South Pacific Tales--The Sagas and Stories

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  SOUTH PACIFIC TALES - THE SAGAS AND STORIES

  First edition. May 17, 2017.

  Copyright © 2017 Michael David.

  ISBN: 978-1386413011

  Written by Michael David.

  Also by Michael David

  Book of Strangers -Literary Art Gallery - Explorations in Humanity Collection

  Book of Strangers - Literary Art Gallery -Portraits, Places, Sketches and Life Collection

  Late Night Shenanigans - Culinary Adventures to Spoon With

  South Pacific Tales - The Sagas and Stories

  The Coyote King Memoirs - Forest and Ghostwinds

  Red Sand Poetry - The Complete Collection

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By Michael David

  South Pacific Tales | The Sagas and Stories

  South Pacific Tales | “By the seat of your pants” | Part 1 | By Michael David

  South Pacific Tales | “Life Lessons, Bike Rides, and Chicken” | Part 2 | By Michael David

  Further Reading: Late Night Shenanigans - Culinary dishes and drinks to blow your mind. Perhaps those of your friends too.

  Also By Michael David

  South Pacific Tales

  The Sagas and Stories

  CONTENTS

  South Pacific Tales

  “By the seat of your pants”pg. 5

  South Pacific Tales

  “Life Lessons, Bike Rides, and Chicken”pg. 51

  South Pacific Tales

  “All Stars”pg. 91

  South Pacific Tales

  “By the seat of your pants”

  Part 1

  By Michael David

  Dedicated to Griffin and Genevieve. I think about you every single day. Two of my favorite people, my hopes for you are that you are brave enough to follow your dreams. Make a life out of your passions. Stay curious, stay yourselves, and stay on course. Although I may not have the opportunity to tell you all the time, I love you very much. You will always hold my heart. I hope you get to know me a bit better through these. I may not be with you, but will always be beside you.

  “The Majority of People in existence today on earth are stuck in routines because society has conditioned them, raised them to fear change, God, “the new”, adventure, financial failure, and in general “the unknown.”

  -the Stranger

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  Published by Michael David McIvor

  Dreams Publishing

  copyright 2017

  All rights reserved

  Life never really started until I left it.

  Growing up, I was put in all sorts of sports - Hockey, Lacrosse, Baseball, soccer (or better known as football) to the rest of the world. I think it was hoped that I would find one that I really appreciated and excelled at. I was all over the map. I didn’t understand that the sports had different seasons. I wanted to play them all. This went on for about two years; they were outlets for energy and time spent learning the games themselves. I often lamented to myself about the lack of programs that were in school relating to these sports. They were never organized within the school district, but through outside organizations. They still are in many respects today.

  School was not the greatest environment for me when growing up. Years from grade 5 through 10 were particularly difficult. I was never part of any inclusive groups, and really didn’t feel like I belonged there. At 13 or 14 I turned to skateboarding as an individual sport. This was something that did not require me to stick to a regimented schedule, and this was part of the attraction for me. In addition it gave me some unique links to people. There were lots of challenges with skateboarding in my hometown in those early years. There were lack of facilities, and understanding of the sport / culture itself along with the distance to travel to one that allowed for any skill progression. Designated skateboard areas and parks had not been built yet. The culture though would experience a surge in parks being built through the 1990’s and into the early 2000’s and my hometown would not have one built until closer to 2010, some 20 years later. There were a group of us that spearheaded drives with the community to build these parks, even appearing on the agenda and speaking at city hall to bring awareness and try to lobby for inclusion of a park or facility to be built. Eventually a small one was built however there was clearly a lack of understanding between the city designers and the skateboard community itself as the park was just a set of inclined banks. It was an excellent start though, and good intentioned by the people that put it together.

  It wouldn’t be until years later, that an official park was proposed and built. Today it is certainly a high caliber park with many great terrain features.

  My hometown at that time was still pretty small with roughly 25,000 residents. Everyone knew one another and there were certainly lines drawn between North and South sides of town. Again, something I didn’t fully understand at the time and still don’t. I just knew that I wasn’t in the right place to do what I was meant to.

  The Grocery Store

  The grocery store was my second job. I started out as casual picking up on call shifts, and eventually working night shift. I have to give credit to the people that are or have worked night shift in their past or current positions. I didn’t realize it when I was younger but it certainly takes its toll on your body. In younger years I was willing to do these shifts because I was chasing the money that I could build up to per hour. It never occurred to me there were other ways to make money aside from a per hour basis.

  It didn’t take long to get used to the work, but the culture was not one that allowed for progression or innovative ideas. There was a great deal of “lifers” that were there and understood that this is what they would be doing for life. Although there were also a lot of great people, the culture at the store I was working in was not one in which to thrive. Many people were just waiting for “the buyout” whenever that would come, not knowing what that exactly entailed. Needless to say I wouldn’t understand the concept of constructive dismissal until much later on in life from a family member who was an HR specialist for a larger utilities company.

  There are many stories about the grocery store, but those are for another time and another book. One of the benefits though that the company had was that in it’s agreement with its employees contained a “year off clause” which as I would discover later would be very useful.

  I had befriended a guy in the bakery that was going to university and was about to finish. One day we had been out at a local park and he was discussing what to do following his graduation. He had decided that him and his brother would pursue an around the world trip, and casually asked if I wanted to come.

  I had thought about it for about a week, and decided it was something very interesting. At that, I communicated to him that I wanted to go and he began to make the arrangements for three; himself, his brother and I. The tickets were priced, the routes planned and the itinerary was finalized.

  Knowing the employee agreement I had a leave clause, I began to apply for it and eventually received it. It looked like things were coming together very nicely. It was still a vague concept –
going on a trip for over a year. And just, well going. There were still lots of people that I needed to advise this to as well.

  With the leave approved, the ball was now in motion. I set about to work as hard as I could to save for the trip. It was all hands on deck, and time to get as many hours in as I could to work towards this. I had almost six months.

  Friends, Family, and significant others

  I began to tell some friends and the feedback was universally positive. Most of my friends were excited for me. Many were much more excited than I was myself. It was really a neat thing to see. This was something that not too many people in town had thought of doing. The town was primarily a blue collar working town next to a major railway yard hub.

  My mother was the easiest to tell. She was so supportive and excited for me. She knew that I had been following a dream – to travel and see other places. I think she had done a bit of traveling in her earlier years before we had come along. She also had a more outgoing and open personality, very supportive of things outside the box. In many ways she has a personality appreciates such adventures.

  I will never forget the way my father reacted. I told him at breakfast one day. Sitting across the table he had dropped his cutlery on the table and said “I do NOT approve”. I believe it was meant as an attempt to deter me. So it sounded. I think he had this vision for me to go to school and then get a good job within the city or another line of “stable work” as that was his way for so many years. I understand the place that this came from. It did come from a place of love and concern even if at the time I didn’t realize it. Looking back, it’s only the initial reaction that sits with me. It was seared into memory. I do laugh about it now though. My reply was “Well Dad, it’s a good thing then that I don’t need your permission.” It wasn’t until much later in life that he had said he really liked the way I just struck out on my own and decided to see the world.

  My brother was in attending university at the time. I did not know what his original thoughts were but I know he was supportive of it. Not too long after I returned, he followed suit. He and a few of his friends decided to travel the South Pacific as well. Midway through his trip, he decided to invite my father down. I was happy to see my father accept the invitation. I ended up driving him to the airport. It would be an interesting trip that’s for sure, and my father’s lifetime habits of getting up early and getting going certainly played into the excursions while abroad. They didn’t change. My brother continued on, and my father came back. He looked the most relaxed I have ever seen him in his life. It was really great to see.

  My girlfriend at the time was devastated. I know it was hurtful to leave but it wasn’t about her. I don’t know that she realized that until years later. This was both of our firsts where we committed our hearts fully. This was painful for both of us, although I don’t know that I expressed this until years later to her as well. We did discuss it years later and much expression came out regarding the scenario of leaving and it was pretty candid. We discussed a lot of aspects. Things came to light for both of us. She understood but it took her a while. I never did tell her I was balling my eyes out on the plane. She knows now though!

  Many of my friends did express great interest in the trip. They were very supportive – although each on their own paths. It was great to see everyone when I came back although it seemed nothing had really changed. Although I suppose change does take time. It did seem like the same as when I left though. Things were definitely new and it was like re discovering what friends were up to. Our interests and point of view on the world had changed at that point, I could tell. I had learned a lot in that time, and trying to communicate what that was - I simply could not do it justice. The magnitude of things, the different cultures, all the people, and experiences were simply enlightening.

  When life really began

  The tickets booked, the trip planned, and off to the airport we went. I had no idea what to bring. As I would later find out, I packed too much of what I didn’t need.

  January 18th, 1995

  “Hold fast to dreams

  For when dreams go,

  Life is field

  Frozen with snow.

  Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die,

  Life is a bind that cannot fly.”

  This is what I kept reading in my journal.

  I sat on the plane thinking “what was I doing?” this was all new. The three of us travelers were sitting all in row ready to take off. I was trying to keep it together feigning off a runny nose. I didn’t know how I felt at the time. I wasn’t really excited. I hurt and felt hurt. The emotions were so confusing, there were so many of them all at the same time. A silent tear, a quiet moment, and reflection on life in the moment. Things didn’t feel like they were on track for the time but life doesn’t always work the way you think it does. I was on track for my path at the time.

  Ahead of me there was a 19 hour flight. I had no idea what I was in for. I don’t recall what the flight entertainment was, but I kept busy by writing and listening to music. The airline was awesome. By far the best serviced airline I had ever been on. Then again, it was up until that point in my life, the only airline I had ever been on. Although I had no comparisons, it certainly was impressive.

  After a long flight, we landed in Seoul, Korea for our stopover. It was to be a 4 to 5 hour stop over and we were to wait in a holding area inside the airport. It was still the same day, no sleep and my body was wrecked. The body clock said Vancouver, but the time zone said Korea.

  Going through customs and into the holding area, I had set off some metal detectors. I had pointed to my belt buckle and wallet chain thinking that it would be noticed that these metal items would have set off the detectors. The language barrier proved to be too much, and as I looked to proceed to gather my carryon bag I was thrown up against a conveyor belt violently and pat down, then scanned with a wand. It became clear that it was in fact my belt buckle and wallet chain that were the culprits and after a short time I was let through into the holding area.

  With a short time to reflect, I sank back into thoughts of missing home and what I had just done; travelled across the globe to lands unknown, customs unknown, and culture unknown in order to see the world. I still missed a lot of the people as I had just shaken up my own little world. I found it irritating that I couldn’t understand the language. Communication was definitely out. It wasn’t like you could simply walk up to someone and ask for directions. They too did not have the faintest clue of what you were saying. At that we decided to play it safe and stay close to the airline stewards that were hovering around the airport gates. When it came time, at the very least we would know when it was time by the indicators at the gates. We finally recognized the signs and off all three of us went to the called gate. Five hours later we would land in Singapore.

  It was 930 am Vancouver time. We were now in the YMCA. Our flight had arrived at 730am Vancouver time, or roughly 1130 pm local time. My first impression of Singapore was hot, wet and humid. As we stepped out of the arrival doors at the airport it was like walking into a soft wall of humidity. What went through my mind was the image of a cartoon character carving out a porthole in the fog with a knife and peeking out of it. The humidity felt that thick. On the way to the YMCA our cab driver was explaining that most of the roads in Singapore surrounding the airport had been also designed as runways for military times. All that needed to be done was to push aside the planters from the center of the roads and then there it was, instant runways. It was late local time and the body was tired. Confused about the time change, and the applicable date we decided to simply grab some sleep when we arrived. I would update everyone tomorrow on where I was.

  The following day we wandered the city. Orchid road seemed to be the place to be for shopping and tourism. So we decided to have a look. I Just happened to wander into a local public house called “the Point”. There is a guy in there called Cliff from America. He’s had a job offered to him before he arrived and
now lives in Singapore as an Ex Pat. He had lived in Singapore for about 4 years prior.

  I liked Singapore, and my first impression was it would be a great place to live. In any case, we ended up playing Soccer (or Football) with the people we met at the Point pub. There was a man named Mohar that grew up in Singapore but went to school in BC for a while. Small world. He was now going to university in Singapore. He had lived in Port Moody for a time just outside of Vancouver prior to coming back over to Singapore. A gent from Washington state named Keith was also playing on the pitch. Then two more showed up. Roy and Chris, however only Roy played. Other than meeting a bunch of people that day and playing Soccer, we didn’t get much done. I had found a skateboard shop and decided to have a look in. The prices of gear were 4 times what they were at home. This was my First lesson in currency differences and trading prices.

  I needed a pair of shoes, and wanted to buy some fruit so I bought both at a local market not too far away from the Y. While on my way back, I saw some gecko lizards on the side of a wall near the Point Public house. This was my first time seeing that as well. These were all things that were amazing to me, no matter how small they were. I called home to let them know I had made it over safe. it was great to hear some voices again, even if they were thousands of miles away.

  The following day was Jan 23rd, 1995. We all decided to head to a place called Newton Circus. The only circus I knew of before this were the ones that had lions, elephants etc.... This was of course prior to my knowledge of the Cirque du Soleil acrobatic shows as well. The circus turned out to be nothing of the sort. It was this huge area with a ton of food courts. We ordered Mushroom and mincemeat soups and they came in these monster bowls. The mushrooms were full of flavor, a far cry from what we would eat at home. What a great surprise! Fantastic soups with intense amazing flavor.