Meeting News from around he world

We used to have meetings in New York City and New Braunfels, Texas. Regrettably, after having done a superb job, neither organisers are able to give their time to Globetrotter meetings. If you are based in New York or New Braunfels and have the time to commit to pick up where our previous organisers left off, we'd love to hear from you – please see our FAQ or contact our the Branch Liaison Officer via our Website at Meeting FAQ. If you are based elsewhere and are interested in starting a branch of the Globetrotters, please feel free to contact us.

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.

The Beetle recently spent a couple of weeks staying with her friend Nicola in a beautiful village outside Philadelphia. Nicola wrote this article about a trip to China in 2005 that was both work and leisure related. In this article, Nicola reflects on the conditions and people she met with and gives us a fascinating insight into China's geopolitics from a travel and work perspective.

China's rising thirst for oil has long caused consternation in the geeky circles of the oil industry, as most recognized some time ago that the growing band of Shanghainese abandoning bicycles for BMW's would mean a sharp rise in global petrol demand. With the world now well aware of this dilemma, the oil industry is pondering where it will find sufficient oil to meet China's needs.

On its western border, China is flanked by the oil rich nations of the Caspian Sea – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan – and most have assumed that these countries will export to China. Beijing's attempts to cosy up to its neighbours has been eyed warily by American, European and Japanese leaders who would also like to get their hands on Caspian Sea oil. Historians have noted that similarities with the 19^th century Great Game, a land grab between the Russian and English Empires.

For its part, China has pointed out that its energy position isn't as precarious as the outside world likes to think, that it in fact has vast untapped oil and gas resources in the Tarim Basin of it's far west Xinjiang Province. As is often the case in China, the easiest way to verify claims is to go see it!

Unfortunately, 270,000 km² of the Tarim Basin is covered by the Taklamakan Desert, a vast inhospitable shifting sand desert long the preserve of adventurers and eccentrics. Culturally a part of central Asia (one of our translators planned to marry a woman from nearby Tajikistan), the majority Uighur population of the region have an uneasy relationship with the Han Chinese. Younger Uighurs are clearly torn between the economic opportunities (such as rare non-agricultural jobs) that the Han Chinese offer and the security that traditional village leaderships represent. There are also signs of rising religious tensions, for instance, in Islamic graffiti on the walls of ancient Buddhist caves.

Most journeys into the desert begin in Urumqi, a modern city indistinguishable from any other second tier Chinese city. Though it formed part of the original Silk Road, a journey through the desert was long considered a death sentence, and it wasn't until 1995 that a highway was erected. Though the highway allows access to the amenities of the region's cities to the tiniest desert village, some villages chose to remain closed and the highway was evidently rerouted and the villages excluded from maps to accommodate this. Ironically, those who put great store in recreating ancient methods of traversing the desert (donkey, rickshaw, et al) also rely heavily on the “shamo gonglu” highway.

The five-day long drive through the desert is punctuated by the odd wild camel-sighting, sand storms, and stops at oasis towns. As in much of the Islamic world, the centre of patronage in each village is the mosque and the hub of activity is the market place. There you can see dried snakes curled around washing lines at a medicine stall (see photo entitled Market), super sweet unleavened cookies at another, and mounds of ripe watermelons. With colourfully festooned donkeys still the primary mode of transport, the towns have a medieval air.

There are also plentiful cultural activities along the route, including the remains of the “lost city” of Subashi, well-maintained mosques, and little visited museums – we had to wake the curator from a lunchtime nap to ask him to turn the lights on for us in one.

Lodging is, naturally, pretty basic, in an area where running water and electricity remain rare, and most families live with their animals in small brick and wattle courtyard houses. Camping in the desert was icy cold at night, but glorious sun rises over the dunes more than compensated.

Even for those lacking a focus for their trip (and yes, there were oil wells aplenty), the Taklamakan Desert is a fascinating journey, a great place to challenge your assumptions about the influence of the modern on ancient cultures and to feign life as an adventurer for a little while.

About the author: Nicola Kerslake has travelled and worked in Asia, Europe and the US, and has written extensively on China's oil industry. If you would like to get in touch with Nicola, the Beetle will pass across any messages.

Stuck between two very large local ladies with a yard of wet fish draped across my legs, gave a moment to ponder on an extremely different day out that I had just enjoyed!

We had been filming a feature film (partly financed by C4) for about five months on location in Maputo, in the very lovely but battle scarred Mozambique. As happens on most features there sometimes comes a small problemette, a hiatus or in other words, 'The shit hits the fan' and the company needed 'time out'. So the Brazilian Production Manager said, “Be a good 1st Assistant Director and organise the foreign crew a fun day out and I will give the locals paid leave whilst things are sorted out”.

The total crew of 200 was very large but the foreign contingent consisted of Kenyans, Zimbabweans, French, South African, English, Irish, Brazilian, and American. The language of the 'Set' was Portuguese, French and English, but that in itself was another story!

So I set about planning a day out, away from Maputo, in a very different environment, that I hoped, would let them all enjoy themselves and forget about filming for the time being. The plan was to take a trip aboard a large public water bus that would take us down to the mouth of the river and on to an idyllic island where there were wonderful golden beaches, lovely coves and most importantly a great fish restaurant. The sun decided to make the day as perfect as possible and as I went down to the harbour, my spirit was high in spite of a few deserters. For example: the Brazilian Director of Photography said, “I don't want to be away, when the politics are flying around in three languages”!

Finally we were on our way, our multicoloured, multiracial and multilingual crew, packed like a tin of Sardines aboard the boat. This was Sunday and everyone else in Maputo seems to have had the same idea. The two hour trip ended and we dropped anchor off this fantastic island, all started to dive of the boat and swim to the golden beach, anticipating the great day of pleasure to come.

Suddenly soldiers appeared and demanded to see everybody's papers. I began to have a premonition that things might be working out a little different to my plan. So before the soldiers stopped any of the crew without their passports – I went up to the Sgt. And said in my best Portuguese, “I am looking forward to a wonderful Sunday on your lovely island”. It was as if I had dropped a bomb. “What!? No papers” said the Sgt. “Arrest them all”. “Take them to jail and I'll phone HQ”. No amount of pleading could change his mind. We tramped up the beach surrounded by an armed guard, towards the middle of the island and he explained that he had been alerted about a South African commando group that might try to infiltrate his position and take the Island. I looked at my motley crew plus French lead Alex Defcaf and the two new actor arrivals from the UK, Peter Postlethwaite and Struan Rodger. Nothing I thought could look less than a commando group. The gorgeous South African continuity girl in her bikini meanwhile whispered in my ear for me to remember she wanted me to say she was French. A soldier and the female Sound Mixer from England were having a discussion in broken Portuguese, on the merits of various famous Alto Sax players. The Sgt. Pointed at the black French Actor and demanded as to why he did not speak Portuguese – “He is a Parisian” I said, which seemed to satisfy him! I quickly got my cast and crew into a group and told the Sgt. we would not enter his dark, damp jail but would sit in a group outside in the sun, under guard while he phoned his HQ. Speaking to my group in their various languages, telling them that the company would buy them the best lunch possible in the restaurant to make up for their spoilt day! The Sgt. began to be more confused and said. “”I'm beginning to believe you, as I cannot imagine a 'guerrilla group' not being able to speak the same language”. A soldier was chatting up the black accountant from Kenya and though she only spoke English, they seemed to be getting on splendidly. All this time there had not been one whinge from any of the cast or crew even though their day out was passing by fast. All were communicating in some friendly way or other and the soldier's discipline went out the window as all started mingling outside the jail.

Finally the Sgt. got word: HQ asked “Were the people very strange? Yes” said the Sgt. “Then it really is a film crew “said HQ. From then on things got better and better. The Soldiers escorted us to the best beach via the restaurant for us to place our order for a magnificent lunch courtesy of the film company.

So after a rather strange start, we had some great swimming in that clear blue water, followed by an awesome fish lunch, washed down by very good white wine. Then back to boat, sailing homewards as a fantastic African sunset spread across sky. The motley band were all over the boat, enjoying themselves in their different ways ; while I was sitting quietly in the stern surrounded by a group of large local women. They squashed all around me, and I of course, had to help when one of them needed to feed her baby – So that's how I came to have a large fish across my knees as the boat docked. The cast and crew went passed me, as I held the fish and the baby and I heard a voice remark; “I'd say that was definitely a different day out”.

About the author Tony Annis: Have camera will travel. Over the top but not yet over the hill. Past sixty five and still alive, my get up and go has not entirely got up and gone – like good whisky, I'm still going strong. Travelling through these global villages of ours is great adventure but to me it is the people that make this wonderful world, as well as the exotic places that I love to visit. See you over the next horizon, Tony.

The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage to the sacred tomb of Saint James located in the Northwest corner of Spain. Over a thousand years separate those first faithful footsteps and the steady stream of 21st-century pilgrims that currently wander the streets of Santiago de Compostela. The key to survival is adapting to change and over the last millennium the Camino and pilgrims have transformed in many ways.

In 1993, UNESCO declared the Camino de Santiago a world heritage site. It starts from the boarder of France and works it way west to the city of Santiago de Compostela covering some 750 kilometres. Originally, pilgrims had to navigate their way using the sun, moon, stars, and even the Milky Way. Getting lost was part of the journey. Today, the trail is so clearly marked that losing your way is not really an option. With shiny traffic signs, brass and tile scallop shells, and the distinct yellow arrows you'll always be pointed to Santiago.

The oldest documentation of the Compostelana, the official certificate of having completed the pilgrimage, was delivered to André le Breton in the Capilla del Rey de Francia and dates back to 1321. Almost 700 years later, you can still request the Compostelana certificate, complete with your name in Latin. To be eligible you must have either walked or ridden a horse for the last 100 kilometres or bicycled the last 200 kilometres. The demand for this document has grown such that there is now a special Pilgrim's Office that will attend to your petition.

In the 12th Century, a French Monk named Aymeric Picaud wrote a comprehensive book detailing the route from the French border to Santiago de Compostela. This was actually the first guidebook ever written and recommended safe havens to sleep and eat, warned of potential dangers, such as thieves and bandits, and described the various monuments, relics, and holy sites that were along the way. The Codex Calixtinus broke up the Camino into 13 convenient stages that covered the entire 750 kilometres in less than 2 weeks. Today, you still see pilgrims thumbing through their guidebooks looking for all sorts of practical information regarding accommodations, restaurants and explanations of the countless sights. The books are also filled with more modern conveniences, such as Internet cafes, pharmacies, and swimming pools! However, the biggest difference now is that most books recommend the crossing of Spain in a less exhausting 30 days to reach Santiago.

To accommodate for the faithful and weary in the middle ages, albergues or shelters were created along the route and sponsored by the Church, nobles, and royalty. Here travellers could rest their tired bones on a bed of straw, perhaps warm themselves by a fire, and have a sip of wine. In the 21st century, there continues to be a network of public albergues run by the government and private associations related to the Camino. These places are in high demand in the summer and are fitted with rows and rows of bunk beds, showers (some even with hot water) and perhaps a small kitchen to receive you after a long day of walking. And, yes, you'll still find a sip of wine!

Upon arriving to the great Cathedral of Santiago, medieval pilgrims would break down with tears of joy as they finally reached their destination. Overwhelmed from surviving their journey, they would embrace the statue of Santiago and give thanks for their arrival. Today, the emotions still run high. Pilgrims, who were previously strangers, hug and cry as they make their way into the Plaza Obradoiro and share that first look of the Cathedral's ornate Baroque façade. Together they wait nervously in line to give the Apostle a hug and perform the required pilgrim, just as millions of pilgrims have done before.

Despite a thousand years, the Camino de Santiago remains and its pilgrims continue to flow into Santiago. The Camino is an unforgettable experience that creates a special bond and camaraderie among all those who have walked it. In a world where things change so quickly, the Camino de Santiago is so refreshing as things really haven't changed so much after all!

About the author: my name is Alex Chang and I first walked the Camino de Santiago in 1999. You could say it was a life changing experience. Since then, I became a tour guide and have led over 40 groups (some 500 pilgrims) along the Way with various tour companies. Year after year, it has been amazing to repeatedly see the effect the Camino has on touching people's lives. It truly is a magical experience. Born and raised in the United States, I am lucky to call two places home as I have been living in Spain for over seven years. Alex currently owns a tour company based in Bilbao, Spain that offers small group walking tours along the Camino de Santiago, the Basque Country, and Andalucia, Spain. He can be contacted by e-mail: info@frescotours.com or visit his website: www.frescotours.com

RIDDLE: What do Schultz's 1000 Places [worldwide] to See Before You Die, Villani's 100 Best Art Towns in America, the American Association of Retired Person's list of the 15 best retirement towns in the US, and Time's list of the 5 best repertoire theatres in America have in common?

ANSWER: Ashland, Oregon

EXPLANATION: Population 20,000 (6000 university students). Nine theatres and sixty art and antique galleries in a scenic valley with year-round outdoor recreational opportunities draw 500,000 tourists a year, 25 per resident compared with 4 per resident to London.

On Interstate 5, 350 miles north of San Francisco, 300 miles south of Portland, an anomaly among the dairy farms, fruit orchards, vineyards in and between the Cascade and Siskiyou mountains that forms the Rogue Valley. It began as a stage stop, became a timber, mining and railway town, and has taken on a New Age ethos. Weather is generally mild, although summer days can be hot. Precipitation averages 19″ per year almost entirely between December and February.

The downtown (all eight blocks) could serve as the set for Our Town. It centres on the block-on-a-side triangular Plaza and adjacent Lithia Park, which becomes more natural as one follows its creek into the mountains. Only one building is over three stories; it and 28 others are on the National Register of Historic Places. The town owns both a fibre optic network and a ski resort at nearby Mt. Ashland. A commission awards a bronze plaque to the “tree of the year.” There never will be a shopping mall in Ashland. McDonalds went broke.

Not that you will starve. Do not limit yourself to the Plaza, East Main and North Main. There are 90-odd restaurants (an astounding one per 225 residents): usually two or more choices for most cuisines including Chinese, Deli, English, French, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Seafood, Spanish, Thai, and Vegetarian as well as bakery, coffee, fast food, ice cream and sandwich shops and microbreweries, pubs and sports bars. Several have been featured in Gourmet Magazine.

You won't have to camp out (although you can). However, reservations are essential despite over sixty B&B's in turn-of-the-century Craftsman and Victorian homes that characterize the town and some twenty hotels and motels, including several in the downtown area.

The Shakespeare Festival is the big draw. Each February through October 60-70 actors backed by 400 staff (50 costumers alone) offer about 775 performances of eleven plays in three theatres. The goal is “fresh and bold interpretations of classic and contemporary plays in repertory, shaped by the diversity of our American culture, using Shakespeare as our standard and inspiration.” It started in 1935 when Angus Bowmer, drama teacher at the then state normal school proposed using the town's abandoned Chautaqua to stage Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. The town council stipulated boxing matches to cover the expected deficit, hoping Bowmer would not accept such an undignified linkage. Bowmer found the idea in keeping with the bawdiness of Elizabethan theatre and accepted. Ironically, the plays covered the deficit of the boxing. The Festival has continued ever since, with a few years off while Bowmer served in World War II. In 2007, the Festival will present As You Like It, On the Razzle (a variation on The Matchmaker aka Hello Dolly), The Cherry Orchard, Gem of the Ocean, and Tartuffe in the modernistic Bowmer. Three new American plays, Rabbit Hole, Tracy's Tiger, and Distracted will be in the intimate New Theatre. Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, and Tempest will be in the half-timbered, outdoor Elizabethan.

There are half-a-dozen other theatres in town, about a dozen live music venues, and a band shell in Lithia Park where events are frequent. The Brit Festival in nearby Jacksonville features internationally known blues, folk, jazz, popular, operatic and symphonic artists. The January Blues Festival, February Nature Film Festival, March Chocolate Festival, April Independent Film Festival, May Mountain Bike Festival, June “Feast of Will,” July Independence Day celebration, August book fair for local authors, September Flea Market, October Halloween Parade, November Festival of Lights, and December Dickens dinner and carolling reflect some of Ashland's many personalities.

Ski day or night, snowboard, ice skate, skateboard, bicycle, swim, play tennis, golf, or volleyball in season. Run with the Hash House Harriers. Joust with the Society for Creative Anachronism. Take in the Schneider Art and Science Works museums. Explore antique shops, art galleries, and boutiques. Indulge yourself at one of five spas. Spend a quiet hour or two in the town or university library. There are three book publishers and half a dozen booksellers-no chains of course.

Take a backstage tour. Bring a picnic to the free “Green Show” of music and dance just before summer evening plays. Come during the June Hot Air Balloon Festival in Grants Pass, or in September for the Pendleton Rodeo, and make a day trip to Crater Lake. Visit the town's two wineries-and others in the surrounding Rogue Valley Appellation. Artisanal foods, particularly cheeses, chocolates and fruits are popular gifts. Raft, kayak, or jet boat the Rogue River, itself divided into wild, scenic, and recreational sections. Fish, sail, or swim the local lakes. Hike part of the 4400-kilometre Pacific Crest Trail that runs along the southern edge of town north to Canada or south to Mexico.

Photo credits: Photos 1 and 4 courtesy of Ashland Chamber of Commerce. Photos 2 (T. Charles Erickson) and 3 (David Cooper) courtesy Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

About the author: David is professor emeritus of Behavioural Science and of Humanities, California State University, and author of over 100 books and articles including Why We Fight: Theories of Human Aggression and Conflict (2005). He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Cyprus and Ukraine, a Malone Scholar in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, worked in Australia, Singapore, and Morocco, and visited over 100 countries. He is co-founder and treasurer emeritus of Wildlife on Wheels, which provides live wild animal education programs to 100,000 Los Angeles basin children each year. He is married and has one child. Picture was taken of David and his family in the Raffles, Singapore (which is not the place it used to be, unfortunately.)

For more information, see: www.ashland.or.us or www.ashlandchamber.com, www.abbnet.com (B&B's), www.sorc.com (hotels and theatres). www.filmsite.org/afi100films.html (film festival), and www.osfashland.org (Shakespeare Festival). Information is readily available f rom a booth on the Plaza during the summer and all year from the local newspaper or the Chamber of Commerce is off the Plaza.

Forbes Magazine Most Dangerous Destinations 2006 (in alphabetical order) and the previous two years. It's interesting to see which countries have consistently been on Forbes' list over the last three years: Afghanistan, the DRC, Haiti, Iraq, Liberia, Somalia and Zimbabwe – four out of seven countries that are in Africa.

Burundi and Pakistan made it on to the list for two years in 2004 and 2006, and the Sudan and the Ivory Coast made it on to the list for two years in 2005 and 2006. Newcomers to the 2006 list include Georgia, Chechnya and PNG, whilst Yemen, Krygystan and Togo all made brief one year appearances but do not appear in 2006.

Where would be on your list? The Beetle's list would include countries like Iraq and Afghanistan which she hasn't been to, but would seem sensible to avoid, given the amount of conflict taking place there – the risk of being captured and beheaded or the embarrassment (and cost not to mention inconvenience) of having to be rescued by the SAS; please don't go! Only Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea which she has recently visited three times would get her veto – this is not a nice or safe place but the rest of PNG is a complete delight.

On further thought, it seems a little unfair to say that an entire country is worthy of being on the worlds most dangerous list – with the possible exception of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the Beetle personally believes that tourists should not go – until it is safe and there really is peace. The Beetle used to live and work in Karachi in Pakistan and has travelled the country extensively, and would rate the majority of Pakistan as being a warm and very beautiful and welcoming place – Karachi is hard going and the North West Frontier does feels lawless. Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar similarly felt unsafe, as did Nairobi to the Beetle.

Where would be on your list? Write in and let the Beetle know.

• Forbes Most Dangerous Destinations 2004
• Afghanistan Burundi
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Liberia
• Pakistan
• Somalia
• Zimbabwe
• Yemen

• Forbes Most Dangerous Destinations 2005
• Afghanistan
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Liberia
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Zimbabwe
• Kyrgyzstan
• Togo

• Top 5 Cruise Destinations: 2006 Forbes Most Dangerous Destinations 2006
• Afghanistan
• Burundi
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Georgia
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Liberia
• Pakistan
• Papua New Guinea
• Russia (Chechnya)
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Zimbabwe

Travellers and holidaymakers risk contracting a potentially life-threatening disease in Europe this year. The 'Tick Alert' campaign is warning UK travellers about Tick Borne Encephalitis (TBE), a viral disease contracted via the bite of an infected tick. It can lead to meningitis and in serious cases result in paralysis and death, with about one in 30 cases proving fatal.

The warning identifies 16 central and eastern European countries where the TBE infected tick population is officially endemic and therefore poses a high risk to visitors who have not been immunised or taken bite prevention precautions.

This includes many of the new popular European holiday destinations such as Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, where there is a growing travel market.

TBE-infected ticks are found typically in rural and forest areas from late spring and throughout summer. At-risk groups include all visitors to rural areas of endemic countries, particularly those participating in outdoor activities such as trekking, hiking, climbing, cycling and camping.

A number of measures can be taken to reduce the risk of infection: these include using an insect repellent, wearing trousers and long-sleeved clothing to cover all areas of exposed skin, regularly inspecting for tick bites and carefully removing any found. The disease can also be transmitted by the ingestion of unpasteurised milk which should be avoided.

However, the Foreign Office advises that visitors to TBE endemic regions seek advice from their local surgery or clinic – well before travelling.

Further information on the endemic regions of Europe and latest advice for travellers is available at www.masta.org/tickalert

The World’s Worst Dictators

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/toptens/worstdictators.html

Prepared by David Wallechinsky for Parade after consultation with Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Reporters without Borders.

Mac has not been very well, but is still e-mailing strong. In this edition of the Globetrotter e-newsletter, Mac talks about a Japanese tea ceremony he attended whilst based in Japan shortly after WW2 and also the beginning of his five and a half year stint as a soldier in Japan in the 1950s.

Nikko Kanko Hotel Lake Chuzenji, Nikko National Park, Japan Japanese Tea Ceremony: you sit on the floor with legs tucked straight back under you with you sitting on top of them. This is pure torture after ten minutes. Little nephew Jimmy McCarty is the only American I have seen that can do this with ease.

The hostess very slowly washed a tea cup (bowl of elaborate design) pouring water into it from a bamboo dipper, then pouring water into a gold and silver utensil and fiddled around (slowly) wiping this and that slowly. It all means something. It means she is slow. The tea was made from green powder and was special ceremonial tea. Small cakes were passed around. The hostess who was wearing a beautiful spring kimono bowed to you and you bowed in return as she gives you the cake. In bowing I tried to get weight off my legs and tried to stretch them by kicking them straight back. Very sneaky! I bowed three times but it still was not enough relief. I bowed more often and more times during entire ceremony than anyone in attendance. I even bowed when no one was there bowing and presenting something to me.

The Japanese must have thought I was either very polite or else not all there. The others weren't fooled one bit. An unwed middle aged lady from one of the Scandinavian Embassies suggested we share a cup of tea as it looked like there was going to be extra guests and not enough cups.

She whispered that since this was Japan where men come first. I drink first. I drank from one side of cup and then handed it to her and she drank from the other side. I then whispered to her and informed her that we had just gotten married (someone told me that a Japanese man and woman alternately drinking from the same cup are married on completion of alternating.)

She looked perplexed like she was in agony and then looked around to see if any Japanese had noticed. Ha! They had and were smiling. She then remembered it was sake (rice wine) and not tea you shared and whispered: “Sake, sake.” I answered: “Thank you, thank you.” She then saw the humour in the situation and giggled for the remainder of the tea ceremony. We were not invited back.

The flower arrangement in the tokonoma was a simple bud and leaves. It was explained that it is best to sometimes to not have things too beautiful. We have the same policy in our barracks.

It would be difficult to imagine American women meeting once a week to go thorough such a long drawn out ceremony, particularly in view of the fact that it is done in silence except for murmured dozos (please) and arrigato (thank yous.) I was saying Iowa Gozimas (good morning to Japanese I met) until I was told it is Ohio Gozaimas you should say.

Here are some more extracts from my diary of my time in Japan in November 1955.

Aboard the USS Mitchell, Pacific Ocean (I think the USS Mitchell was a ship from Presidential Lines turned into a troop ship.) At 1335 hrs we sighted Japanese fishing boats. It was the first sign of life, outside of our own ship we had seen for eleven days since leaving Seattle. The little fishing boat was approximately three hundred miles from Japan, as we were.

Sunday Tokyo Japan 19 Nov 55: at 0300 saw a light in distance periodically coming from a lighthouse. We had gotten up to go on deck as I wanted to see go into Yokohama harbour, as did others that could not sleep. At 0600 we saw land. The ship's public address system announced that we were entering Tokyo Bay. Yokohama has a Breakwater whose entrance can be closed at night. It has a gate of steel spikes that go down into the water and during the war the Allies were never able to get into the inner Tokyo Bay because of this. The ship's speaker announces: “The ship is moored. Raise the flag”. With ourselves bagged and barracks bags tagged with line number and wearing fatigues we waited to get off the ship. I felt like a refugee with that tag with my name on it. The guy in front of me turned out to be from Seward Nebraska, Edward R Wittrock. After we expressed amazement of living only thirty miles from each other in Nebraska we had nothing to talk about as we didn't know the same people as we both already had been in the service a long time.

In a typical service snafu after they insisted we wear fatigues off the ship, we no sooner got off than we were ordered to go into a warehouse and change into Class A uniform which had been packed and stored in barracks bags and were winkled after being squashed into those barracks bags for about two weeks. They wanted us to look nice for the Japanese on the street. One guy left his briefcase in the warehouse and a Japanese man came running out teeth all smiling to return it to the owner. This was our first experience with the honesty of the Japanese people. Quite a contrast to the Philippines. My buddy nicknamed the Colonel said 67 instead of his last name, first name and middle initial coming off the ship. No one noticed.

Once we were docked the confusion began with me. I was the only one going to Headquarters FEAF, Tokyo, an Airman third class. In those days they ironically would have sponsors assigned to officers and maybe even NCOs but none to airmen third class. I hitched a ride in an Army truck into Tokyo with another airman third class who was driving there. We passed a vehicle with no-one sitting in driver's seat. I then realised he was sitting right hand seat of car. I noticed washing hanging on bamboo poles with sticks through garments sleeves. This required no clothes pens and the wind couldn't blow them down. I was all eyes on the eighteen mile ride from Yokohama to Tokyo. I was told that a bamboo grove is the safest place to be in a typhoon or earthquake but could not find such a grove in Tokyo. I found our mess hall had a bamboo screen, a bamboo counter and there is bamboo furniture in our day room. Much bamboo is used over here, it has many, many uses. I was to spend five and one half years in Japan and later met a woman who wrote a book called The Wise Bamboo about funny things that happened during occupation duty. I would like to reread it.

At first thought, I thought there was a national epidemic over here. I saw so many people wearing what looked like surgical masks over their face. They wear them when they have a cold so as to not spread germs or to avoid catching a cold from others. They look like they are ready to go into surgery or are ready to hold up a bank. They look particularly funny if driving a car. I had to ask strangers where Hq FEAF was as I had no idea except that it was in Tokyo. When I found the Hqs, the first person I met was an American WAC hollering into a phone Mushi, Mushi, Mushi Mushi. She saw my confusion and explained that Mushi Mush was Hello hello. She saw my confusion and tried to help me out in my first few days in Japan. It was the beginning of the most enjoyable five and one half years of my life.

If you would like to get in touch with Mac, he is happy to correspond by e-mail when he is well. His e-mail address is: macsan400@yahoo.com

A passenger jet flying for Ryanair mistakenly landed at Ballykelly Army airstrip instead of at its intended destination of City of Derry Airport, six miles away. The Liverpool-to-Londonderry flight, operated by Eirjet on behalf of the Irish LCC, landed at the wrong airport due to an “error by the Eirjet pilot who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry airport,” according to a Ryanair statement. Army officers and passengers aboard the Eirjet A320 were reportedly dumbfounded by the mistake. “The pilot apologised and said, 'We may have arrived at the wrong airport,'” said one passenger. “Everyone started laughing and thought it was a joke, then I saw for myself when I looked out and saw Army officers everywhere.”

“It was just unbelievable, I think the Army officers were shocked themselves (as) they were taking photographs,” the passenger added. “It was surreal.”

This is Wickipedia's entry for our friends Ryanair: Ryanair is an airline based in Ireland. It is Europe's largest low-cost carrier, operating 270 low-fare routes to 21 European countries. Over the years it has evolved into the world's most profitable airline , running at remarkable margins by relentlessly driving down costs. Ryanair has been characterised by rapid and continuing expansion, enabled by the deregulation of the air industry in Europe in 1997. Ryanair is one of Europe's most controversial companies, praised and criticised in equal measure. Its supporters praise its commitment to exceptionally low fares, its radical management, its populism, and its willingness to challenge what Ryanair calls the 'establishment' within the airline industry (similar to its American counterpart, Southwest Airlines). Critics, meanwhile, have attacked its trade union policies, and have charged that it practices deceptive advertising.

Some recent statistics show Ryanair coming top of the table. However, see this for some less favourable comments.

Source: AEA member statistics Jan – Dec 2005 compared to Ryanair and Easyjet statistics Jan – Dec 2005.