March 2008 Archives

Long Beach is home to a very large Cambodian population. In April they will celebrate the New Year, the year of the Rat.  Throughout the month there will be various festivities, including a parade on April 6th.

I suppose that I will go see what's happening.  I think that I've forgotten every Khmer word I ever learned, with the exception of the numbers.  I remember all of the other languages I've learned.  Khmer just seems to be wiped from my memory, automatically archived into secret files I cannot access. I don't know if I'll ever be able to retrieve the information.

At least I have something to do next weekend.

The City of Long Beach is being transformed into a race course to accommodate the hugely successful annual Toyota Grand Prix event to be held in April .  I was so disappointed to see huge cement blocks topped off by metal fences a few weeks ago.  The city has to look ugly for 2 months for just 3 days of events.  Apparently, the local businesses earn a lot of money during those 3 days.  Unfortunately, those of us who live downtown have to suffer through the ugliness for months. 

The link to the race is: http://www.gplb.com/

Of course, if friends want to enjoy the entertainment, I'm here.

As I mentioned, I am very motivated to go to South America to live and work; therefore, I applied for a job that is exactly what I've been studying for and working towards.  It's a programs manager for a museum that revitalizes traditional weaving techniques in the indigenous populations in southeast Peru, high up in the mountains at over 5,000 meters altitude.

I had a telephone interview the day before yesterday.  Later I received an e-mail that they really liked me and would like to talk with me again.  I hope it will work out.  I'll finally be able to use my new degree in Apparel Manufacturing Management from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.  That would be great!

 

When I was a kid, around 11 or 12, I saw a children's television show that talked about penpals.  They wanted kids from around the world to write in to get a penpal.  I managed to get them from Malaysia and Trinidad and Tobago.  Over the years, we lost contact.  However, when I was about 14 there was one kid who started to write to me from Germany.  He didn't tell me how he got my address but said he wanted to write to an American who was about his age.

So I started corresponding with Jurgen from Herzogenaurach.  He has always lived in the same town, which makes keeping in contact much easier.  I've moved many times, having lived on 3 continents.  At least now we have the internet and can keep the same e-mail addresses.

A few years ago Jurgen called me and I finally asked him how he got my address.  Apparently, he had met my father, who was stationed in Germany with the Army at the time, in an area of town where a lot of the GIs would hang out.  Jurgen talked to my father and ended up getting my address.  That was one of the nicest things my father has ever done for me.

Over the years... and decades... we have been close enough geographically to have visited but somehow always missed out.  I lived in France for over two years but didn't get to visit.  He visited Thailand while I was living in Cambodia but we didn't see each other.   Maybe another time.   But we still write.

Jurgen sends me photos of himself on his various adventures, more often than I send him ones of me.  Here he is in Athens, Greece.

 

Thankfully, Los Angeles is full of excellent restaurants, cafes and bakeries.  Anne Maria and I seem to take solace in them.  On a dreary day at work - everyday - we try new restaurants that Anne Maria finds in the various websites, newspapers and magazines she reads.  The best part of any workday is deciding where to eat then going on the gourmet adventure. 

Last week we escaped the office and ate lunch at a delicious French crepe restaurant.  I forget the name but still remember the wonderful taste of the spinach and goat cheese crepe.  Afterward we indulged in Pinkberry yogurt next door.  Pinkberry cannot actually call its products yogurt.  According to the yogurt association, their product is  a yogurt-like substance.  Apparently, the process of making the yogurt does not conform with the association's standards.  We think Pinkberry's delicious.

Here's Anne Maria posing for the paparazza.