Home Thoughts From Abroad

I hate the Rolling Stones. I hate their music, and I hate what they stand for: denegerate living and drugs. But there was a time when I loved their music. That was because there was a time when the Stones played blues. The real stuff. Little Red Rooster, King Bee. It didn’t last long, maybe a couple of albums at best, but it was good, clean, honest music. Great for basement bands like ours to copy: simple progressions and dynamite licks.

The Stones moved on, as bands do, but I never lost my love for the Blues, I just migrated to other artists. The great of draw of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton was not their psychedelic heavy metal sound, but their blues roots, leading back to B.B. King and the Chicago blues. The blockbuster hits of those days for blues fans was Big Brother and the Holding Company and Janis Joplin’s Ball and Chain from their Cheap Thrills album and East-West by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, featuring Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop. It was wonderfully powerful and driving stuff.

I’m sure music didn’t entirely die in the 80s. There was Genesis and Pink Floyd and of course Queen. But lyrical and gutsy music music was at at a premuim. For a while I gravitated over to country music, just to see what was going on, and found John Hiatt hiding out there. His 1995 album Walk On was about the only thing I listened to for about five months. It’s as close to a cross between Bob Dylan and B.B. King as you can get. Dust Down a Country Road, and Cry Love stand out on a great album.

Here’s a link to John Hiatt’s Riding with the King, performed by B.B. King, for whom it was written, and his old friend Eric Clapton. This album has been getting me through the long slog of marking exams with a bit of a grin on my old tattered face. I hope it puts a smile on yours.

I made the mistake of going to Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull with some of my younger colleagues. If I hadn’t I might have been able to convince myself that it was half decent. But I did. And I can’t. They laughed at its characters, jeered at its dependence on hokey computer graphics, and scorned its ridiculous plot devices. (He survives a thermo-nuclear device by hiding in fridge?? C’mon man, that thing’d be melted to nothing!) I did my best to turn the conversation to other things. One hates to give up on an old friend.

The cruelest cut of all came from those with a knowledge of what the original shows were about. (Hey, the originals were stories about the supernatural and the mythical, but they never got into science-fiction, did they?) No they didn’t. Yes, this one unfortunately does, and yes, it is weaker because of that. Another betrayal by George Lucas. Ho-hum.

The problem with this franchise is that twenty years have come and gone since the last one. Indy used to be a smart romp through exotic locales, but then Tomb Raider upped the ante on that with backdrops in Cambodia and Africa. Harrison may have been smart and hunky, but Angelina was smart and hot. The series was also known for its CGC, great for its day, but the Matrix series has come and gone and nothing in this show held a candle to that stuff. Indy also had some pretty good live action stunts in its day, but after the Bourne series, they look pretty slow and stodgy as well.

Oddly enough, for an action series, the strength of the original came down to the characters, and not just Ford’s laconic Indiana, but Denholm Eliot’s Marcus Brody, John Rhys-Davies’ Sallah, and of course Sean Connery’s Dr. Jones Sr. None of the current crop are convincing or even interesting. Even the remarkable Cate Blanchett,  seems lost in her black wig-helmet and is unable to project any serious malevolence. Shia Lebeof is a wuss with no presence, and Karen Allen, back as a motherly Marion Ravenwood is game, but lame. Her shots with Harrison Ford are difficult to watch, remembering their former sparkle, and their kiss at the end is actually painful to see.

I’m glad I went. Some things you just have to see. But I’m sorry they did it. I know you’ll see it regardless of my advice to the contrary. But then you’ll wish you hadn’t. Some things are better left in the past.

I have to admit that I am feeling a little chilly!  However, that is all about the change of climate.

I have filled this last ten days with wonderful times with many friends that I have missed so much.  Al and Shelley have made me so welcome and comfortable in their beautiful home.  It is great to be back at West London Alliance for a couple of services and catch up with folks there, even attending a wedding shower for our friends, Ted and Linda’s daughter, Lauren.  A group of women can do a lot of chatting in a few fours at a shower.

Early morning Ladies Prayer  with Deb, Megan and Kim has been a most important and stabilizing factor in my life for a number of years and I felt so happy to be back.  Cyndi and Sheldon’s cell group graciously invited me to join them and I felt so at home with all of them again.

It has taken a couple of morning coffees with Kim – the only person I know who uses a thermometer to make coffee- to even begin to get caught up.  We will have to keep working on that.

Dropped by to chat with Mag at CPRI and I’m looking forward to more time with some friends from there next week.  Hanging out in Chris’s kitchen with her cats is always a good way to put things in perspective. Nice visit with Don and Maria but we will really need to go dancing with them before I feel at home. 

Even got to meet Milan, Sara and Mateo who are new friends but a joy to spend time with.

Still many people to find time to visit but I have made a good start.

Noises Off is a very funny play by Michael Frayne made into a very funny movie starring Micheal Caine, Denholm Eliot, Carol Burnett, and most improbably, Christopher Reeve, who shows with his performance that his unfortunate accident cut short a budding career as a comedian with great facial gesture and impeccable timing.

It is also the first – and probably last – sex farce ever produced in Malaysia. Two of the expats working here, Erin and Mark, have worked tirelessly for six months to get this show to performance level. It opens this Wednesday, and the run was sold out almost immediately.

I had the fun of making the set for this production, no mean feat when the school has no shop, or even a room that could be used for a shop. We had to work in the parking garage in 85 degree weather with lumber that could only be described as curiously bent. It took a month to build (much longer to plan) but it is finally up, and the cast have had the fun of trying it out for a week, slamming all the doors at a furious pace. So far the construction seems to be holding up.

The fun part has been working with the expat team here on this project. They are really a great group of teachers. Mark and Erin have put in an estimated 300 hours to bring this project to fruition, but others have contributed great chunks of their time as well. I am looking forward to opening night to see it all come together. Then we are all going to have a little party and get back to our marking, which has been piling up at an alarming rate!

We are so thankful to live in this period in history when technology has made the world so accessible. 

The flight from Hong Kong was a little gruelling with many long hours trapped in a tiny, uncomfortable seat.  In order to move I had to ask two little, old Chinese folk, with some rather disgusting personal habits, to move.  Just to get to a standing position was no small feat for them and it  involved them repacking several bags of food and old clothing that they were carrying with them,  Clearly they were planning on Canada being very cold and short on food supplies.  They were able to augment their food supplies considerably, compliments of the airline, Fortunately for me, they did have to get up once for the bathroom and I also jumped at the chance.

On the plus side, I saw three movies, two epidodes of My Name is Earl and even got an hour or so of sleep.  Made my connection to London with no problem, Syl was at the airport  to meet me and were home at their place by 9:30.  Dad did shuffle out for a hug but he is very sick and it was shocking to see him looking so poorly.  Finally hit the bed at about 11:00 to spend the next seven hours staring at the ceiling,

Up early to settle dad for the day and headed out on a marathon day.  Picked up tons of mail from the mailing service, purchased a cell phone and had coffee with a couple of friends before heading off to Waterloo to pick up our vehicle.  I am so grateful for our friend Cyndi, who so graciously drove me down and then waited with me for several hours while the dealership resubmitted and the paperwork for yet another credit check, the change of ownership and insurance, this time in my name as originally requested.  It was almost funny because I practically had enough cash in my purse to pay out the lease on the spot but with my limited income, since Steve’s income could not be considered in the equation without his original signature, it wasn’t looking too promising for a while there.

Went skidding into the License Bureau ten minutes before closing and finalized the transfer of ownership and bought new plates.  Back for another hour at the dealership to complete the paperwork and install the plates.  We assumed the lease from a very lovely couple of about our age who were so helpful and waited out the process with me, drove me to get the new plates and saw me safely on my way back home.

By the time I retrieved my suitcases from my brother’s, checked in again on dad and made my way into my beautiful new temporary home (thanks to yet another set of wonderful friends, Al and Shelley) it was 8:30 and I was exhausted and wide awake and raring to go again.  Gave me a chance to unpack, dig out some sweaters from our boxes stored in their basement and get caught up on email.  The memory foam mattress felt great when I finally hit it at 10:30,  Five day forecast for Calgary is promising snow on the weekend and that might be nice!

Well, it is 1:45 a.m. Ontario time(1:45 p.m KL time)  and I am sitting in Hong Kong airport!  I am waiting to board my 17th flight since I left home on April 23/07.

This is a 17 hour flight, non-stop flight to Toronto with a connecting flight two hours later to London.  If all goes well I will be home by 9:30 tonight.  Probably will be feeling a little cramped since I am in a middle seat with strangers on each side of me.  Sure hope they are friendly!

One downside to this way of life is that we always seem to be saying goodbye to someone that we’ll miss and may never see again. In this past year we have met and had the privilege of getting to know a really fine group of people.  Some of the most dedicated teachers you could ever hope to meet are working here in Kuala Lumpur. Some, like us, are staying on for another year, but most are going back to their lives in Ontario.

For the past year they have been our friends, neighbours, co-workers, travelling companions, support network and surrogate family.  We have experienced much that was new together, shared meals and adventures in several different countries, struggled through the frustrations of trying to live in the East, developed curriculum and drama projects, cleaned up the neighbourhood and just had good fun together.  Last night we even went bowling (not my personal favourite!) and then had another fun evening together at Bill and Kim’s apartment celebrating a couple of birthdays and my departure.

Many of them  will be gone before I get back to Malaysia in July.  We know that wherever they go they will take the richness of this experience with them to enrich the lives of others they teach. I will sure miss them but count it a blessing to have known them as friends.

Finally, after almost a month of discussion with our employer, we have a flight plan and tickets in place!  I will be returning to Ontario next Tuesday.  Steve has less than three weeks between semesters so will join me June 14th until we return to KL together on June 30th. 

Quick stopover in Ontario and then I will be flying out to Calgary on Thursday with my sister-in-law, Sylvia.  I am so looking forward to some uninterupted time with her as she is a precious friend and in many ways has enabled us to be here.  With her three teenagers and very busy life, uninterupted time is a real gift.

In my two days in Ontario, i will be picking up a vehicle that we have arranged to lease for the duration of my stay- a van so I can manage the moving of our possessions, which are currently cluttering up a friends basement.  Hopefully this will come in handy to help with Jon and Nic’s move home as well.

I will have five days in Calgary with Dave and Liz!  I last saw them April 23, 2007 and have never seen their new home or met any of their Calgary friends.  It will be awesome.  By the time I get back to Ontario, Nic, Ben and Abi will have made the trek up to Ontario to begin their move home.  I will finally get my hands on Ben and Abi and I can’t wait.

Our condo is currently occupied by Sara and Milan and little Mateo (who was born on Easter), so other wonderful friends have given me the use of their home while I am in London.  Al and Shelley have just accepted a position in Switzerland so they too are roaming the earth and we are so grateful for a Master Planner for all of our lives who looks after details in ways that we could never even begin to fathom.

But the first place I am heading is Tim Horton’s – I am sure there is one at the Toronto airport.