When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
-- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  picture taken on perenthian island-Malaysia

I don't generally spread out many details about my life 'round here..

but since it has been a while I didn't post anything..

Here is a quick update of some essential of my-oh-so-important-daily-life

Essential Random Fact #1 : 'Make your own recovery the first priority in your life.'

-- Robin Norwood

Have been back in France for more than a month now. Went through a little post asia blues..

Well mind you.. I had to mourn six month of great lay back kind of life under the palm trees.

Nope.. no more white sands beaches.. no more snorkeling or diving during the holidays.

no more volcano climbing or jungle tracking.. no more fight against the mosquitoes, rats and cockroach.

(by the way I would like to remind everybody that I was in Indonesia as an Exchange Student not some big

holidays.... cause yeah.. I know it doesn't really sound like it..)

me pondering about life.. on Koh Chang island - Thailand

Anyway...

Welcome back into reality dear .

Well... let's also look on the other side... the bright and funny side of life back in my sweet old France!

For a start.. 

it has done me some good to be back on a diet made almost exclusively of cheese/wine and bread..

And it also feel damn good to be back with my crazy little gang...

Plus I've a great and cozy little apartment with a funky funny roommate who is the best cook ever...

and I might have my own little dog joining the team pretty soon.

Told ya... isn't life exciting around here?

Hum... Almost forgot to mention.. I had a great week end in Belgium for Diane and Laurent's wedding.

Remember 'da belgian folks' I had class with in China? Here you go!

It was just great to meet everybody once again.

Not to mention they had the most perfect wedding ever.. almost melted my cold little heart of ice.

 Diane

Essential Random Fact #2:

« Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose.” -- Lyndon B. Johnson,

Recently got a kick ass score on the TOEFL test, as well as a good grade for my internship report..

plus an almost perfect line of straight A for all my Indonesian papers...

Take all that stuff, shaaake shake it.. and I'm officially graduated of a Bachelor Degree of Languages

for International Affairs. (Chinese & Indonesian applied to Business)

So I'm now moving on with a Master Degree of Economics hoping to get in the prestigious University of Sydney.

How cool is that. uh?

But while I'm trying to figure out what I could with my life in the future.... It's payback time!

For all the times I've been crashing people's couches all over Asia...

I decided it was my turn to start hosting travelers in my oh-so-cosy-little-palace.

So far I've had 2lituaniuans, 2belgians, 3germans and 2canadians running around in my apartment.

(via couchsurfing and hospitalityclub).

"It should not be denied... that being footloose has always exhilarated us.
It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression
and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom,
and the road has always led West."
— Wallace Stegner

As I'm preparing to head off for a long backpacking trip through southeast Asia..

It is now time for me to go through a few check list... Let's review the basic with my dear Lonely planet...

TOP 10 WAYS TO LOOK LIKE A SOUTHEAST ASIAN VETERAN

1-Never bump your head climbing into and out of local transport trucks.

Oh come on.. been there, done that!
Bemos, betchak, local bus, economic train (the one that even local people avoid)
Name it, I master it.

2-Sniff out an internet connection in the remotest town

Easy.. my greatest achievement was probably to find a connection in the Tiger Leaping gorge..
the kind of place you don't even expect to find a place to sleep or to eat.. so let alone a computer.

3-Use mosquito repellent as deodorant.

Well, actually it is now my first beauty care of the day (as well as the last one).
Try to eat everyday by the riverside of a pungent canal which smell like death.. with so many mosquitoes
buzzing around you, that you'd do anything so there can be a few drop of blood left in your body at the end of the day.

4-Forsake proper English grammar for local pidgin.

That mixed with a bit or chinese or bahasa indonesia.. as well as hand gesture
and even sometimes a few drawing.. can literaly get you anywhere!

5-Walk through a pack of stray dogs without flinching.

And I would add also through rats, giant spiders, angry monkeys, leeches..
The list can go on forever.

6-Sleep through all-night karaoke parties.

As well as chinese's new year parties with fireworks right under your window (all night long...)

7-Squat bomber style on Western toilets

That's when you start to think that there is no such thing as a mandi, and that it's a real luxury
(bucket full of water with a plastic bowl to wash you)

8-Sit down to a banana pancake breakfast and reach for the fish sauce

Actually I would maybe go for the ketchup manis,or even maybe for the hot chilli pepper..

9-Be able to recount more than one « I almost died » story.

Three.. yeah I would say at least three.. but then after a while you stop counting.

10-Pose for group photos with complete strangers

A minimum of 3 times a day (can go up to 50times when being in touristic places)
and I've spend 5month in China and now almost 6month in Indonesia.. I let you count.