Donostia-San Sebastián

Journied last weekend to Donostia-San Sebastián in the Basque Country of Spain. I went to school there for 8 months in 1990-91, and have had the pleasure of returning half a dozen times since then. Recently it has become a yearly affair. This year it will probably be about three times, because I'm planning a company event there! Last week I went with a colleague to prepare the way, investigating the hotel facilities and the dining and excursion sites we'll take our customers to. It was a blast. The hotel is fabulous. I never even dared to walk into it when I was a student, so it always gives me a satisfied feeling to stay there. So imagine how I feel about renting the whole bloody thing out for a week! :-)

John Paul II - "Gay Marriage Evil"

In case you wonder why it is that I can't get all too excited about the pope's death, see this clip from a recently published magazine...

The man obviously did a lot of good in the world to incite as much love as the world is expressing right now. But not being Catholic, poor, Polish, African or South American, there's not much reason for me to respect him considering statements like the one above. For him to say that my relationship with my partner is any less deserving of respect and recognition by the government or the church (which I realize are two different questions entirely) is patently rediculous. Where is the respect for life here? Where is compassion for others? Where is "The greatest of these [commandments] is love"? Instead he's declaring war on me and my kind by actively using the power of the church to influence government policy making. What ever happened to the separation of church and state (in the U.S. at least)? Welcome to the newly founded Theocratic States of America, in so small measure with help from His Holiness.

So I mourn the passing of the pope as a human being who did some good and some evil in the world. Pretty much like any other human being, I guess. I'll work on trying to show more acceptance and compassion for him than he showed for me. But it's proving hard.

Surreal Showgirl Weekend

Kylie was everything we'd hoped for and more! She put on an amazing show for more than two hours with everything you'd expect from her. The costumes and the stage were magical, and the dancers were attractive and energetic. But for some strange reason the men seemed to be on stage twice as much as the women. Hmmm... wonder why that is. Bumped into a current colleague (there with his girlfriend; she was both cute, smart and charming - we spoke Japanese together!) and an old colleague from about five years ago who I'd not seen since (part of the majority gay contingent at the show!). The audience was mostly gay men and 20/30-something women. The few straight guys there appear to have been dragged their against their will. :-)



Our other major activity during the weekend (besides the breakfast buffet at the Westin and dim sum) was to go to the Dalí exposition as mentioned below. It was far different from what I'd expected. First of all, the space at the Boijmans van Beuningen (BvB) is gorgeous. Not completely unlike the large gallery at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, though I'd venture to guess that the BvB is larger. What was unexpected about the exposition is that it wasn't just a collection of unrelated works. It was a study of Dalí's forets into the popular culture of his time through film, theater, fashion, commercials, photography, etc. Though mostly remembered for his surreal paintings of melting clocks and the like, he also collaborated with greats like Walt Disney, Luís Buñuel, and Federico García Lorca to create stunning surreal visual fantasies, whether on stage of on celluloid. Very much worth the €12 entrance fee. See http://www.alldali.org/ENG/ENG_index.php for more info.

Miss Minogue on the Maas

Off this weekend with W. to Rotterdam to see Miss Kylie Minogue's new Showgirl concert in the Ahoy! We're both big fans and have been for 15-20 years! We'll be staying in the Westin Hotel (compliments of Starwood to thank me for the 50 nights I spent with them last year). We'll probably go shopping and see the Dalí exhibition at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen as well (they've got over 400 of his works on display, but what is it with international museum names that nobody but the locals can pronounce?). Will be nice to get out of town together for a few relaxing days, as it's been three months since we last did that.

Kylie's personal message especially for us:

"Showgirl is not only a celebration of pop songs and my career, but of a long time relationship with my audience. This is my way to say thank you and to share some of the most important moments of my journey so far, a trip down memory lane. It's been so much fun putting the show together. The set list was the starting point and the biggest challenge was to represent my finest records and also my personal favourites. The show has taken just under a year to design and build, but it has been a lifetime in the making. I hope you enjoy this special evening!"

RuBlog

Another blogster you should all immediately bow down to and worship is the indominable Miss RuPaul. For those of you who might not know him, he's a fabulous African-American drag queen/supermodel/singer who came out of the Atlanta (then New York) gay scene in the 80's and made a name for himself in mainstream culture with the dance hit Supermodel in the early 90's. He has been blogging the truth since November 2001 and has chronicled the ups and downs of his trip of self-discovery following his meteoric fall from power and subsequent journey back into the showbiz scene with his new album, Red Hot (which is COMPLETELY fabulous, hysterically funny and very well-written and must be bought by clicking on the album cover!), and daily New York radio show.

Props to you girl for always keeping it real and
congrats on your Billboard Number 1 Dance Breakout hit, Workout!

Justin's Life - Blog Before Blogs

In the last several years, the word BLOG has raged into global consciousness as if the concept had never existed before. But it did.

Long before the guy in Iraq, there was a young gay southern kid named Justin Clouse (right) who started his blog more than 10 years ago (though he just called it a journal)! Struggling with his life, relationships and college (as we all did), he started keeping an online journal that eventually turned into http://www.justinslife.com/. Though he stopped in order to focus on his life in the real world a few years ago, he was one of the pioneers of blogging. And what he did back then is not at all different from what’s happening today. Simply a normal, everyday guy sharing his thoughts and feelings (and obsession with red heads!) with the world.

Don’t know where he is or what he’s up to these days, but hats off to him for being an early and gutsy blog pioneer!

A collage of significant events/people/places in my life. Doesn't include family and loved ones to protect the innocent. Perhpas I'll do that another time! 

Reality TV, the Human Psyche & Politics

I am so addicted to reality TV that it's not funny anymore.

• Survivor
• American Idol
• Pop Idol (UK)
• The Apprentice (U.K. & U.S)
• Extreme Makeover (with my old college friend Sam!)
• Extreme Makeover Home Edition
• Fame Academy (BBC)
• Etc. etc. etc.

Out of control. If I try to analyze why I like these shows so much, several things come to mind. You tend to get to know the characters - real people and not actors - really well over time and see their struggle to change their lives for the better, which is something I think we all aspire to. In some cases, you get to see people wrestle with very real personal demons, and involved in relationship with others. And of course I think we all get off most on the conflict that's created (the "Simon Cowell Effect"). Why else would anyone have ever watched Jerry Springer?

Has our way of living our lives and expressing ourselves become so "civilized" (read: sterile), that we are all subconsciously longing for some passionate and honest expression? Especially in the American society I come from, I think there's high value placed on the ability to avoid conflict. And I think that's so unnatural that we're starting to see it start to burst out at the seems because of it being too confined. Political discourse is becoming increasingly vitriolic and uncivilized, despite the fact that it's perfectly possible to passionately express one's opinion and disagreement without being mean about it. And worse yet, American's are responding to Islamic fanaticism with their own brand of right-wing Christian nationalist fanaticism. Like that's going to solve anything! But I digress...

With our small little unexciting lives of going to and from work, dropping the kids off at soccer and paying our bills, I think Reality TV has become the new way to live more exciting lives vicariously through others. Perhaps instead we should direct our energy at actually HAVING exciting and adventurous lives instead of having to witness them by proxy on TV.

Terri Schiavo & the Christian Right

Is it just me or does anyone from the Christian Right in the U.S. actually have a job? The amount of effort they're putting into trying to save this poor woman from continuing to live her miserable "existence" is astounding. Granted, the polls show they are only a vocal minority in the U.S. (which apparently hasn't gone completely mad as I'd feared after last November). It would be one thing if she were completely paralyzed and still had higher brain function, but the scans show a complete atrophy of her cerebral tissue (which has been replaced with cerebro-spinal fluid), with only basic autonomic brain functions remaining. Who in their right mind would want to live that way? It's just plain SELFISH on the part of her parents to want to keep her alive in order to feed their deluded sense of hope. I hope both she and her parents can find peace soon.

What astounds me even more is the U.S. and Florida governments thinking they have the right to fiddle with in the private and excruciatingly difficult decisions made between a husband and wife! That's not exactly what I call the Republican ideal of "small government".

I'm especially vexed by the amount of effort they (government = Christian Right) put into saving the life of someone who's already half-dead in the name of "the sanctity of life" when they put an equal amount of energy into making the life of gays and lesbians a living hell. Their war cry is "God decides when we're born, and He decides when we die!". George Bush apparently has an exemption from this rule, as he sends thousands of soldiers off to an untimely demise and condemns hundreds of thousands of civilians to needless deaths.

Instead of focusing their energy on the half-dead and the unborn, why don't these idiots open their eyes and see the real suffering of the living, breathing human beings around them (much of which they are directly responsible for!).

First Entry

I'm reading a book called The Little, Brown Handbook by Fowler & Aaron, a book about not only writing rules but the writing process. As my new job entails a fair amount of writing, and I'm one of the few native English speakers in my department, I feel the obligation to become not only the resident expert but also a teacher to my other colleagues (which I love doing anyway). I've just begun reading, and the first exercise in the book suggests keeping a journal about the writing experience. It made me realize that I don't actually practice writing enough outside of the stuff I do at work, which I inevitably have to produce under a tight deadline and never have the time to actually think about. Reading about the writing process made me realize that I needed some practice, and it occurred to me that a blog would be a good place to practice; to do different types of writing without being under the pressure of a deadline and other constraints on subject, tone, length, etc. So here I am writing my first post.

Another reason to be doing this is purely therapeutic. My life is complex, especially my relationships, and I think this would be a good way to blow of some steam now and again and help me sort out my thoughts. And if I can help/entertain someone else in the meantime, then even better.

Cheeky Christo

Dutch Citizenship

Well, as we say in Dutch, "Het is zover." Essentially means "It's a done deal." I'm Dutch. After living here for seven and a half years and navigating a sea of (relatively reasonable) bureaucracy for almost two years, I received a rather boring letter two weeks ago that Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of Orange has made me one of her subjects by royal decree. But don't think I'm anyone special... this is just how it works in Holland. I picked up my new National Identity Card (above) two hours ago from City Hall. Believe it or not, this is the closest I've gotten to any kind of "ritual" associated with my new nationality. The Dutch are decidedly businesslike 'when it comes to conferring Dutchness on foreigners. No pomp and circumstance. "Just be happy you made it through all the paperwork" seems to be the message. Not like the "swearing in" ceremonies you have in the U.S. Perhaps a bit overdramatic, but at least it's a special occasion.

But don't think the fun's over yet. Now comes the tough part. Right now, I'm still temporarily a U.S. citizen. But to get my Dutch citizenship, I had to promise I would give up my U.S. citizenship. The Dutch are not fond of dual nationality, and only allow it in a limited number of cases (most commonly if you marry and Dutch person or if your country doesn't allow you to give up your citizenship - like Morocco). I didn't qualify for any of the exception categories, so in the end, I signed the paper agreeing to let go of my American passport. 9/10ths of the letter I got conferring Dutch nationality was about the procedure I have to follow in order to prove that I've given up my U.S. citizenship. I have three months from the date of the letter to do so, and if I don't, I risk having my Dutch citizenship revoked. I've heard mixed stories about what people actually do in this circumstance. Many people simply fail to ever do so, and have never had any problems with it. But recent conflicts in the country with dual citizens of foreign origin are leading the authorities to crack down, so I'll probably have to march into the U.S. consulate and renounce my U.S. citizenship soon.

To many that may seem like a big deal. To me, it's more of a recognition of a reality. I live here, I love here, I work here. It's become my home. Though I'm deeply concerned about the future of my birth country and the horrible direction I believe it is currently taking, giving up my citizenship isn't really a political statement. I'm proud of where I come from, even if I think the current conservative trend in American politics is returning the country to McCarthyism. I can still visit the U.S. for months at a time without a visa, but I just can't live or work there without jumping through the same hoops that any other foreigner would have to. And the truth is that I can't imagine wanting to live in the U.S. again after having such a wonderful taste of what it's like to live so close to the rest of the world. I'm much more happy working in a company with people from 30 different countries. I'm much more happy being able to hop on a plane for 90 minutes and be in any one of a dozen different completely different countries and cultures where I've never been before. And yes, I'm much more happy knowing that when the time is right, I can marry the man I love, and this country will recognize and respect that relationship without prejudice to my sexual orientation. And I will get the same benefits for my tax payments that heterosexual married couples do.

So for those of you who might think, "How could you give up your American citizenship," I would say that it's because my life is much better here than it ever was in the U.S. I have more opportunity and more respect here than in the place I grew up. The only things I miss are my family and Denny's.

Hermanus, South Africa

On a business trip to Johannesburg, South Africa - one of my favorite places on earth - I took a little detour for the first time and flew down to the Western Cape for the weekend. I stayed at the Western Cape Resort & Spa, a member of the Sheraton/Luxury Collection chain and managed by the German company Arabella. It was in an idyllic nature reserve - the Bot River Lagoon area - and was about an hour east of Cape Town. It's about five years old, I'm told, and it is a vision of luxury. The architecture is neatly fit into the landscape, and the suites are large and generously appointed. I had a lounge, a walk-in closet, a bedroom, a huge bathroom with a bathtub next to the window overlooking the lagoon (with a TV!), and a huge balcony running the length of the room. I spent a whole day enjoying the spa and it's services (massage and facial!), and spent the next day running around the Hermanus area, seeing the Southern Right Wales, and seals, the tortoises, penguins and beautiful flora - including the national flower: the protea.


I was knackered after many long months of traveling, so this represented the "home stretch", as I now get to stay home for a while, which I'm overjoyed about! I can't wait to go back and spend more time in this beautiful area with its charming and courteous people and amazing landscapes. Tot siens!

Whooping Cough Update

Well, it's almost a month later, and guess what: still have it. Not as bad as it was before. I don't choke, but rapid changes in air temperature still trigger a lesser fit, and I usually have a few bouts in the morning, but it's only a few times a day, and the severity is much less, thank goodness. I had a cold last week, and the runny nose made it worse, because of the post-nasal drip. Not a good combination. I still cough so hard I invariably get teary eyes. People still think I'm dying and expect me to answer their concerned questions immediately following a fit, which is of course completely impossible, as it takes me about a minute to recover my speaking ability.

But it's nothing compared to what I had before. I would never wish this on anyone I know, love or even hate. So avoid it at all costs, get your kids immunized, and take a booster if/when it becomes available on the market!

Urumqi - Where East Meets Middle East

My company holds annual meetings of all its customers; globally, but with a special meeting for our customers in China. China can be a bit of a world onto itself, so their needs and concerns are significantly different than our other customers'. This year's meeting took place this week in Urumqi (oo-roo-moo-chee), in the extreme north-western Xinjiang province. This is my fourth city in China (after Beijing, Shanghai and Kunming) over the last three years, and by far the most unique one I've seen so far.

Instead of Chinese temples, the skyline is littered with the minarets of the Islamic mosques that fill the city. A city of contrasts (with endless rows of decaying post-revolutionary brick barracks next to ultra-modern new buildings and shopping centres), Urumqi has reminders everywhere of its role as a pivotal point in the "silk road". Unlike Beijing, where road signs are in Mandarin and English, here they're mostly in Mandarin and Arabic. 70% of the current population is of Han (eastern Chinese) origin. The 30% of the native population that remains (after massive troop migration by the Beijing government radically Han-ified the population) wears middle-eastern skull caps, is Muslim, speaks Arabic and continues to practice their traditional culture. So the area is a bizarre mix of slightly chilled-out Beijing culture and culture you would expect to find in any Kasbah in Marrakech, Cairo or Beirut. And you see both faces you would expect to see in Beijing as well as other faces you could easily come across in Iran, Marocco or Spain. The local music and dancing has a lot in common with other Arabic cultures as well (including women belly-dancing with snakes).

After completing our business, we took off in two tour buses into the mountains surrounding the city for an all-day trek through the desert. Once we left the city with its prolific sprinkler systems (a la Phoenix), it was clear that we were actually in the middle of an extraordinarily arid region. We then entered the Turfan Depression or Turpan Pendi, and that all changed. It is the lowest point in China-at its deepest it measures 154 m (505 ft) below sea level-and is the second-lowest place on Earth after the Dead Sea. It is part of an enclosed oasis, the main town of which is Turfan. The fertile land is farmed intensively; crops include cotton, silk, wheat, nuts, melons, and grapes-the region's wine is famous in China. The basin is irrigated both by natural springs and a series of ingenious man-made, underground tunnels that channel groundwater down from the mountains, and is filled with vineyards. Despite the mere 1 inch of rain they get per year, they are famous for their fruit production. The hills are filled with clay brick structures that are used only the dry grapes and turn them into raisins. The local markets are full of dozens of kinds of raisins, beautifully spread out across large tables (with free tasting!). I picked up 1 ½ kilo for about €4 (probably got robbed, but who cares). Our local customer presented us and our other customers with large boxes of grapes, apples and melons as a gift (which I unfortunately had to donate to hotel staff). To summarize, it's amazing that these people have successfully carved out a lifestyle for themselves under extreme conditions (besides the sparse rainfall, the temperature in the region varies between 5c and 40c from season to season). Yet another example of the triumph of the human spirit.

After tasting every kind of raisin in existence and stopping for a rest (sitting without shoes on raised carpeted platforms around a table), we then visited the historic 2000-year old ruins of the Uygur city Gaochang that included a 20-minute long bumpy donkey-cart ride to get there. This was one of the earliest meeting points for Islam, Christianity and Buddhism at one point and also combines elements of Indian and Persian cultures, as it was a stop on the Silk Route across Asia. It was a sprawling walled complex built of mud and straw bricks in the middle of the desert, and was quite impressive. The donkey jockey kept alternating his encouragement between the Chinese "Chu-a, Chua-a!" and the Ricky Martin lyrics "Go go go, aller aller aller!" from the 2002 World Cup theme song. Thank God there were a few shoe-shine boys working at the departure point so I could get the thick layer of fine dust off my black leather shoes. Price: 20 cents.

After a 12-hour day on the bus (where the narration was all in Chinese and the Sales V.P. and I sat in the back of the bus and slept most of the ride), we came back to town for a dinner show at the Urumqi World Bazaar. This appears to be a hugely popular phenomenon in every region of China, and allows Chinese tourists to feel like they "know" the minority culture of a region by virtue of having seen a singing and dancing characterization of it on stage over a regional meal. But it's a very "Hollywood" version of a much more complex reality. And of course downstairs there were the requisite shopping opportunities, where they essentially sell the same tourist crap available all over China. I did manage to find a few marble vases to add to my collection (bringing the total this trip to 10!).

So another beautiful and unique region added to my list of travel destinations. Now I've got to get back to finishing my Turfan grapes before heading back to Beijing this afternoon, and home on Sunday. By the way, there's a nasty travel irony here. I am half-way home from Beijing already, but I first have to fly 3 ½ hours to the east before I can fly back to Europe because there are no direct flights from here to anywhere outside China.

Portions taken from Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

My Introduction to Poland

As often is the case with my job, I didn't find out I would be traveling to Poland until a few days ahead of time. Sometimes these trips are the most interesting; the ones where there is no chance to study or build up any expectations ahead of time. You just get plopped down in the middle of a country and there you are. I had never exactly dreamed of coming here before, but now that I'm here, I thought I would share some first impressions. Granted, the trip from Berlin to Zielona Gora (Green Mountain) and my 24 hours of exposure to Polish hotels and my business partners here don't exactly qualify me as an expert, but thought you might like to hear my thoughts anyway.

Living in Holland, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, the first thing that strikes you when driving through the western Polish countryside is large amount of open land. Forests with tall thin pines, and prairies with what looks like little other than grass. The kind of countryside where you'd want to build a log cabin and retire to! Passed one turkey farm (it appears to be a popular meat on the hotel menu as well), and lots of picturesque little villages that are in various states of disrepair, but look to be quite proud nevertheless.

The Polish language itself is sort of halfway between Russian and German, with lots of recognizable roots hidden among all the c's, z's and k''s. And quite unpronounceable for me. :-)

The road from Berlin to Zielona Gora is highway up to the German border, and little more than a two-lane country road in Poland (in reasonable but not fantastic condition). The town of Zielona Gora is not known for much other than its wine festival, and even that is on the decline, because the climate is changing and the grapes no longer like to grow here. They are quite proud of the new business hotel in town, which is small but offers modern and clean conveniences. We ate a tasty and reasonably priced meal in the hotel last night (fresh green pea soup and venison and mushroom stew), and the breakfast buffet this morning was filled with small local delights and was quite nice.

My business partners here appear to work long hours and have a strong work ethic, but like China, the level of organization and management seems to be less than one would expect in a major international company... things are a bit chaotic. Might just be this company, though. :-) They are excellent hosts, though, and very hospitable. They serve tea and coffee out of proper and lovely Polish china. :-)

Polish people appear humble, hard working, friendly, and curious. As a society that had been under oppressive rule for many decades, I can understand the sort of enthusiastic but cautious approach to the outside world. There seem to be only a few international companies in this part of Poland (Shell and Tesco are the two I noticed... both British or Dutch). Between communism, catholicism, and being relatively rural, the people appear to be very sober by nature. My colleague and I will see tonight if we can find any excitement happening in town.

So that's my superficial first impression of the country. Still quite virgin (nothing like over-developed Germany or Holland), hospitable, friendly, and still trying to transition from communism to their new status as a full member of the European Union.

Whooping Cough

After a short cold, I mysteriously started having coughing fits that would last for minutes at a time, followed by an inability to breath and nausea. The medical profession failed to correctly diagnose him, but he got on the internet and found the surprising diagnosis... Pertussis, otherwise known as Whooping Cough.

I could hardly believe it. The doctor's (three of them) all wrote it off as a virus. But I can't blame them too much, because unless you are around to hear the painful and exhausting coughing fits a whooping cough patient has, then it's hard to come up with this diagnosis. They refused to give me antibiotics (Dutch doctors would rather prescribe codeine than something that would actually help), but it probably would have been too late anyway. The actual disease sticks around for only a short time. But the damage it leaves behind is what causes the real problem and can last for months. In Chinese it's called the "100 Days Cough".

What is whooping cough? It's caused by a bacteria and you become infected by breathing in the airborne droplets of someone else who's infectious. Known mostly as a childhood disease (a falsehood), and thought to have been mostly knocked out by aggressive worldwide vaccination programs (wrong again), it's actually on the rise, and appears to engender local epidemics once ever 3-5 years. Indeed, shortly after I found out I had it, the front page of the newspaper announced there was an epidemic in The Netherlands. I'll never know where I got it, but I suspect it was at my neighbors' wedding where numerous small children were in attendance. Many parents in Holland have stopped vaccinating their children this year because there were reports that the vaccinations were either dangerous or ineffective. It's thanks to them that I got this. In children it can be deadly. In adults it's mostly just a very scary pain in the ass.

Now almost two months along, I've stopped taking codeine and am down to only several fits per day. I've managed to avoid the broken ribs some patients get from the violent coughing, but I have a perpetually sore throat no matter what I do. Otherwise I feel perfectly fine and have worked throughout the entire period.

So how do you survive this disease? There's really nothing you can do other than take a cough suppressant in the severest phase. Nevertheless, I seem to have developed somewhat of an ability to relax when I'm having a fit and stop it before it gets too bad. I usually put my palm to my chest (reflex action) and just relax. A curious side effect of this technique is that I invariably have a single sneeze every time I do this. Have yet to figure out why.

Inspection Time!

Today we had the technical inspection of the new house we bought. Everything went great. We also took tons of pictures of the interior and are looking forward to clearing the last two most important hurdles before moving... getting the mortgage (sorry, kids, it takes a while to get things done around here!) and selling our current house.

Wilbert snapped the following picture of me today. I'm starting to look a lot like my dad... sort of scary! :-)

Shingles Picture - Warning - Not attractive!

Scroll down to view at your own risk...

Maizpide Euskaltegia - The Basque boarding school I went to second semester.