Hitchin' a Ride

During my two months of traveling after Korea, I spent a lot of time moving from place to place. Although I walked my legs off most days, it was inevitable I would be hitching a ride at some point. And, hitch a ride I did...

Number of...

Airplanes: 17

Personal cars/vans: 4

Hired cars: 1

Taxis: Hundreds

City buses: 7

Micro-buses: 3

Tour buses/vans: 3

Subways: Several in Shanghai and Istanbul

Trains: 3

Funiculars: 1

Maglevs: 1

Faluccas: 1

Med/Lg Boats: 3

Canal boats: 1

Horse & Buggies: 1

Camels: 1

Elephants: 1

Awkward...

Solo Travels

written October 6, 2009 in Chengdu, China (day 6 of the trip)...

Traveling solo has come with a mixed bag of emotions. It offers the luxury of time and affords me the opportunity to make decisions on my own based on my current emotions. If I want to go somewhere, I go. If I want to sit in my room all day and catch up on my writing, I can do that without feeling pressured by anyone else’s needs. At the same time, however, it’s much more challenging and mentally exhausting. Finding my way around a new country without the support of another person can be daunting and overwhelming. Without a significant sense of direction, I’ve had to step out of my comfort zone many times just to get myself from point A to point B.

I’ve met a lot of interesting people along the way—some very kind and sincere and others off their rockers. I’ve found there are three questions fellow travelers always ask each other:

1. Where are you from?

2. Where have you been?

3. Where are you going?

The people I gravitate to always respond in appropriate detail, not too long and not too short, before asking me the same questions:

“I’m from Canada. Yeah, I’ve been traveling through China for 3 weeks now and really enjoyed my time in Beijing. I’m headed to Tibet after this and really look forward to it. How about you?"

However, there are some people who LOVE to talk and who believe they have all the answers and the best stories to retell (some of this is pieced together from actual conversations I’ve had with various people…):

“I’m from England, but I can tell from your accent you’re American (a cleverly disguised insult). I’ve been traveling for 3 months so far and have only bought one plane ticket. My tiny bag is the perfect size and I’ve only done laundry once. I found the best city in China, but most people don’t really know about it so I was one of the only foreigners there. When I was in Shanghai I was mugged at knifepoint in a back alley foot massage parlor but I got away. Next, I’m going to Tibet even though it’s closed right now and extremely dangerous. I’m sure I can get in. I’ll probably climb Everest without any gear before taking a train to Vietnam where I plan on drinking snake’s blood. I can almost speak fluent Chinese, but I moved away from China too soon. People probably wonder why I have a Hong Kong residence card and a British Passport, I’m probably the only one. I’m way under budget, too—by nearly $1,000. You said you’re heading to Xi’an next? That seems like a really backwards itinerary. And how much did you pay for your room? I got mine for practically nothing! Well, anyways… I need to go book a really cheap ticket so I’ll see you later.”

JAPAN: Strange Signs

Throughout Japan I couldn't help noticing various signs and posters on the streets, subways, and in store windows. Some were interesting, some comical, and a few were down-right strange.

"The deer on Miyajima Island are wildlife animals. Please treat them gently and with patience. Please do not get too close to them or touch the deer. To protect its life in nature please do not feed the deer. Thank you for your cooperation."

Of course, people were touching and feeding the deer all over the island...

The do's and don'ts of squatty potties

"Please do NOT sit on the toilet but squat over it facing the hooded end. Thank you!"

The sake of choice for geishas

No bulldogs allowed

A few different takes on Puma.... My favorite is Tuna.

Outside a small store, this sign gets straight to the point.

Kyoto's multi-lingual welcome sign

Korean food! Home sweet home.

"Please do it at the beach.

The Platform edge is dangerous. Please wait behind the white line."

No caption necessary.

Just in case you didn't already know...

Tokyo is in the running for the 2016 Olympics and they're not wasting any time rallying excitement.

"My Identity."

A cute add for Converse shoes.

Everyone has experienced the "Gas Panic" at some point in their life.

Pigeons: Harassing people worldwide.

Pachinko, the Japanese game of choice.

Japan's Most Wanted

I'm sure I don't have to tell you how disgusted I was to see horse meat on the menu...

King of Pop

Along with everyone around the world, I was shocked to hear about the death of Michael Jackson a few days ago. Although he was quite odd at times, there's a reason why he was hailed as the "King of Pop."

My Top 5 Favorite MJ songs (in order):

1. The Way You Make Me Feel

2. Billie Jean

3. Smooth Criminal

4. Bad

5. Thriller

Fan Death... and Other Korean Superstitions

My favorite Korean supersitions:

1. Fan Death— According to almost all Koreans, including doctors, it is believed that if you sleep with a fan on in an enclosed room you will die. There are three possible causes for the death and countless "real-life cases" (people have died over night and it just so happened there was a fan on in the room, must've been the fan!) 

• Hypothermia—Apparently, people die from hypothermia when the fan lowers their body temperature enough degrees to result in the shutting down of major organs. I didn't know fans were that powerful!
  
• Poisoning—Fans suck up all the oxygen in an enclosed room leaving high amounts of carbon dioxide produced by the human respiratory system. So, the toxins a person exhales end up killing them.
• Suffocation—When in a sealed room, an electric fan can (and definitely will) create a vacuum, which sucks up the oxygen particles leaving none to inhale and sustain life.

2. Red Pens— Whatever you do, don't write your name in red ink because you will die. Red ink, obviously a symbol of blood, is used to write the names of the deceased. On the first day at school, I was instructed never to write a student's name with my red pen. I've slipped up only a few times, but each one was met with a gasp and the "deer in the headlights" look. Oops, sorry!

3. Number 4— Americans fear unlucky 13 while Koreans hate the number 4. Once again, it means death, but I'm not sure how or why. Either way, I'm glad I don't live on the 4th floor in my apartment building. Ironically, however, I do live on the 13th. I guess it doesn't count because I'm in Korea. 

Biggest Church in the WORLD

Name:  Yoido Full Gospel Church

Location:  Seoul, South Korea

Denomination:  Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) 

Members:  over 830,000

# of seats in building:  26,000

On Sunday, I took a trip to Yoido Full Gospel Church; which houses the largest congregation in the entire world. The experience was, as expected, overwhelming. The massive building somehow seems even grander on the inside and resembles a concert hall with multiple balconies and levels. Once inside, I was seated in the foreigner's box on the upper balcony. Headphones were provided to foreigners with 7 language choices to select from: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian-Malay, and Russian. 

The full choir and complete orchestra overflowed with somewhere around 100 people, and gave an impressive performance that was border-line "over the top." Surprisingly many of the hymns were familiar standard songs from home including, Amazing Grace, and English lyrics were posted on the two jumbotron screens behind the altar. 

Throughout the service, conspicuous video cameras panned in and out of the crowd. Seated right alongside one of the cameramen, I found myself on screen multiple times, an occurrence that seems less exciting in church than at a ball game. 

Overall the experience was overwhelming, and was probably made more "interesting" given the liturgical holiday we chose to attend a Pentecostal church—the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Speaking in tongues was the topic of Sunday's sermon and the pastor definitely led the colossal congregation in "practicing what he preached." 

The massive choir and orchestra on the left

People beginning to file in and grab a seat

The many balconies and rows upon rows of seating. 

(Notice the flags from around the world)

The start of the service- just like you see on TV. Every seat was filled at this point, but I couldn't snap anymore pictures because a man came by the foreigner's box holding a sign up that read, "No Cameras Please." I felt it was a bit unfair that we couldn't take pictures, but they could videotape us throughout the service and run it on the jumbotrons...

Tiny Planes

A few weeks ago, Ansan hosted the International Sky Leisure Expo in the most expansive, empty space I've seen in the city. Teeny-tiny, colorful planes stood on display among various booths full of airplane paraphernalia and gadgets. Food booths, including Outback Steakhouse, were a welcome surprise; as were the most modern port-a-potties I've ever seen. 

Practicing with parachutes

 

I'm taller than this tiny plane!

 

A man flying a very dangerous-looking scooter/hang glider/plane

This plane kept spraying the crowd with water, or pesticides. We're not sure.

She was too busy texting during the air show to actually watch any of it.

They, too, were very busy with the ant hole they found. They soon found out that throwing sticks at ants doesn't actually kill them.

The Italians ended the air show with a grand finale of loops, dives, and colored smoke.

A Korean Pop music concert followed the air show and included a medley of singers. This group, U Kiss, was one of my favorites. Here they are singing "Talk To Me" before my camera battery died....