The same but different

On Friday, my friend Joanne drove down from Los Angeles to spend the day with me. (To know who Joanne is, go back to my entries "Hong Kong in 40 hours" in December 07, and "Summer in January" in January 08). The weather was hot and beautiful and we had such a great day.
I love spending time with Joanne and talking with her. You always surround yourself with like minded people. People who tend to view the world and life in general, the same way you do (or close to it). At first, Joanne would not be one of those persons. We have different views on a lot of things; religion, politics, life... What is great though is that she is not closed minded and is able to have a conversation and listen to your arguments and share her point of view with you. Maybe it is just the two of us together. We are able to do that in a non threatening way. We are just trying to understand why the other thinks that way. I do not try to convince her that I am right and vice versa. It is an exchange. We go back an forth with points and counterpoints. Sometimes it gets clear why we think a certain way about something, sometimes we get stumped. And that is okay. I would give a good argument and she would say, "Okay, I see why you say that. Let me think about it and I will get back to you". And we go on with our conversation. We might or might not come back to that same point, but if we do because she has more questions or she has more insight on the topic, then there we go again. And I might realize that her argument is completely valid. That does not necessarily means that I am changing my point of view on a specific issue, but it helps me understand why she would see things a different way. It gives both of us an insight on the thinking process of the other person. I think that the more we talk, the more we realize how similar we are. Our values and the way we live our lives might be different, but once you look past the surface and do that without judgement, we actually are quite alike....

Spring Fever?

Spring is finally here and I get the flu. I guess the flu shot I took at the beginning of winter does not work in Spring. I have been home since Monday with no voice and my whole body aching. My roommate Matthew has been looking after me although he walks around with his Lysol anti-flu germs spay. This is certainly not what I had planned for my birthday. I am finally feeling better and I can talk again, although if I was singing this season, I would be in the Bass section. I hate being sick so hopefully in a couple of days I will be back to normal.

Visite Francaise - French visit

Valerie and Carole arrived from Paris Saturday afternoon and drove down to San Diego. They got here without any troubles and after a short evening together, they went to bed exhausted.
Sunday we went to the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado for the champagne brunch with Michael, Norman, and Matthew.

Another day in Paradise

I am back in Sydney for the fourth time in three month. After a great flight with a wonderful crew, we landed at King Smith Airport under a beautiful cloudless blue sky and sunny weather.
The rest of my crew went to sleep but I did not want to waste one single minute so I went for a walk/run to enjoy the sun and the cool breeze. It is absolutely gorgeous today. The temperature is perfect at 28 degrees (82F). I make a big circle around town, strolling down my favorite streets, and enjoying the beautiful Botanical Gardens.

At 5pm I meet with Margot and Romeo to go to dinner. We walk to one of our usual spots, Made in Italy. They have awesome salads and excellent pizzas. there we run into a few other colleagues from other crews. Some have been there for 9 days due to a mechanical issue with their aircraft. I wish that would happen to me one day; a mini vacations in Sydney. Not this time though, I need to get home to welcome my friend Valerie who is arriving from Paris on Saturday.

After dinner Romeo and I go out for "adult beverages" and we stay out way later than I had anticipated. We get back to the hotel around 1am! After flying 14 hours and being up all day and all evening I guess I held on quite well.



The second day we meet at 10am. We decided to go on the walk from Cooggee to Bondi. It is a beautiful walk on top of the cliffs along the ocean. The weather is superb and we enjoy the 1 and 1/2 hour walk. By the time we arrive in Bondi we have worked up an appetite. We have a lovely lunch at the Bondi Icebergs overlooking the beach. After lunch we simply take the bus back to Sydney. Deanne and Romeo go back to the hotel and Margot and I go for coffee by the Opera house. We have decided to go to the movie but we have a little time before the show.



The movie that we saw is "Le scaphandre et le papillon" (The diving bell and the butterfly). It is a very poignant film and I probably would have been a little reticent had I known what is was about. All I knew is that it was an Oscar nominated film.

Here is a review from the New York Times that summarizes my feelings and experience.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/movies/30divi.html

Du Japon à l'Allemagne - From Japan to Germany

Je sais qu'éventuellement il me faudra remettre les pieds sur terre mais pour l'instant je profite pleinement de mon planning. Après chaque vol, je me dis que le prochain ne sera pas aussi intéressant mais ce n'a pas encore été le cas. Après la Chine et le Japon, me voila parti en Allemagne. Le séjour malheureusement est trop court mais qu'importe c'est toujours mieux qu'un vol intérieur.

Mon équipage est super et nous nous entendons tous bien. Nous allons nous promener après notre arrivée a l'hotel et le soir allons diner dans un restaurant Turc! Nous finissons la soirée dans un bar pour boire un coup et passer un bon moment.



I know that eventually I will have to come back to reality but right now I am just enjoying my planning. After each trip, I tell myself that the next one will not be this interesting but it has not been the case yet. After china and Japan I went to Germany. The lay-over is too short but it is still better than a domestic trip.

My crew is awesome and we all get along great. We go out for a walk after getting to the hotel and then to diner in a Turkish restaurant that evening. We end up in a bar for a drink and have a good time.

To get to the photo albums click on the link below. Pour acceder aux albums photos suivez le lien ci-dessous.

http://picasaweb.google.com/peccajr1