tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226046732011-11-20T07:48:40.250-05:00UnstoppableJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.comBlogger621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-89981308948203723082011-05-15T20:13:00.002-04:002011-05-15T20:17:37.796-04:00

For some beach time this summer, I traveled with some friends for an extended weekend at the beginning of May to the port city of Vinh and spent afternoons at Cua Lo beach. This was one of the most accessible beaches I'd seen in Vietnam, and with beautiful weather at the start of summer, the wide, shallow waters were teeming with children building mud-sand castles, pick-up soccer matches, a

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-49954599923837708712011-05-15T19:52:00.004-04:002011-05-15T20:02:15.298-04:00

As one of my last trips in Vietnam (for a while -- click here for 32 photos), in late April I traveled with a friend to his home province of Thanh Hoa, a flat agricultural province along the north-central coast. The trip was short, but my friend showed me his life and family in that roadside small town. We visited the local morning market, where every saleswoman seemed to be a distant relative,

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-81867523704549233992011-03-29T06:53:00.006-04:002011-03-29T10:42:47.186-04:00

Vietnam's long S-shape is caused partly by the natural boundary of lush mountain ranges along its borders. And although the rates of new development (and deforestation) are rapid in those areas, a number of national parks and biosphere reserves have been set up. For two March weekends, I traveled to two very different parks that the guidebooks hardly mention, but which I can barely stop talking

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-65912683381747904102011-02-17T11:17:00.004-05:002011-02-17T11:33:28.827-05:00

While Vietnamese celebrated the coming of the lunar new year with their families, I traveled to Laos, re-visiting Luang Prabang -- albeit with a Mekong River seasonally lower than my visit in Sept. 2009 -- the Plain of Jars, and the captial, Vientiane. To see a selection of 36 photos, click here.Across my home state of Nebraska, there are hundreds of simple black and silver plaques describing

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-11790524530550716522010-12-27T19:33:00.004-05:002010-12-27T19:42:51.359-05:00

[Click here for all 38 photos]The people of Quan Lan Island don't know how difficult they are to reach. They don't know, that even if Hanoi is only 100 miles away, I still had to take a bus, walk 1.5 miles to an unmarked pier, compete for a seat with two dozen other people on a twice-daily speed boat run, be sure not to get off at the first stop (wrong island), and then take a 10-mile ride in a

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-929954402314702102010-10-17T07:28:00.003-04:002010-10-17T08:21:11.996-04:00

In the middle of the 10 days celebrating Hanoi's 1000th Birthday, there was a tragic fireworks accident during the unloading of the fireworks for the finale that killed several people. This is the only part of celebration that really made international headlines. My heart goes out the families of those killed. I also have mixed feelings about the limited amount of access that citizens of Hanoi

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-86377026641433431702010-08-16T10:15:00.003-04:002010-08-16T11:04:44.647-04:00

When most of us think of the World's Fair, we vaguely remember some story about that's where futuristic technologies --like elevators, or steel girding for skyscrapers -- made their debue, sometimes as fantasies ahead of finding practical applications. But the modern World Expo is a toy box of temporary architecture, a showcase for tourism, history, culture, and some innovations. (Click here for

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-44535760756058044432010-07-24T07:06:00.003-04:002010-07-24T07:21:38.988-04:00

After hearing about the temples of Angkor Wat during my adventures in India, in May I traveled to one of the most well-known temple complexes in the world, near Siem Reap, Cambodia. Built over several decades in and around the 10th Century, the temples were mostly abandoned as the Khmer kingdom declined in the 14th Century, and rediscovered only 500 years later, after annual rainfall and

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-30584443333333618962010-05-19T11:06:00.002-04:002010-05-19T11:19:45.977-04:00

Bac Giang - Quang Ninh - Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba IslandTaking advantage of a three-day weekend, my friend AC and I set out on a motorbike trip that was planned with no other authority than a map book and a bottle of wine. With the simple goals of getting out of town to see green rice fields, mountain forests, craft villages, and the sea, the first day--up through neighboring Bac Ninh and due east

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-34271836982091637252010-03-03T09:45:00.003-05:002010-03-03T09:54:08.352-05:00

Most descriptions of the Lunar New Year in Vietnam ("Tết") try to draw parallels to a rolled-up combination of Western holidays. In all truth, it is a frenzy of preparations and a season of renewal that touches all parts of Vietnamese people's lives--home, office, spirit, family, neighborhood. What that means on the ground, is that the 7-14 days preceding the actual new year (Feb. 14 this year)

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-42962485203319037752010-02-28T08:46:00.007-05:002010-04-06T02:11:20.613-04:00

Because most of Vietnam shuts down for family dinners and drinks all around for the Lunar New Year (aka Tet, aka Chinese New Year), I slipped out of Vietnam on a tour of one of the world's most isolated countries: Burma (also known as Myanmar). We traveled to four main areas - the former capital city of Rangoon (Yangon), the temple-strewn plains of Bagan, Mandalay and its concentration of monks

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-75831089757070345442009-12-14T06:08:00.002-05:002009-12-14T06:30:05.802-05:00

Someone hacked into my Facebook account, started chat sessions with some of my friends, told them that "I" was in London, had been mugged, with no ID, no credit cards, and was in pain at an Internet cafe--could you wire some cash? My friends are not so gullible, and they must think I have a few brain cells left myself (why would John be in London for work, but not ask his workplace for help when

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-79444494485905368872009-11-15T09:30:00.004-05:002009-11-15T09:54:05.178-05:00

Last weekend, a friend and I took a quick trip on a motorbike the the area around the town of Bac Ninh, just north of Hanoi. After coffee in the park for a little planning, we headed to the Ba Chua Kho temple, on a hill just the other side of the railroad tracks. It felt like the whole village, which really formed an arm off of Bac Ninh itself, was waiting for our arrival. Trying to stay

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-34311112783616952842009-11-15T08:53:00.004-05:002009-11-15T09:24:07.413-05:00

I had always pictured kayaking as a sport listed under "adventure sports," and somehow involving aligators, shark cages, and the National Geographic Channel. But on my three-day trip to a sandy island in southern Thailand, I learned that it's just a clever way to get tourists onto canoes without making it sound lame. And it was great! I met up with two friends currently working in Thailand to

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-77974307204538291662009-11-15T08:24:00.006-05:002009-11-15T08:52:05.054-05:00

When I lived in Germany's most fertile neighborhood, I remember seeing children carrying lanterns in early October, and I thought it was just a precursor to Halloween, tamed down for preschoolers. I was later corrected: it was borrowed from the Asian communities living in Berlin. This year, on a warm Sat. night in early October, I got to experience the full Vietnamese version of the Harvest Moon

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-26037392615684536942009-09-13T03:44:00.005-04:002009-09-13T03:55:53.844-04:00

After three nights in Laos, I continued on to Chiang Mai, for some Labor Day fun with friends in northern Thailand. On Saturday, we went whitewater rafting (I only panicked once), and took it easy the rest of the time, catching up, trading work stories, and visiting local sites: the mountaintop temple Doi Suthep, the royal family's getaway--BhuBing Palace and botanical gardens, and the ancient

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-22721141568037242392009-09-12T07:57:00.004-04:002009-09-12T08:04:24.619-04:00

In my first trip to Laos, I went to the city of Luang Prabang, a religious capital of sorts, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and a reprieve from the din of Hanoi's rivers of motorbikes. Click here for photos (about 30). World Heritage status has removed the sleepy veil from this peninsular town on the muddy Mekong and Kham Rivers in central Laos, but has also protected it from highrise concrete

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-58295533623826288192009-07-05T09:36:00.004-04:002009-07-07T10:47:31.313-04:00

A few weeks ago, I joined a group of other ex-pats for a field trip out to the Hanoi University of Agriculture campus for a lesson in all things related to rice in Vietnam. We started with a great presentation (complemented with samples of rice plants at various stages of growth) by a professor. And then, our geeky hunger for Wikipedia-like lists of facts and anecdotes satisfied, we were led out

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-30408506707269999712009-07-05T09:25:00.003-04:002009-07-05T09:36:40.954-04:00

One way I practice Vietnamese is forcing taxicab drivers into small talk which must make any ride with me seem like an eternity. But these guys are one of my main gateways to general cultural education. So, imagine how surprised I was when cab drivers consistently told me that, by arriving in Vietnam, I was one year older.Apparently, because all good things start during lunar new year (Tet)

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-38498734657573801032009-04-19T11:20:00.006-04:002009-04-19T11:42:02.040-04:00

These photos (click here) are a random sampling of my first couple of weeks in Hanoi. I've been lucky to arrive when the nice days of early summer have yet to turn swelteringly hot and humid. I hope the pictures can speak for themselves, but a few comments follow, though as a disclaimer, please remember that my first impressions of a place (or a job, person, trip, etc.) are invariably superficial

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-73534150845343466132009-01-31T19:29:00.004-05:002009-01-31T19:57:26.900-05:00

What a great time to be living in Washington, DC! It's hard to ignore politics working for the government. Living overseas during most of the election, I could control how much coverage of the campaigns I read/heard. But living in Washington, DC was, as one friend put it, like being in the eye of the storm: everywhere else in the country is obsessed, but in the District, which votes more

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-23067281553332759632008-08-17T00:05:00.003-04:002008-08-17T00:36:25.910-04:00

People keep asking me about my favorite place in India. For a country with thousands of years of turbulent history, vibrant culture, magnificent religious sites, and breath-taking natural beauty, there is no one answer.Of the various World Heritage sites I visited during these two years, my favorite trip was to the sites in northern Karnataka--Badami, Patadakkal, Aihole, and my favorite of all,

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-49766091474868512062008-08-16T23:44:00.005-04:002008-08-17T00:04:25.963-04:00

You already know I like cemeteries--they are peaceful public spaces, often in the middle of urban areas, they grant a glimpse into the history of a place in a particularly personal manner, often with religious information, and say a lot about how a place perceives its history.One of my favorite moments in India was when I stumbled upon the Jewish Cemetery in Mumbai, during a visit in June 2007.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-79054218776817642882008-08-16T23:17:00.004-04:002008-08-16T23:43:57.776-04:00

For the last of my self-guided tours of historical Chennai, I chose mansions and churches in May (2008--I know I'm late in posting this, but not THAT late). In any city, the houses of the (currently or formerly) rich and famous, and the stories of their influence on a city or community, breathe life into otherwise dry series of dates and facts. Even without an intense interest in the details, the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-40052179402810228322008-06-12T14:03:00.001-04:002008-06-12T14:05:50.749-04:00

In May, I took two final trips during my current tour in India: first, a three-day trip to parts of Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, in the hilly wooded areas along the Kerala/Tamil Nadu border, just south of Coimbatore. And second, a six-day trip into the Himalayan foothills in the region of West Bengal around Darjeeling. A search of Google maps of either of these places

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-34375986577185211202008-06-12T13:56:00.003-04:002008-06-12T14:03:08.722-04:00

Although I just wanted get out of town to go hiking, my host (the serious photographer in the pictures, click here) and the local guides made sure that I learned a lot about a national park like those I used to read about in National Geographic. For me, it was also great to see that buzz words from those old articles--ecotourism, sustainability, anti-poaching--can be implemented without a lot of

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-68093729230707839522008-06-12T12:29:00.005-04:002008-06-12T13:56:15.676-04:00

Living in India for two years, even near the southern tip, I wanted to see the Himalayas up close before moving on. This third and final attempt to do so was very similar to my trip to Anamalais--mostly hikes lasting 3-4 hours and having a cottage or farmhouse as base camp--but markedly different in that much of the land isn't protected wildlife or forest reserve, so it's sprinkled with isolated

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-34667906955070972512008-05-23T23:50:00.006-04:002008-05-24T00:02:14.904-04:00

An article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung recently featured a modified bicycle for car-less environmental zones in Europe. The article gushed on about how the bicycle was an innovation from a "hippie commune," waxing euphoric about how it solves the environmental problem of transporting large amounts, "up to 100 kg!", without those pesky combustion engines.I'm all for reducing use of fossil fuels

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-73192991558237333452008-05-10T09:17:00.004-04:002008-05-10T09:46:18.143-04:00

When I first got to Chennai I was overwhelmed with an assault on my senses, some positive (smell of incense, taste of spicy food, outlandishly colorful clothing, shy friendly smiles) and some negative (stench of sewage, deafening traffic, creulties of poverty). I thought--for a day or two--that leaving the house would always be a challenge. As you've seen here, I got over that pretty quick.One

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-31587049721407919892008-04-13T01:46:00.003-04:002008-04-13T01:58:22.987-04:00

Some people say there is never enough to do and see in Chennai, but I'm finding lately that there are plenty of sites, loads of history, and a number of unique spots in Chennai to visit; they just aren't listed in neatly organized guidebooks or user-friendly website. Today's selected route took us from memorial halls to several college campuses, and finally to a number of historic churches [

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-83727447204523307932008-04-06T13:41:00.003-04:002008-04-06T14:08:43.879-04:00

The countdown clock is ticking, and topping my list are more Chennai urban adventures. (Click on the photo or click here to go directly to the 22 pictures). Today was a hopscotch across older parts of the city, starting with a stroll along the usually bustling Burma Bazaar--several blocks of tiny stalls, about a meter wide and two meters deep, located conspicuously close to the harbor--I'm sure

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-23893594218785389542008-02-24T11:49:00.003-05:002008-02-24T12:01:44.346-05:00

I have been humbled by the richness of history that is easily accessible in Chennai and all over India, and my recent trip to another set of World Heritage sites was no exception.The weekend before (U.S.) President's Day, some friends and I traveled to Ajanta and Ellora in the inner parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra see some really old caves. I mean OLD, as in, 2000 years ago,

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-66052565557864745522008-02-10T08:47:00.000-05:002008-02-10T08:58:34.805-05:00

On another day excursion (hey, I'm on a roll), two friends and I were on the road by 6:00am today, excited about the promise of spotting the migratory birds--painted storks, pelicans, even flamingoes--that stop at Pulicat Lake, an estuary located on the Bay of Bengal, right at the border between the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (India, don't forget). Although we didn't spot as many

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-56121435083505765202008-02-03T11:33:00.000-05:002008-02-03T11:56:17.407-05:00

Today I took advantage of the cool weather to do some exploring for the hidden remnants of Chennai's history. In a country that is expanding physically and influentially, the significant markers of past glories and achievements seem to get choked out by the glitz and blitz of today's economy. A handful of dedicated advocates and historians are making a good case for preserving and memorializing

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-49888315854451267122007-11-25T08:57:00.000-05:002007-11-25T09:24:56.487-05:00

When I lived in Santa Clara, California, we wrinkled our noses on a brisk morning when the air was heavy with the smell of garlic, and Silicon Valley breezes brought us the aroma from Gilroy as thousands of white cloves were being crushed, pressed, and processed. There is a similar susceptibility to the unknown in Chennai: any time of day or night, there is little chance of predicting the palette

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-68679002696737488962007-10-13T08:52:00.000-04:002007-10-13T08:59:00.656-04:00

There's no guarantee I'll end up in these places, but it's likely. For those of you who like a long buildup to getting news, here's a list (alphabetical) that's a little shorter. And, if you _really_ want to know right away where I'm going when I find out myself, send me an email and I'll keep you in the loop.ATHENS/GREECEBAKU/AZERBAIJANBANGKOK/THAILANDBEIJING/CHINABRUSSELS/BELGIUMGUANGZHOU/

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-74607288553160442002007-10-07T10:37:00.000-04:002007-10-07T10:58:01.696-04:00

During this current process of choosing positions and locations for my next tour, someone asked, "So, where's your next two-year vacation destination?" Although not every one of the posts below would necessarily be considered a two-year vacation, it is one of the more fun bureaucratic exercises we go through. I mean, it's like hitting the reset button every couple years and stepping into a

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-64218052354591922212007-09-23T13:01:00.000-04:002007-09-23T13:16:00.513-04:00

There is a sarcastic story in the Foreign Service that says you can identify when someone joined by guessing the approximate date of their current fashion. As horrible as it may sound, we just don't always know what's new, not because we get older and lazier about catching trends, but because we're far away, dealing with things--like how to get to work, or survive blistering heat--that don't

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-25233034178668245812007-09-17T21:41:00.000-04:002007-09-17T22:01:35.721-04:00

Last night, under threat of rain, along a thankfully less repungent than usual Adyar River, the Consulate held an official event commemorating U.S. Constitution Day here. The speaker was right when he said that most Americans would be stumped to name the significance of September 17th, but that almost every American could describe easily the meaning of the U.S. Constitution and their rights that

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-76340440733772556202007-05-28T09:28:00.000-04:002007-05-28T09:45:14.852-04:00

Although Chennai has cemeteries from the British colonial period and cemeteries of the various active Christian communities here, I chose the statues lining Chennai's favorite public space, Marina Beach, as my focus for this (U.S.) Memorial Day Weekend.Statues in India can become focal points of contention, evoking emotional responses as prominent political symbols occupying public spaces. These

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-8306677702780166222007-05-20T10:09:00.000-04:002007-05-20T11:40:58.586-04:00

Even though most of you in the U.S. are getting out of the house more, sitting on your porches in the evenings, Chennai is swelteringly, drippingly hot, and so, I'm venturing out less and staying in more. So, it's a perfect time to post photos from a couple of cool vacations I took at the end of January. We hit the western coast of southern India (Click here for a map) for a couple of three- and

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-44616279291310843722007-05-06T06:51:00.000-04:002007-05-06T07:05:56.612-04:00

In a wonderful swirl of entertaining cultural fusion, some of my colleagues organized the Chennai 2007 Cinco De Mayo Great Rickshaw Scavenger Challenge. In teams, we had three hours to scour the city of Chennai, deciphering clues and riddles and then gathering photographic evidence (click here for the winning team's entries) of our favorite metro-village's quintessential icons - and our main mode

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-75036514199533220022007-04-26T12:19:00.000-04:002007-04-26T12:30:38.751-04:00

One of my colleagues in Chennai recently discovered that the Rockport shoe company actually manufactures a shoe titled the Vice Consul (a title that hard-working, leathery, and flexible visa officers have carried for decades).From the Amazon product description:"The Rockport Men's Vice-Consul Oxford is a stylish lace up oxford. It is great for the office or going out to dinner. Calf skin leather

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-6411588077096580232007-04-15T03:02:00.000-04:002007-04-15T03:09:36.681-04:00

I recently had the good fortune to drink tap water without reserve, take walks without looking over my shoulder for errant autorickshaws, eat ice cream, and, most enjoyably, spend time visiting friends and family. Here is a selection of photos. It was a little shocking how quickly I could adjust to the radical change in assumptions about my surroundings (granted, I visited only places I was

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-56796694787962850842007-04-15T02:57:00.000-04:002007-04-15T03:01:58.438-04:00

February 11th, I took a morning walk through Ramakrishnan Puram, a Chennai neighborhood near mine. Flavored as it was by India's dose of sensory overload--the warm gritty smell of the choked Buckingham canal, women dressed spotlessly in their best colorful saris, honking horns, men emptying their bladders on walls, dusty trash, and the omnipresence of people, people, and more people--it was also

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-22756708151397501822007-02-04T11:22:00.000-05:002007-02-04T11:39:42.024-05:00

If you click here, you'll see some photos from today's excursion to a shore temple - built 1300 years ago along the coast and still standing - and a long, decadent brunch within earshot of the lazy waves rolling onto the beach at the Taj Resort, Fisherman's Cove, less than an hour's drive south of Chennai, where the beaches are cleaner and less crowded, especially on a Sunday afternoon.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1170491341506943452007-02-03T03:11:00.000-05:002007-02-03T03:29:01.566-05:00

I have a friend who has been working with kids in Glasgow for years, and these kids have lots of problems. I have never envied her job - talking with teenagers was hard enough when I was one myself. But she's a social worker, and I can't help talking with her about the big problems people get themselves into. Since I see around 1500 Indians per month and spend about 1-3 minutes getting into their

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1170349941374890802007-02-01T11:52:00.000-05:002007-02-01T12:12:21.396-05:00

My friend, Elle, is having a Pongo Party, "pongo" being Spanish for Kitsch (which is German, are you following this?), or something a bit tacky and perfect as a white elephant gift or gathering dust on a shelf at a fleamarket. And after the guilt of having received it as a gift from a co-worker at a Secret Santa party has worn off, you sneak it in the bag for the Goodwill, and in 10 years someone

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1160401142730159782006-10-09T02:36:00.001-04:002006-12-07T23:07:55.576-05:00

If you click here, you can see pictures from my Labor Day trip to Pondicherry, a former French enclave which, since my trip, has been officially renamed Puducherry.No matter which way you turn it, Pondicherry, a former French colony on the coast, just seems cleaner and classier than Chennai. The French quarter is laid out on a grid (shocking), and I'm sure we're all surprised that the colonizers

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1160375659069348762006-10-09T02:31:00.000-04:002006-10-09T02:36:12.086-04:00

Click here to see this set of photos from my trip to Malaysia with some work friends, first the capital city of Kuala Lumpur with the world's (current) tallest building, then on to the island group called Langkawi, with lots of sandy beaches and palm trees.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1160375497611048112006-10-09T02:22:00.000-04:002006-10-09T02:31:37.623-04:00

If you click here, you'll see some pictures from a trip I took to the temple city of Kanchipuram in just a few weeks after my arrival in July. Three of us went on two motorcycles for a day--we spent most of our time exploring one of the largest temples in town, and even had the rare luck to get to climb inside the 12-story gopuram--the pyramid-like structure covered in intricate carvings. Of

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1156176190420700892006-08-21T10:02:00.000-04:002006-09-20T14:23:23.673-04:00

Just when you'd given up on ever hearing from me again--oh-ho, what's this? Just a little summary of a few events of the last couple months. I could blame all sorts of things, from a the burgeoning bureaucracy in India that prevented me from getting Internet at home until just a week or so ago, or the burgeoning bureaucracy of the State Dept. that caused me to spend a lot of time filling out

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1147140651566164882006-05-08T21:48:00.000-04:002006-06-07T20:03:55.296-04:00

Hey! You can sign up to read this when I add things now! Just subscribe in the little box at the bottom of the column on the right. Getting information on Chennai has been pretty anachronistic. In the happy glow that followed Flag Day, I skipped off to the overseas resource center to read the reports written by previous officers, hoping to hear tales of adventure and heroism as they

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1145235094412559782006-04-16T20:21:00.000-04:002006-04-16T20:51:34.426-04:00

Because of the Wall, which once sported the longest graffiti mural in the world, Berlin is probably the only city that bragged about its graffiti. But this Cold War reputation has sinced mutated into an unfortunately nasty blight across much of the city. Some of it is quite artistic, sometimes it's related to political statements, and sometimes it's just senseless vandalism.Since the authorities

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1145232366187745662006-04-16T18:56:00.000-04:002006-04-20T03:42:43.020-04:00

After the initial high of "Holy Cow, I'm moving to India!" I've been thinking I should maybe learn something about Chennai (and stop saying things like Holy Cow). When I went to India in July 2000, I was in Mumbai (Bombay) and New Delhi in the northwest; Chennai is in the southeast.From skimming the wikipedia entry, I can now recite with authority that Chennai... is one of India's "smaller"

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1145228191378411062006-04-16T17:46:00.000-04:002006-04-16T18:56:31.390-04:00

I signed up for the political career track, but every new Foreign Service Officer is required to serve at least one tour as a consular officer. To get the general description of consular duties, click here. Although this description focuses mostly on services for American citizens, the consulate in Chennai issues some of the highest numbers of visas for visitors and immigrants to the U.S.To get

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1144767319404277742006-04-11T10:54:00.000-04:002006-04-12T17:58:01.170-04:00

If you want to know where I'm going, click here.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1144726234593552402006-04-10T23:29:00.000-04:002006-04-10T23:30:34.606-04:00

We'll know soon enough where I'm going.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1144274161891833142006-04-05T17:41:00.000-04:002006-04-07T11:15:56.046-04:00

At the flag ceremony next Tues., we all find out where in the world we'll be going.I was pushing for posts in Asia where I'd have to learn a new language, like Chinese or Russian or Laotian, but I have a pretty solid hunch that I'm going to India with little-to-no training in Hindi or Bengali or [insert language here that you've never heard of but which is spoken by more people than live in the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1142820193866360042006-03-19T20:41:00.001-05:002006-03-20T17:55:59.013-05:00

Over the last six weeks, I have shifted from my one-man-show freelancer lifestyle to working for one of the largest employers worldwide.Well, it's a little hard to call absorbing ungodly amounts of information from a rotating door of good-to-excellent speakers "work." If this were college, there would be one or two classes where I and my 51 classmates wouldn't mind letting our minds wander. But

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1142040202666665002006-03-10T20:12:00.000-05:002006-03-19T21:04:54.230-05:00

Several of you have been hammering me to tell you the list of possible places I could be sent. There is a process of determination for this where we get to put in our preferences, but the assignment process is extremely complicated (there are language and timing for training to be considered as well).I have copied the list of countries and cities below (All disclaimers apply) (sorry about the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22604673.post-1141339383697010022006-03-02T16:35:00.000-05:002006-03-20T19:35:19.836-05:00

For those of you who care about geographical locations, I'm not in Berlin. I'm not even in Europe anymore. I've been living without an address since Feb. 24th, and as of last night, I'm living in Washington, D.C. I'll start working for the U.S. Foreign Service as part of the State Dept. on Monday.So, at this point, some of you are a little confused, because I'd been living out my dream of living

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11166383564126250762noreply@blogger.com3