Home Sick

I hate having to write a bummer entry, but I guess I gotta be honest when portraying the life of the dancing nomad. So as the title states - I'm homesick. My karate instructor back home e-mailed me today to tell me about a mutual friend's baby, and how he's going for his 4th degree black belt. It got me thinking of all my friends back home who I miss very much, and karate. Back home if I had nothing else I always had karate. Now I just realized I have no hobby here in Holland!!! I have yet to find a martial-arts school to stick with, and I can hardly call traveling a hobby when I can't do it on a regular basis (once a month doesn't quite cut it). It hadn't bothered me up until now because things had been quite fun regardless. Recently though, things have been shaken up a bit and I feel like I have to find my place here all over again. I am still meeting new people and am hopeful of all being well again since I've done the moving thing so many times. For the moment though, I miss all of my friends and family back in the U.S., in Japan, and everywhere else. I've also got it in my head now to start practicing karate again. Maybe I'll just stick to my old style and go for my 2nd degree some day. I can't really think of any other hobby I'd like to take up. Snowboarding and hiking is no good since Holland has no mountains. Or maybe I'll take up dance lessons so I can be a professional dancing nomad :)

Book Review: The Alchemist

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is about a boy who travels to follow his dreams. He learns a lot while in pursuit of his dreams and has the kind of experiences he never even dreamt of. Along the way though, he also faced many challenges which discouraged him and at times made him give up. Yet, something always turns him around and he eventually succeeds in his quest.

A phrase often repeated in the book is that when a man is in pursuit of his dreams, the universe will conspire to help him. This was very encouraging for me. My theory is that there are two types of people - ones who are always content with what they have, and ones who are perpetually pursuing their dream. I've always been the second type, constantly seeking for something new and exciting and better. At times, I wonder why I couldn't just be content with what I have. It is not a bad philosophy to live by. Afterall, if you never want anything, you can never be disappointed. However, if you never expect anything, you also get nothing. And the world has so much to offer! It's not just about traveling either. It's about meeting people and developing relationships, new challenges in your career, or perhaps just a better life at home. I do have a dream, although it's a secret, and I have been in pursuit of it for as long as I can remember. I do admit there are tough times, but I think there are tough times for everyone, regardless of whether you are the first type, or the second type. I have on many occasions thought about giving up, or settling for something else. This book has inspired me to continue in search of my dreams, meanwhile, enjoying the journey along the way. The hope of achieving my goal helps to keep me going. Maybe once I've reached it, I'll be that type 1 person I always envy. Oh yeah, the book - absolutely recommended. It's short and easy-reading, so no excuses! :)

Book Review: Freakanomics

Freakanomics is a book by Stephen J. Dubner based on economic articles by Steven Levitt. Subtitled A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, the book discusses the economics behind why certain things are the way they are. Levitt provides interesting arguments using data for why Sumo wrestlers and school teachers are similar in that both are cheaters, how experts who are meant to help us really help themselves, why it matters more who the parents are as opposed to what they do when it comes to their children's successes, etc. One of the controversial arguments also made, repeatedly, is how legalized abortion played a significant role in reducing crime. I thought it was a plausible theory and if the statistics he used were valid, even better. (Yes, I'm pro-choice.) Anyways, no deep thoughts in this book, but a lot of interesting theory and statistics.

Haugesund, Norway

This entry is a bit late 'cuz I haven't had internet connection at home until now and I didn't want to hang around late at work just so I can blog.

Yeah, so I went to Norway from 12-15 Aug to hang out with a friend who is from Haugesund, which is on the West coast in the fjords. His family owns a cabin there by the sea and a small boat. Fortunately the weather was better there than in Holland (summer is already over here) so we were able to ride around the water on the first day. My friends also did/tried wakeboarding but I had to watch as I did not have a wet suit. What I saw of Norway was really beautiful. I bet there are more beautiful places though, and I've found couple of places I would like to visit next time I am in the country again. One is called the Pulpit and the other is 'Kjeragbolten' - the big rock wedged in between two cliffs (same rock seen in the video of the dancing dude). Both were actually within a few hours of where I was staying! This time around though, we spent too much time drinking and recovering to see much. We did make it to Bergen though on the last full day there. If you ever go there, take the cable car up the highest mountain there for a great view. There are also some trails you can do a bit of walking on (we only did a short one around a lake though).

Pictures here.

How To Piss Off the Dutch

The Dutch people that I've met so far have been pretty nice people, although I still maintain that they are cheap. Yesterday, though, I had a very unpleasant experience of getting yelled at by a Dutch person. And this is not the first time either. In the last 2 or 3 weeks, I got yelled at 3 times by a Dutch person while I was on my bicycle. The first time, I was riding on a sidewalk since I had just come out of my house. I went past a guy that was walking out of his house and I guess he wasn't happy that I nearly ran over him so he yelled something along the line of "garble garble garble fietspad!!!". At another time, this idiot stopped at a corner so I went to go around him to turn on to that street and I guess he was unhappy since he was just about to get going again and I was in his way. So, he yelled at me. Finally, yesterday, I thought I was doing everything right. I was on the bicycle path, or fietspad as they call it, going straight. Then a guy comes from the opposite direction and yells something to the line of "garble garble garble fietspad!!!" The only thing I could possibly think that I was doing wrong was riding on the wrong side of the street. However, some bicycle paths are two-way, and this one had plenty of room for such traffic. I saw no signs to indicate it was a one-way bike path. Unfortunately, since I have no way of verifying these people were being assholes. For all I know, they could have been saying, "Hey! I hope you are having a pleasant day and enjoying your bike ride on our wonderful fietspad!" Highly unlikely, but I restrained from telling them to fuck off. Anyways, if you are going to cycle around in Holland, it's best to learn the rules of the road... which I obviously haven't done yet. (Someone wanna help me out here?) If you do want to piss of the Dutch people though, cycle only on the sidewalks and try to come within inches of every person walking by. Or cycle going only in the wrong direction. Better yet, just set up a road block on their precious fietspad.