Shepherd Wanted

This is South Africa, in the southwestern Cape area. The climate here is Mediterranean, so there are vineyards and fruit orchards.

A Canadian teacher at our school says his favorite fruit juice is Ceres. Mine too. Liquifruit is pretty good too. Ceres is made in South Africa in a valley of the same name, in a valley somewhere beyond those distant mountains pictured above.

South Africa is a spacious country, with blue skies and open fields. In Mid-January, when I drive from Cape Town to see my sister in Port Elizabeth, about 700km away on the East Coast, I'll probably be driving through this sort of landscape.

The vegetation in the foreground, unique to the Cape, is called fynbos. It literally means fine bush.

The mountains in the background are a uniquely beautiful orange and rustic gold folded type. Two areas where the folded mountains are most spectacular are the Hex River Valley and Seweweekspoort (literally 7 Weeks Gap).
Nestled between the mountains are beautiful vineyards and romantic Cape Dutch homesteads. My brother Casey (see www.caseyvdleek.com) makes his fortunes from painting these landscapes.

This picture was taken in winter, when the fields are green and the rest of the country is brown and dry. When I drive through here the fields will be tawny brown and wheat white, but the rest of the Garden Route will be green and gorgeous, and the beaches covered in colorful umbrellas and sunshine crowds.  

Believe

This is one of the best UFO pictures on record. For the record, they have been tested and analysed in the US, and officially verified as authentic. Not everyone thinks so. What do you think? I have a few other pictures which I will post, but I will leave it to you to investigate these phenomena further, at your own pace.

The internet is a very powerful mechanism to accumulate a vast amount of data that would otherwsie take weeks.

This picture was taken in Switzerland by Billy Meier. He says the aliens on board consented to have pictures taken of their craft. One was 7 metres across, and another a sort of ROV* about half the size. He has pictures of both. He also has 8mm video footage, and drawings of the aviators. One of them has said that we are related to them genetically, but technically very far behind.

Is this relevant to Ironman? Nope is the honest answer. But if there is anything to take from this it is that anything can happen, and in life it makes sence to expect the unexpected.
*ROV - remote operated vehicle
www.billymeier.com 

Is she available?

I still have Julianne on my mind. I'd like to see a fairly recent movie she made called Laws of Attraction, with Pierce Brosnan. I wonder if it is available on video... 

Night School

Here's a picture of my school taken at night. We're on the top three floors of a five storey building. On the right you can just make out the ghostly picture of a little girl holding her schoolbook. I took this picture last week before we went to Sinchon.

Sometimes, if I get really hungry I run downstairs and into Paris Baguette and buy a sandwich or something. Corneli also sometimes buys me stuff from Paris Bagueete. I usually buy all my bread and rolls from a much better bakery called Tous Le Jours. The bread is better, and layout of the shop is better, and the shopwner is always friendly.

One additional reason why I don't go much to Paris Baguette is I once asked the owner's daughter if she wanted to have coffee with me. The answer she gave me was not exactly what I expected. I guess I expected her response to be something a bit more elaborate. I said, "Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"
Her answer: "No."
That was it.
Her mother has started greeting me if she sees me walking outside the shop, but it's just not enough to get me back in there. 

Corner Shop

This is the market near my house. My most common purchases here are bags of popcorn seeds, mandarins, and milk.
Tonight I bought strawberries, some chocolate (they come in strips with 5 squares per strip, and each paper strip attached has 4 stickers, which I keep and give to my students) and a bottle of water. In Korea you can't drink the water out of the taps. Or you can, but you may suffer from some kind of heavy metal poisoning.

Right across the road is an almost identical shop, with a blue sign (Coke vs Pepsi) but I never go to the blue shop because the people there are less friendly, and it seems a bit dirtier and less well organised. The shop is about 2 minutes walk from my place. 

Balance

Thought, word, and deed. Here, there, and inbetween or left, right and centre. In the same way that our brains are based on two hemispheres, one given over to analysis (breaking down) and the other to synthesis (putting things together, finding patterns or relationships), there is a third dimension to our brains, and that is Imagination. This may not be scientific, but I would speculate that when you use both faculties together, you produce higher consciousness, one form of which is the imagination.

A parallel to the structure of our brains lies in the underlying structure of every cell, the very building blocks of each cell in the body. The double helix, parallel band is a structure which displays, I think, the underlying duality of the universe. The light and dark, hot and cold, Earth (substance) and Space (nothingness). But there are a number of bridges, crossing the divide. The pattern determines the specialisation, whether the cell expanded millions of times will be skin, or bone, or ear cartilage or heart muscle.

The three dimensional structure of every living cell also predicates, in my opinion, the three dimensional nature of the universe. The universe is both physical, non-physical, and subliminal.

That means observable (stars, moons etc), unobservable (black holes, space, antimatter, nothingness), and beyond observation (ie beyond the reach of our strongest telescopes). In the same way deeds are observable, thoughts are not, but words we have evidence for if we have the right apparatus to record them, such as books, a language, glasses.

It seems that the UFO's have found a way to use their craft in the non-physical universe, and appear to live in the non physical universe as well. The implication is simply that a higher technology and consciousness is seated in things non physical. The athlete knows that the body is only as strong as the mind that drives it, and the mind needs to be inspired. It is the spirit that inspires the mind.

Another way to analogise duality, and the leap to a higher level, a trinity, is computer code. Essentially all* data are either a 1 or a 0. You might say that this represents a digital dual universe. That's true if the computer was operating in a very simple way. Basically on, or off, living or dead, performing x function, or performing y function. The reality is that once in operation, through a microprocessor, the 1's and o's become representative.

The bits, the 1's and o's move in patterns, guided by software configurations, they swim and ebb and flow in tides through the microprocessor. To the degree that the microprocessor and the operating system directs this traffic, that is the degree to which a computer achieves intelligence, if only intelligence in response to our instructions. That is a much higher dimension than the intelligence (or lack of) in a 1, or a 0. A 1 or 0 might be called mere electricity (the flow of positively or negatively charged electrons).

Everyone knows that a computer can do a lot more than a lightbulb. This is a way to represent how far beyond a higher consciousness is, than to merely be the sum of one's parts. The implication is that if we merely think with one part of ours brains, that's operating very inefficiently. Both is an improvement, but to begin to fully utilise our potential is to develop our entire consciousness, to awaken our whole brain, our imaginations, and begin to have a richer intercourse with the universe (which is represented in the very complex structure in our brains, a structure which emulates the real universe)and all us creatures here.

One way to look at how balanced your body is, is to look at your body. Are both sides equally strong, equally dextrous? Can you write with both hands, is your sight and hearing the same in each eye or each ear. Do you have an injury to one side of your body, or a limb that is less fully developed than the other. If so, the seat of this probably lies in how you or your forebears were able to balance the energies of the right and left brains. The way to do it is not to use one, and then the other. It is simply to use both at the same time, by being conscious, by being in the now. By balancing thought, and word, and deed. Thought, feeling, emotion. Am I thinking all the time, am I addicted to feelings (feelings of addiction, or feelings from food, or feelings from sexual encounters) or am I overly emotional (happy or sad).

Balance means having emotions in proportion to feelings and feelings in proportion to thoughts. All these are not always observable until they lead to words, or deeds, which is a higher level of operation. It is when we make contact with the world, with the universe, and the moment when the universe makes direct contact with us, that something real, and powerful happens to all consciousness, and even (but especially)our own level of consciousness. The things we do change our consciousness most effectively.
I am not sure if meditating monks achieve more than monks who move about and help the weak and infirm, grow plants and cook foods for the hungry.
I am not sure if praying for help serves us as much as providing, giving help or assistance.
Being proactive is God working through us.
Action is a higher level of consciousness than mere thought. But action without consciousness is meaningless.

In my case the right side of my body is a lot stronger than the left. My right leg is shorter, and weaker (due to an injury), but my right arm is also weaker when I swim. It's possible that there is a flaw in the left side of my brain, or how I have been using it. Remember the one side of your brain controls the motor functions of the opposite side of your body.
I am interested in language, I read a great deal, I analyse constantly. It is possible that I use my creative right brain far too seldom. I am good at drawing, I'm an imaginative writer, I can often write with imaginative, picturesque description. But the dominant aspect of my thinking is chewing on the bone, often compulsively focusing on some mental puzzle.

I suspect the amount of energy devoted to analysis, and the intensity and scope of it, is damaging. And I believe this becomes manifest my body. I believe that what I fear I attract, but I can attract what I love instead, if that's my focus instead. Everything has a consequence, and the weakness on one side of my body I believe represents a fairly serious imbalance.

To restore this balance I need to be more creative, I need to create new patterns, and I need to be more now oriented, and less future or past.
I also believe more intense and prolonged physical activity, exercise in other words, will be of great benefit, as well as a kind of calmness of the mind, for prolonged periods, where the mind is quiet. Thus I think the Ironman is a worthy way of restoring balance to my life. It requires a magnificent shift to achieve the sort of training pattern necessary to become ready for such an intense race.
Listening to music may help to soothe nibbly thinking, aswell as time spent walking in a forest, or hiking outdoors.

I will bear these in mind but even more, bear these out in my actions as consciously as I can, as I move towards a more balanced lifestyle.

*I'm not sure if this sentence is grammatically correct: 'All data are either a 1 or a 0...' Data can be singular or plural, like fruit, or fish, or you. All fish are either big or small. All fruits are either sweet or sour. All fruit is either sweet or sour. I'm going to leave it as it is, my instincts say it's acceptable. If you know differently, let me know, and let me know why.)
 

Week 5 Day 6

Gym: 25 Minutes.

Hamstring curls: 3-4 sets (per leg). Maximum 20. 20/15/10/5/10/5

Legs (especially hamstrings) seem to be responding, seem to be getting stronger. Still a difference in strength between the two.

Leg Raises: 2 sets (20/15/10/5/5
Calf raises: 2x20
Pullups: 10
Leg lifts (stomach exercise): 25
Rowing: 2x15
Chest curls: 20
Leg extensions: 30kgx100

Walking up the stairs just before I got home my legs felt swollen and wooly from gym. Was quite a tough workout again, despite it being pretty short.
Did not swim today as planned.

Try to get in a good swim tomorrow and continue to be consistent, and start running in the gym from next week. Try to do at least one cycle before Christmas!!!
 

Celebrations and Reflections

It's been an amazing year, 2004. I've managed to grow financially, I've been able to develop my passion for triathlon, and I've met many interesting people along the way. In many ways this year has been a few steps forward, but in some ways, it has been a step back, or at the very least, no step at all. I have been in stasis on the relationship front. I feel like I am going into: On your marks, get set...mode.

I also did not travel much this year, outside of Korea. I had written in my diary that I'd like to visit one of the following countries:
Indonesia
Finland
Philippines (again)
Mongolia
Thailand (Phuket)

I almost went to Phuket, but due to time constraints, and not really being prepared physically for a great race, I let it pass.

But this year I did win my first triathlon. I have had a few seconds and thirds, but this was my first win, and one I enjoyed. I enjoyed the prize money too.

Other highlights were the two marathons I ran this year (3:50 and 4:43), and the 3.9km swim that I finished 2nd in.

I didn't publish anything in any newspaper this year, but I have developed my writing in terms of setting up this blog, which may be the beginning of other blogs, and other literary developments. If I possibly can, I would like to pursue a career in writing. I have other material which has some merit for use in children's stories. I have a constant stream of ideas... It's to get around to developing a few that's the challenge.

I have had a lot of fun with my Sharp Digital Video camera, and have made several short documentaries, and learned how to edit, use special effects, burn to disk, and mass produce. I've mailed several short films to family and friends around the world. I've had a lot of fun doing this, and at some stage I'd like to get a better camera and take this even further. I'm interested in the Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras at the moment.

I've also discovered Counterstrike, and recently I've been the No:1 shooter in my team. In one game I had over 660 kills - a dubious achievement I guess! A few weeks ago I could barely manage a single hit. If only I could be as consistent in my training!
Two other games that I have mastered, are Return of the Ring (went through all levels, right to where you have to throw Gollum and Ring into the Lake of fire - very difficult). The other game, Need For Speed, I am at a ranking of 3.

Most important, I've made a few new friends. I'm sure Valentin and I will hang out more once we are both back in Korea. Pete, a Korean guy, became a valuable help while I was doing triathlon this year. He helped organise races for me, and provided me with information or drove me around. Arnaud Penverne, a french guy, I know less well. We met at the Sokcho race and have been in contact since. He did the Jeju Ironman, and did fairly well at Cheorwon too. I was going to do my third marathon this year using his race number, but decided at the last moment against it. Arnaud went to Phuket and did very well. He is new at triathlon, but very enthusiastic about the sport.

There were some interesting one off meetings, Bafana Khubeka the (South African Ambassador) Matty White (pro triathlete in Jeju), the celebrities (?) of Lost Seoul Derangio, saw Paula Newby Fraser (Hawaii Ironman legend, the Queen of Kona) win in Jeju and Gert Thuys (South African who won the Seoul marathon).

There are others, too many to mention, some old friends or others that I have met once or twice but not gotten around to calling or emailing or meeting often enough. People like Juhee, Jerry, Wendy, Jeremy, Dorothy, Shelley, Katie, Shar (from Morocco) and Melissa, Brian and Maike, Cory and Karlee and others. I hope we'll stay in touch and get together for some kind've party soon. I know it's Wendy's birthday next week. There's also a big Seoul Synergy get together next weekend, which Corneli and I have been invited to join (sssh, we're not really members).

I'd like to see some people that I haven't seen for ages. Guys like Franna, and Daniel, and my family, especially my sister.

Some friends seem to falling away. Fiona, who I was once really close to, I don't hear from as often anymore. And I don't have any contact with Bernard or Andrew since they've left. That's too bad, but life goes on.

One of the reasons I didn't travel this year was because I spent a small fortune on my bike, and travelling to races all over Korea. The Zipp Deep Sections alone were W1.3million (about R7000). I also ordered special Syntace components like aerobars and brakes (made in Germany) from Singapore.

My relationships with colleagues at school is pretty good. I've had some bad experiences before, especially last year, which I felt contaminated my experience, but this year has been more enjoyable, and I've been able to work and play in a more laid back way. Being able to live in my own apartment played an important part in making life here better.
2004 was my first complete year where I stayed on my own, and lived on my own terms. That has been great. It's important for me, at this stage, to be able to live independently. I'm not a university student, so I don't think I should be living like one. Ironically, I felt when I lived with someone else, I thought it would prevent me from entertaining ladies at home. This year I stayed on my own and didn't even bother to get involved! Curiouser and curiouser.

Most of all I have come to Korea pretty much empty handed, and starting with practically nothing, have developed a lot of experience and knowledge about another country, its people and culture. I've learnt a bit about the language, I know my way around Ilsan really well, I know the neighborhood, and I have a pretty good knowledge of Seoul and places of interest around Seoul. I probably know Seoul and Korea better than I know London and the United Kingdom. Actually, I'm not sure about that. It's maybe too close to call.

I've gotten to know and appreciate myself, my talents, my people and my country, all the more. I've put myself in a position where I can follow my dreams, and not be limited by the costs of living, or a lack of confidence, or fear. I've also put some of the unhappinesses of the past behind me, and focussed anew on exciting things like the Ironman, and travel, and buying a house.

This year I also got to know a few more nightclubs and bars. It took me a while. There is still one I need to visit, called Myungwolgwan. I still don't know Apgujeong that well. I've learned that Itaewon isn't really my kind of deal, and I've seen that Sinchon is worth hanging around in, instead of just stepping through to get to Hongdae.

This year South Africa won the tri-nations cup, and at the Olympics, the swimmers grabbed gold, silver and bronze. We won 6 medals, New Zealand won 5 (although they had 3 golds and we had only 1). Roland Schoemann was behind 3 of the 6 medals. The others were athletics - Men's 800m Muluadzi Mbulaeni, and a silver in the Women's High Jump, Hestrie Cloete. We also got a bronze for Men's Pairs Rowing.

The South African born Olympic distance world champion, Simon Lessing, also made the transition to the Ironman distance this year. He was tipped by many to win this year in Hawaii, and he came out of the water ahead of the top guys, but suffered on the bike and pulled out of the race. Another South African, Raynard Tissink, came 10th, ahead of Tim deBoom (2 time champion). Two guys I used to train with, Mauritz and Anton, also went and finished the race. Why wasn't I there?

This is also the year that I decided to make the Ironman a certain goal. My training this year was at a much higher level than 2003, and I expect to pursue this race in 2005 with an even higher degree of professionalism and proficiency.

I had a lot of support this year from my close friend Corneli, who photographed many of the races, cooked meals, arranged travel or tickets. She has grown into the life of English Teacher really well, and is regularly on Channel 5 TV. My school is desperate to have her work for them, and no doubt, she will be in demand everywhere soon. Her support at several races, especially the one in Tongyeong where I won, was invaluable.

I'm looking forward to an exceptional 2005, my 33rd year on Earth, and perhaps the best yet. Thanks for sharing the journey with me, especially if you've added good things to it...

 

1000 Hits, 4 000 000 Abducted, 0 Training

Wow! Just over a month after starting this blog we've had 1000 hits. Thanks for coming, and please feel free to post a message or browse around.

Today is a drizzly, cold, miserable day. If it gets any colder we might see some snow.

I will emerge from my cozy cocoon for a solitary trip to the gym. Today I am not very motivated to train.

I've been investigating (some would say distracted by)the UFO phenomenon, and after last night's movie, seeing to what extent the movie The Forgotten may be inspired by real events. The fact is, there is a fantastic amount of lore on the subject. Today you can buy alien blow up dolls, t-shirts and masks. It's easy to see it all as parody.
On the other hand, once all the research is done, and I find I am holding what I feel is conclusive proof, I think it is fair to say: So what? So what? Are aliens or abdusctions an everyday reality for me or for anyone I know? So why worry about it? It's an interesting point. I am not worrying, I am curious. This is an enigma, an interesting one, and it's one of life's mysteries.

I'd like to flesh out some of the stuff I've found on the web, but this really isn't the place for it. This blog is devoted to the science and psychology of approaching the Ironman race.

Curiosity killed the cat, and my mental travelling is having an impact on the focus I need to have for everyday training.

But you are free to explore:

These websites offer some interesting information:
http://www.csicop.org/si/9805/abduction.html:
Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis?
Susan Blackmore
A Roper Poll claimed that nearly four million Americans have had certain "indicator" experiences and therefore had probably been abducted by aliens. But a study of 126 school children and 224 undergraduates shows knowledge of aliens is related more to watching television than to having the relevant experiences.

http://www.crystalinks.com/abduction.html:

Includes: Classic abduction experience (illustrated), Possible Signs That You Have Been Abducted, Famous abduction cases, The Brooklyn Bridge Abduction etc. The rest of this website is also interesting.

http://www.billymeier.com:/

The website calls itself: The World's best UFO contact case.

Believe it, or fart. Let me know what opinions you have, or have formed recently, on this subject.
 

Get Real

"If you want to know the truth about actresses, it's that we're hungry all the time. We really don't eat. We live on Muesli bars and yoghurt."  

Pulchritudinous and Scary

pul·chri·tu·di·nous
Characterized by or having great physical beauty and appeal.

"I was a bookworm, and very skinny with big, thick glasses. I never went on dates and guys were afraid of me because I was smart. So I got contact lenses, started to dress a little better and tried not to talk about Plato with boys. It worked!"

My Story class today made up a story where a girl is in a swimming pool at night, the lights suddenly go out and when she gets to the locker room it's just pandemonium. It's dark, people are running everywhere, there's no electricity, and the looting has started. She can't see where her locker is, it's pitch black, so she runs outside still in her bathing suit. Missiles (presumably from North Korea)are flying in the sky and the city is burning.

We write and imagine catastrophe. We've seen flashes in New York. Will we be at the movies or watching TV when the next catastrophe hits, or will we be consciously working to resist or prevent it? Protesting things like elections, policy, wars and warmongerers. Talking about it. And having fewer babies...

I found myself today imagining a world in which only 10% of the people remain. Imagine how much there will be for everyone. How many open houses, how many cars lying around. How much food and stuff in stores. Imagine what a relaxed life it would be if in your city, suddenly, there were only 10% of the people. There'd be more work for fewer people and each person would be appreciated more. Maybe we are multiplying ourselves towards a competitive race that ends in destruction.

"It's a scary time ... this is how the Roman Empire fell. We're dancing as Rome burns." (Julianne Moore, on our society's obsession with celebrity)

 

Show Me Moore

The Forgotten is the scariest movie I have seen this year. I was pretty scared in The Village, but I actually felt my skin crawl in this movie.

I haven't figured Julianne Moore out. She's been in movies like Boogie Nights, which have confused the image I have of her. Contrast that role with the one she had in The Hours. She's intelligent, and sensual and often, I feel, mournful. But at the same time strong.

Julianne Moore seems to have a thing for bald guys aswell. She's married to Anthony Edwards in this movie (the doctor in E.R.), and she was interested in everyone's favorite balding guy, Kevin Spacey, and before that I don't remember much except that something seemed to be developing between her and Hannibal Lecter. If I ever make that movie I mentioned earlier, where everyone, even the children, have shaved heads, she's going to be the heroine.

She's probably the only woman in film who makes freckly skin look sexy. 

Week 5 Day 5

Gym: 25 minutes.

Running: 17 minutes
Run distance: 2.04 km

Hamstring curls: 2x10/2x5 (5kg)
Pullups: 1x10
Chest: 1x30
Rowing: 1x20

Foot felt okay. Ran very slowly. I can't say it feels strong. Body felt stiff and hamstrings very tired after this short session. I am disappointed that I didn't go cycling today.
I had a terrible sleep, 4 phone calls this morning and it took a while to sleep after each one. That just set a very weird tone for the rest of the day. I'd like to make more progress, substantial progress, in my training, from here on out.

25 minute workouts are better than nothing, but it is also barely enough to be called a workout. Do I really want to train? Why do I go to gym at the last moment, at night, have to rush it so I am not late for a movie. I need to get my priorities straight, plan workouts and execute them within a much broader timeframe. Rushing workouts is not the answer.

I feel like I can run indoors and if I run slowly I think my foot will handle it. Just take it very easy, 2-3 km and about 15-20 minutes for the first week, then 5km, 7km and see how it holds.
Getting a good night's sleep is the bottom line. I'd say that is the biggest threat to me executing workouts well. Feeling tired, feeling as though I haven't rested enough. I'd like to be fresher next week than I have been this week.

It's good that I am sticking to the plan of training a little each day.

 

News From My Refrigerator

My apartment seemed unusually cold when I got back. I realised it's because I've unplugged the refrigerator. I've unplugged the refrigerator because there is nothing in it. No food anyway. There are 4 bicycle water bottles in the freezer, and in the door just a black ZITA gel carrier (carries energy gels and is attached to the bicycle frame by a few velcro straps).

After gym I bought some apples and turned it on. So now I can tell you that I have some apples in my refrigerator. Yes, yes, I'll go to Carrefour over the weekend and do a final stock up. If I buy stuff like peanut butter now I won't know what to do with it when I leave.

Last night I came this close to tossing out my Diskman. It was just covered in dust and seemed to be totally dead. The cable that plugs in and recharges it is defective. I replaced the batteries and only half checked to see if there was any display on the LCD. There was!

Had Denjangcheegeh for dinner, not very filling this time, Corneli shaved my head and took another shipment of Nick's Stuff to her place.

I also asked one of my adults students (the guy involved in import and export AKA Mr Gold Rimmed Glasses)to prepare a list of products that could be traded between our two countries.

I guess I'll be using the refrigerator for a few more days yet. I feel like I have to put it to good use. I mean, apples don't really need to be refrigerated. I know. I'll buy some yoghurt. I need some other use for it in the meantime... I need some cool music so I'll put the diskman in the refrigerator. 

Week 5 Day 4

No I haven't changed the theme of this blog from Ironman South Africa to The Sci Fi Channel: An Analysis. Or Psychology And Sport: A New Thesis.

Gym: 25 minutes.

Hamstring curls: 7-10 sets (2.5-5kg), maximum p set: 20
Leg extensions: 30 @ 70kg
Pullups: 10
Did various other exercises, with an emphasis on legs, and especially hamstrings and quadriceps.

Felt drained today. Kind've cranky too. Once they start heating the classrooms, and it is so cold at home I start doing that too, then it's a question of dry air all the time. I've been sneezing a bit lately, and feeling cold, and stiff and sore. Had a good vegetable meal last night at Aroi Aroi, and met some other teachers from schools in the area.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be as follows:
Maximum 15°C
Minimum 6°C
I can't imagine it will ever top that this month. It's not too cold, so I'd like to do a cycle tomorrow at 15:30/16:00.
I intend to maintain the goal for December to train a little every day until Christmas.
 

Symmetry

Definition: Beauty as a result of balance or harmonious arrangement.

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. People are mammals, and mammals are vertebrates, and all vertebrates are symmetrical. Half of the body is a mirror opposite to the other half. It may seem natural and beautiful to you, but a worm or an octopus mind think you're damn ugly.

If you look inside the skull at the brain, it's interesting to see that it isn't just a ball of nerves. There are two distinct sides, two hemispheres. One hemipshere specialises in a certain type of process, the other in an opposite process. There is a dual nature to the universe two: polarities, like positive and negative, day and night, male and female, heaven and hell, hot and cold, living and dead. So it is interesting that the structure of our brain reflects to some degree the yin and yangness of the universe. Perhaps you believe that this is all there is, that duality, is the way of the world, the way of men and women. If you did, it might be worth thinking about that again. Because a trinity, adding a third dimension, is actually a higher order of life, of existence, of consciousness, than duality. YMy brain may be configured with two hemispheres, I might be able to write with my right hand (using my left brain) and then draw a picture, maybe with my left hand, I'd be utilising my right, creative brain, to a large degree. But what if I could co-ordinate both hemisperes. What if I could think holistically, and think of all the minutiae involved? That would be a higher order of consciousness than either or.

A trinity is more sophisticated than duality. It's body, mind and spirit. It's past, present and future, id, ego, and superego (instead of merely insecure and secure). It's the father, son and holy ghost, all roled into one. It's Oneness. It's bringing everything together. It's moving from dependence (left brain, analysis, breaking down endless problems, dependent on problems like the problem of time, and other unsolveable riddles...am I attractive...to independence...when you can visualise a more holistic concept of yourself, you can live and move confidently but be open and able to share, first understanding others, to the highest level which brings the other two together - interdependence.

Our bodies are shaped symmetrically. Our minds are two sided. Bilateral symmetry, or two-sidedness, in vertebratesmeans our bodies, our very selves are divided into symmetrical halves by a vertical plane passing through the middle.
What about other creatures: radial symmetry, as in echinoderm (think of Starfish and other sea creatures - there are no echinoderms that live on land) is that in which the individual parts are arranged symmetrically around a central axis.
Serial symmetry, or zonal symmetry, as in earthworms, is that in which the segments or metameres of the body are disposed in a zonal manner one after the other in a longitudinal axis.
The important thing to remember is in terms of human beings, and many other creatures, symmetry is often external. Yes we have two arms, and two legs. The left hand is a mirror image of the right. But inside our bodies we have only one heart, one liver, and our intestines are all over the place.

Symmetry is about finding balance in the world. Symmetry is a way of reflecting the symmetry in the world, in the universe, in ourselves. We can do this consciously, or unconsciously. Our bodies have been formed by the consciousness of the universe. But we can still create a higher existence if we can think beyond duality, so spiritual possibilties, spiritual truths.

Symmetries are of the highest importance in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and also feature prominently in biology and in the arts. Symmetry runs through all things, and to be aware of it, is to bring balance back to thoughts and words and actions.

The symmetry is everywhere. In sport, symmetry is simple. There may be opposing halves, or opposite sides of a court, or net. It may be a pool or a platform, divided into lanes, or cordoned off with lines. There is a start, and a finish, and then there is also the race, the competition itself. Life is the same way and when we see all the overlaps, and see ourselves reflected in all these things, then the magic begins to reveal itelf, and we can become powerful again in the universe.

bsp;

DOOOOOFFFFFFFF

I recently downloaded and watched a rivetting documentary called Out of the Blue - The Definitive Investigation of the UFO Phenomenon. Narrated by Peter Coyote, the very latest material has been compiled. Video footage and interviews have been collected from France, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the USA.

The most gobsmacking visual provided was a video clip of a missile designed for nuclear capability, that was tracked by some sort of object capable not only of pacing the missile, but zigzagging easily around it. At one point a beam of light, not a lazer, but just a sort of energy beam, seems to flare off the object and at the moment of contact with the missile, the missile explodes. If it's not special digital effects, then there's very little else it could be.

This piqued my interest in space, and space stuff, but I chanced upon this information of a huge impact right in my backyard. I only discovered it because I googled 'travelling South Africa' in search of a map image I could use for my blog. Suddenly I was reading about this explosion, the biggest, apparently that we have evidence of on Earth, ever, just outside Johannesburg.

In 1990, while I was serving in the Air Force, I used to drive from my hometown of Bloemfontein, through Vredefort and Parys, to Johannesburg and Pretoria every weekend, for over 6 months. The stretch between Vredefort and Parys sticks in my mind because it is such a bumpy, curvy, convoluted route in comparison to the straight highways everywhere else. I also remember it because once, as a dare to myself, I turned the lights of the car off and drove for as long as I could in the absolute inky blackness outside Parys at night.

Below are a number of interesting exerpts from geologists or other informed people. It's interesting to note that the last big hit the Earth took was just under a hundred years ago, in Tunguska Northern Siberia in 1908. On average, we're supposed to have a rock land somewhere on Earth every hundred years. So we have 4 more years. So once Bush is gone, it's anyone's guess.


http://www.otters.co.za/blast_from_past.htm:

If anything has a claim to being goddess of the sky, it is the roving asteroid that paid us a visit that day. Some 10-15km in diameter, travelling at a speed of 10-20km per second, it slammed into the earth with a force experts estimate to have been about 87 million megatons. As one megaton equals a million tons of TNT, and the Hiroshima nuclear bomb was only one-fifth of a megaton (20 kilotons), the cosmic bomb was infinitely worse than anything mankind is able to detonate.

The Vredefort crater, estimated at 320km in diameter, is one of three known massive impact sites amongst many hundreds or even thousands of meteorite blemishes on the earth. The other two really large sites are at Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, and Chicxulub on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The Sudbury area has the dubious record of being the target area of two major hits: the first, almost as ancient as Vredefort, causing a 200km-wide crater, and the second a smaller one just 37 million years ago.

Before Vredefort, the largest and (still the most famous) crater was Chicxulub (pronounced CHEEK-shoe-lube). This impact was almost certainly the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, the clouds of dust following it blanketed the earth and killed most animal life.

What happened in the Vredefort blast? Like a drop of water falling into a pond, the asteroid punched a hole in the earth’s crust and caused a recoil of molten matter into the atmosphere. The meteorite itself vaporised in the explosion, and the earth was liquidised down to at least 10km as the crater walls slumped inwards, effectively capsizing part of the crust. What we can see today are merely the remnants, like broken teeth in a skeleton’s jaw, of the mountainous upwelling that has eroded over the past 2 billion years.

The effect of it all was to bury, deep down, the gold-bearing strata of the older Witwatersand basin. As the “astrobleme” (eroded crater) was worn away, so the tilted strata of the gold reefs were exposed—and this also explains why the gold industy is perched in a ring around Vredefort (see map). South Africa has the meteorite to thank for first preserving, then exposing, its mineral riches in the upturned edges of the Witwatersrand basin, which have now broken the surface.

Asteroids are actively sought and plotted by astronomers around the world because of their potential for causing devastation on Earth, and there are known to be a few big ones on their way towards us in the next few decades. Unlike many of these “near-earth objects” which harmlessly pass us by, the Vredefort meteorite struck with the force of a cosmic ultrabomb. This occurred towards the end of a long period of cratering by space objects, and we have no way of knowing how many blasts there were or how big they were.

It is estimated that a 1 km-size asteroid impacts the Earth every million years. Smaller asteroid impacts, with the force of a several kiloton nuclear weapon, occur several times a year in the upper atmosphere, and cause extensive damage on the ground about every 100 years—as they did at Tunguska Northern Siberia in 1908 when a 30 meter asteroid exploded, flattening and burning the forests.

http://www.gps.caltech.edu/news/features/southafrica/
day01.html:
The Vredefort impact occurred 2.0 billion years ago and the structure is the largest and oldest impact crater on Earth. The map shows dark pink granulite and pink granite surrounded by orange and brown overturned sediment layers. The granite plug in the center of the impact is about 50 km across.

http://www.hartrao.ac.za/other/vredefort/vredefort.html:
The white dots running in a band along the Witwatersrand are not clouds, they are the waste dumps from the gold mines along the south side of the Witwatersrand. West of Johannesburg and due north of Vredefort can be seen the gold mine dumps of Carletonville. The gold mines of Klerksdorp and Welkom lie north-west and south-west of Vredefort, and their dumps are also easily seen. Is this half ring of gold mines around Vredefort a coincidence?

Evidence has been found by geologists that the cause of this upliftment was an extreme impact event, caused by an asteroid some 10 kilometres in diameter. The ring of hills we see now are the eroded remains of a dome created by the rebound of the rock below the impact site after the asteroid hit. The original crater, now eroded away, is estimated to have been 250 - 300 kilometres in diameter. Some 70 cubic kilometres of rock would have been vaporised in the impact.

The Vredefort structure is currently regarded the biggest and oldest clearly visible impact structure on Earth. It just beats the Sudbury impact structure in Canada for this ranking. The Sudbury structure is some 200 km in diameter and is estimated to be 1.85 billion years old.

Evidence for four impacts even older than than Vredefort, that occurred 3.2 to 3.5 billion years ago, has been found in the greenstone rocks around Barberton in South Africa and corresponding rocks in the eastern Pilbara block of Western Australia. However, these impacts are no longer recognizable as structures on the surface like Vredefort's.

The force of the impact produced deep fractures in the underlying rock. Rock melted by the impact flowed down into the cracks, producing what are now exposed as ridges of hard dark rock - the granophyre dykes. This contrasts with normal geological dykes, where molten rock from deeper in the earth has flowed upwards through cracks in the rock above.
 

"Absolutely Crowned"

Okay, for me this is amazing. For some reason we don't even think about meteorites (ie those that hit the Earth). Maybe because it doesn't happen often enough. But it does happen. It actually happens every day. At the very least, some vaporised asteroid drifts down and settles on your carpet, or on your curtains in your house.
In the last year or so, a space object fell out of the sky and crashed through the roof of a house.
Here's the story:

16.06.2004
Meteorite crashes through roof of Auckland house

9.30am
A black lump that crashed into an Auckland family's living room yesterday was identified as only the ninth meteorite to be found in this country, television's One News reported.

The 1.3kg, four billion-year-old rock fell through the roof of the house in the suburb of Ellerslie about 9am.

"There was just a huge explosion and we looked around and there was just dust everywhere," householder Brenda Archer told the station.

"I don't know what to make of it, it's unbelievable. I'm just glad no one was sitting on the couch because they just would have got absolutely crowned."

"Falling through a roof is really an exceptional event that rarely happens, and this is a beautiful large specimen," Joel Schiff of Auckland University said.
Verify this story here:
www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=3572212

I'm from South Africa, so I feel the karoo and the highveld are pretty uneventful places. They have a kind of barren, unfolding beauty about them. One thing is certain, the karoo is ancient. Could I be forgiven for thinking nothing exciting, geologically speaking, has happened around Johannesburg, or anywhere else in South Africa, for that matter? No, I could not be. Here's why...

http://www.hartrao.ac.za/other/tswaing/tswaing.html:
Forty kilometers north of Pretoria lies a ring of hills a kilometer in diameter and 100 meters high. These hills are the walls of an impact crater left by an asteroid which hit there some 200 000 years ago. The Tswaing crater is similar in size to the well-known Barringer meteor crater in Arizona. The crater walls at Tswaing were originally about twice as high as they are today.

http://www.gps.caltech.edu/news/features/southafrica/
day02log.html:
Tswaing Crater was created when a chondritic (rocky) meteor impacted the Kapvaal Craton, where we are now camped, 220,000 years ago. It is one and a half kilometers in diameter and was originally 200 meters deep, though more than 200,000 years of sedimentation leaves it only about 90 meters deep. As with many other small craters, a shallow lake lies in the depression. Preserved in the sediments under the lake is a record of the climate and culture in the Tswaing area.

The lake is saline water does not flow out. For prehistoric man this lake served as a valuable source of salt. It remains an important resource for wildlife. More recently (from 1912 to 1956) a mining company extracted crude soda ash and salt, first from the sediments of the lake and later directly from the water.

All this information and more was laid out for us in plaques along the trail. As the trail wound around the crater rim and down to its floor through tall bushes and grasses we beheld spectacular views of the crater and surrounding Karoo plain. Our best view was from Shoemaker point, which was named after the late Eugene Shoemaker. My eyes were drawn first to the deep, startling blue of the lake and then up the steep sides of the crater through twiggy acacia trees and leafy bushes (and the occasional Amarula tree). In this splendidly beautiful spot lies a plaque dedicated to Gene, around which we shared a moment of silence after listening to Joe reminisce about his mentor and friend.

When we reached the bottom, we found the lake waters coffee-colored and smelling strongly of salt. We took another group photo and discovered we could create seismic waves in the water logged, salt-encrusted sediments by jumping (or falling). On the way back out of the crater we examined a road cut that displayed a record of the seconds that followed the impact.

Even more amazing is an impact 100km south of Johannesburg at Vredefort, called the Vredefort Dome. The impact was so cataclysmic that rocks were melted for miles around, and deep below the earth the heat melted everything too. Is it a coincidence that this impact occurred slap bang in the middle of all the gold mines that are there? Satellite images show the massive crater and around it are lots of tiny squares that are today's mine dumps.

It's possible that I hail from South Africa today, because a few billion years ago a big rock fell out of space, bliksimmed the Earth, did its alchemy, and turned the ass end of Africa into a veritible gold mine. The discovery of gold unleashed a chain of events which finally led to the Dutch and British flocking to Africa and setting up camps, then towns and once a few unpolluted newly civilised outposts were up and running, my young Dutch (the de Jongs, van der Leeks and van Niekerks) and British forebears(the Goddards)set sail for South Africa, intent either on convalescence (in the manner of JRR Tolkien's father)or seeking their fortunes.

Okay the diamonds are another story altogether. But I believe it's possible that I owe my nationality to a space rock.  

Views from a Bachelor

I just got an email today from Larissa, a friend I know in the advertising industry. She works for Adtalent. It sounds weird calling her that because we really just met during an interview and after I botched the job interview (which she thought was a sure thing) we've stayed in contact, most of which has been over email. Anyway, she says she's getting married.

I tried to post this graphic earlier this morning, before I even received her email, because there was an Associated Press article on Yahoo this morning (gone now) covering the trend in the USA, where people are increasingly delaying marriage, and the number of unmarried 30-something men and women is starting to grow rapidly.

I can safely say that if I had married earlier my stress levels would have gone through the roof, just because you have to earn so much to support not only yourself, but children, and pay off a house. This is not the full story though. I reckon I am more sensitive than most to the Gold Digger Brand of women, and if I get a whiff of that, well, that vapour trail in the sky, that's me making my getaway.
The environment today, in terms of work, and materialism, provides a few extra challenges to people (beyong mere compatibility) who mean to be together for any length of time.
Some people, a few, are able to adapt and grow and thrive, with a little luck, with some blessings from above. Some need a bit more time to get their ducks in a row. No Noddy badges for guessing which category I fall into.

I actually am not averse to maintaining my lifestyle, pretty much as is, for the next 3-5 years. I feel by then my independence, especially financial, will be virtually unshakeable. Emotionally though, I feel it is healthier for me to be in a relationship, than out of one. I just feel a committed relationship provides consistent support and protection from the thorns that invariably lie on the path. It can be a more meaningful existence, when you are sharing your life with someone. A relationship keeps you safe, keeps you healthy, keeps you going in the right direction, and can actually give more than it takes. Obviously it can do the opposite if you, or the other person, has entered into it for the wrong reasons.

Not being in a relationship also has its advantages, besides lack of restrictions. It can also allow you to develop a pattern, for example in training or in work, and develop an effective approach to working habits too. The question is simplyh this: is it easier to develop these patterns over the long term (ie in a sustainable way) with or without a partner? And whatever the answer is, a time comes when you say, heck, I want to share my joys and sadnesses, I want to wake up on Sunday morning with someone who cares for me.

I do worry about the freedoms that need to be sacrificed when you're in a serious relationship. Things like where you choose to live, and what you can afford, and the sort of job you can afford to finish or start. I think a good attitude to have when considering marriage is this one, from Virginia Woolf: To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.

The key point is just that it is taking longer and longer to be able to afford the lifestyle we want today. In some ways getting married may mean some things become more affordable, like holidays (if you're pooling resources), buying a family car. Other things, especially huge medical bills and kiddies school fees, may not seem like a such a bargain.
Ironman is part of my lifestyle nat the moment. It requires overseas trips, expensive equipment and other resources. If I get married will I have to give it up? I wouldn't want to do that...
In order to balance it all, it takes time, it takes time to save, time also to reap.

I respect what marriage is all about and I intend to get married only once I have moved very close to an ideal partner and situation for the two of us. It's something I am not impatient to do though. I know myself, and I know the benefits the last few years have had on understanding myself, establishing some kind of identity, knowing how I work and what my needs are. And I know a few more years won't do any harm. I see marriage as desireable, but not essential. It's like a dessert after a nice meal. I'd like my marriage to be something that I enjoy, not something I have to have to sustain me. 

Trip Take 1

I know anything can happen, but here is a rough draft for the first three months in South Africa, and where I plan to be, and what I intend to be doing.

Depart Seoul: 25 December
Arrive Johannesburg: 26 December: 07:10 (SA 287)
Stay with Alex and Janet Otto. Maybe go for a cycle or swim in the gym. Hopefully have my first braai!
Depart Johannesburg: 27 December: (Not sure what time at the moment).
Arrive Cape Town: 27 December. (Not sure what time at the moment. Will know on December 17).
Possibly spend the 27th with Allan and Toby, maybe see Marcelle and Hugo.
(Need to cycle over Chapman's here, or run along Tafelberg road)
Temporarily Leave Cape Town

28th/29th - Sort out driver's license and then go with Mandy to the dam near Caledon. Like to do a Hangklip cycle, a quick swim at Strand before I go. Need to find out exactly where the dam is. Swim and Run while at the dam, and maybe MTB. Just have fun, windsurf, and recharge.)

New Years (Have no idea where...but hopefully where there is a braai and a few Windhoeks)

2nd Return from the dam. Cycle to Hangklip and back. Swim at Strand pool.
Somerset West End

2nd Afternoon: Return to Cape Town. Visit Michelle and Michael and Lesley and her folks during the afternoon and evening. Maybe have dinner at the Waterfront or somewhere in Claremont. Swim at Newland's pool if possible.
3rd Lesley leaves. Try to sort out my driver's license in the city if I haven't already. Maybe hang out with Allan if they are still around. Cycle to Hout Bay. See Paddy and Gary.

4th Not sure where I will be staying. 1) With Allan and Toby at Toby's dad's place? 2) With Paddy in Hout Bay? Must find out whether I can. I think Toby's dad lives close to the Newland pool.
Otherwise maybe with 3) Hugo. Maybe see Shannon and Samantha. Run at Tafelberg Road/Swim at Long Street Pool/VA Point. See what is happening with Butler's and Mr Delivery. Get my diploma from AAA. Visit Larissa at adtalent.

5th Climb Table Mountain/Later maybe cycle up Signal Hill.
6th Maybe see Rolf and maak 'n draai in Oranjezicht. Check out my old homes in Prince, Davenport and Flower road. Maybe see Joanne, Helga and Lara. Find out where Ryan is. Swim in Claremont, or Constantia VA. Visit Muizenburg and Fishoek. Cycle up Red Hill and come back through Simonstown.

7th-9th Last weekend in Cape Town. Do something touristy like go on the wine route, or hang around the beaches. Need to swim at least one day over the weekend, possibly in the sea depending on Great White Shark numbers. Maybe hike somewhere nice.
Cape Town End.

10th Monday - drive to PE. See Candice and maybe Dad and CJ if they are there. Run 10km en route - maybe coming down into Nature's Valley or on the beach at Plettenberg Bay.
Stay 1 week, possibly with Paul Hunt's parents, or Haidi. Cycle on the course a few times.
Swim at the local Virgin Active or Aquabears pool. Visit Debbie. Run every morning along the beach.

17th/18th January - Bloemfontein, unless there is a heatwave. Stay with Dad and/or CJ.
Get into a good training pattern. Some 100km cycles, some 15km runs
(maybe go up to Johannesburg for my birthday on the 19th, return on 23rd January. See Allan and Alex.)
24 January + 5 weeks. Serious training begins. Sign up with Simon. Some 120 km cycles. Training in the gym with CJ. One 25km run. Cycle 180-200km on February 20.
(Possibly go to Corneli's brother's wedding in Kroonstad before leaving Bloem.)
Bloemfontein End

1/2/3-7 March Jeffreys Bay (If possible stay with Tico or Lesley's folks, or just stay in a B&B)
J-Bay End

8-19 March: PE - training on the race route. Easy.
20 March RACE.
21 March PE Relax
PE End

22 March Cape Town. Many bye byes.
23 March Depart Cape Town for Hong Kong: 09:40 SA 7800
Cape Town, South Africa, End

24 March Sightseeing in Hong Kong
25 March Tefl in Thailand/Korea/Who knows
New Beginning. Who knows where...maybe back in Ilsan...

The Plan as it stands on December 2. I can see training and being all over the place is going to be tough.


 

HeadLeg News

Head:
I'd like to make December a month of dedication. The goal is to train a little every day, develop consistency, develop determination, develop the desire and the drive so that I'll have momentum, and rhythm built up before I reach South Africa. My current fitness level is average. I'd like my current fitness upgraded from below average (for me) to above average by the end of December. January needs to be good, February, excellent, and March, finishing touches.

I want a swim that is quite steady (250m @ 3:20), and I want to be doing a few 3km, or 3.5km swims in the last week.
I also need to work on my legs so that they are stronger and comfortable over about 10km (10km @ 1hour).
I'd like to do one or two cycles at least this month. I am not concerned about my cycle because I enjoy so much and I know how quickly I pick it up.
So I'd like to have a bit of progress this month in swimming and running. And if I am weighing around 77kg, that will be great. The trick is to get through this month with a minimum amount of exercise each day, and to stay healthy and fresh.

Legs:
I ran the 500m from my house to school today. Foot feels okay. I sometimes feel it the moment I get out of bed, and going down steps, but lately I haven't noticed it much. I still want to give it a few more days. On Monday I'd like to test it again.
In the meantime I will continue to strengthen my right hamstring. I'd like to be in gym at least every second day, working on my legs. If the strength in my legs are not balanced, it's going to be a long battle fighting off injuries all the time.

I have until Christmas to build a small base, and by then I need to enter the Ironman. It's at that stage that I will know whether it is realistic or not, whether my leg will give me permission to put the whole me through more weeks and weeks of intense physical stress. I do believe being in South Africa, being in summer again, is going to make cycling and running and swimming a pleasure compared to doing that here.
The evaluation at the end of December may mean I need to identify another Ironman, maybe in April, somewhere like Japan or Brazil. Hopefully though, training patiently and carefully, will pay off. I believe it will. I believe there is still a very good chance that this third attempt at the Ironman will be in Port Elizabeth, on March the 20th, in South Africa next year.

Legs today, the hamstrings especially, are naturally a bit stiff and sore from last night's session. It was short, but sharp. Kicking in the pool is another way to get balance the strength in both legs.

Legs need to be the priority. Getting them strong, developing power and balance in the tissues of both the hamstrings, quadriceps and achilles.f='http://www.hello.com/' target='ext'>

Keeping All Your Ducks in a Row

I resist upheaval, and often I resist change. The change coming up in a few weeks though, is one that I am embracing. Nevertheless, leaving my home in Korea and job simultaneously is not something you can do without some residual stress. By being as proactive as I can, maybe I can keep this to a minimum.

One of the things I'm doing is packing up all my stuff now already. One shipment of books is already in storage. Every day this month, until Christmas I intend to do a little exercise, and then more and more. And I want to use the same approach to fold up and pack away my life here. Each day I intend to pack something else of my life here, away. I'll already thrown away just about all the debris i don't need. By Christmas day I expect the place to be empty except for the bed, my phone, my computer, and my bags.

One thing I am going to miss a lot about Korea is the internet: being able to download and watch whatever movie I want, playing these amazing internet games like Counterstrike, and just being able to use the internet whenever and not worry about speed or cost is awesome. It's an aspect of my lifestyle that is both positive and negative, but I don;t see how I will be able to maintain it in South Africa. Once there it may be difficult to post on this website, and I am not sure if any photographs I take will make it here. I will have to look into what can be done in that department.

I will probably also miss my own space. I will probably stay for a few days with a family here, and a family there. Of course it will be good to be with Dad at 108, where it's always comfortable, and homecooked meals and satellite TV just make life that much easier. That's somewhere where I can really relax and recharge before I make my next move. I have grown to be quite fond of my independent lifestyle.

Another thing to do is organise the actual trip, and let people know I will be around, and make sure where I am staying and what I will be doing.

I also need to consider a few possibilities in terms of work in South Africa. I'd love to get work in publishing industry. I'd love to make money through my writing, or being creative, possibly writing and illustrating children's books.
I received an email today from Rebecca Laird at Total Immersion. She explained how their organisation works, and what I could expect if I decide to sign up with them. So that is one possible (work) scenario that I'd like to investigate.
I need to gather and organise information in terms of the items I'd like to export to South Africa, and all other documents I will need to smooth out the transition process.

If I can leave Korea with a contract that will be helpful, it is always good to leave a job and know where your next paycheck is coming from. But I guess in my case it is not essential, and having some freedom is this area may open up a lot more possibilities than I am aware of at the moment.
I'd like to be as open and confident about the future in South Africa as I can be.
And if I return to Korea, I'd like to expand what I have been doing. From business cards and finally getting a handphone, to the actual setting up of an investment company for expatriates, or some kind of trade mechanism for produce or parts or something that isn't currently in place.

I also need to see what is the best way for me to go about acquiring property in South Africa. And where, and when.

The priority though, over the first quarter next year, will be the Ironman first, and work second. There is a lot to consider, a lot of options to look into. There's the JET program, there's Taiwan, there's coming right back here where things have been good. There's getting a TEFL in Thailand and following that up with applications for university positions. There are all the opportunities that possibly have opened up in South Africa.

Getting enough sleep and eating properly may seem rudimentary, but in this line of exercise - triathlon - the strain on the body is quite high. If you allow yourself to get an infection, or you get the flu, then all the progress achieved over the preceding weeks gets wiped out, and you have to start again. After starting off injured, I can't afford another setback. So I'd like to keep all my ducks in a row. I don't want any going down the drain.  

Thanks Again

So there's war in my city, and we have to get out because it's just too dangerous to hang around.

But now the battle is over, and the city has been liberated. I don't know what that means except that we are allowed to come back. We may not bring our cars because they are afraid some of the people who live there may use them as car bombs. But they have provided a bus that can take everyone where they need to go for free. The only problem is our house has been blown up, and our church, but that's a small price to pay for liberty. Freedom and democracy is more important than having a house. That's why we in Iraq are so grateful to the Americans. They have saved us from the terrorists.

They saved us and when they're done here, it will be your turn.

Photo courteswy Max Becherer/Polaris, for The New York Times.
Read the full article below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/01/international/middleeast
/01reconstruct.html?th

Deprogram...or not?

My body clock is set so that I go to sleep at 6am. As you can imagine this causes a lot of discomfort. I would like to start running next week, possibly with Corneli at 7am, or at an easy pace on the treadmill in the gym. This presupposes that my sleeping patterns have adjusted by quite a large margin.

I'm feeling pretty sleepy now, and it's 1am, so I am going to see if I can nod off by around 2am.

It's the all night partying on Friday nights that throws my cycle out. If I go out this Friday I will try to call it a night by around 3am at the latest. If I can find something to do here in Ilsan, like watch Alexander, or go bowling, I'll rather do that. The weekend after this one may be going out for Wendi's birthday, and after that, I'd like to do a skiing trip. And the weekend after that I'll be in South Africa. Kind've scary stuff!

On the other hand, if I maintain this sleeping pattern until Christmas day (going to sleep here at 6am) I will slip perfectly into South Africa's day night schedule. 6am in Korea is 11pm in South Africa.

Week 5 Day 3

Swim: 40 minutes
Total Distance: 2km
Weight is 78.05kg

500m - 7:35
1000m - 15:35
1500m - 25:00

250m - 1st 3:34, 2nd 3:29 (Fastest recent time)
100m kick
Warm down.

Felt good. Foot feels like I can run on it soon.
Want to exercise a little bit every day until Christmas.

Gold Shares

I'd also like to stand next to Nelson Mandela, wouldn't you? I'd have to win the Ironman, probably something like the World Championships in Hawaii, to earn that privilege. When I look at this picture, I'm happy for Ryk more than I wish it was me standing there. Both these guys didn't give up. Both got what they deserved.

There is a saying in Afrikaans that has a nice ring to it. Soort soek soort. This picture makes me think of that. The English version is a bit clumsier: Birds of a feather flock together. Cute kiddie voiceover: That's what this picture is all about.

If it's someone who is the icon of Personal Power - getting it, holding on to it, never letting it go - if you're looking for the ultimate ambassador of Personal Power STOP! He's here. Nelson Mandela, jailed for 27 years. Not everyone knows that he was offered pardons several times, and occasionally encouraged to escape. Once he was driven out of Pollsmoor prison and left uncuffed in a car, while the driver, a prison official, went to buy a snack. That was an invitation to run. When you have a choice between grabbing short term freedoms, or holding on to your integrity, and your hopes and dreams for a nation, and you choose to stay incarcerated for more years of your precious life, until they come true - that's claiming your Personal Power. Mandela was released on a Sunday, the 11th of February 1990. He was President 4 years later (in 1994, May 10).

It makes me happy to see this guy, who went to my school, trained where I did, with the same coach, doing something great, becoming something special. I enjoy all the news I read about him. It's amazing. It makes me realise what is possible, and it inspires me to do things that require a bit of discipline for me. We are world's apart now, but I know we come from the same place. I know what I have done in swimming, and I remember that I can generate some magic too. I can still do it.

Ryk Neethling is someone I sometimes swam with, and at one stage he was just a boytjie from Bloem. We called him Rykie. Ryk is actually the afrikaans word for rich. Someone knew, when they gave him that name, that'd he'd eventually get into gold. He's walked that path, and that's inspiration for everyone who hasn't.
http://www.virtualology.com/virtualmuseumofhistory/
internationalhall/worldleaders/NELSONRMANDELA.NET/
 

Getting Powerful

Mark Allen writes:

I saw him in the hotel lobby in Bermuda and said, "I hear you're going to the Ironman." "Yeah," he said, "I've decided to go back." At that moment, I gave some of my power of to him. I could feel it going over from me to him. I was so aware of it, I thought, "I've got to that back, I can't let that sucker go into the race with my power in his pocket."

It's real. Someone says to you: "You look tired." Do you say, "Yes I..." Or do you say, "But I feel great." It's important when you aim to be the best, but it is still relevant to situations at work, situations in everyday life which are invariably competitive.

Mark Allen again:

When I arrived in Kona that year, I went around sunset one evening to do a swim at the pier. Tinley and Murphy Reinschreiber came swimming to the beach. Murphy swam over to me, but Tinley was so out of whack with himself that he swam underwater to try to avoid talking to me. When he finally came up, I said, "Scott, how's it going?" He just nodded his head. He wouldn't even speak to me. And I thought, "This is Scott Tinley?!" In the past, he'd been better than anyone at keeping his focus and power within himself. He never before gave that up to other people...It was the first and last time I ever saw him do that.

It's applicable also to the opposite sex. I know I occasionally give power to someone I feel is dropdead gorgeous. It's not hard to do. It may be someone walking by me, or a picture. And they respond by taking it. They take it wherever it is served. Why? Because it is not an energy that satsifies. It leaves you hungrier for more. It's cheap fuel. It's candy bars.
It's interesting though when that doesn't happen. Have you ever complimented a woman and she has accepted it for what is was worth. I mean, if she felt it wasn't true she'd set you right. She'll tell you, "No, I haven't lost weight, but thanks for the compliment." Then you know you are dealing with a strong, and beautiful woman. Someone who knows who she is not just about what she looks like.

And it also works the other way round. Do I build my emotional life on the weaknesses of other people. If I am doing that, I'm enlarging other people, and worse, enlarging their weaknesses. Vanity, is a weakness. Do I respond to the weakness in others, or their strengths? When it comes to anything meaningful I have to do the work, I have to find my inner resources, I have to pay the price. I have to work, and learn to see what can work over the long term. Confidence can come and go during the course of a day. Personal Power is built, brick by brick, day by day workout after workout (or, to stay true to the metaphor, date by date, makeout before makeup!).
The way we see the opposite sex says a lot, I feel, about the way we see ourselves. We make the person we choose to love into mirrors for ourselves. We have to choose whether we to see our own flaws or what's fabulous about the two us together.

One of the areas I felt I had to watch carefully over my domain, manage my interests, was in triathlon this year. There were a few races, and two New Zealand guys had said from the beginning they meant to beat me. The first thing I had to decide that what I was doing was not about them. I was racing to see what i could do, first and foremost, to improve on the previous season. I mostly did do this, although I feel disappointed that Cheorwon was less spectacular on the run than I expected it to be. Nevertheless, my cycle there was my best cycle this year, and my best timetrial in probably a few years.

So I had to use the energy, the competitive energy between us, to motivate me. But I had to base what I was doing on my own strategies, not simply reactions to their training or performances. I had access to their training - they logged it on BeginnerTrathlete. I took a very independent approach. I trained on my own, I started all the races we did not even knowing where they were. This was about personal power. Before my first race, I called Bernard, probably the night before the race, and asked him how he was travelling. I wanted to travel in a separate vehicle. I wanted to know before we left what they intended to do. My focus was on them. The intention was for that not to happen, by going in a different vehicle, but my mind was not in the right place. So when I called I didn't say how I was travelling, I just asked how they were travelling. He was surprised to hear from me and I was a little hesitant and unsure over the phone, and he was calm and assured. That was a withdrawal, and a big one.

I was in good condition for the race, although I had not rested that much for this first event.
Once we arrived, shortly before this very first race of the season, I was given a message, Corneli came over to me and told me that Bernard was 'sick'. I was actually angry to hear it. I think I said, "I don't care." Or: "Why are you telling me this!" I didn't want to know. I didn't want to swim in the cold water and say to myself, "Hey, don't worry if you're getting tired, he's sick, so it must be worse for him." I wasn't nearly as hardscore in that race as I should I have been. Part of that was as a result of Distraction - I played computer games until 6am the previous morning. How dedicated is that? And since I wasn't crystal clear in my actions, what i ate before the race turned out to be...well...not nearly enough. I actually walked in that race. My energy crashed towards the end of the bike. But had my personal power been focussed only on me, I may have had enough mental power to see that I wasn't taking care of me, that there were some things I could control, and improve. Like what I was eating. Like when I was sleeping.
Before that race he also offered a cheerful, "Good luck." My response was slightly muted, and that was the moment I felt the full transaction took place. He came 3rd and I came nowhere in Gangneung.

I decided after that race that the next race was a new beginning. I trained really hard for it. I trained to turn the loss of the last race around as far as I could. I wanted a 180 degree change. My preparation level was excellent.
After I finished the race I had a deep deep level of satisfaction. And when I found out I had won the race I thought, "Yes, I deserve this. I did everything right."
I had almost no contact with Bernard or Andrew beforehand. It is not meant to be unfriendly - it is meant to maintain focus. At one point the two of them walked with JD through the transition area, and when they passed my bike they said "Hey," and I said, "Hey," and that was it. I knew they were there, I just focussed on what I was doing. I felt like they wanted to see how I had set up my bike, but that was all. If they wanted to key off me, fine, but I wasn't interested in what they were doing. Both of them got disqualified in that race, but I won mine. I stayed within my Personal Power. I got my 180.

Ryk, in the picture above, has generated more and more power, by being consistent. He's been swimming at a high ;evel for years. For at least a decade. If you're a swimmer, you'll have a deep understanding, down to the warm marrow of your bones, what it takes to swim those distances in the cool sharp silver water, day in and day out. He started his swimming career by going after the 1500m in the Olympics. That's a really tough event. And preparing for it - well, it takes a special kind of person. He worked hard, but success in the 1500m wasn't easy with guys like Thorpe and Hackett around. (I met a guy in Jeju, Matty White, who used to train with Hackett.) Success came slowly and I guess not often enough for Ryk in the 1500m. So when that didn't work for him, he used all the work, the price he had paid day by day getting himself strong and powerful for the mile, he used that for shorter distances. Years later he is at the top of his game. He didn't rock the world in the 1500m but he didn't let that take his personal power away. He used it. He built on it. He took what he had and made it count. Now he is cooking in the 100m. And in Athens he chose to share it in the relay. He chose to go for a Gold Medal in the relay that he knew he could win, over another race, an individual event, that he might have gotten a medal. And he got it.

When I have a good sense of my own Power, other people don't intimidate me, Idon't feel like I don't have enough of something. It feels like there is enough. Enough time, enough magic in the universe for all of us to shine.

Here's a funny epilogue to this subject matter. Mark Allen again:

There are many examples of athletes using this kind of power game to their advantage. Moments before the swimming finals of the 1964 Olympics, gold medalist Don Schollander followed his main opponent into the bathroom and stood behind him while he tried to take a leak. There were maybe 100 urinals in there and the guy became so frustrated and upset that he couldn't get on with it, and ran out. You could say the guy was totally pysched out by Don - that he gave Don all his power. That's when Don Schollander won the gold medal.