic at our temple outing (in August 2009).

The employees of UBS AG, Credit Services Zurich, for 1‘400 kg rice (in October 2009).

Catia Gabathuler & Patrik Luethi for more medicines, cremes and plasters, as well as new flip-flops (in October 2009).

We also want to thank all the sponsors of our building project... but more about that in our blog next week.

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Typhoon Ketsana

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:32:38 +0200

Two weeks ago we could witness the difference between the rainy season and a typhoon. In the last 3 months we have learnt what it means to live in Cambodia during the rainy season. Very dry periods are interrupted by short and heavy rainfalls that flood some streets for a couple of hours. The air cools down to pleasant temperatures and gets cleaned from the dust. But last week it was different.

It all started on the last Sunday in September, when we had a unusually strong wind blowing through Siem Reap. Tuesday evening it started to pour down. The typical heavy rain of the rainy season that usually lasts for about 1h. But not this time, it rained 24h.

Despite the heavy rain we drove out to the orphanage on Wednesday with our motorbike. There we grabbed a bicycle and went for a ride with the kids to see the flooded rice fields and roads. It was more like riding through a massive big lake, with water everywhere around us, as far as the eye could see. The kids loved it and jumped cheerfully headfirst into the rice fields. It was wet, cold and incredibly funny.

The big surprise came the next day. During the night the river (that goes through Siem Reap) burst its banks and swamped the whole town. In the beginning it was kind of fun to walk on the main road through knee-deep water. In some parts of town the water was over 1m deep. On the second flood-day we heard that 35 crocodiles had escaped from one of the Siem Reap crocodile farms, due to the high water level. This put a sudden end to the whole fun. Walking through the flooded streets at night now gave us the creeps.

During four days Siem Reap was turned into the Asian Venice. Last Sunday we could finally cross the streets again, without getting wet. We are relieved that we can see the potholes again and more importantly see which animals are moving around us.

Siem Reap got away with a black eye. But unfortunately the typhoon hit other provinces in Cambodia much harder and over 20 lives were lost.

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A Khmer wedding in Battambang

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:53:51 +0200

Battambang is a pretty provincial town, that can be reached by bus within 3 hours from Siem Reap. I have wanted to go there for a long time, so it suited me just fine that our Khmer friend Sopheak wanted to marry her English boyfriend Paulo there.

Since Paul isn‘t very keen on social gatherings like that, he asked to be excused - whereupon Phoas husband Sarom said that he won‘t go either, when Paul doesn‘t have to. So Phoas and I went to Battambang alone for 3 days and nights.

No one expected me to dress in traditional clothing, but I had to wear nice dresses that weren‘t allowed to be (completely) black and I had to endure a lot of girly stuff (sitting around in beauty parlours) before Phoas gave her OK for me to attend the wedding.

It was funny to experience a Khmer wedding, even though most of the time I didn‘t understand what was going on. But luckily I had Phoas by my side, who could explain the different ceremonies in those two days. The groom didn‘t have that much luck and apparently did everything wrong he could do wrong... but being the only two non-Khmer people there, neither he nor I noticed it.

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The best Birthday ever!

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:57:27 +0200

Because the children at the orphanage have never celebrated a birthday before, we wanted to share my birthday with them. We ordered a huge „Death by Chocolate“ cake to surprise them, but the surprise was all theirs.

What we didn‘t know was that Fi told the children about our surprise the evening before and that they had spent half the night writing letters and making things.

When we and our friends Phoas (who transported the massive cake on her moto), Heather and Kengo (the new Japanese teacher) arrived at the orphanage, all the children came running towards me with flowers in their hands and Happy Birthday cheers. I was flabbergasted. Especially when they led me into a classroom they had prepared for an official celebration.

Singing, blowing out the candles, handing over the presents and then munching the cake. The children were over the moon - and so was I.

This day couldn‘t get any better, but was rounded off perfectly. First with a yummy dinner and later with a surprise cake from our friends at Molly Malones.

I had the best Birthday ever!

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