Entries this day: HI_from_Vancouver! Morag funny_Shawn katt_Vancouver

HI from Vancouver!

HI from Vancouver!

Hello hello!

Soon after I arrived in Japan, my dear friend Colleen sent me a
stuffed rabbit for Easter. (Thanks, Colleenie Beanie!!) That nameless
rabbit hung on my wall from April 2003 until May 2005 when I left for
this voyage.  At that point I had to make a decision between
throwing/giving it away and bringing it with me.

I brought it with me to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and
featured it in various photos.  While on tour in Jordan, I asked my
friend Ai (pronounced "I") to suggest a name for the rabbit.  Without
thinking she said, "Francois."

I balked.  "No no; I mean a real name."

She suggested "Hiroyuki."

I cringed.  "Um.. actually Francois is perfect!"

So Francois went to Petra (Jordan), the pyramids in Egypt, Greece,
Italy, Spain, France, Norway, Ireland, New York, Jamaica, Panama
Canal, Costa Rica, and, as mentioned last time, he went scuba diving
with me in Acapulco!!!

After Acapulco, I saw Shunji (the 11 or 12 year old kid who likes to
run up to me and repeatedly ask/shout "What are you doing?  What are
you doing?" and then collapse in hysterics on the floor) and threw
Francois to him.  Shunji, being 11 or 12, ran off and apparently
discarded the rabbit somewhere.

A couple days later, a ransom note and pictures of Francois appeared
on the classroom computers.  He had been rabbit-napped!

They demanded I write a poem over 50 words describing my love for the
rabbit, and place it in the library on page 25 of a certain book.

- - - -

  Ode to Francois:

My dearest adorable rabbit
I fearest starting a habit
I love everything about you,
and I cannot live without you.

Your eyes so cute
and mouth so mute
Ears flopped at either side
You are my joy and my pride

May the fates not scorn me
and my mates all support thee
with great speed home swiftly
not too late for a spot of tea
as we gaze over the sea
or graze in Topaz Dining.

I won't again let thee
out of my direct sight, see
by giving you to Shunji
I lost my dear buddy

With tears in my eyes
I finish the lines
and hope you'll come back to me.
May it be no surprise
I'll massage the spines
of your captors when they release thee.

- - - -

A day later there were four demands, which had been hidden in the
English version of the daily schedule.

1) Shave the left side of your head
2) Wear your shirts backwards till Vancouver
3) Remove that ugly toenail polish (*)
4) Recite "Ode to Francois" at the next GET Meeting.

(*) I had been wearing dark green nail polish for a few weeks, and it
was getting chipped.

I debated for a while if I should play along and comply.  It was quite
a dilemma until I imagined telling the story to my brother.  I chose
my own interpretation of the demands:

1) I shaved the left side of my head, and the right side of my head.
2) I wore a shirt that said, "YOUR SHIRTS BACKWARDS TILL VANCOUVER"
3) I put on a new coat of hot pink toenail polish
4) I was happy to recite the poem, and Kim got it on video.

Since that time, many people have asked about the well-being of
Francois, and I have some hints as to who did it, but as of this
writing, I don't know yet, and I haven't seen Francois.  I trust he
will show up before I get off the boat to explore Vancouver tomorrow.

------------

In other news, we are sailing into colder weather; the water in the
pool is frigid, and very few people hang out on the top deck.

We'll be doing a fashion show tonight, which will include a sweat shop
portion; we'll wear GAP and Nike and Timberland outfits and then
explain how they exploit kids and other cheap labor for huge profits.
I almost hesitate to bring it up here; I personally don't have many
details on how these companies operate.

-----------

It's an abrupt ending, but I've had a few issues getting started today in
Vancouver; I'm going to go skating and hopefully meet Morag and go to a barbecue
tonight!

     Love Love
      - Rob! 

Morag

I hung out with Morag today! We ate lunch and scoped the steam clock down by some area (forgot the area name, but it's famous in Vancouver!) and bought cassette tapes and drank hot chocolate and talk talk talk talked! Great to see her again!

funny Shawn

10:34pm PDT Saturday 13 August 2005

"Hey Shawn, I want to show you a cool movie."

"Is it something you got off the internet?"

"Better than the internet."

"Sugoi; if I was wearing socks, I'd expect them to be blown off."

katt Vancouver

10:34pm PDT Saturday 13 August 2005

Katt and I walked around the city a bit. I thought this was a funny drink name!

I couldn't resist climbing this fountain, though we were nearly in a big rush getting back to the ship.