USA | Wednesday, 3 Sep 2008 | Views [171]
After about 23 years of never venturing more west than Houston and a year of unsuccessful attempts while in the Far East, I've finally touched the Pacific Ocean. That body of water with a gentler name has been eluding me while I've traveled around ... Read more >
Tags: pacified, pacific ocean
USA | Thursday, 28 Aug 2008 | Views [172]
I decided that I'd endured so many endless and disgusting train rides in China that I could easily handle a train experience Stateside. I've done it before -- from New Orleans to Chicago. And it was amazing. So I bought a ticket the day before ... Read more >
Tags: train rides
CANADA | Wednesday, 27 Aug 2008 | Views [191]
A couple of days into my trip in Canada, my couchsurfing host told me he was taking a trip with some friends to Whistler, B.C. It's a few hours away, and it's the main site for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I figured I'd make it a world tour of recent ... Read more >
Tags: canada, couchsurfing
CANADA | Friday, 22 Aug 2008 | Views [206]
Most of the people on my flight were Chinese, Chinese-American, or Chinese-Canadian. They spoke English, but they had the look of the billions of people that surrounded me for the past year. I was comfortable. As soon as I entered the Vancouver ... Read more >
Tags: reverse culture shock
HONG KONG | Thursday, 21 Aug 2008 | Views [161]
Macau and Hong Kong are so European. In Macau, the Portuguese influence hasn't evaporated over the years. In fact, they're pretty proud of it. In Hong Kong, there are more rules posted everywhere than in New York or even London. But the English ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Saturday, 16 Aug 2008 | Views [197]
Tonight is my last night in Southeast Asia. I'll be heading back to China (but to the unrestricted portion) for a few nights before finally making it back to the great continent of North America. I can taste it. And I can't wait to taste it. I've ... Read more >
Tags: macau
VIETNAM | Thursday, 14 Aug 2008 | Views [212]
I'm rediscovering that being in all these countries, while easier than China, is still very difficult without speaking the language. But it's fun. Especially when it comes to eating. Vietnamese food is amazing. It's fresh and flavorful and just ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Monday, 11 Aug 2008 | Views [194]
I was woken up around 5:30am by Ryan, one of the other couch surfers, because he'd lost his bag. In a complete sleep smog, I told him to look around. It had to be there somewhere. Soon, Jiten, the other surfer, was awake and realizing his bag was ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Sunday, 10 Aug 2008 | Views [200]
Another early arrival. I had coffee, and when a decent time came, I called a friend I'd made in the city. I knew that I wasn't meeting my couch host until evening, so I figured having a good conversation all day wasn't a bad idea. Around 6pm, I ... Read more >
Tags: vietnam, ho chi minh city
VIETNAM | Wednesday, 6 Aug 2008 | Views [209]
I arrived in Nha Trang at about 6am. I'd gotten a map from a tourist bureau in HCMC, so I had a pretty good idea where I was in the city. I'd also gotten a reccommendation for a place to stay from some people I met. Who needs the Lonely Planet?! ... Read more >
Tags: nha trang, vietnam
CAMBODIA | Monday, 4 Aug 2008 | Views [162]
I arrived in some random part of HCMC around 1pm. Motorbike drivers were everywhere wanting to take me somewhere. I went straight into a hotel, asked for a map, and my location on that map. Then, I found an ATM. Absolutely famished, I went to the ... Read more >
Tags: ho chi minh city, vietnam, remeeting new friends
CAMBODIA | Monday, 4 Aug 2008 | Views [154]
I'm a little disappointed in myself for the way I treated Cambodia. It was slightly frightening. I was offered drugs more times than I can count. "Excuse me? Want to smoke? Opium?" But it was also beautiful. In a very sad way. I don't ... Read more >
Tags: cambodia, opium, saigon
CAMBODIA | Wednesday, 30 Jul 2008 | Views [163]
I've stayed in Siem Reap longer than planned because I'm more comfortable than I thought. But that's only because I'm not really seeing Cambodia. I'm kind of scared of it. Luckily, I've made a friend. Brendan from Ireland has been my travel buddy ... Read more >
THAILAND | Saturday, 26 Jul 2008 | Views [220]
Because my Vietnamese visa doesn't allow me into the country until August 1 and because everyone says a week in Cambodia is more than enough, I have been chillin' in Bangkok for two weeks now. By chillin' I mean doing almost nothing. It's been amazing.... Read more >
THAILAND | Thursday, 24 Jul 2008 | Views [539] | Comments [1]
There is this street in Bangkok called Khao San Road. It's very famous. In fact, when I told people about my coming to Thailand, to Bangkok, most often I was asked if I would be staying around Khao San Road. In the movie "The Beach", Leonardo ... Read more >
THAILAND | Wednesday, 23 Jul 2008 | Views [262]
I started an entry about a week ago that got lost in cyberspace. Here I will try to recreate it, but I'm not sure it was have the same effect. Mostly because the other was tinged with a heavy layer of first stage culture shock (which I was happily ... Read more >
CHINA | Tuesday, 15 Jul 2008 | Views [197]
Bangkok this time. My flight was about four hours, so I tried to catch up on the sleep that I'd missed by "sleeping" in the airport the night before. It worked alright. I arrived and bought a Thai sim card for my cell phone. However, my ... Read more >
CHINA | Sunday, 13 Jul 2008 | Views [217]
I arrived in Shanghai this morning at 8:15 for my last 24-hours on Chinese soil. It feels appropriate. Like I've come full circle. I'm leaving the same port that I arrived in 17 days short of one year ago. Twenty-five days short of the Olympics.... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 11 Jul 2008 | Views [175]
Tonight, I had conflicted interests. I spent the day wandering around a lovely restored part of town called Ping Jiang (Peace River) and the Couple's Garden (a classical Chinese garden). It started to rain, so I planted myself in a coffee shop for ... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 9 Jul 2008 | Views [172]
In the U.S., I've often thought that employers try to stretch their employees too thin. Instead of being a cashier, one becomes a cashier/floor cleaner/shelf straightener/item getter/item putter away/problem solver/customer greeter. There is always ... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 9 Jul 2008 | Views [165]
I'm impressed. Not only did Susan show me much more than I'd ever intended to see in her city, but she insisted on paying for most of it. I'm at a complete loss as to WHY? If I'd paid for all my couch surfers, I wouldn't be on this trip. In fact, ... Read more >
CHINA | Sunday, 6 Jul 2008 | Views [188]
Susan, my couch host, doesn't really know much history about her hometown. In fact, she doesn't even know as much as I learned from reading the Lonely Planet. "Ask a boy. Boys are good at history," she said. I guess the talents of the ... Read more >
CHINA | Saturday, 5 Jul 2008 | Views [195] | Comments [1]
With the opportunity to write far sooner than I ever thought, I'm taking advantage. I arrived in the Southern Capital (that literally what the characters Nan Jing translate to) at 4am. I mentioned earlier that I managed to screw up my train ticket ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 4 Jul 2008 | Views [187]
This is the last time I’ll be writing from Beijing. I would like to sum it up concisely and neatly, but that’s pretty much impossible. Instead, I’m just going to list the things I’ll miss and the things I won’t. Hopefully, this will be entertaining ... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 2 Jul 2008 | Views [202]
This is the official last time I'll be writing from my lent Lenovo computer that runs Windows 2000. Everything is packed and most of it is already moved to Ilan's for my last couple days in Beijing. I have to donate some clothes, eat lunch, and ... Read more >
CHINA | Tuesday, 1 Jul 2008 | Views [206]
Today, my last day in my apartment, I woke up after noon. I almost immediately started cleaning. I picked up my carpets and swept. I washed some dishes and started the process of cleaning out my fridge. I threw away a lot of stuff. I gave my left ... Read more >
CHINA | Monday, 30 Jun 2008 | Views [210]
The one thing I was sure I could do in Chinese was buy train tickets. I've done it countless times now (mostly in Chinese), and I've never once gotten the wrong ticket. Today, I attempted to purchase my third to last train ticket in China. I went ... Read more >
CHINA | Saturday, 28 Jun 2008 | Views [166]
Tonight was Mario's last night in Beijing. He flies out tomorrow for Los Angeles. We decided on Russian food and one last night in Sanlitun. So we ate stuffed cabbage and chicken kiev with huge beers, went to Nanjie for Y10 gin and tonics, and ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 27 Jun 2008 | Views [160]
Today, I finished that enigma of a TV series, Twin Peaks. Kara and I watched until our eyes nearly bled and learned the conclusion of my recent obsession. It satisfied in an eerie way. But the ending of the show wasn't as sad as knowing I don't ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 26 Jun 2008 | Views [169]
Because I didn’t do anything in the way of moving out
yesterday, I decided to devote today to those tasks.
Last night, after dinner, I bought the “Sex and the City”
movie and spent the entire night watching and re-watching it. ... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 25 Jun 2008 | Views [164]
Today, I forwent doing all kinds of errands necessary for
the moving out process in order to finish the cult classic.
I went to Kara’s this morning around 11am, and we watched
about six hours of “Twin Peaks”, but we still
didn’t ... Read more >
CHINA | Tuesday, 24 Jun 2008 | Views [157]
Carlos is one of my best students. His English is pretty good. His concentration is awful. His desire to pay attention in class is
minimal. But his creativity…is
astounding for a Chinese student.
He often thinks of ... Read more >
CHINA | Monday, 23 Jun 2008 | Views [168]
Today I gave my first round of finals for the last time. I didn't have anything to do until 1pm, so I slept in and generally enjoyed my morning alone. I went a little early to get my stuff together, but students were already there. "We've ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 20 Jun 2008 | Views [118]
It began yesterday.
Case invited a few friends for martinis at a pretty fancy bar in Beijing. It was his last Thursday in Beijing, and he wanted to take advantage of
the two for one special. The goodbye
lasted as long as four martinis, ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 19 Jun 2008 | Views [112]
I’ve been sleeping with the doors and windows open to let in
the breeze lately. I don’t really want
to buy more electricity credit before I leave, and my air conditioner doesn’t
really work that well anyway.
So any sounds that ... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 18 Jun 2008 | Views [108]
I was craving hot pot for some reason. I hadn’t had it since I was in Sichuan, and I didn’t
have anyone to eat dinner with. So I
went to the grocery store and searched out the thinly sliced bits of dead sheep
and the seasonings. I ... Read more >
CHINA | Tuesday, 17 Jun 2008 | Views [108]
Another trip to Cambodian embassy today. This one was much more pleasant. I went between my classes. So I arrived a little early. I sat on the curb waiting for the clock to
strike two. As soon as it happened, I
waltzed into the visa ... Read more >
CHINA | Monday, 16 Jun 2008 | Views [107]
My song presentations proved another thing about my
students. In addition to having really
bad taste in music, they also can’t resist singing if they know the words.
Almost all of the songs were really, really old American or
British ... Read more >
CHINA | Sunday, 15 Jun 2008 | Views [135]
It’s been almost a year.
And during this year, I’ve only been bothered by my students through
email and through random text message (whereby I wonder how they got my phone
number).
But today. Today I
got an email saying “Lee ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 13 Jun 2008 | Views [122]
I went to the Cambodian Embassy today. And it was quite an adventure.
One of my students helped me find the address online because I couldn’t figure out the Chinese after many, many hours of fighting with online “type in Chinese” programs. ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 12 Jun 2008 | Views [125]
The lesson on “Imagine” in my text book led to an idea for
my final quiz. I ran it by Mario and
Ilan to make sure I wasn’t insane. With
a confirmation that it didn’t seem to hard, I plunged into it, really excited
about the idea.... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 11 Jun 2008 | Views [110]
Mario is leaving soon, so he decided to go to a few more
places in China
before his visa expires. We made plans
to have dinner and watch a movie on his last official night living in Beijing.
But these plans didn’t work out because ... Read more >
CHINA | Tuesday, 10 Jun 2008 | Views [118]
I had a completely boring day. Class.
We were doing the activities in the book. For some reason, the last activity was
basically explicating “Imagine” by John Lennon.
Chinese people LOVE The Beatles, so I figured they’d enjoy this
assignment.... Read more >
CHINA | Monday, 9 Jun 2008 | Views [110]
One of the last things I still hadn’t done in Beijing but desperately wanted to do was Bei Hai Gong Yuan (North Lake Park). I was waiting for pleasant weather, and accompaniment (it’s hard to get motivated to see touristy things without someone ... Read more >
Tags: bei hai park
CHINA | Sunday, 8 Jun 2008 | Views [131]
No class tomorrow in celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival. Several different articles on wikipedia yielded no real understanding of why this is celebrated. However, a day of rest is always appreciated. The actual festival is today. In its ultimate ... Read more >
Tags: dragon boat festival
CHINA | Saturday, 7 Jun 2008 | Views [208]
Tonight, Mario, Bo, my couch surfer, Frank, and I went to the Beijing Film Festival. It was much antipated. It was also interesting that such an event presented itself in a city like Beijing in a country like China. Most of the films were foreign ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 6 Jun 2008 | Views [138] | Comments [1]
Kevin, formerly my favorite student, has turned into a shit head. He doesn't do his work, he comes to class and reads model airplane manuels, and he occasionally just skips class altogether. Today, I confronted him. I asked him what was up. "... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 5 Jun 2008 | Views [128] | Comments [1]
A morning of packing, drinking coffee, and saying goodbye to one of the best friends I've found in China has me looking leaving straight in the face. I have less than a month left before I will no longer have to deal with the subway at rush hour. ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 5 Jun 2008 | Views [143]
I met her in Dalian. She had just moved to China. A 20-year-old with the bright eyes of someone who'd just finished her first year of college. Incredibly enthusiastic about teaching. A lover of children. We became friends instantly. Many conversations ... Read more >
CHINA | Tuesday, 3 Jun 2008 | Views [121]
Tonight. Three extra people will call my apartment home. It's entirely circumstantial. Let me explain. I agreed to have a couch surfer. Kari came to Beijing to say goodbye. One of her friends from high school came to Beijing to see her and say ... Read more >
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