To quickly bring you all up to date, I lived in French Polynesia for over 15 years before moving to Portland, OR in the US this last July. It’s been our family tradition to spend Christmas and New Years on our Tahitian pearl farm in the remote Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia pretty much for forever, and this year marked both my husband’s 40th birthday (January 4th) and our 20 years of togetherness – so despite being broke, we maxed out the credit card and flew to French Polynesia. I guess that’s the American way.

If you read my post Masquerading As Americans, you’ll see that we didn’t exactly feel like we fit in to the US yet. Yeah the cold was a little offsetting but it was the little things, like all our friends being really busy all the time, having too much choice at the grocery store, people writing thank you and Christmas cards and me feeling disorganized and dumb for not having done the same – these details made and still make me feel like an alien in what’s supposed to be my country. I don’t understand Americans yet – they are really nice and yet totally unavailable. It’s a weird mix of 1950s politeness and 1980s its-all-about-me.

Being back in Tahiti and the Tuamotus over Christmas made me realize that I’m much more at ease in those cultures than in America. This is a little ironic since one of the reason I wanted to move back to the States was because I was tired of always being the “American” and having an accent in French that instantly gives me away. Well now I see that in Tahiti I’m much more the bomb than in the US where I feel sort of kooky. I make an epic poisson cru (see my recipe), can husk a coconut, know all the plants and how to grow them, am not afraid of swimming with sharks and know how to pick out a good French wine from the dodgy selection at the store. I know everyone everywhere, can live in a bikini and I’m immune to mosquito bites. But I’m still the American, not really a part of either culture, but sort of both floating somewhere out in ex-pat no-man’s land.

Does this mean I’m moving back to Tahiti? No, not at all. I’ve never lived in the US in my adult life so I have to give it a shot. If I’m going to be known as “The American” I at least have to know what that means. Plus it’s only been six months. I think it will take a few years to adjust and then, we’ll see what we want to do from there. The sun will be beckoning us, I think.

Navigating Ex-pat No-man’s Land is a post from: Arc Magazine

Photo: Jeff Burton

In the dying days of his book tour promoting his latest Imperial Bedrooms, cult author Bret Easton Ellis is so over answering questions about his novels. “I have a completely different relationship with the novel than the reader does,” he sighs. “Which is why it’s very hard to sit here and answer questions about the book, because it’s such a disconnect.” Imperial Bedrooms uses the characters of his 1985 debut, Less Than Zero, 25 years later and looks at how time has scarred both the characters and the once enfant terrible himself.

On this tour he’s survived that interview at Byron Bay Writer’s Festival where he repelled questions from Ramona Koval about his role as a satirist by joshing about his newfound crush on Delta Goodrem. Koval in turn scolded him for treating the interview as “a stand-up routine”.

But in person Ellis is entertaining yet open – his powerful chin is blunted by a navy Nike cap and his playboy image muted by glasses and an overcoat over a woollen hoody. Sure, he bats away the odd issue by laughing “That’s like a dating site question”, but he shares a swinish charm with his books – initially you’re repelled but you keep reading or listening.

His name dominates the covers of seven books, including cult hit American Psycho, but he’s recently realised that with “every book I’m working through my issues.” Less Than Zero was written when he was just 19 and coping with his LA’s peculiar isolation amid partying plenty. “I had the mind of a writer and that makes you a bit of voyeur… but I always did feel alienated from everything. That alienation made me sad and a lot of Less Than Zero was me working that out.” He rolls through his canon connecting them to his own experience – “Unrequited love – that sucks. So then Boom! Rules of Attraction starts building itself.”

His most complex book remains American Psycho and in the past he’s talked about its protagonist Patrick Bateman as based on his own father. “That was when I was blaming my father for everything – I’ve let it go now,” he rolls his eyes to let you know he’s using Californian psychobabble both meaningfully and ironically. But he confesses to a troubled relationship with American Psycho. “I was very defensive about that book because of the heaps of criticism poured on it. I wanted it to seem more important than what it actually was.”

On the surface American Psycho was criticized as sex and slash, but at its core Easton Ellis maintains it’s a satire of a lifestyle he couldn’t adopt when he moved to New York. “It was making me angry, I hated that life, I hated what was expected of me as a man in this society, the things that I’m supposed to have that make me successful and cool.” Unsurprisingly he left New York four years ago to return to LA.

This return also meant a return to Less Than Zero as he re-read his own book like a guidebook to the LA of his youth. It was an uneasy read. Many fans tell him it’s the book that made them move to LA. “And I go “Really? That’s the book that made me want to leave LA for 20 years.”

During his re-reading something didn’t sit right. His main character Clay had a “passivity that was protecting him from this blasted moral landscape that he found himself in.” He began a dialogue with the character and his own past wondering where Clay would have ended up. Ellis reckons “The Clay character in Imperial Bedrooms, I guess has something against me.” Perhaps it’s because Clay sees so much of himself in Easton Ellis. “I drifted around at 19. I went wherever people told me, to parties… I have things to do now. I’m much more active at 45 than I was at 19.”

The 25 years since Less Than Zero have rollercoastered by for Ellis – the height of American Psycho being made into a successful film plummeted when a studio churned out a horrific sequel, American Psycho II: All American Girl. The deepest low was the loss of his long-term partner Michael Wade Kaplan in 2004. Humour has long been a coping mechanism. “You find yourself going ‘Oh this is the way world works. God it plays a lot of fucking jokes on you. Jesus, it’s a tricky place to navigate.’ And you either paint it pink or you paint it black.”

Ellis’ shade of pink is both fleshily real and satirically lurid. Clay’s screenwriter has no real power in Hollywood, more punchline than player. He’s drawn from Ellis experience of having his scripts mangled by the studio machine but it’s all part of his “letting it go” ethos. He’s in pre-production a new film project The Golden Suicides with Gus Van Sant and wants Angelina Jolie for the lead. “Writers and actors are the two people treated the shittiest in Hollywood, because there’s so many of them,” he says mater-of-factly. He follows it with what might have be his Hollywood coping mantra: “The writer has no control.”

An edited version of this article appeared in The Big Issue, No. 363.

American Psychoanalysis: Profile of Bret Easton Ellis is a post from: Arc Magazine

Leg two of the gig is an island hop, and the first real day of play I’ve managed to get in so far, the first couple of days being filled with interviews, feasting & much logistical gerrymandering. After breakfast at Tuna Bay (lovely place, great staff, not bad coffee either) I headed out for a snorkeling expedition, but had made the mistake of pre-booking through the ticket office with a guide who didn’t speak English and seemed too easily irritable early in the day to recommend (a necessity for the gig, as I intended to interview him). We went instead with Captain Halim Mat Nor, who operates out of a small shack next to the Marine Park Ferry Pier on Tuna Beach.

And this is where it gets strange, because Captain Halim turned out to be no stranger, but by strange coincidence, the brother of a friend of mine from when I lived on Lamma Island in 2005 & 2006. Shalm, as it turned out, was on Perhentian for Ramadan, along with his two sons (the older of whom I’d babysat for, and still remembered me). By only slightly stranger circumstances, Shalm’s wife Kelly, another friend of mine from the Lamma Days, is from Newfoundland (another island, even further from the one from which I now write, where I lived in 2001).

Life Lesson Learned: The earth is an island, and all islands are interconnected.

(To be continued, edited, moderated in print…)

Perhentian Besat Malaysia is a post from: Arc Magazine

Yes, Greece. You might think they’re a bunch of ouzo-drinking, tax-dodging yahoos, but da-yum, have they got the cold caffeine down. Check it:

First, we have the classic frappe, the signature drink of Greeks young and old. Whether you’re in a café in Athens or at a beachfront cantina, it should take you no less than four hours to drink a single one.

Frappes are so ubiquitous that every tiny grocery sells insta-frappe kits: a plastic cup with a lid, plus the frappe ingredients. We went on a walk out in the fields outside Eressos, and the roadside was littered with disposable frappe cups. Yup, even farmers drink frappe.

This is all dodging the issue of just what goes into a frappe. Well, I’ll tell you now: it’s Nescafe, plain and simple. Except it’s Nescafe made in Greece, so it tastes much better than what we get in the States. (Yes, I have done side-by-side tests.) You shake up Nescafe with cold water and sugar (if you like), and it turns crazy-foamy. Then you pour it over ice and add milk, if you like. Then you sip for hours.

In our apartment at the beach, we found a handheld frappe whizzer, the same kind we have at home–but this one had a cord, a weirdly permanent detail on such a flimsy machine. (Ours is battery-powered–I guess so you can take it on picnics?)

Still don’t believe me? It’s all documented in Frappe Nation, a surprisingly gripping book by Daniel Young and Victoria Constantinopoulos. I even own a Frappe Nation tank top.

But Daniel better start taking notes for a sequel, because not only does Greece have the near-perfect frappe, but now it’s marching on to the ‘freddo espresso’ …

and, more beautifully, the ‘freddo cappuccino’–which is pronounced the Greek way, ‘fray-do cap-oo-tsi-no’. That one on the right is the newfangled thing, next to a dowdy old frappe:

I should’ve been a more diligent reporter, but I can’t tell you how they make these. They are not coming from an espresso machine. Just a different blend of instant coffee? Never mind–I just want to preserve the magic another year or two.

And I’m still not done. What’s even more staggering is the ridiculous proliferation of much goofier coffee drinks, like the Freddito:

Even weirder was this product, the Cafe Zero. We saw it practically first thing, in the metro stop at the airport. (Americans, Greece is also kicking our ass in the public-transport department–but who isn’t?) There they are, in an open fridge, just waiting for the busy jet-setter to whiz by and snap one up.

Jennifer popped it open on the train and took a cautious sip.

She was grossed out. But then she got used to it. But then, near the end, she said, “I’m getting kind of disgusted. This thing has stayed the exact same temperature and consistency the entire time, and it doesn’t have any condensation around the outside of the cup.” We felt, and sipped cautiously. She was right. It was creepy. Here’s what it looked like inside:

So, OK, Americans–maybe we don’t want to import this last miracle of coffee culture. But the others? Hell, yes. And fortunately, our trendy Greek neighbor has advised us that the ‘freddo cappuccino’ is available just down the street here in Astoria, Queens. In to-go cups. Athens, we’re gaining on you.

Greek Iced Coffee Culture is a post from: Arc Magazine

The Great White North – Photo Essay is a post from: Arc Magazine

Here at Arc Magazine we are all about discovering and shining a light on fresh talent. With that in mind welcome to a fresh feature – Artists on the Rise. Our first artist we’re thrilled to feature is photographer Eleanor Bennett. When we first saw Eleanor’s images we were impressed, but when we learned that she’s just fourteen years old – we were blown away.

Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a teenage amateur photographer and award winning mixed media artist from Stockport, England. She has been exhibited in places from Environ in Ireland to the Oxo gallery in London and was the only person in the UK to be placed with National Geographic in their See The Bigger Picture biodiversity photography competition.  She’s exhibited in Canada, Paris, London, Hamburg , Madrid and soon in Tokyo as part of the international year of biodiversity and was the youngest person to be short-listed with Shoot Nations best of UK award. Winner of the UK Butterflies under 16 competition Winner of the Big Issue photo competition Winner of the Wrexham Science Festival.

Click HERE to see more of Eleanor’s work.

Artists on the Rise: Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a post from: Arc Magazine

Postcards from a Travel Writer’s Journal: France is a post from: Arc Magazine

Hello Arc readers – check out this special Guest Article by Phil Boorman. Phil’s been a friend of Arc Magazine since it was just an idea and on the someday list. He’s kayaking addicted and why wouldn’t you be if this was your local hang out. Check out his words and video of Kayaking the Kaituna in the North Island of New Zealand.

——————————-

I have a secret, and it’s called the Kaituna. Well, OK, it’s not a secret, but it’s a place most people in the world will never get to see, but it’s my favourite place to be, and may people wonder why I, and many of my whitewater brethren are often seen as obsessive.

Well, my excuse is the Kaituna – an incredible little class III + river down the road from my house. As far as classic, and world class short river runs go – they don’t come any better, with numerous drops, (including a 3 metre and a 7 metre waterfall), a beautiful box canyon gorge and awesome scenery to boot. By no means is the Kaituna a technically difficult river run, nor is it unforgiving, but in the whitewater dictionary under “fun park for whitewater boaters”, you’ll find this gem of a river, and no matter how many times I paddle it, I still feel as bold as brass by the time I get to the take out.

Here’s my GoPro helmet camera footage from another after work run.

- Phil Boorman

Kayaking the Kaituna – New Zealand is a post from: Arc Magazine

Amanda Palmer, the singer from the Dresden Dolls has come up with a really fun side project. Her latest EP is collection of Radiohead covers – on the ukulele. It’s beautiful, haunting and as a friend put so well, “it makes me want to take a bath with a toaster…” you might find the marriage between melancholy post-Brit-pop and the uke strange bedfellows – but she makes it work. Somehow the two dovetail together to make something that goes beyond the inevitable chuckle on first listen. There’s a depth and a resonance to these songs and a stronger melody then I first heard when I fell in love with the original versions. Not for everyone, but fans of the ukulele and of Radiohead will inevitably get a kick out of it. To order the tracks (and pay whatever you want for them, In Rainbows style) click here.

Uke-Head is a post from: Arc Magazine

Sometimes it takes months and sometimes only a week or two, but eventually even the hardiest traveler breaks down. If you are guilty of any of the following, it might be time to unpack your bag and stay somewhere awhile:

1. There’s an amazing cultural event going on or you are mere blocks away from a major sight but you decide to stay at your hotel and watch Dumb and Dumber for the third time instead.

2. You are confused by all the emails clogging your inbox that seem to have come from another time space continuum. Bosses? Friend’s relationship problems? Dogs dying? I think they’re serving dog at the restaurant next door . . .

3. One or more items of your clothing is being held up or held together by safety pins, duct tape or dental floss. Bonus point if one of these items are your underwear.

4. You no longer speak normal English but say everything very slowly, enunciating simple words in un-grammatically correct sentences so that everyone will understand you, even when talking to other English speakers. You say “very” a lot.

5. You look anything like the above photo and think you’re normal. Yes, that’s mud on my face and a snake in my hand. When you start to act like jungle Jane (or George), it’s probably time for a break.

5 Telltale Signs You’ve Been Traveling Too Long is a post from: Arc Magazine