Company Olympics

When I learned that the company Olympics this year were scheduled a month earlier than prior years, I was very happy.  The earlier schedule meant I would still be around to participate.  I really enjoy them, and I'm one of the few (if not the only) expat who participates in anything other than the golf event.  The golf event is typically expats and government relations - the only people who can afford to play golf regularly (GovRel because that's where the government Ministers want to talk).  This year I signed up for Futsal and Bowling.

The first game of Futsal was on a Tuesday night.  I arrived early enough to warm up by running the field.  I also typically need to burn off much of my adrenaline - I am still a competition junky.  Four teams play two, twenty-minute halves.  Teams 1 and 2 play their first half, then teams 3 and 4 play, then back to 1 and 2.  I was glad my team was in the first group.

Futsal is a 5 on 5 game of soccer played on a field roughly the size of a basketball court.  Teams typically field one goalie, two defensemen and two strikers.  Ten years ago, I would have played striker.  Now I'm too slow, but I can still pass and still defend, so I took the position of floating defender - the position that plays distributor on offense, but must also get back quickly on defense.  It requires stamina and age hasn't taken that from me yet.

The first half of our first game was close, finishing 2-1 in our favor.  After our break and some snacks, we took the field for the second half and scored once more to their nil.  The other teams finished the night in a draw, so we finished Round 1 as the first place team.  Our second game did not stay close for long.  We jumped out to an early lead and the opposing team's only score occurred when our goalie and our other defender fell to the ground, the ball squirted out to the other team, and they kicked a shot that ricocheted off my stomach into the goal.  The half finished 3-1; the game finished 7-1.  Heading into the third and final round tomorrow night, the only chance we have of losing the gold medal is if we lose the game by more than five points.

The second event, bowling, was more eventful.  I haven't bowled in nearly a year, and we were on new lanes, so I knew I'd be rusty.  I arrived an hour early to warm up and determine how I was bowling that night.  It's a good thing I did.

My first practice game I bowled a 72.  I think that's the first time I've been under 100 in the last twenty years.  My second practice game was an 85.  I did not have high hopes for the evening, and I'm supposed to be my team's ringer!  Two years ago, the last time I participated, I bowled the highest game in the competition with a 189 - respectable, but not near what you'd expect a first place finish to be in the US.  I was ready to call it a night, but I knew everyone was counting on me.  I tried five more practice frames, and finally started throwing strikes and 9-pin first balls.  My groove was back.

In the first game of the competition, thanks to three spares and a turkey, I bowled a 169.  Of the six lanes playing, no one in the other five lanes came within 30 points of my score.  Unfortunately, I was in the high performer lane.  One guy did not have a single open frame and finished with a 218, my primary competition from two years ago bowled a 183.  The fourth person in my lane bowled a 132.

The second game saw all of us drop.  I fell to 129, which I attribute to drinking a beer without having dinner, and the others were all below 180.  In ten frames, with my first ball I threw seven 9's, two 8's, and one 7.  I kept leaving the number 5 pin.  I finished the night with the 4th highest game and third highest series.  I think that wins me a trophy of some kind, but I don't know.

The highlight of the night, for everyone who witnessed it, was when I became frustrated warming up and declared that, on this throw, I was going to get a strike.  Period.  I took my place on the second dot from the left, with the dot underneath the ball of my right foot.  Stepped forward with my right foot, then my left, then started my swing as I stepped forward with my right.  As I brought my left foot forward for the final step, I unintentionally dragged my toe.  This caused me to fall.  My knees hit first, then my chest, then my face.  My momentum actually carried my body forward enough that my feet lifted into the air and I was momentarily balancing on my face and chest.  Somehow, I had the wherewithal to still throw the ball.  And I got a strike.

The cheering and laughing was thunderous.  I stood up, looked at the result, shrugged my shoulders and sat down.

If I wasn't already, I'm sure I am now the legendary:  "Bule Gila" (Crazy Expat).

Another rafting adventure

In mid-May, while a colleague was visiting from the US (and was nice enough to bring me a Seagrem's 7!), I arranged another rafting adventure with him and several of my expat friends.  Most of these adventure tours in Jakarta claim to require a minimum party of 10 people.  The reality is they require fees for ten people, they will happily depart with just eight.  Six is what we had, but we paid for ten, so the two drivers were able to raft, also.

On my prior rafting trips - two with my staff, one with my friend from Austria - we walked down the hill to gather our gear, loaded into the back of a truck and made our way up the mountain to our launching point.  We then rafted down to the place where we collected our gear, took a break, and then rafted to our final spot another thirty minutes or so down the river.  This time, I arranged for us to raft to the sea.

Our day started at 7 AM in Jakarta.  Myself, a colleague, and four expat friends met at the Hero's in Kemang, divided into two groups - one in my car, one in my colleague's car - and drove to Sukabumi.  The trip was much faster than prior attempts and we arrived by 11:30 and had lunch.  We were scheduled to begin our rafting at 1 PM.

At 12:30, the guide collected us.  We gathered our gear, listened to the safety briefing, and, instead of boarding a truck for a ride up the hill, we split into two rafts right there.  Myself, my colleague and two good friends from Jakarta loaded into one raft, the two drivers and my two other friends loaded into the other raft.

Our first stop was the location where all my previous trips had ended.  We rested, drank coconut water, and watched a group of village boys ages 5 - 10 swim and playfight naked in the river.  That isn't something I thought I'd ever see in a country as conservative as Indonesia.

When we had finished our break, I quickly regretted having not brought a camera.  I'd been on the trip so many times before, and already had so many pictures, I didn't think there would be anything new for me.  I hadn't counted on the river beyond my prior stopping point being so markedly different from my prior trips.

The top of the mountain is mostly jungle.  There are a few random houses dotting the landscape, a few rice plantations, but it is mostly rock, waterfall and jungle.  Beyond our rest stop, there was life.  Houses built on the banks of the river with steps carved into the rock to give access to the water.  People bathing, washing clothes, and even brushing their teeth in the river.  Kids floating on inner tubes, laughing and waving as we paddled by.  This was a true representation of life in an Indonesian mountain village, and I missed the opportunity to photograph it.  Some of the others brought their cameras, but we were so busy taking in all the sights, fighting the rapids, and feeling excited when we smelled the salt air, no one thought to take pictures.

Our adventure ultimately ended before we ever sited the sea, which would have been the Indian Ocean.  We left the river after crossing underneath a bridge.  Two trucks awaited and we loaded the gear in one truck, and the rest of us piled into the open-air bed of the other truck, and held on for dear life as it drove back to the launch point via highway, village roads, dirt roads, and one stretch that was so steep even people on motorcycles were waiting their turn so they could build up speed and tackle it alone.  It's amazing we didn't fall out the back.

When we returned to Jakarta, everyone said we had to return and this time, take the full, 8 hour trip from the top of the hill to the sea.  I tried to get something scheduled for June but, as often happens, talking about doing it was easier than committing to it, and the long trip won't occur before we leave.

I have now rafted in Java more times than we've done anything else other than Taman Safari....and eating at Hacienda.  I think that means I enjoy it.