Bali - Day 11

Early this morning I made first use of the green leafy voucher that I got for my birthday. Jessi, Uschi and Agni weren't feeling too well, so it was only Micky, Nicole and me who Adi and Irene picked up this morning. We went to a quiet spot that looked still untouched by tourism. No restaurants, no bars, not hotels and no clubs. Not even a supermarket, in fact, there wasn't much more than the beach and the sea. People come here, surf, and leave again.

The other day Tobs and I were sitting downstairs, when somebody came in and just stood there in front of us, smiling. He was wearing baggy pants which were badly cut into shorts, a gray summer jacket and a red mesh trucker cap that said Jiggy Jiggy. He looked skinny and balanced like local surfer on a free day. We found out his name, he was a really nice guy, too, and he was there to mow the lawn. He reminded me of the main character in a short story by Murakami Haruki.

It's actually one of my favorite short stories. It's called “Der letzte Rasen am Nachmittag”, or “The last Lawn of the Afternoon”, and appeared in the collection “The Elefant Vanishes”. The story is about a young man who's summer job is mowing lawns. He doesn't do it because he needs the money, but he does it because he likes the job. Every lawn is different and for every lawn there's one perfect way to cut it. His descriptions are colorful and precise, almost philosophical, and I think that's what I like most about the story. 

Today he came back, friendly and calm as ever, so I challenged him to a game of Fußball. We warmed up with a little session of hochhalting and I knew right away that soon we would step it up. It was him who placed his flip flops behind him first, marking his goal. Of course I followed and put my slip-ons in the same position behind myself. It was a fierce game full of tricks and combinations. I'm glad to tell you that in the end I won six to five.