Polish Trains

Polish Trains were a pleasure, I took

-the intercity super-express from Warsaw to Krakow (lovely, new cars with AC and free tea, with a laptop plugs).., back.

-the first class warsaw->gdansk, (long ride, not as modern a train)

-the express gdansk-warsaw (very long ride, poorly air conditioned, no free tea, old dining cars with tableclothes and frequent unexplained stops).

On no occaisons did I engaged in conversation with other passengers. Most refused to move when I passed through aisles, but when I moved for others or held car doors open, I got smiles and thank yous.

All in all, traveling by train poland is a pleasant experience.

The Warsaw Convention: JFK-WAW

The Swiss Air logo is lovely.

It may be the most impressive aspect of the airline. I flew out of a frenzied JFK, on a packed and remarkably small airbus plane that became airborne more than an hour after the scheduled takeoff. It took an hour to serve dinner, which was not bad- the flight attendants were tall, blonde, friendly, and flirtatious. The entertainment was limited; watched part of The International, which was accompanied by Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on the surprisingly small 5-8 movie selection. The bathrooms were especially clean and well-kept. There was almost no room to walk around in the back of the plane, and I had a sleepness night.

They do give you Swiss chocolate as you exit the plane, the Zurich airport is a masterpiece of planning, transparency, and minimalist style (almost entirely glass, which seems to be the new style). The flight from Zurich to Warsaw was unremarkable.. it was easy to distinguish the poles from the western Europeans upon boarding the plane.

Chopin International Airport does not make an impression, with one exception: there seems to be no passport control or customs. After picking up my bag, I walked through two sets of doors out to the waiting horde of blonde/white haired, fair-skinned people of similar height and facial features, standing silently.

I took a taxi to the city center, a smooth and grey ride for 41 zloty, roughly $11. I attempted conversation, noting the make of the car (mercedes, good car), which was met with silence. Remarkably, when I handed the man a 50 zloty note and asked for 5 back, he handed me a 10 back, noting he didn't have a 5. We looked at each confusedly, before I suggested he use some of the change sitting in his cigarette tray. He considered this, and then did so.

It was the easiest and least complicated arrival in a foreign country i've ever experienced.

Broke and Inside a Soccer Ball

Saturday morning consists of checking e-mail. Three lines stand out:

I'm in the abu dhabi airport right now connecting to Cochin. There's this huge room which serves as the main lounge in this terminal - it feels like I'm inside a giant soccer ball.

Sent from my iPhone

-T played soccer at Stuyvesant High School.

we are all broke

-British Journalist, responding to my complaint about international travel during a recession.

I don't have able to study because I am very poor

-Cambodian Tuk-tuk driver for whom i've been doing business development.

Moving on at the Movies

Saw the new Pixar film "UP" in a Georgetown theater (Washington, D.C.)  As with most Pixar productions, it was excellent and suprisingly moving. It explores loss (death and other), escapism, and adventure.  Early on, there is a brilliant montage in the film that expresses enormous emotional connection without words- really strong filmmaking. 

The film spoke to me deeply, I'm looking forward to taking flight in thirteen days. 

Beginnings

I left my job yesterday, by choice. It was and is a new experience. 

It's a slightly confusing feeling to not have to answer e-mails. I went to sleep at 12:40am, earlier than usual.  I slept terribly, and dreamt that my blackberry was missing. Someone in the dream pointed out that it was probably next to me on the bed. It was.

I woke up this morning at 8:08 Am, which is earlier than I would wake up for work, if I had the choice. 

Being free is confusing. I have all this time. 

Bloody Mary is the Girl I love

After my first day back in the NY office, I left work early to see South Pacific on Broadway (at Lincoln Center). It's one of my favorite shows, with short catchy songs and a smart fixation on interracial dynamics in the 1940's.

The show deals with many "ex-pat" questions that westerners living in Cambodia deal with:

Could move here permanently? How invested am I in my sense of home as the familiar place of upbringing? If I get involved with a local or foreigner, can I really see myself building a life with them? What's at stake for getting involved romantically for a local versus for an expat?

The male lead who played Emil de Beck, a french planter, had a deep, rich, voice. I cried when he sang "this nearly was mine. "

During the intermission, I ran into a guy I went to summer camp with, who I hadn't seen in at least ten years.

A strange juxtaposition: missing the foreign and enjoying the long-lost familiar.

A lotta countries: my first conversation back

Touched down tonight in Newark at roughly 7:30pm, was out of customs by 7:45 after a very brief interrogation by middle-aged blond passport officer.

her (reading my entry card): UK, Sweden, Cam-what?, that's a lotta countries, whaddya do that you're traveling so much?

Me: I'm an NGO-er.

her: huh?

me: ya know, non-governmental organization, non-profit... we use computers to help break the cycle of poverty in Southeast Asia.

her: oh, sure. Why not break the cycle of poverty here?

me: Yeah, that's on our list of things to do. We figure start with the poorest people first, $50 a month makes a very big deal in these people's lives.

her: Okay, keep it up. Welcome back.

At customs, they asked me if I was bringing back any meat and then scanned only one of my bags (of four). It's the first time i've seen the US government do post-arrival luggage scanning.

Three Days Later

A brief look on my itinerary of the past three days:

Saturday Morning: Breakfast in Yangon. Flight from Yangon to Bangkok.

Saturday Afternoon: Seven-hour lay-over in the Bangkok Airport. Flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh.

Saturday Evening: Arrival in Phnom Penh at 8pm, at a party on the riverside by 10, a concert by 11:30, and post-concert drinks from 1-4ish.

Sunday Morning: Packing from 4-8am. Flight from Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), transit into city, checked into a dive hotel in near "Sentral Stration," long dinner from 7-11:30pm with Mr. A-Z, a clever and deeply analytical Malaysian telecom executive (we got to be friends in early 2008 in Phnom Penh). Asleep around midnight.

Monday Morning: Wake-up at 5am, transit to KL airport. "All I ask of you" from Phantom of the Opera is playing on the airtrain, which I find deeply moving, bringing tears.

Flight from KL to Stockholm, 9:15am. 11 hour flight, the plane is almost half empty and I stretch out over a whole row. I watch Ghost Town (of interest), Wall E (wonderful, a good re-watch), Hellboy 2 (poor writing, great imagery). We arrive at Arlanda at 2:30pm. The sun is setting, and it is dark by 3pm. I make the mistake of not spending the remaining 300 kronor from November's stop here.

Flight from Stockholm to Newark, 8 hours. I watch Fred Claus and eat 3 Swedish shrimp salad sandwiches, and get another row to myself.

Three days, three cities, six airports.

Ghosts in Bangkok

I'm in the Bangkok airport waiting for my flight to Yangon. The airport is a ghost town, operating at half of usual capacity. The staff are tense, and nervous, completely on edge. The atmosphere is post-traumatic: as if at any point they expect another demonstration from the PAD with violence and trouble. My flight from Phnom Penh was delayed three hours, which suited me fine: they paid for lunch and I ended up hanging out with a world banker who is part of a new governance project in Cambodia. Smart British engineer, has been around the block in Asia for 30+ years.

After an easy flight, I got here and spent the next hour complaining about awful service and asking for a voucher or upgrade. They told me that they are consider upgrading my next flight (to Burma). Unsatisfied, and then I sucessfully argued my way into an hour using the internet in the business lounge, after a long empassioned speech about service levels and customer satisfaction.

I am tempted to raid the buffet, but I sense that they might arrest me.

Off to Myanmar....

I'm off. 

After submitting an application on Tuesday in Vientiane (Laos) I was granted a visa to visit the Union of Myanmar on thursday. 

I returned to Phnom Penh on friday morning on a quick and painless Vietnam Airlines flight, sitting next to a Laotian/Khmer-American couple from Seattle.  I spent the afternoon at the office tying up loose ends. 

I'll fly out of Phnom Penh this morning, stop in Bangkok (what does one do in the Bangkok Airport for 6 hours?), and arrive in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) in the early evening.