Blogs from Asia - page 14706

Aruna’s fight continues. She has been explaing the ‘reservation policy’ to me. Here in India, the cast system is alive and well. It is visible in the way some children won’t play with or hold hands with others and it is visible in the number of unversity palces awarded to students of different backgrounds. Aruna addresses the former in here school simply. Everyone is expected to perform the same rituals as everybody else (normally only a ‘brahmin’ would be allowed to peform the dialy hindy temple rite of ‘puja’) and everyone plays with everyone else. Discrimination within the school is tackled head on by getting the children to reflect on their words and deeds. The government however is dealing with the caste division differently. It has introduced quotas so that universities have to take certain percentages ... read more

So I'm finally at the point where I've only got two weeks left in my course. It's been a really up and down experience, most of the downs were due to my own body however. i know so much more then i really thought that i was ever going to, unfortuantely my knowledge isn't structured very well so it would be very difficult for me to pass it on to anyone else, well in a structured manner at least. I've been teaching local classes for a bit over a month now, they're going really well. My own practice is suffering a bit though. I've discovered a new kind of exhaustion, the kind that allows you to do what you absolutely need to but nothing more then that. If i go to the pool during the day ... read more

What up all.. Im back in Manila for about an hour and I only have few minutes to write this. Im in an internet cafe with a bunch of Manila geeks. All these kids are gaming all around me like a bunch of dorks. Anyway I am about to go on a 9 hour overnight bus ride to see some rice terraces. Today we hiked up a volcano that is still active and blew its top in 1999. That was surreal. The night before we hit up a club and saw a real tight band with some local guys we met in Laguna Province which is just south of Manila. Me and my buddy Dan found some of these guys when we were wandering around lookin for something to do. We bought beer at this little ... read more

Hey everyones, Now I can finally say I am happy, first stressed about moving here, then stressed because of Manza, then because I had to find a job, and then because of this new job. After I stressed about moving, then started liking Tomoko and stressed about hitting a wall. But so far everything ended good pretty nicely for me, and things are getting to be very fine. I have the best job ever, I love my girlfriend more and more everyday, I love living here - still so new to me. also, Im coming to Quebec in two months with Tomoko, we both can't wait to go. So right now my life is very great.. I worked "hard" for this, I mean.. I went to the other side of the planet, leaving everything behind me, ... read more

Returned from Gili to Kuta. Stayed in small hotel directly in Kuta, nice, but no Conrad! Mind, for $23 per night with air, who can complain?! Anyway, I do have a complaint, while there were nice dinners and fun beaching, this is where my trip turned a little dark... I was in a motorcycle accident. It started with a really nice night out with Steph and Sally... we had an excellent meal at Ku De Ta. The place is stunning, really nice. If you get there early enough you can catch the most amazing sunsets! Anyway, most of the pics in this article are from that dinner. The last pic (warning for the squeamish -- yes Lucy, that means you! -- is a pic of the wound on the back of my head....) And with that, ... read more