Welcome to Paradise

Well, it's official. As of this past week, I signed on as a consultant at my company and my first project will be later this month. We are doing a project on waste minimization and recycling on the Fiji Islands. (Official gov't news release here)

Obviously, I'm just a little bit happy about the fact that the project is in a tropical location. That said, we will be spending time trying to convince people living on a tropical island why it's important to recycle and compost. It's hard enough to convince someone in an office setting to make double-sided copies at the push of a button. So I realize it's going to be a real challenge to somehow tempt people away from the beach; to get out of the hammock, slip on the flip-flops and dump tea leaves in a compost pile. Well, actually, public relations is part of the work, but the main focus is a pilot project in the Lautoka Vunato dump site. How many people can say they spent a few weeks in the waste dump of paradise?
But, funny enough, I was thinking back to the first real assignment I had as an editor at my company and a blog post I wrote about it in February 2007 (here) titled, "Anyone ever considered living in a small Micronesian nation?" I was editing a report on Fiji, Samoa, Palau and the Marshall Islands that had to do with bulky waste, like auto chassis and refrigerators, and asked the question: "What happens to a broken fridge in Fiji?" Well, I guess I'm about to find out--I just hope it's not my fridge.

Things are moving ahead with my transfer into the Urban Environment section, which I previously wrote about here, and it should be decided by the end of next month. That means there is lots of negotiating to do over the next few weeks and, as a result, going on vacation to China for nearly 3 weeks might have to be cut a little short.

So now I'm deciding whether to still go to Beijing and Dalian for a couple days and cut out Xi'an, or just go to Dalian for a week or so. I didn't get to see Dalian very much last time, not to mention it was November and freezing cold, so that could be a worthy choice.

On the other hand, it would be pretty cool to be in Beijing and see some of the sights. I'm not usually one for sightseeing, per se, but having studied Chinese history, it seems less like "tourist attraction" and more of closing the academic loop to extend what I’ve read in books to what I’ve seen with my own eyes; granted, this still takes some imagination since these are mostly relics now. That said, there's lots of history preserved in China—maybe more so than anywhere else in the world—and with so many pieces of the picture, it doesn’t take much to start to comprehend what “time” really means. Dalian itself is also rich in history, although not so much as a central part of Chinese history, but particularly in connection with Japan, who subjugated the peninsula after the first World War as they began to expand their territory.

Nevertheless, as interested as I am in history, I'm looking forward to the future. The new position will bring with it many new opportunities and work/projects overseas, so--at present--I'm looking forward to those experiences as well.

Update: Was told that the other section managers met to discuss my transfer and a few people argued over getting me in their section. Nice to hear. But it is pretty much decided (as per my intentions) to enter the Urban Environment section. One project manager even mentioned to me today that he has a project coming up in Brazil that he'd like me to join! Guess I'd better start practicing my Portuguese!

Caffeine Fix

At work, our department has a coffee and tea machine that spits out instant green tea, oolong or coffee, hot or iced. The tea is actually pretty good, but the coffee really leaves a lot to be desired.

Nevertheless, since people in this department are always travelling to far-and-away places, some of which have excellent coffee, they bring back little souvenirs. At some point in the last year, people started bringing back coffee from places like Lao, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Columbia, Vietnam, etc. We don't have a drip coffee maker or anything though, so I bought a coffee cup that functions as a french press. You put the coffee in the cup, fill it with hot water, then a screen fits inside the cup which you push down after a couple minutes when the coffee has brewed (see HERE if you don't get it). It makes a great cup of coffee!
Currently the largest bag of coffee is from Ethiopia, so I've been drinking that mostly. My favorite, however, is a variety pack one person brought back from Laos. It is all organic, fair trade, so-to-speak, but that's mainly because it's pretty much coming straight from the source more or less. So there's really no reason for me to hit the chain coffee shops anymore. Sorry Starbucks!

Geospatial Blogging (Geogging?)

I was reading about geospatial information systems (GIS, the stuff that makes your car navigation system work) at work the other day and I stumbled upon a cool little map about the show Seinfeld.
It shows a map (or satellite photo) of New York with tags on different locations around the city. Click on the tag (e.g. Jerry's apartment, the Soup Nazi, etc) and see what happened there.
http://www.stolasgeospatial.com/seinfeld.htm

I agree, the above map is probably only for hardcore Seinfeld fans, but it really makes me wonder about the possibilities that are opening up with mapping technology. There's already Google Sightseeing (GSS) which allows you to see a bird's eye view of Mount Everest and zoom out to see where it is actually located in the Himalaya mountain range.

Just imagine the Zagat guide of 2010: a portable device that shows you a map of any city with tags showing where to get the best sushi, take out curry or where to avoid any soup nazis.

Commuting can feel like an uphill battle

This is a picture taken with my cell phone on last Tuesday. The train line I use to go to work was backed up due to a mechanical problem near the end of the line (apparently the doors wouldn't close on one of the trains). The whole thing started around 7:40 and I didn't get to work until about 9:30. The picture shows the scene I was faced with when I had to change trains at Ikebukuro, one of the major stations in Tokyo.

Development Assistance

Recently I'm working on a report for a technical project in Vietnam. Japan is giving support to solve issues about water pollution (mainly caused from industry) and in the report is a lament on behalf of Japan. The author expressed regret over the environmental damage that ensued during the high-growth period of Japan's economy because they put more importance on economy than the natural environment.

It is a classic opposition that you hear these days; putting environment in the ring against the economy. It's a fight that - no matter who wins - WE are destined to lose. The following statement sums it up quite well:

"I think we need something like Native American and Australian Aboriginal cultures had [which is] a belief that the land that supports us is sacred and we are family with all other species. The earth is our mother and you don't sell your mother, no matter what the discount rate."

Dear Austin Powers, this bird is a real common shag!

For your amusement, a random piece of information I ran across at work today.

The European Shag or Common Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) is a species of cormorant. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except for northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as simply the Shag.



Pictured: A young European shag (source: Wikipedia)

What is Lycanthropy?

In my work, I am often doing various searches online to find the definitions of things, or delving into a Thesaurus to give some versatility to the syntax of terribly boring reports. One of the perks of this is that I often come across pretty interesting, though trivial, bits of information. The other day I came across this word: Lycanthropy. Apparently this is a Greek word meaning "wolf-man" (lykoi anthropos) and refers to "a psychiatric state in which the patient believes he is a wolf or some nonhuman animal.
With the observation of Halloween just past, it seems all too appropriate to apply this term to what happens to many children on that day. It may be all-in-fun, but there were a few years where I dressed up as something that just felt so right (maybe it was the actor in me) that I felt quite lycanthropic (although somewhat ashamed to have embodied Bugs Bunny)! Truth be told, when I was about 8 years old, I felt quite comfortable while under the influence of what could be known as peiratês anthropos (arrr, pardon me Greek matey!).

Back from America

After being away for about a month, I'm now back in Japan. During that time, my company moved much closer to my apartment so we are downtown, near restaurants, banks and shops - instead of factories and a prison. The new location is closer for me (30 min door-to-door) but further for others. One co-worker opted to find a new job rather than make the 50 minute commute. Another coworker laughs that his commute is 10 minutes longer now, up to 1 hour 55 minutes now!

Last month was also my first overseas business trip with this company. I went to Thailand and worked for 20 days. While there, I started playing tennis with my coworkers on the weekends. I really came to enjoy tennis and even managed to play once in America a few weeks later. Now I'm hoping to find a place where I can get court time in Tokyo about once a week, if that's possible without breaking the bank.

Anyway, that's the little update for now.

p.s. despite the shorter commute, the above post was still written using my cellphone.

p.p.s. details on "bigger" news to come later.

Dinner with I-san

Today I had dinner with my co-worker, I-san, who specializes in cartography and GIS applications. His desk is behind mine, and he's usually buried in huge map sheets, measuring coordinates and matching contour lines, or otherwise writing reports about his current project in Montenegro.
I suppose he must be in his late 40s or so, as he has two children aged 19 and 22. We talked about how his youngest is thinking to study overseas for a year. He said when thinks back to when he was in university himself, he would have liked to study abroad if he'd had the chance. But through his work at our company, I-san said he's been to about 25 countries now. Wow! Myself, I can count 6 countries in the 10 years since I made my first trip overseas. Then there's our Section Chief, D-san, who I remember saying once that he has been to over 40 countries, and I don't think he's even 60 years old yet. (Then again, you have the most widely traveled man in probably all of history, former Pope John Paul II, who traveled to 117 countries during his pontificate.)
I-san told me anecdotes about his recent trips to Montenegro and Macedonia, and a one-day siteseeing trip in New York City on his way to Brazil. I also learned that there was McDonald's in Sri Lanka (surprising, as I thought most Sinhalese were vegetarian. To which you might respond, "But there's McDonald's everywhere!" On the contrary, there are still places where the golden arches do not exist: list of countries without McDonald's.) He told me about what a great time he had in Paris for two weeks once, and was surprised to find a little Japanese restaurant in a Parisian suburb 50km outside of the city, run by a Cambodian staff. "I guess Cambodian cuisine doesn't fare as well," he said,"but who knew a Cambodian could make such good Japanese food!" Although, the question remains, would this little restaurant receive a stamp of authenticity through the new government certification system that goes into effect this year? (see here)
All-in-all, I was glad I-san asked me if I had time for a beer after work. I suspect he wanted to practice his English, which I would have been fine with actually, but in the end we spoke in Japanese for the duration. It was a good time and nice to get to know another of my co-workers.

No Windows

The town where my office is located is well known for two things. One is the largest unsolved bank heist of 300 million yen that ever took place in Japan over 30 years ago. The other is Toshiba's research factory. The two are actually related in the fact that the money stolen in the heist was reportedly the bonuses of factory employees.

An additional mystery, upon my arrival in Fuchu, was the building pictured below. It is a tall tower with Toshiba printed in large letters across the top and not a single window. What on earth could it be?! (Hint: think about all the things Toshiba manufactures. What could be tested in a structure such as this?)

Sanitation in the Developed World

More computer problems. Do they ever cease?! It seems that the IT department at work detected a computer virus on our floor and asked everyone to back-up their files and scan their hard drives. I had cause for worry because it was only then that I realized the temporary PC I'd been using for the past week or so never had the security software re-installed. Luckily, the results after loading the proper programs were negative, but another person in our department found 24 corrupt files and had to "evacuate" her desk while a tech guy cleaned it up.

I suppose if one were to compare the problems of the advanced nations with those of developing status, this is the developed world's version of contaminated potable water or a breach in landfill sanitary safety standards; it's just that the office version is made up of virtual worms, network clashes, and the dreaded blue screen coup d'état.

Speaking of developing world sanitary issues, this whole virus ordeal managed to make quite a mess of a report I was working on for an African development project. This morning I received a 30-page report in Japanese about the poor aquifer quality in rural Senegal, south of The Gambia (remember Roots?), with a request to have it translated into English by Thursday. On top of that, I have been asked to e-mail what I finish each day so it can be forwarded to a translator in Dakar who will add all the necessary diacritics and ligatures and whatever else necessary to turn it into French!!
To finish in time, I need to complete 6 pages per day (taking graphs and tables into account) but, thanks to the interruptions today, and the simple fact that at the beginning of the day, I knew very little about Senegal (I mean, everyone knew about the recent elections, right?... right?!), not to mention "boreholes"! By quitting time, I had a grand total of... well, 2 pages. Ack!

So I hope things proceed a bit more smoothly tomorrow, especially since I've already been forewarned of another 30 page document marked for editing headed towards my inbox, also slated for a Thursday completion date. DOUBLE WHAMMY!
So in an ironic twist, the protection from E. coli in groundwater aquifers in West Africa could rest on the protection given by Norton AntiVirus software on my taskbar. And for goodness sake, I hope they are able to take their time sifting through the final results of this 4-day tri-lingual foray!

PC blues

Computers: can't work with 'em, can't work without 'em

At some point last Thursday, my computer at work developed serious sloth-like behavior. For every new operation, it seemed as if my computer was pulled over for drunk driving and deemed unable to walk a straight line. My clicks and input were met with complete non-sequitur.

After saving the documents on a CD and defraging the C drive, there was no change. I tried a few other things but none of it seemed to work so I brought the matter up with my section manager. As it turns out, the computer has been on lease for 4 years and gone through at least a few users in that time. It also turns out that the lease was up a few months ago.
So I filed for a new lease, which they estimate will take 2 weeks, and in the meantime I'm using 2 laptops; a new one for creating and editing files on MS Office, and the old one to check my company mail account.

It seems I can't do my job without a computer, but now the computer has become an obstacle to get my work done. Ah, my estranged companion.

Broadening my horizons

At work, I have been receiving a steady stream of files every day for translation or editing. Sometimes people need things done right away or in a few days time, but people have been reasonable about what one person can do, so even though I receive assignments from a total of about 40 people, some of whom are in the office and some of whom email requests from our overseas offices, I have been able to coordinate all of it reasonably well; I keep a spreadsheet file of my "to do" list with the basic facts of each assignment.

The real challenge is keeping up with the jargon and situation/conditions for all the different projects. I get documents for a new waste disposal contract in Thailand or a capacity building project for a mineral analysis lab in Laos or a geo-spatial mapping study in Montenegro - the range of projects is pretty wide! Some of these documents seem so complex and foreign at first glance that I can hardly imagine how I will comprehend the contents at all. But after some investigation into the scope of the project and a few searches on the internet (Google Scholar searches and digitized book searches, not to mention the always handy open-source wiki entries for quick explanations on just what things like "arc welding" are all about) I have been navigating my way through some very intriguing reports.

When I first accepted this job, I was pretty sure I would have the opportunity to learn more complex Japanese, but in addition to that, I'm finding these previously intimidating subjects I knew nothing about to be the real eye openers. Hmm, or it could be the coffee. :)

Anybody ever considered living in a small Micronesian nation?

Imagine the beautiful beaches of Nanuya Levu (think 'Blue Lagoon') or the laid-back village life in Peleliu...

The past week I've been editing a document about Micronesian countries like Fiji, Samoa, Palau and the Marshall Islands. The report is in excess of 100 pages, discussing problems related to the disposal of large, bulky waste (gotta love the use of the term "bulky", eh?). You would expect this to be a dull document, but I'm totally digging it.

I remember being overwhelmed (with boredom) when, years ago at a JET conference, a presenter rambled on about the (unbelievably mundane) subject of speech pathology, so I know I run the risk of sounding like a nut myself, but haven't you ever wondered what someone does with a broken refrigerator when they live on, say, a 4-mile atoll made of coral no more than 2 meters above sea level???

(*If your guess is that they raid their next-door neighbor's fridge, you might not be wrong, but there is a statute of limitations on that, as anyone who has raided a friend's fridge will know.)

Well, reading about the beautiful scenery of these island paradises and imagining lounging on the beach or spending a lazy day in a breezy Samoan house (these are structures without walls, known as fales, which, if you'll forgive the spelling discrepency, could make a brilliant pun), especially when you are currently wearing a suit and sitting in an office, makes one consider vacationing in Korkor or Savai'i. The population of some of these countries is little more than my hometown, and since they are made up of numerous islands, at least one I read about has only 23 residents - and is politically considered its own state! Indeed, there's already a booming tourist industry in Fiji (don't worry, the military coup ended last month). So as one could imagine, protecting the scenery, which vacationers travel long distances to experience, should be a top priority.

That's why it's sad to think that when up to 2000 cars are scrapped every year in these countries, that the parts will be salvaged, but the car body left to sit, virtually stranded, on the island for the foreseeable future (anybody know how long it takes for iron to decompose?). The sad fact is that it's too expensive to remove items like this without compactors, and neither the technology nor the infrastructure, not to mention space, exists in these places.

For millenia native peoples lived on these archipelagos, and until about the 1980s, there was almost no waste at all; things were almost entirely produced and consumed domestically. They had what is referred to (by us eco-geeks) as a "sound material cycle"; something that developed countries are trying to "re-develop" presently in our societies. Take the Marshall Islands for example, a group of islands Europeans came across in the late 18th century (you probably guessed it, by a captain named John Marshall - a pretty interesting character, by the way). This string of islands is well known, unfortunately, for Bikini Atoll where the "Captain Bravo" hydrogen bomb testing took place. Nonetheless, the CIA World Factbook states that the best hope for this nation's future is tourism (anybody wanna visit Majuro or Kill?). These small island nations don't have much in terms of capital when you look at it from a "globalization" perspective, but they now have the demand, and by golly, if those people want automobiles and air conditioners then someone will find a way to sell it to them.

To be fair, a large portion of these items are also imported as gifts from family members or friends who have immigrated overseas. But in either case, once these items find their way to the island and are repaired repeatedly for all they're worth, then the islanders are stuck with them. So, the answer to the above question is really more of a rhetorical question than anything. What happens to a broken fridge in Fiji? In fact, the natives have (one would hope) started asking themselves this very question.

The Hunt and the Hunted

You may know him as a headhunter, but I recognize Mr. Ishii as a knight in a drab, grey suit. This short post is an ode to the guy who got me the job!

He was relentless at arranging interviews, first for a job with a financial institution making investments in grassroots environmental projects related to renewable energy (didn't pan out unfortunately) and then for a couple translating jobs, resulting in my current position at a company with a large overseas division specializing in environmental consulting.

The thing is, it is so rare for someone to take the time and make the investment in developing the labor force. Mr. Ishii and the others at his organization are doing so one person at a time, and making a big impact in those people's lives. He certainly did me a service, and in return, I plan to do the best job I can.