Category: Uncategorized

72 Hours in Kuala Lumpur

billkralovec
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The Petronas Towers at Night 

I visited the capital of Malaysia last week for the annual East Asian Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS) conference for administrators in international schools. Most of my time was spent at workshops, speeches and receptions, but I did get out a bit to see some of the city and meet the people of Kuala Lumpur (KL). Malaysia is interesting to me because it is a moderate Islamic country. The Malays converted to Islam through interaction with Arab traders in the 1400s. 60% of the population of the country is ethnically Malay, with significant Chinese and Indian populations. There were also lots of European tourists and residents. The Chinese and Indians are allowed to practice their religions, in fact, the city was full of color and light celebrating Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights. I got the impression that the three groups tolerate each other and there is not much interaction.

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Hotel Lobby 

The contrast between a Chinese woman in tight shorts and a low cut shirt to a Malay woman with a headscarf and long robes was striking. As with many Islamic countries, inter Islamic tourism was apparent, but there is a disturbing trend (in my opinion) of Malays becoming more fundamentalist and women dressing in the full, black covering like I saw in the gulf region. Indian and Chinese taxi drivers complained about the dominance of the Malays in a humorous way.

The Petronas Towers look like a huge alien “death star-like” ship that has landed on earth. They are absolutely massive and show off the wealth generated by Petronas, the government petroleum company. They dwarfed the Exxon Mobil building across the park from the towers. We were staying at a hotel on the park in front of the Towers. The 1.3 kilometer loop was convenient to run in an otherwise cement city. The traffic is lighter than Bangkok and Macau, however.

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The sounds and sights of the urban tropics

 The city was built in a tropical rainforest and before I left, I managed a short trip in the rain over to the botanical gardens. I wanted to see some of the distinctive plants and birds of the Old World Tropics. The lipstick palm (Cyrtostachys renda) did not disappoint and they had a great collection of storks which visitors could approach quite closely. It is an impressive conservation area in a city of over 7 million people. I loved the sound of the branch-broom sweeping away the leaves on the sidewalks in the morning. An action that is found worldwide in the tropics.

I will be visiting Singapore over the Christmas and New Year holidays and hope to get back into explore some more of Malaysia. As with almost every country, it has a more laid back feel than Japan and has an interesting ethnic mix, different from homogeneous Japan which makes it a nice get away.

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Botanical Gardens of Kuala Lumpur

Owen’s team wins again!

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Owen’s middle school baseball season is coming to an end with the Western Japan Athletic Association (WJAA) next week. In their last game of the regular season yesterday, they defeated Canadian Academy of Kobe, 13-0. They finished the regular season undefeated for the second straight year. Hopefully they will finish undefeated but one never knows with baseball. They do have the best team in the league, being solid in every position, unlike the other WJAA teams.

Owen was the starting pitcher yesterday and pitched 6 innings with 9 strikeouts and allowing no hits. The competition is not very good, but he did pitch well, cutting down his walks, varying up the speed of his pitches and allowing the fielders to make plays. Everyone in Japan has decent baseball skills, especially the seventh graders of our sister school, Senri I.S. The student-athletes are totally into baseball, from being “locked-in” on the bench giving vocal support, to knowing where to throw the force out, to popping the hips and turning on balls while hitting and scoring runs. Youth baseball in Japan is played with rubber-covered balls for safety and combined with the artificial turf surface, balls bounce quite a bit. A “chopper” grounder sometimes turns into a base hit.

The opposing pitcher was having control problems. As you can see in the video above, Owen didn’t want to walk and so swung at a ball over his head. Fortunately it was a line drive up the middle that drove in two runs.

His friend Euan pitched the seventh and allowed 1 hit, missing the combined no-hitter. It was a ball hit off the end of the bat that rolled back to the pitcher and I think the umpire was being kind to the opposition, who were getting badly beat. Anyway, the team played extremely well and most importantly, enjoyed a morning of baseball. I will certainly miss the middle baseball games next year. You can go to our family YouTube channel (link) to see more highlights from the game.

Ocean in Pregame Ceremony

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I found some time this morning to put together a quick video of Ocean’s experience at the baseball game last weekend. The Osaka Tourism Board was promoting international tourism before the Orix Buffaloes and Soft Bank Hawks NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) league game last Friday. The kids were so excited and Ocean represented the USA and greeted third baseman Koji Oshiro. The last place Buffaloes won the game 4-3 over the first place Hawks.

I also was asked to be the kampai taicho (captain of the toast) between the third and fourth inning. It was a fantastic evening and I would like to thank the tourism board and the Orix Buffaloes for the first class treatment they gave our delegation! Orix gambare!

30 Seconds on the Big Screen

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Asahi beer asked me to be the kampai taicho (toastmaster) for the traditional third inning toast at Friday’s Orix Buffaloes game against the Soft Bank Hawks at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. It is a tradition/marketing ploy to get people at the stadium to buy more beer. My daughter Ocean was part of a delegation from the school taking part in a pre-game ceremony. The Osaka Tourism Board was promoting international tourism. There is a push in Japan to be more open to other cultures, especially with the Olympics coming in 2020. They wanted a foreigner to do the toast for this game. Usually it is a fan chosen at random. I got a free beer from Asahi and got to wear the taicho sash! It was funny to be asked to drink beer in front of the students I was chaperoning, but in Japan, drinking publicly is acceptable.

 

 

Owen stars in Sabers win

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Owen with some of his teammates

The Senri & Osaka International School’s middle school baseball team defeated Sons of Light IS 3-0 yesterday afternoon in their second game of the day. Earlier they defeated Kansai University International Academy 14-4. They are now 3-0 this season and on top of the Western Japan Athletic Association. Euan L. went the distance, pitching a shutout and Owen had a clutch 2-RBI double in the fourth to break open the pitcher’s duel. Owen played first base in the second game, and pitched for 3 innings in the first game.

The Sons of Light threatened to score twice in the game. In the fifth inning, the first two batters got on base, but then Euan struck out the next two batters and a groundout ended the inning. In the last inning, a runner was put out at third after a perfect throw by right fielder Rintaro.

 

After a game there are distinctive Japanese practices of showing respect towards others. The video shows the final out and the post-game team bows towards the opponents, coaches and umpires. It is a nice tradition and manner of ending games, reinforcing sportsmanship. American sports should integrate something similar.

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Owen on third base

Quirky Japan: Political Campaigns

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Local elections in Osaka were held this past Sunday. Our arrival to Japan was marked with politicians driving around the neighborhood announcing their virtues as a candidate with loudspeakers. On my way to school, I shot this short video of a typical candidate van. Several acknowledged me on the street while driving by saying hello (konichi wa). I wish my Japanese was better to understand what they were saying. I am not even sure what the elections were about.

In looking at the election board in my neighborhood, if I were eligible to vote, I like Hideo Takeuchi from the One Osaka party pictured below. One Osaka is a movement to reduce redundancies in the metropolitan government structure through mergers, which I favor. I don’t know who he is or what his policies are, but I like his originality in promoting his candidacy by highlighting his love of dogs. I wonder if he walks his two dogs in a suit all the time?

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Visit to Washington DC

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Nadia and Kim reunited with their families visit the Pentagon

On our final weekend in the USA before our return to Japan we visited our dear friend Kim in Washington DC. The nation’s capital is a 3 and 1/2 hour drive from the Lehigh Valley. We saw some of the iconic sites like the White House and the Pentagon, toured the National Geographic museum and just spent time with Kim and her daughter. It is always a thrill to see the center of the US government, driving by the Federal Reserve, the Capitol building, etc. Despite the heat, we managed to see a lot. We even got a taste of Bolivia, stopping by a restaurant for saltenas. Around 250,000 Bolivians live in the Virginia side of the DC area and it felt like we were in Cochabamba!

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Ocean and I check the bees

Kim allowed us to check on her bees. She is a conservationist and works for the US Forest Service and is an avid beekeeper. It was quite an experience for the kids and me! It is sad the plight of bees worldwide and through the efforts of people like Kim, hopefully they will continue to pollinate and keep our planet’s environment healthy. The bees were doing OK, but we didn’t find much honey. We have been friends for a long time and it was such a pleasant visit. Thanks to Kim for her hospitality!

We are packing in preparation for heading back. I am refreshed and ready to go for 2016-2017!

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Nadia poses with the boys in front of the White House

Goodbye Philadelphia

billkralovec
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Ocean as “Rocky” overlooking the Benjamin Franklin parkway. 

We could certainly feel the excitement in the city caused by Democratic National Convention. The ubiquitous police, Bernie Sanders protesters, delegates dressed in red, white and blue and extremely hot temperatures created a frenzied atmosphere. We spent the morning in our hotel near the airport because the kids wanted to swim in the pool. With my Bernie Sanders t-shirt, I was mistaken for a Connecticut delegate by the Georgia delegates, both delegations were staying in the hotel. An odd pairing with Georgia being heavily Clinton and African-American and Connecticut being a majority Sanders and white. I entered many conversations with delegates and others because of my shirt. Everyone we met in the hotel and city were super friendly, reminding me how nice Americans are and how nice it is to speak the language fluently. In Japan I am handicapped with my limited Japanese. We didn’t see the reputation of the Philly sports fans as being rude. Most locals took pride in the city and enjoyed living there.

I loved Sanders’s convention speech last night. He rose above the egos and name calling of the campaign to bring out the important issues of rising poverty, income inequality and the plight of the middle class. I hate to see good, hard-working people struggle in our society. Sanders is the only candidate that is not a multi-millionaire/billionaire who I believe really cares about people like me. After seeing the stark contrast between rich and poor in the Lehigh Valley, New York City and Philadelphia this month, I feel the government needs to get them closer to the well-off for a healthy America for everyone. We saw the rich/poor divide manifest itself in the city yesterday. The only people out in the intense afternoon heat yesterday were European tourists, the homeless and us!

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Feelin’ the heat with City Hall in the background

“Philadelphia is a nicer New York City” was a quote by Owen as we explored more parts of the city in the afternoon. Flanked by the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, the spacious Benjamin Franklin Parkway green area, combined with the classic architecture of the museums and colonial buildings, makes for an impressive and relaxing big city. We managed to complete the “Rocky” training run up the steps of the art museum. The heat limited more exploring. To and from the central business district, we took the train, which was in sharp contrast to Japan. Many trains were late, tickets were sold by hand and it was generally disorganized. They have a long way to go to make public transport a viable alternative to private transport in the USA in my opinion. I was also disappointed in my morning run around the hotel. Despite the presence of a bike lane on the four-lane road outside the hotel, the intersections are not designed for pedestrians or bikers for that matter. With all of the space in America, it would be so easy to make the city walker/biker- friendly.

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Home of the DNC-2016 – view from the freeway

A summer thunderstorm delayed our flights to Las Vegas, but we made it out safe and sound. It was a strange morning drive on the strip this morning in the rising light of the desert. More posts to come on Nevada/Utah.

ColdPlay Live!

billkralovec
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Nadia keeping cool before the concert starts

I took Nadia to the ColdPlay concert last week at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was the band’s first stop on their North American leg of their summer world tour. We both danced the night away and were thrilled with seeing the band, the pyrotechnic show and the excellent musicianship live and in person. Even me, approaching 50 years old, was highly entertained! ColdPlay is one of the few bands that appeals to a wide range of ages and it was reflected in the crowd. The weather was perfect, with a breeze coming in to cool a warm summer evening.

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Great seats on the field!

It is refreshing that lead singer Chris Martin and the band are such good guys. Many big stars are weird or arrogant. They were gentlemen throughout the concert and thanked the crowd for putting up with the hassle of parking, getting to and from the stadium and all the rest that comes with attending a live concert in a huge stadium. He was also grateful to have so many followers. It must be so exhilarating to perform like that in front of 50,000+ screaming fans. They played all of the hits and much from their latest album. If they continue producing great music, they will be ranked with some of the best pop musicians of all time. They already have been churning out hits since the start of the decade and they don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Everyone received a lighted wristband that lit up in different colors throughout the concert. The set was amazing and the rainbow colors theme was in full force with lighting, fireworks and the wrist bands. We smelled marijuana several times during the concert and I imagine that would have enhanced the lights and musics.

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The positive vibes and feeling of a global community could definitely be felt at the concert. The band was introduced via video screen by concert goers from all over the world, speaking in their native languages. It reminded me that most people in the world are good and 99.9999% of gatherings of large people do not end up in terrorist attack. It gave me renewed hope that the internet and increased contact among citizens of earth will continue to bring everyone together instead of driving us apart.

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Getting ready to enter the stadium

I am looking forward to hear their next release. I hope they continue with the dance groove.

The Moravians of Bethlehem

billkralovec
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The old chapel from 1751

Bethlehem Pennsylvania is most famous for the Bethlehem Steel Company, which was at its peak, the second largest steel company in America. But before big company put its imprint on the city, the origins of the settlement go back to an obscure group called the Moravians. The name Moravian comes from Moravia, which was one of three (Bohemia, Silesia) historic regions that today make up modern Czech Republic. I take special interest in the region because my name Kralovec, is Bohemian, and my ancestor Andreas Kralovec, came to Wisconsin in the late 1800s from what was then Bohemia.

Bethlehem was exclusively Moravian for the first 100 years of its founding on 500 acres  of fertile farm land near the intersection of Monocacy creek and the Lehigh River in 1741. The Moravians were a bit cultish, living in communal groups by age, marital status and gender. They also had a communal socialist economic system which served them well in the early days. It must have been so difficult to clear land and produce food, avoid disease and native American attacks and thrive in the new world. The colony was opened up to others in 1844 and the communal, socialist system was also abandoned.

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My children are fascinated by my historical tour of the communal buildings of the Moravians

The Moravians go back to a Bohemian man named Jan Hus. He is considered the first Protestant reformer, predating the more famous Martin Luther by 60 years. In reading Hus’s complaints against the Catholic church at the time, I pretty much agree with him wanting priests to marry, stop the selling of indulgences (basically bribes to get into heaven), eliminating the idea of purgatory, the mass to be said in Czech instead of Latin and laypersons to receive both bread and wine at communion. He was burned at the stake as a heretic 600 years ago this month (July 6, 1415). John Paul II, the Polish Pope, expressed “deep regret” for the act in 1999.

The Moravians, or United Brethren formed much after the death of Hus in Bohemia. They were persecuted in Catholic Hapsburg Europe but found refuge on the German estates of Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in 1722. He greatly influenced the group, setting up a 100-years continuous prayer relay, starting the tradition of the daily watchword Bible study and most importantly for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, sending out groups of missionaries around the world to start colonies. He visited Bethlehem and after a prayer service along the river, the citizens named the colony after the famous Biblical star.

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Today one can visit the preserved early buildings of the Moravians, including the old cemetery.  There is a Moravian College and a Moravian Academy still in Bethlehem today and the Moravian church in America has about 750,000 members. The Moravians are also known for the Moravian star, the multi-pointed lighted star that adorns all Moravian homes. The city of Bethlehem in the 1930s as marketing campaign for tourists, created the lighted Christmas star on the hill of south mountain overlooking the city and named Bethlehem the “Christmas City”. 

I will be learning more about Moravians during my stay here in Bethlehem this summer.

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The illuminated Moravian Star on South mountain overlooking Bethlehem.