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).

A few updates

The company Olympics came and went.  My team has won gold medals in over half the competitions, so it appears we are the runaway champions yet again.  I wish I could say I contributed as much this year as I did last year.  I played the same two events:  golf and bowling.  Though I repeated my showing in golf (2nd place), I did not come close to approximating my dominance in bowling.  I bowled a measly 118/133, though the 133 was good enough for 3rd place.  Those scores are a far cry from the 186, 142 I bowled last year.  My bowling this year was not accompanied by cheers, or a first place finish for my team.

Everyone kept asking what was wrong.  My practice throws were strikes and spares.  When they counted, in 22 frames, I bowled one strike and 9 open frames.  I said I just wasn't throwing well.  My ball was just not doing what it normally does.  One of my colleagues who bowls frequently and wins several tournaments a year, however, said it was the lanes.  Watching him bowl a 103, 99, I thought maybe it was for him, but not for me.  Then my mother-in-law bowled the same lanes later in the week.  Most of you probably already know, thanks to a very public Facebook taunting, that my mother-in-law is a good bowler and beat my 171, 179 series when we played a few weeks ago.  On the lanes we bowled the company Olympics, she bowled 97, 119.  Maybe it really is the lanes (though she is blaming the balls).

Next week our daughter returns to school.  The last few weeks have been difficult for her because she is at home all day instead of just a half day.  It really is harder on her that it is on us.  She likes the interaction with the children and the learning.  We've been working with her, though.  She knows how to spell "dog", and several words that rhyme with it (bog, hog, etc.).  She has learned that evaporation is how the sun makes the water disappear and that if you put your feet together on the swings you go faster because of aerodynamics.  She also knows that you ask daddy if you want ice cream and mommy if you want pickles.  Thankfully, she doesn't ask for them both at the same time.

I'm finally loading the pictures from our team building and rafting trip.  I've had them since the Monday after and just haven't made the time to load them.  Anyway, here they are (I'm the goofy looking Caucasian).

Rain, Golfing, and Lifestyle Games

It looks like July 2010 will be my least productive blogging month since our arrival in Jakarta.  I think that is because we're at the "been there, done that" phase.  I've already documented our life, our lifestyle, and what it is like living in Jakarta.  We're doing more of the same.

The rainy season in Jakarta, in theory, starts in November and ends in April.  We had so little rain during the rainy season, I kept asking when it started.  This year, meteorologists announced it officially ended in June, not April.  It's rained nearly every day since they made that announcement.  I think they may have it backwards.

Our company Olympics are underway again.  Last year, I participated in the golfing and bowling events.  I took first place in bowling, helping my team finish first.  My scramble partner and I placed second in the golf scramble, helping my team finish first.  Overall, my team finished in first place.  This year, my new team is expecting the same production from me.  Sunday, we had the golf event.  My scramble partner was our CFO.  I haven't played golf since our event last year, though I did take a lesson and have spent several days at the driving range.  I hit the ball very well.  Probably lowered my handicap by 10 strokes.  My partner and I finished second (I have the trophy to prove it).  The other scramble for our team finished in first, so, once again, my team won the golf event.  Now I just have to bowl well next week and I will cement my legacy.

Our daughter, like myself, is addicted to sweets.  We want to break her from that, but it's difficult when daddy is always eating a chocolate cookie or ice cream after dinner.  She also prefers watching cartoons to doing something active.  Sweets and inactivity are not good health partners.  To help with the situation, we have invented a lifestyle game.  Using a poster board, we made three columns:  Fruits and Veggies, Mental Exercise, Exercise.  Each day she eats fruits and veggies, does a learning activity (or attends school) or exercises (like riding her bike, or playing at the park), she earns a sticker in the appropriate category.  Once she has five in each category, I take her out for ice cream.  It's still early in this experiment, so we don't know yet if it is effective.

Did I mention my mother-in-law is visiting?  Yep.  One month.  This marks the third visit in 17 months.  The eighth family member visit in 17 months.  Doing the math:  17 months away from Phoenix, subtract one month for Europe and two months for living in Singapore = 14 months.  Eight visits for roughly one month each, means we've been on our own in Jakarta for a total of six months.  So why do we still miss home?

Eventful Week

Last weekend was a three day weekend in Jakarta as we celebrated Indonesian Independence Day.

Saturday, I participated in the final Freeport Olympics event - golf. It was a sad reminder of how much practice I need in the sport of executives. Each of the four Olympic teams could provide eight players. Most were lucky to provide two. Prior to the event all players had to provide their handicap with a cap of 28. I, like nearly all the others participating, listed a 28 handicap.

The morning of the event, the organizers grouped players into pairs for a best ball scramble. They put the highest handicapped person on a team with the lowest handicapped person and worked their way to the middle. The only other rule was alternating who would do the putting on each hole. They had individual tournaments for longest drive, closest to the pin, and closest to the line - a rope in the center of the fairway around where a normal drive distance would be. They also gave each team a yellow ball. On each hole, we had to alternate which player would use the ball. Any team that still had the ball at the end of 18 holes would win a prize.

Long story short, the opposing team in my foursome lost their yellow ball on the first hole. My team, thanks to my partner, lost it on the drive of the second hole. I played horrible from the tees and the fairways, and was on fire near the greens and putting. I made any putt within 15 feet and would chip/pitch within ten feet of the cup on every hole. My partner was driving 300 yards and hitting well from the fairway when I had a bad shot. We complemented each other nicely - and still ended up shooting a 96. After our handicap reduction, we were left with a 4-under par 68, which was 14 strokes better than our opponent. The score was good enough for second. Another pair from my team took first, so my Olympic team took the gold medal for the event, and we won gold overall.

Sunday, we took our daughter to a polo and equestrian club outside Jakarta so she could go horseback riding. For ten dollars, she took a 45 minute ride up into the mountains on a horse by herself with a guide holding the reins. We watched her leave and then realized we just sent our 3 year old daughter off into the jungle on a horse with someone we just met. We sat in the open-air cafeteria to wait for her return, which turned out to be a mistake. When she came back and didn't see us, she freaked out. She screamed loud enough the whole restaurant turned in the direction of the noise. The guide she had gone riding with was holding her hand walking her to the cafeteria and she was bawling. Once she saw us, she calmed down, and, after a few moments, admitted to having a good time.

Monday, I went to work for a semi-mandatory Independence Day celebration. I asked around and expats typically do not attend this event. I was also the only expat who participated in the Olympic events, though, so that did not deter me. One of my expat colleagues, however, came by later to inform me that, even though he had never attended in his seven years, he was attending this year because they were going to take attendance and note who was there.

The locals appeared to have a very good time. For me, I kept thinking how an event like this would never happen in the United States. Even on a voluntary basis, someone would have sued. We stood in military formation based on our Olympic team membership. Someone from our security team barked out orders and we alternated between saluting, being at ease, and standing at attention. Very militaristic. I felt uncomfortable saluting the Indonesian flag, but I did so, so I would not offend anyone. I probably will not attend next years event. I really think this event is intended for Indonesians who want display their nationalist fervor, not for an expat visiting.

During the week, my daughter had an opportunity to try out her adventurous side by riding a gyroscope. This is a ride that many adults won't brave. She's doing it at the age of three.