Books, Neil Davis, Reunion and SingPost Stupidity

After “The Ugly American,” I returned to Andrew X. Pham, two books he authored and one he translated. Then, I finished (once again!!) “サイゴンから来た妻と娘,” “バンコクの妻と娘” and “パリへ行った妻と娘” by Kondo Koichi. Another book, “One Crowded Hour” by Tim Bowden arrived yesterday. This book is about an Australian war cameraman, Neil Davis. Kondo mentions him first as “Howard,” who was interested in his adopted daughter, and after he learned about his death in Thailand, Kondo discloses that “Howard” is really Neil Davis. Now, I’ve read only a few pages of the book, but looking at the index at the end of it, there is no “Kondo, Koichi.”

７月５日、EricとFon Chengと再会した。「TATSUMI」以来のことで、固く握手できてうれしかった。自分について、“Do you remember him?”との質問には、“Of course”という応えだった。「斎藤工」という俳優さんとEricとの対談の撮影だった。

さて、 何度も考えてきたことだが、なぜずっと一人でいるのか？理由はいくつかあるように思われる。

‐（通訳するときは除いて）その性質からして基本的に一人でやる仕事である

‐通訳時に人に会うことはあっても、それはその時だけであったり、繰り返し会うことがあっても当地在住者ではない

‐一般にきわめていい加減な当地の言語に対する姿勢にかなり不満である

‐排他的な、あるいは表面的に過ぎない対外的友好を示す日本人村/日本人租界に属したくない

‐特に、下品で乱暴な酔い方をする日本人と席を共にしたくない

‐誰かと会って退屈するより、一人でいる方がいいと考えてしまう

‐仕事に直結してはいないが、人より活字に接していたいと思う

‐人より活字に接することの方が間接的に仕事に役立つ

‐言語なくして考えは成立せず、活字を人との会話に優先させる

Somehow, “One Crowded Hour” of Neil Davis does not mention Kondo Koichi though he makes important appearances in two of Kondo’s books. After this book, I re-re-re-re-read “サイゴンのいちばん長い日,” “妻と娘の国に行った特派員” and “したたかな敗者たち.” Tonight, I ordered “戦火と混迷の日々,” which probably completes the works by Kondo.

Yesterday at around 6:00 pm, I came back “home” after a 9-day business trip to Senai (Yishun on Friday. It took us (my client and me) 4.5 hours from JB to Yishun because of a crowd at Woodlands checkpoint. Very tiring) and found in my letter box an invoice I’d sent to Japan before the trip. I brought it to the nearest SingPost branch and asked why it had been returned to me. Apparently and unbelievably stupidly, a SingPost man mistook the recipient as the sender. Also at the branch, I got “Frontline: An Eyewitness Account of the Vietnam War,” a DVD about Davis’s experience about Indochina. And I found “One Crowded Hour” depends on the film extensively.Yesterday at around 6:00 pm, I came back “home” after a 9-day business trip to Senai (Yishun on Friday. It took us (my client and me) 4.5 hours from JB to Yishun because of a crowd at Woodlands checkpoint. Very tiring) and found in my letter box an invoice I’d sent to Japan before the trip. I brought it to the nearest SingPost branch and asked why it had been returned to me. Apparently and unbelievably stupidly, a SingPost man mistook the recipient as the sender. Also at the branch, I got “Frontline: An Eyewitness Account of the Vietnam War,” a DVD about Davis’s experience about Indochina. And I found “One Crowded Hour” depends on the film extensively.

Miss Criminal seems to be working in the UAE under a false name. Perdition is waiting for you. Until it catches up with you, enjoy your life in the UAE or Hong Kong, where her mother lives.