Random musings of two U.S. professionals living in Tonga, then China and now … Balikpapan, Indonesia.
Seven months ago, Sam and I left the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a job assignment overseas. I have not written anything about that for several reasons. But this site is called Tonga Time, and now that I am ready to write, I don’t feel that I can write about anything until I pen…
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Having lived in Balikpapan, Kalimantan for nearly two years now, Sam and I have racked up some interesting experiences as foreigners/corporate expats in Indonesia. This, despite the fact that, if I’m being totally honest, I don’t feel as if I can really say we’ve fully “lived” in Indonesia. Perhaps my perspective is due to the…
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Here’s what happened when I made a DIY Solar Camera Filter out of used X-Ray film to photograph a Total Solar Eclipse. Longing To See A Total Solar Eclipse Way back when, on May 30, 1984, there was a (nearly) Total Eclipse of the Sun visible in my neck of the woods (Stone County, Mississippi),…
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Over Christmas, I had a very cool experience with Sea Eagle, a company that sells inflatable sports kayaks and other boats. It was such a great experience that I wanted to share it with others. So here it is! My Sea Eagle Kayak story It was the summer of 2011, and Sam and I had been…
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Toar and Lumimuut are the ancestors of the Minahasa people of north Sulawesi’s (formerly referred to as Celebes) highlands. From what I gather, the story goes like this:* In the beginning, the region was sparsely populated, but one day, a rock in the hills began to sweat from the heat and produced a beautiful woman…
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Even though I learned [basic] conversational Bahasa as a girl growing up in Indonesia, as an adult who has spent years and years away, I constantly find myself spouting awkward Bahasa blunders when attempting to revive my Bahasa skills. The other day, a friend and I finished a group walk (a/k/a “Hash“) where, at the end-point,…
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Then look no further! Amy, who has been awesome enough to share her completely original Tonga-livin’ experiences here on Tonga Time … you know, things like climbing coconut trees (well, Toni gets credit for that — thanks Toni!) to making fresh coconut cream from scratch, to small, inconsequential tidbits like having a baby in Tonga!!!!…
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Okay, I know this guy’s not Bill Murray. Or … I’m pretty sure. But the thing is, this photo was taken almost ten years ago when Sam and I were living in Germany. We took a road trip to Budapest, Hungary, and while there, I fell completely beguiled by this gorgeous hotel and spa built…
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(The below article was first published in JIN Magazine’s February 2014 issue) When Sam and I first arrived in Tianjin, we were excited to explore the local eateries near our hotel. The trouble was, our language lessons had not advanced beyond basic greetings and naturally, all the shops and restaurants were identified by Chinese characters….
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*This article on my experience locating and purchasing a genuine Flying Pigeon bicycle in Tianjin, China was published in JIN Magazine‘s January 2014 issue, and re-posted on the government’s tourism site, exploringtianjin (dot) com.* (UPDATE: Upon review, it appears that the article has been moved to a new China Daily website, so I have updated…
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