Thursday, 02 March 2006

Professional Couch Surfer

Today is Thursday, and by my count I've slept in four different places this week. I started off the week at Chelsa's in The Mission, then I went to Catie and Greg's on Russian Hill for a night. Slept at Premal's in Palo Alto two nights ago, and last night I had a big adventure on Carl's couch involving a cat that kept trying to lick me.

Fiona's been staying with Catie and Greg for the past few nights, but I've been taking part in a code-a-thon with Matt and The Carl. Tonight I'll be staying at Skylar's pad in San Francisco, and I'm looking forward to seeing my wife again.

However, the good news is that we're renting a room! We'll be moving in on Saturday to a place in Bernal Heights. Matt says it's a great spot, and from what I've been reading on the internet it sounds pretty cool. I've also noticed that there's a 100% hit rate between "Bernal Heights" and "Lesbians". Every single article I've read about the area mentions a disproportionate number of lesbians. Why Bernal Heights? Maybe they have a great Home Depot or something. I look forward to finding out.

Posted by flow Frazao on March 2, 2006 at 02:51 PM in America, Me, Moving | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, 10 April 2005

Moving Into the Songkran Festival

Three more days left until we're on the road again. We're currently in a state of overwhelmed, panicky delirium trying to get everything done. I'm not sure how this happens, but moving seems to catch us by surprise every time.

We've shifted our money around, paid our taxes, and cleaned out our drawers. Tomorrow we go to the Thai embassy to pick up our visas. Really, the only thing left to do is pack our bags, but it still feels like there's tons left to do.

Wednesday night we'll head to Bangkok, or as it's known by it's full name:

"The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."

Good luck fitting that on a Hard Rock Cafe shirt.

Anyway, we'll be getting there right in the middle of the Songkran festival. This famous celebration is also known as the Water Festival. Basically, it entails an enormous three day water fight where the entire city gives in to the disgusting heat and goes around drenching anyone and everyone with water pistols, balloons, hoses, and buckets. I've heard stories of businessmen in suits stepping off the SkyTrain and having security guards dump pails of water on their heads.

The only rule, from what I've been told, is that nobody's allowed to get pissed off. You have to take it Thai-style, which is with a laugh and a smile.

Of course, there's more to it than just a big water fight. Like everything, there's meaning behind the madness:

"Songkran" is a word from the Sanskrit language which means to "move into" and refers to the orbit of the sun moving into Aries. It marks the end of a 12-month cycle and the beginning of a new solar year. Songkran is therefore a New Year celebration.

The underlying significance of Songkran is the process of cleansing and purification - the purging of all ills, misfortune and evil and starting the New Year afresh with all that is good and pure. Water is symbolic of the cleaning process and signifies purity."

For me, this is a telling sign. Fiona and I are entering into a new phase of our lives, what with the CELTA certifications, and the whole Uncertain Future thing. I can't think of a more appropriate way to see this new chapter in than with a Bangkok Baptism.

Posted by flow Frazao on April 10, 2005 at 09:52 AM in Moving | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 30 November 2004

Still Packing

I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow. We've been in West Hartford for three months and it feels like maybe three weeks. Funny how the time goes away.

It looks like we're pretty much all packed up now though. At least, all of our stuff has been thrown into a pile on the dining room floor. Two backpacks, two daypacks and a suitcase. That's not bad, is it? Especially considering we'll be leaving a ton of stuff in Australia.


So here's the schedule so far:

  • Dec. 1 - Depart Hartford for LA. Chill with Koh Phan Ngan Andre and my family. Celebrate Fiona's birthday on Dec. 5.

  • Dec. 7 - Depart LA for Fiji. Free eight day stopover in Fiji. Fucking sweet.

  • Dec. 17 - Depart Fiji for Melbourne. Arrive in Melbourne, slather on some sunscreen and throw some shrimp on the barbi for a Xmas cookout. Ever celebrate Christmas on the beach? You should give it a shot sometime. It's weird as hell.

So that's pretty much the plan. At least, as much as I can remember given my current state of mind.

Oh, and for what it's worth, when my Grandma left this morning for the airport it was SNOWING. Hard to believe a week from now we'll be drinking kava on a tropical beach in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Finally, I posted some pictures from Thanksgiving here. Enjoy.

Posted by flow Frazao on November 30, 2004 at 05:12 PM in Moving | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Monday, 29 November 2004

Packing

Going crazy trying to get all our crap sorted. Where do you even begin when you know you're leaving for a year? I figure as long as I've got a camera, two T-shirts and my leatherman I'm alright. The rest I can pick up along the way.

Actually, if you can think of anything you think I might be forgetting (or have any good tips on packing light) feel free to leave em in the comments.

Posted by flow Frazao on November 29, 2004 at 10:08 PM in Moving | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 08 September 2004

Moving

I am exhausted.

We started packing our stuff at 10PM Saturday night, and we had everything loaded, moved, and unloaded by 10AM Wednesday morning. I'd forgotten what a herculean task it is to box up all your crap and shift it 300 miles away. Luckily we won't have to do it again for a while.

I can't write much now - we're in the middle of unpacking everything and trying to get rid of as much as possible so it'll all fit into my parents' basement. I'll try to post a full update sometime later in the week.

A quick story though while I'm sitting in front of the computer. As most of you know, Fiona's mom Glenys has been here for the past week and a half or so. Last weekend we went to a barbecue with our friend Erin, and Glenys wound up talking to some lady about the differences between Australia and America. The conversation went on for five or ten minutes when all of a sudden the lady interrupted Glenys to ask what language they speak in Australia. I was stunned beyond belief, but Glenys handled it with aplomb. She gracefully informed the woman that Australians speak english, to which the lady replied "Ahh, so that's why you speak so well."

We've been laughing about it ever since.


PS - Happy Birthday Matt!!

Posted by flow Frazao on September 8, 2004 at 04:40 PM in Moving | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 24 August 2004

The Things You Own

We move in less than two weeks! Unbelievable.

Yesterday I posted an ad on Craigslist trying to get rid of some of our furniture. I was amazed at the response - lots of people want cheap crap, I guess.

Anyway, I wound up getting in touch with an Australian girl named Sioux who wanted my work table and a set of cabinets. I figured it was perfect - she's Australian, we're headed to Australia, how good is that?

Fiona was quick to inform me (although not quick enough) that it was not good. Nope. Not good at all.

It seems that there was a bit of miscommunication somewhere along the line and I wasn't supposed to actually get rid of the stuff until Labor Day weekend (which is when we move). In retrospect I guess this makes sense - I don't really want to be sitting on boxes for the next two weeks either.

Sadly, by the time I realized this Sioux was on her way over in her moving van. So now there's a wide open space in our bedroom where this furniture used to be. I've got to admit, it's strange. But at least now I have more room to practice my dance moves.

I honestly thought Fi would be happy. One of the drawers in the cabinet was Fiona's "Stuff I Hate" drawer where she'd throw all my useless gadgets and bizarre toys. I figured she'd be psyched to be rid of it. And my desk is always a total mess which she complains about regularly. Point for her though - it turns out that it was pretty nasty. I cleaned it off for Sioux and there was all this dust and weird hairs and shit all over it. I guess you really ought to clean furniture more than once a year.

So you'd think she'd be happy to see that stuff go, right?

Wrong. Fiona was not amused. I'm not gonna lie to you - tears were shed. I was surprised at how upset she was when she got home and saw the emptiness in our room. We've both got lots of mixed feelings about leaving, and we've been doing our best to avoid the topic altogether. It'll be a lot harder to live in denial now that we have a pile of boxes where my desk used to be.

Almost all the furniture we have is either from the Salvation Army or the trash. It's ALL crap. But it's ours, and it's helped make our apartment a home for over a year. When I bought that table from that guy on 16th street I remember carrying it down V st. on my head thinking about how it'd be so easy to get rid of because it only cost 15 bucks.

I was so wrong. It was hard to get rid of. What do they say in Fight Club? Something like "the things you own end up owning you." It's true - I miss that stupid table already.

Plus, now I've got nowhere to keep my collection of weird hairs.

Posted by flow Frazao on August 24, 2004 at 01:41 PM in Moving | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack