The Will to Blog

Yes, we did.

2008-11-07T13:15:00.002+09:00

"Forward!"

北京欢迎你!

2008-07-15T22:25:00.007+09:00

UPDATE: A video that works...with English subtitles!

Hello! Currently a slave to the Chinese language and time to sleep (much less blog) is precious, but wanted to post this video. Hopefully you'll get a couple of things out of it, namely:

(1) An early intro to one of the Olympic theme songs ("北京欢迎你" or "Beijing Welcomes You")!
(2) A mini tour of Beijing attractions (Great Wall! Forbidden City! Behai! Peking duck!)
(3) A introduction to the wide world of Chinese pop stars (go, go, Jackie Chan!).
(4) Perhaps your first glimpse at China's YouTube equivalent, YouKu. It's quite good, actually...and perhaps even more functional than YouTube in some respects (at least a prettier interface). Uh, only if you read Chinese, though, I guess. As per the update, you're relegated back to the world of YouTube!

The sun sets on Ürümqi...

2008-06-13T23:57:00.010+09:00

My 4-some months living in Ürümqi will soon be finished: my internship has ended, and I will return to Beijing tomorrow.

I really enjoyed my time in Ürümqi and Xinjiang. There are lots of things I will miss.

For one, I'm apparently missing the Olympic Torch Relay, which will pass through Ürümqi (right by my work and apartment!) in just a few days. No one actually knows when it is coming actually, because it's SECRET! In case Uyghur nationalists decide to sabotage the torch relay, I guess. Sigh. Well, at least I get to see the preparations!

Flags are starting to line the entire route of the relay...

And large, tetanus-inducing barriers have been erected along the road, presumably to keep the crowd as far, far away as possible from the Olympic flame.
My coworkers told me not to feel bad about missing the Torch Relay, since I probably wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. I guess I feel better. Plus, they'll just televise the relay anyway (really!).

Honestly, though, there is so much I will miss about Xinjiang. For one, the food! Like my favorite, tomato and egg laghman (hand-pulled noodles), from my favorite little restaurant (only 8 RMB for a huge plate!).

Nang bread from my downstairs nang guy (1 RMB).

Incredible fruit (Xinjiang is a friggin' fruit wonderland...and strawberry and peach season have just passed...).

I'll also miss the diversely beautiful landscapes of Xinjiang, a few of which I've been lucky enough to see in person, such as the deserts of the Turpan basin.

Alpine lakes like Lake Sayram near the Tian Shan Mountains in Northern Xinjiang.

And other beautiful lakes, like Tianchi Lake ("Heaven Lake") closer to Ürümqi.

Heck, I'll even miss the ever-present camels that are (apparently!) supposed to remind me that Xinjiang is a part of the ancient Silk Road. OK, camels=Silk Road. I get it, I get it! ^_^

I'll miss the rose garden that I pass everyday on the way to the office.

I'll miss my dinky little desk.

I'll miss my co-workers and friends.

I'll miss blue skies.

But, most of all, I'll just miss being here.

Social aftershocks

2008-05-25T14:34:00.006+09:00

Show me the money.

I was not in China at the time of the recent earthquake in Sichuan, but once I heard that tremors were felt in Beijing, there was no doubt that this was a pretty friggin' big earthquake. Beijing is nearly 1,000 miles away from the epicenter.

The past 2 weeks have been quite a blur. I participated in the national 3 minutes of silence for the victims last Monday, and it was very moving. Truth be told, the government and public response to the disaster has been very moving....particularly when compared with the truly sad response of the Myanmar government to the cyclone disaster in that country. Some of the stories coming out of Sichuan are still hard to listen to without swallowing the urge to cry. This one still makes me tear up. :(

Everyone (East and West) is reading a lot into how the Chinese government's and common people's response to the earthquake reflects upon its continued development, role as a new "superpower", etc. These topics are too much to handle in a simple blog post, but I've observed that some of these social "aftershocks" are quite interesting!

The first is the donations for the disaster victims. They have been overwhelmingly generous, and it is very heartening to see that most of the donations come from the Chinese people themselves. Most people are encouraged to donate money (捐款) at their workplace. This is not uncommon in the West, either. But what's really interesting is that many companies are posting personal donations (with donor names and amounts!!!). Those who who do not donate enough are thus publicly pressured into donating more. You can see many of the red posters above on store fronts and office reception areas. The poster above was posted at the front gate of the Urumqi City Health Department....for all passersby to see!

One of my co-workers has noted that a new word has come into vogue lately on the Chinese internet bulletin boards:　"逼捐". This means to force someone into donating. Many Chinese celebrities (NBA Rockets' star Yao Ming) and large corporations (McDonalds, most prominently) have been publicly chastised into giving more and more money, because their original donations were not deemed to be generous enough.

This is so interesting from a Western point of view, because I think people value privacy and the right to give (or not give) to the cause of their choice. I'm currently neutral on the practice. One on hand, with upwards of US$20 billion dollars of damage and countless lives lost, money is definitely needed. And if using competition (or shame) to induce giving is the most effective way to raise money, that isn't altogether different than what we do in the west. I guess the one thing that makes me wary is if people give money for the wrong reason (they are forced to rather than really wanting to), the long-term effects on the development of philanthropy and civil society organizations in China could be more harmful than good.

The second big aftershock is how all this plays into Chinese nationalism...and how all of it is eerily similar to American nationalism. On the news channels (and still-constant coverage of relief efforts), there's even a little icon in the corner of the TV screen that says　“众志成城”, which is basically the equivalent of "United We Stand." All this really made me think more about the comparisons between the US and China, and how both sides deal with a lot of their social and political issues. I was especially reminded of criticisms that the US often has toward China (I am not excluded to holding some of those criticisms myself, particularly with regards to Tibet and Xinjiang), and I can't help but feel that so many people - and even "China scholars" - in the US don't really understand how similar China is to our own country.

Lastly, the third big social aftershock is the this:

If you haven't heard about her already, this is a girl from Liaoning venting and saying some awful stuff about the 'quake victims. If anything, it shows that there is at least one spoiled brat out there who is pissed that they couldn't play video games or watch TV during the mourning period. Sure, I understand she's fed up, but her reaction to the quake is shudder-inducing. The video above is Part I of a 5 minute-plus rant with English subtitles, but you can easily find the video in its entirety if you understand Chinese...

I don't know if she was stupid or what, but the video was posted, and, unsurprisingly, Chinese netizens were ready to lynch her. Her personal details (including address, birth year, job, etc.) were posted on Chinese websites. Her parents were forced to make press releases along the lines of of "We failed to raise her well and she is a horrible person...but please don't kill her" and the girl was apparently arrested (or at least taken into custody for her own protection). Yikes.

I wonder what would've happened in the US if someone would have posted a video like that after 9/11. :\

Ice Festival at Longqing Gorge

2008-03-29T01:35:00.008+09:00

Ice sculptures = yet another Olympics advertisement opportunity!

China is just warming up now, but Northern China is really friggin' cold during the winter. Perfect conditions for holding an ice festival or two!! Right before I left for Xinjiang in February, my excellent roommate and I went to the Longqing Gorge Ice Festival just outside of Beijing. It wasn't as fancy as the big festival they have in Harbin , but it was pretty fun all the same, even if it was (a necessarily!) freezing cold. The theme this year was - unsurprisingly - the 2008 Olympics.

The principal hazard of attending ice sculpture festivals.

Olympic rings and...two rats arm wrestling? (It's the Year of the Rat!)

Whole cities of ice! Whoop whoop.

Icey, brightly lit grandeur.

China: the only place where you can have a church at an ice festival but not for realz. Joke, joke! There are churches in China. Uh, quality unknown. Let's just leave that topic as a "No further comment" for now, eh? :)

More ice cathedral...

The Fuwa ice sculptures kinda looked like popsicles. Yum.

Mythical creatures in ice!

Creepy clown.

Giant snow head. I can't quite make out the name at the base of the snow head, but my best guess is that I'm kissing Stalin.

'Nuff ice and snow. Pretending to play soccer (sorry, football) with Fuwa.

Olympics theme. Yes, yes...we get it.

I think they mean "Please Do Not Enter", but this literal translation is cute, too. Just look at that doggy with the snorkel...and the friendly "Hi". Love it.

Journey to the West

2008-03-28T01:03:00.008+09:00

The watchful eye of the Colonel follows you in decently-sized Chinese city. Good thing KFC is Halal (note the Arabic name for "KFC")!

First, sorry about the lack of blogging activity! I guess the history of this blog was to document my travels, and so to there has been very little bloggable activity because, well, I haven't been traveling! The fact that I've been just living and working in the past few months, and my existence here is a pretty mundane one.

I guess the one exception to all this that I have been sort of "transferred" to the Foundation's field office in Xinjiang Province, which is basically as far west in China as you can get. Well, I think "transferred" is too formal a term, as it connotes that I actually have a position at the Foundation when, in fact, I'm just a lowly intern. Basically, they needed someone to go help out, and I figured, "What the hey!" So now I spend most of my days in Ürümqi, the provincial capital and apparently the furthest city inland from the sea. Interesting eh! I guess you can call it my own "Journey to the West"! Hehe, that's a play on the Chinese classic, Journey to the West (西游记)...except without the Monkey King (although - fun fact! - did you know that Journey to the West was originally set in Xinjiang! But I digress...).

Sometimes Ürümqi can be even more polluted than Beijing! Hard to believe! The city is surrounded on three sides by mountains, so the pollution often gets trapped. I wish I could say this was fog, but it's pure pollution.

I live next door to this smokestack.

Anyhoo, Ürümqi is a laid-back kind of place compared to Beijing, and relatively small as a sub-3 million population city. Xinjiang is populated by both Han Chinese and Uyghurs (also Uighurs), and the Uyghur culture is very much different from what one would consider Chinese. Uyghur people are Muslim, and so Halal Xinjiang cuisine rules the roost here (luckily, Xinjiang food is awesome). The Uyghur language is derived from Turkish, and the script is also Arabic. Given the recent unrest in other parts of minority-populated China, it should probably be brought to your attention, dear reader, that Uyghur-Han Chinese relations are (and always have been) quite tense. As a Slate feature recently reported, Xinjiang is kinda like Tibet without the Dalai Lama or the Beastie Boys.

Here are just a few views from my limited walks outside the 2 km distance between my apartment and office!

Right by Ürümqi's famous Big Bazaar. It could be Central Asia for all you knew...

Silk Road = Desert = Camels. Whee.

Xinjiang is probably the only place in China where this sign means something.

Beijing/Olympic fever begins...

2008-01-11T23:01:00.000+09:00

Betcha didn't know that the 2008 Paralympic Games mascot is even cuter than the Fuwa.

I arrived in Beijing two weeks ago, just a day after this. Indeed, the combination of cold and air pollution has left me with a nasty case of bronchitis...or whatever it is that causes weeks of hacking cough.

Anyhoo, I'm settling in well and have already started work and study. Also, I'm already a bit tired of the Olympics! More updates pending!

Beijing Bound

2007-12-28T01:03:00.000+09:00

Seoul was (and really is) terrific, but...

...here I go again on my own (thanks, Whitesnake!).

Wired: A case study of the Seoul Subway

2007-12-28T00:59:00.000+09:00

In my last moments in Seoul, it occurs to me that I haven't properly blogged about what it's like to live in the most wired country on earth. Well, it's not as if it's the Jetsons or I'm living in the future or anything. But life is a lot more convenient in a lot of ways...and maybe kinda futuristic, too? The Seoul Metro is a good example of this.

Yet another cute Korean mascot - this time, in the form of an anthropomorphic subway car.

Besides being sparkling clean and super efficient (on Line 2, I sometimes wait a mere 90 seconds - if that! - between trains), the Seoul Metro (subway, tube, whatever you want to call it) is an example how high-tech and "wired" Korea (or at least Seoul) can be.

Of course, I realize that "wired" usually refers to internet (and, specifically, broadband) access, but I'm most impressed with the cell phone network and the "wired" status that this brings.

First of all, there are few (any?) where that you will not have cellular reception in Seoul. Are you in the subway? In an elevator? Buried alive six feet under the ground? You'll have full reception anywhere. This makes text messaging a popular activity on the subway.

Also, I've seen quite a few Korean phones equipped with satellite TV, so you can catch up on your favorite shows, too. A lot of people just buy little satellite TVs and watch those.

Of course, it's not as if a TV is ever far away....

Check out those flatscreens while you're waiting for your train (you know, the 90 seconds or so...).

Or during your actual subway journey. Unfortunately, it's mostly commercials and news tidbits. Still, it's all pretty impressive to someone used to the now-very-obviously-subpar Chicago and New York subway systems.

Living in the future all comes with a price, of course. This story specifically references internet addiction in South Korea (oddly enough, people don't use their phones to surf the web very much....although they do have Korean-English dictionaries and subway maps on them). While awesome cell phone services do not equal playing interactive video games for 16 hours a day, you can only imagine what it must be like to live in a society so connected to everyone and everything by cell phones and computers. Take the good and bad where you will.

Seoul Living: (Yet Another) Trip to Bandi & Luni's

2007-12-28T00:34:00.000+09:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is slowly rolling out in Korea. It's slow because the book is translated in small chunks; a paperback "mini-book" of a few chapters comes out as the translations are ready. It could take 8 (or more!) mini-books to make up a whole edition! At 8,000 won (about US$8.50) per mini-book, this makes for a costly reading experience - as well as an infuriating wait!

This is the 3rd mini-book to come out so far.

Seoulites seem pretty fond of reading, and one of the larger bookstore chains in town, Bandi & Luni's, is usually packed. I enjoyed joining the hordes, although I usually hung out in the (quite well-stocked!) English (and "Learn Korean") section.

People here are watching the US election, too. I saw a TV program on Barack Obama, and here's a book on Hillary (Hireori in Korean).

Hmmm, who knew they published Foreign Policy in Korean?

Christmas (and Christians) in Seoul

2007-12-25T00:35:00.000+09:00

Nutcracker is also sad that Christmas is just a tool of the Man in South Korea.

Merry Christmas! I'm blogging to the sound of some Christmas caroling outside. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer in Korean. Cute. ^_^

Still, you'd think in the most Christian country in East Asia, Christmas might be a bigger deal than just a day off. Apparently not. Of course, I'm sure that depending on one's faith, this differs. But most of the people I know (my church-going friends and their youth group friends) see Christmas as simply a day off. Christmas is not necessarily spent with family, either. I've been informed that restaurants and shops will be doing business as usual - and actually it's quite a good day for business because everyone is out and about. Hmmm, OK. So it's just like when Chinese restaurants and movie theaters in New York are really busy on Christmas. Ooookeeeey.

Still, with all the churches around Seoul, there's enough lovely reminders of why Christmas exists in the first place.

Asian-looking Jesus in front of (Catholic) Myeongdong Cathedral's draped chapel (clever way to hide the facade work being done to the church!).

Nativity scene in front of Myeongdong Cathedral.

And, just like any other big city, I just think Seoul looks a little prettier during the holiday season, whether or not people are celebrating Christmas.

Bright, non-denominational (as far as I can tell...) holiday lights around Cheonggye Stream in central Seoul.

So back to the topic of Christianity...yeah, maybe you didn't know that South Korea is actually about 30% Christian. Yup! And according to a recent Economist article, 5 of the world's 10 largest megachurches are in South Korea. Scholars have theorized why Christianity took hold so strongly in Korea as opposed to Japan and China (both traditionally hard nuts to crack). Andrew E. Kim suggests that western religions like Protestantism were easily to transplant into Korea because the belief system simply adapted to existing Korean shamanist traditions. Whatever the reason, it has made some sights I've encountered in Seoul quite interesting. Maybe it's unlikely I would find them so easily elsewhere in Asia...?

Our Lady.

Worshippers sitting at the Catholic prayer grotto of Myeongdong Cathedral.

The church in front of Yonsei University that I pass by everyday and oddly do not know anything about.

Wha...? I dunno, either.

Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah / Happy Kwaanza / Happy Holidays / Happy New Year...however you choose to celebrate it. ^_^

Election time!

2007-12-19T23:58:00.000+09:00

Today was election day - the good citizens of South Korea had the day off (wow!) to go to the polls and vote for their next president. There were 12(!) candidates for the next prez of the world's 12th biggest economy. Election day was thus the culmination of several days of last minute campaigning, consisting of many on-the-street rallies like this:

There were lots of choreographed dances set to peppy music. I only wish I had the chance to provide video of this impressive routine by supporters of Kwon Young-ghil (#3), who seems to be the pro-Labor, popular-with-college-kids, Howard Dean-esque figure (albeit "circa late in the 2004 Democratic primary" Dean, because he doesn't stand a chance of winning).

Plus, the fair share of large vehicles parked in the middle of traffic with supporters giving speeches about their candidates in the middle of speeding traffic.

Like Dean, Kwon Young-ghil was trying hard! Probably just to try to make front-runner's Lee Myung-Bak's impending victory seem a little less authoritative (see below...)

The Korean election was not an election for a next-stage run-off, but the winner-takes all type of deal. Efficient (fewer elections) and fair (what-you-pick-is-what-you-get), I suppose, but may smack of some fault for those of us used to either a run-off style system or the US two-party system.

Front-runner Lee Myung-Bak (#2) urges all the citizens of South Korea to be prosperous...by voting for him, I guess.

As of 11:19 PM Seoul time on Election Day, it is pretty clear that Lee Myung-Bak will be the next president of the Republic of Korea, with over 50% of the vote. In a field of 12, I suppose that constitutes a landslide. Lee has been leading for weeks, despite a lot of controversy that he is a shady character: he's been connected with corporate scandals (he's an ex-Hyundai Group executive).

Quick facts on Lee: He will be the first conservative president in at least two terms (10 years). Prez-elect Lee is pro-business (less regulations), pro-America (we're gonna love that!), and more critical of relations with North Korea than his predecessors. Given the fact that South Korea has been working hard over the past few years (for better or worse) to, er, liberate (for lack of a better term) from US military influence, Lee's presidency could mean a major change in policy. Ditto for the recent North Korean diplomatic events. Lee used to be the mayor of Seoul, and people I talked to said they like him because he did a pretty darn nifty job of revamping the confusing public bus system (lest I remind them that coordinating public transportation is not the same as foreign affairs...whatever...). Anyhoo, despite the shady character, Lee is definitely the "I'm gonna get shit done" candidate. His nickname is the "Bulldozer." 'Nough said.

I wonder what effect his shady business connections will have on the legacy of corrupt public officials in South Korea. I must admit that Lee has a pretty impressive biography (what can I say? I'm a sucker for the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps history). Still, between the shadiness of character associated with the corporate scandal and campaign imagery of his head pasted on a cartoon body (popular Korean campaign technique, by the way), I'm not so sure the respect will run as deep.

Still, I'm impressed by the liveliness of electoral politics (complete with its fair share of drama and silliness) in South Korea among the youth and elders, particularly since democratic elections were re-established only as recently as 1987. Maybe I should pay a bit more attention to the US presidential primaries now... ^_^

방학 (School Holiday)

2007-12-19T15:35:00.000+09:00

Best picture ever (or pretty close to it).

You can't fake enthusiasm like this. Ah, to be a kid again! ^_^

Seoul Living: Street Art

2007-12-04T23:30:00.001+09:00

Seoul is a pretty clean city, and an orderly one at that, so there is not much graffiti (artistic or vandalistic). But you can find some pretty spiffy street art if you poke around.

Like under a bridge in Sinchon...

...or in in an subterranean pedway near Hongdae...

I wish this was a T-shirt!

...or on the stone hand railings at a park in nearby Incheon's Chinatown (note: not much of a Chinatown, but I had to try and look, didn't I?).

The last head reminds me of my brother. Hee.

Seoul Living: Where you can hang out (but not too often, please)

2007-12-04T23:07:00.001+09:00

I live in the Sinchon neighborhood of Seoul, which is an area bursting with youthful energy. So unlike me, I know. ;) This is probably helped along by the fact that there are four major universities in the vicinity: Yonsei University, Ewha Womans University (Not a typo or grammar mistake! Really, it's "Womans"!), Sogang University and Hongik University. You can probably already tell from the Hongik (known more commonly as 홍대 or "Hongdae"...even by English speakers) website that it's the artsy school. ^_^

The area around Hongdae especially has quite a bar and club scene - maybe the liveliest in Seoul. Even Beyonce had her after-party in Hongdae when she was touring in Seoul! However, as my friends know, this fact is so wasted on me, since I'm not much of a club or bar hopper in my advanced age (or ever, for that matter).

Still, no matter if you're ESL or not, artsy or not, I'm not sure I advocate naming a bar in this manner.

Er, I'm sure it's just a name...?

DMZ: In front of them all

2007-12-01T20:33:00.001+09:00

Facing North Korea from the South Korean side of Panmunjeom, UN village between the two Koreas. The soldiers patrolling in the foreground are South Korean, but, if you look really closely, you can see a North Korean guard by the front door.

The Korean War armistice defined a military demarcation line (roughly, but not quite, the 38th parallel) that divides the Korean peninsula into North and South. The 2.5 mile area that surrounds this border line and runs coast to coast is called the demilitarized zone or DMZ - a buffer zone where no troops are allowed. Ironic, then, that the DMZ is considered the most heavily fortified border in the world. (doubly ironic, fun fact: it's also a terrific nature reserve because of the lack of human interference over the past 60 years...well, minus the land mines that are still rife throughout the DMZ, it would be more terrific!).

Where things lie.

Seoul is remarkably close to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) - only about 60 kilometers (40ish miles) - so I took the opportunity to go on a tour of the DMZ. You can only go on a tour of the area as part of an organized tour. DMZ tours are a big (and kinda creepy) tourist draw in South Korea, and so there are no shortage of tour groups. I decided to go with the USO. Maybe all tours get the same treatment, but on the USO tour we had a US Army Captain tour guide plus a South Korean "RoK" (Republic of Korea...but pronounced like "Rock!") soldier leading us around the U.N. village of Panmunjeom. Neat!

These little blue huts are right on the military demarcation line. Most of the North-South negotiations have occurred in the "neutral" ground of these trailer-like buildings in Panmunjeom. Both the North and South Korean sides are patrolled by the respective countries' soldiers, who surely must have stressful jobs!

So, for most of us in the "free" world, the Korean situation feels pretty hunky dory! 1953 was a long time ago, and South Korea is doing pretty well on all fronts (economic, social, and cultural - thanks, Samsung, Rain, and Korean soap operas!). But touring the DMZ makes you feel as if war could break out at any minute...and I suppose it could, given the fact that the war has not officially ended with a peace treaty. The South Korean RoK soldiers (and, as a matter of fact, those from the North plus the handful of US Army that remain there) thus consider themselves "in front of them all."

The reason why this guard is half-hidden behind the building is so that if a North Korean guard starts shooting at him, he at least has a good chance of having cover and time to draw his own weapon. Holy crap. I feel sorry for the one soldier (i.e., sitting duck) who stands between the two huts and has no cover at all.

There is a dress code to visit Panmunjeom (read: don't be a slob in front of the North Koreans). In case of close contact with North Korean guards, we were instructed not to wave or make funny gestures or look at them (apparently, they can use negative images of us as propaganda!!!). Tourists are not allowed to take pictures, like, anywhere. No snaps out of the bus window or even in the gift shop - you can only take pics where it is "authorized". I only got very few pictures of the day-long outing - you're basically looking at them here.

South Korea has mandatory military service for all male citizens. Apparently, the RoK soldiers assigned to DMZ (and especially Panmunjeom) duty must be tall (over 6 ft), in shape, and good (as well as tough!) looking, too. Call it intimidation factor. At least they get government-issued Ray Bans.

Some highlights of the tour included climbing down part of the Third Infiltration Tunnel. Discovered by the South in 1978, it was one of the (many!) tunnels dug by North Koreans in an attempt to attack Seoul well into the 1970s! They smeared black paint and coal on the limestone walls and said it was a coalmine!

Then there was seeing the giganto North Korean flag in a North Korean border village right across the DMZ. The thing is huge and has to be hauled down when it rains because it will rip under its own weight. Oh, and the village where it is located is a "show" village - relatively modern buildings, but no one works or lives in them.

Also, there was learning about the Axe Murder Incident of 1976 (wow, lots of things happened in the late 70's!) in which people basically died over chopping down a tree. Okay, it's more complicated than that and shouldn't be taken in such jest, but you just can't make this stuff up!

As in all things (South) Korean, there is a way of making everything - even the most intimidating and scary aspects of one's culture - look really cutesy.

The tour was super-interesting, and I'd highly recommend it if you're ever in Korea. More than anything, it makes you realized that the conflict between the two Koreas is very far from over, and maybe we should be more closer attention that we currently are.

Seoul Living: War Memorial of Korea

2007-12-01T20:26:00.000+09:00

This statue, called "Brothers", represents two brothers - one fighting for the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and one fighting for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) - who are torn apart by the Korean war. Here, they meet in a field and embrace each other. I like the statue a lot, but can't help but think, "Hey, why is the South Korean soldier the older brother?"

A few weeks ago, I decided to visit the War Memorial of Korea (English website here, where the Ideal Korean Family does not look nearly as happy as they do here). There were the far share of outside memorial-type monuments, but the Memorial is, in fact, a museum. You know me and museums! And this was quite a good one!

The Korean War Memorial represents the separation of the two Koreas.

Although the museum technically covers the entire history of war on the Korean peninsula since the Joseon period (yeah, turtle ships!), it focuses a lot on the Korean War (1950-1953). (What would I do without Wikipedia, right?!?)

I've seen this before -it looks just like the monument of the Communist revolutionaries in China. Hmmm, interesting! This half of the monument represents the South Korean troops lookin' tough!

North Korean side of the patriotic fighters monument.

I get the feeling that most Americans sort of think of 20th Century History in terms of two wars: World War II ("Yay! We won!") and the Vietnam Conflict ("Boo, we lost!"). Somehow the Korean War gets lost in there. Sure, one could argue that was the only U.N. commanded war in history, but it isn't as if the US didn't send as many troops or just as many soldiers didn't die (check out the comparisons here). So that the WWII-Vietnam definition of the 20th century is so embedded in most Americans' minds while the Korean War is not leaves me a bit puzzled. Does it mean we were better at restoring "peace" on the Korean Peninsula? Does the success of South Korea (and relative nuttiness of the North Korean regime) justify the history of war in some way? I'm still trying to figure it out.

Outside the museum building, there are loads of old tanks, planes, and miscellaneous war vehicles from the Korean War. Most of the big stuff, like this plane, were US Air Force stock.

Technically, the Korean War has not ended formally, although recent happenings suggest that this might end. Indeed, to understand the origins, events, and aftermath of the Korean War is to understand just why North and South Korea - and much Northeast Asian domestic and international affairs - are the way they are today. Toss in a little bit the history of the Korea under Japanese rule (OMG, Wikipedia, what would I do without you?), and you'll understand much more.

K-pop

2007-11-20T11:01:00.000+09:00

I can't stop hearing this song in my head, and it's driving me nuts.

The Wonder Girls are so young it scares me. Okay, it makes me feel old more than it scares me. Same thing!

This brief posting on K-pop wouldn't be complete without a mention of Rain (비 or "Bi" in Korean), who is probably the most famous of the K-poppers. You may remember the New York Times article that predicted his big breakthrough in the US that ran a couple of years ago. So far this hasn't happened yet, and the most I've seen of him in Korea is his mug on tons of print ads and TV commercials. But he's still pretty darn famous. He's known for his fly dance moves. Check them out in his video for "It's Raining" (I know, I know...)

.

I think I still prefer this, though...

It's all in good fun. ^_^

Seoul Living: Hiking Dobongsan

2007-11-18T22:24:00.000+09:00

Ain't no mountain high enough.

A few weeks ago, just as I was beginning to feel Seoul's big-city (i.e., polluted, but not-as-bad-as-Chinese-cities') air in my lungs, I decided to head a bit out of the city for some fresh air and a hike. My destination was Bukhansan National Park, which is just a bit outside Seoul and really easily accessible by subway. My hiking destination would be Dobongsan, one of the spiffy peaks in the park.

The hiking hordes descend from Dobongsan subway station.

The first thing one should know about hiking in Korea is that Koreans really love it. The Korean Peninsula (or is it just South Korea...?) is very mountainous - I've heard about 70%(?). Just as in Switzerland, I suppose this breeds a certain type of citizenry - the hardy type that likes to trample up steep slopes and high mountains. A quick Google search for "korea, alpinist" will reveal this to be so. Beyond Taekwondo, I think hiking and mountaineering should be registered as the national sport (I realized this as middle-aged and elderly ajummas and ajoshis were zipping past me up the mountain).

Sure thing, the day I was was there, Dobongsan was absolutely swamped with weekend mountaineers and hikers! It was amazing! Well, the good thing for me was that I just had to follow the big crowd to find the beginning of the trail. :)

Needless to say, the North Face makes a killing here. But Korean brands seem pretty quality, too. Still, I suspect that Asian ingenuity may still be heavily, er, inspired by bigger brand names...?

Hmm, I hope this is inspired by a wind- or sunburnt "red face" instead of Asian's supposed intolerance for alcohol... :\

That said, Koreans have got to be the world's best prepared and best dressed hikers. "Nattily dressed", writes Lonely Planet. Word! Sturdy day-pack/hiking backpack? Check. Protective windbreaker and performance hiking pants? Check. Hiking boots with thick hiking socks? Check. Trekking poles? Check. Foldable styro-foam padded seat cushion so that you can sit down along the trail without getting your butt dirty? Check. All this for just a day hike! I was very impressed - and feeling a bit unfashionable wearing simply jeans and just carrying my backpack (at least the backpack and my hiking boots were North Face...?).

Before you even hit the trail, you can pick up any manner of hiking equipment you need in the dozens of small stalls that line the streets leading up to the park entrance. Pink and red hiking boots seem to be the styles of choice of the stylish Korean lady hikers...

Kimchi=energy.

The Dobongsan hike is about 5 hours round-trip, so most hikers brought or bought a picnic lunch and snacks along the way. Of course, no Korean meal would be complete without the kimchi.

As for an energy snack along the way, dried squid and octopus seemed to be a popular alternative to Power Bars!

The hike started out easily enough, but eventually progressed into this:

About 4 of the 5 hours of the hike consisted of climbing up or down 45-plus degree angles of granite. Although the pain has since faded, my knees and hands still hurt thinking about this. It was actually quite fun (in a sadistic sort of way), but a tad difficult for a fatty like me. But the views along the way were really worth it!

A few Buddhist temples....

...the fall colors just beginning to creep into the scenery...

...and some fantastic views of Seoul from atop the mountain.

After the long day of knee-battering, most hikers tuck in for a post-hike meal. Most folks seemed to prefer the grilled fish.

Flying solo and not really knowing what to get, I settled for some more economical fare that would both fill my belly and replenish some lost electrolytes!

This is a Korean corn dog of sorts - a hot dog surrounded by odeng, which is processed fish paste. Tastes better than it sounds...honest! :)

And Pocari Sweat! Yeah, sounds gross, but it's simply the Japanese (and popular in Korea) equivalent of Gatorade, without the artificial (and often improbable) fruity flavor.

It was a great day and an excellent hike. I wish we had more easily-accessible hiking like this in big U.S. cities. But maybe we simply need more people to be interested in hiking for that type of thing? Maybe a good start would be working on cute mascots. Seriously! Smokey is awesome, but he ain't got nothing on these adorable forest critters...

11/11: Happy Pepero Day!

2007-11-11T21:05:00.000+09:00

To those "in the know" about Asian snacks (Asian-Ams, you know I'm looking at you!), try to not freak out when I tell you that there is no Pocky here in South Korea. But never fear - you've got Pepero here - another product from the ubiquitous Lotte brand.

Pepero Day is a "Hallmark holiday" of sorts here (although I guess you could call it a Lotte Holiday, as if they needed any other product in the Korean market...). See, Pepero is a biscuit stick dipped in chocolate, so the date 11/11 (if you don't count the forward slash as a slanted Pepero) looks like four of these beloved little stick snacks! It seems to have taken on the role of Valentine's Day here in Korea, and it's not just a money-maker for Lotte - just about every bakery and sweet shop may sell their own (hand made! giant!) biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate. My roommate spent six hours hand-dipping her own Peperos for her boyfriend. That's love...especially since Pepero (all brands!) are on sale (half-price!!!) this week. I stocked up. :)

I'll hand it to the folks at Lotte that this is a clever little piece of marketing. But I guess it's a little weird for me that Koreans will be obsessed with stuffing biscuit sticks in their mouths when it's, like, the anniversary of the end of World War I. Eh, whatever.

I wonder what will happen in 2011? 11/11/11?!?! Korea will drown in Peperos!

PS For those wondering, Pepero tastes exactly like Pocky! But I guess imitation is the best form of flattery, no?

Seoul Living: No milk moustaches here!

2007-11-11T21:00:00.000+09:00

No wonder why Koreans are so tall...

Seoul Living: 우리집에 모기가 정말많습니다!!!

2007-10-30T22:09:00.000+09:00

There are few things in life that YuhChic hates, much less considers total enemy. On the top of this short list is the mosquito. Indeed, much to my horror, 우리집에 모기가 정말많습니다!!! ---> There are a lot of mosquitoes in my house!!!

I only recently found out how to say this in Korean (and another student asked if anyone else was having mosquito problems), so I brought it up to my language teacher during the break at class today. To my horror, she informed me that the mosquitoes have been quite newsworthy lately.

The Dong-A Ilbo: Korea’s Mosquitoes Still Problem Despite Chilly Weather.

I hate mosquitoes. And global warming.

Nosh: Buddhist Temple Cuisine, Korean Tea Party, and Kimchi-making, too!

2007-10-21T14:49:00.000+09:00

One of the temples at the Bongeunsa Temple complex in Seoul.

There are some really neat perks to being a "foreigner"...although, technically, the Koreans seem to distinguish specifically between "Chinese", "Japanese", and "foreigner" (i.e., not East Asian). I guess I fit somewhere in between Chinese and foreigner.

Last week, there was a "foreigners" only event called "All That Is Temple Food - Cooking and Meditation," sponsored by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and the Society for Traditional Temple Food Preservation at Bongeunsa Temple in Seoul. The night before the temple cuisine event, I had been to a pretty spectacular fundraiser for the NGO where I work and experienced the awesomeness of Korean planned events. The temple cuisine experience was no different - an already great event made extra good by the face that it was completely free! :)

One of our excellent guides during the day shows us around the temple grounds and explains the story of Buddha, as demonstrated on pictures around the temples.

So what is "temple cuisine" anyway? Obviously, I'm no expert on Buddhism or temple cuisine, but here is my attempt to explain briefly:

You may know that followers of the Buddhist faith are (or should be) vegetarians, not eating animals or animal products to respect life. Korea's (and probably other Buddhist countries') traditional temple cuisine obviously incorporates this vegetarianism, but also the fact that one's food must nourish the mind and spirit on the journey towards truth and Nirvana. Temple food takes into consideration the contributions of the environment/nature and, well, everything.

The event began with a morning lecture on Buddhism and some chanting, led by a really cheery, English-speaking Korean monk (who also served as translator for the other monks during the day - I'm sad I didn't catch his name!). Mind you, I was a little afraid that it would degrade into a "Let's recruit foreigners to be Buddhists!" session and I was going to end up with a shaved head and dressed in robes at the end of it all, but it didn't (hey, I've had some scarring experiences at fundamentalist churches before...). In fact, the morning lecture was really useful in informing us about the importance of tea ceremonies and eating as a way of meditation. Food meditation?!? How fascinating...!

Our host monks explaining to us the health benefits of our lunch. The female monk on the right is one of Korea's experts on temple cuisine.

Yeah, so the idea of "food meditation" sounds silly, but think about what meditation is - it's basically concentrating your physical and mental focus on one thing. In order to reach enlightenment, Buddhists have to meditate as much as possible...so what better way to multi-task than to meditate while eating?!?

The highlight of the day was the wholly unexpected and really lovely free meal that the temple provided for us. Wow! We even got to practice a bit of food meditation - eating in silence while savoring our food for forty bites per mouthful. Actually, it was a really neat experience. If you get a chance, try it! Not only does it allow you to savor the flavors of the food, but you really start thinking about all sorts of stuff (the consistency of the food, how your jaw moves as you chew, the muscle movements in your esophagus as you swallow, etc.).

Given the sacred nature of the day, it seems wrong to say this, but the following is a shameless demonstration of food porn (as so often utilized by Zen Kimchi).

Quite a spread! This isn't even the whole table!

Delicious kimbap, which is sort of like Korean sushi (sans the fish).

Lotus leaf rice (yeonnip bap) - one of my favorites in Chinese dim sum, but the temple cuisine version is neither salty or meaty.

An incredible soup that is supposed to capture the flavors of autumn. It certainly tasted like it!

Lotus roots pickled and naturally sweetened...in pomegranate juice?

A red rice porridge. Looks like red bean, but it wasn't sweet. Yummy!

At forty bites per mouthful, it took a little while to finish my plate. It was a deliciously long meal!

Obviously, meat and animal products are forbidden in temple cuisine, so it's pretty healthy stuff. All the ingredients are natural, so temple food does not contain any processed sugar, either. I also learned that there are five forbidden foods in Buddhism: onion, garlic, and leek (actually, three kinds of leek to make the forbidden foods = 5). Eating these foods raw stirs anger, and eating them cooked arouses sexual desire. Hmmm! Interesting! But anger and sexual misconduct are, of course, also forbidden by Buddha's teachings, so none of onion, garlic, or leek in temple cuisine thanks! This must be difficult, given the fact that Koreans eat garlic by bagful (really!).

In addition to the lovely meal, we foreigners were also treated to a traditional tea ceremony. Actually, it was much less formal than a Japanese Tea Ceremony, so, by contrast, it was almost a tea party! Again, the monks were great and took time to explain to us how to brew tea, hold our cups, etc.

A volunteer from the temple congregation, dressed in a traditional Korean hanbok, helps brew the tea.

Korean tea cakes. Not exactly crumpets, but way cooler! The red and green cakes are made of sweet beans, but the yellow is a very expensive cake made from compressed tree pollen! I'm surprised I didn't break out in hay fever when I ate it!

More tea cakes - this time, the glutinous rice variety.

Ready to smear!

We got a free book, The Korean Way of Tea, along with a box of (very expensive!!!) lotus tea for our participation in the day, but another free giveaway was kimchi that we got to make ourselves! And, of course, by "make ourselves", I mean that the hard-working monks and congregation volunteers salted the kimchi, prepared the red pickling sauce (no garlic and sweetened naturally with persimmon!), and dealt with all of the cleanup associated while all we foreigners did was slather the sauce all over the kimchi.

Voilà! It's takes college educated skill to smear Napa cabbage with red sauce, you know....yeah, the Gladlock container was free, too.

Temple cuisine has stayed the same for a long time, so in a way it's really one of the truly "traditional" foods of Korea, eaten before hot peppers and Mickey Dees came to the peninsula. It was really a pleasure to learn more about it and Buddhism, which is really an interesting philosophy and religion. If only I didn't like chicken so much and think that mosquitoes deserve to be destroyed (I'm sorry, Buddha). I hope others will be able to attend the same event next year, too. In fact, if you visit Korea in the future, you might consider temple stay to get the full experience!

Seoul Living: The irony of being "away"

2007-10-10T22:19:00.000+09:00

You can't escape it.

Chalk it up to globalization, but it is harder and harder to fully leave home behind, as evidenced by this cafe, which is - ironically! - just steps away from my language school.

One of the evident things about Seoul is that it is absolutely packed with Western (specifically, US) chain restaurants. Starbucks is here in a big way, but so are Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Ruby Tuesday, Outback Steakhouse, Bennigans, Papa Johns and any other western chain you can think of...and within a one mile radius if you live where I do!

Good news for Americans: you can get a fat ass with that cup of coffee anywhere you go! (side of chocolate munchkins to go, please)

There is also a fascination with Italian pasta, pizza, and especially French bakeries that seems a bit weird, too. Or, maybe it's just the many Korean shops and chains that have French words in the title. Anyhoo, I hear Tous Les Jours Bakery and Paris Baguette aren't bad, despite the Korean penchance to make every thing they eat a little sweet (or, as the Koreans say, "sweety" :).

I'll eat enough McDonalds abroad to make up for my avoidance of it at home.

But the Korean twist on Western menu items is often what's really fun. McDonalds in Korea has the typical Big Mac and chicken nuggets, but also has a "spicy" menu that tries to incorporate the hot red pepper flavor that Koreans love. There's also the bulgogi burger, as well as a shrimp burger. I think McDonalds got rid of the kimchi burger, but maybe I can still go to Lotteria to try it out. Lotteria is the local Korean competitor to Mickey Dee's, and it sure looks a heck of a lot tastier. I can try the shrimp or squid burgers while I'm at it.

I've determined that eating localized versions of Western food is sometimes as fun as trying the local eats. I mean, the tomato sauce might be oddly sugary, but when are you going to get squid on your pizza again? I'll look forward to that.

Seoul Living: Waiting all year to beg for free stuff

2007-10-07T23:07:00.000+09:00

What are all these kids in blue doing? Begging for free food!

Apparently, it's a tradition during the Ko-Yon Games, when Yonsei University and Korea University - two private universities in Seoul - compete in a bunch of athletic contest to test their famous rivalry. This year, KU apparently won most of the matches (which are in baseball and soccer, amongst a few other sports), but no one seemed to care. On Saturday night, gangs of students in Yonsei blue and KU crimson took to the streets, parking themselves in front of restaurants and bars, singing and chanting for food, booze, anything free. I gotta say, I heard some pretty impressive chants (along with coordinated dances). I hope those kids got something out of it.

But begging for free stuff only once out of the year? Come on, that's what everyday American college life is about!!!

What's actually even cooler was that, despite the (thousands of?) students in the streets, it was so very friendly between the two schools. No fights! No riots, sir! My friend, Pat, was in the Notre Dame marching band and once mentioned to me that Michigan fans used to throw broken beer bottles at them. None of this here. The Yonsei-KU rivalry is big, but it was neat to see that all the students were just really having a good time, both amongst their own schoolmates and the others'. We gotta get more non-violent happy energy (over the violent type!) going back in the US and Europe!

It seemed that most of the student gangs were really groups of kids from the same academic department. This was delightfully nerdy at times, as evidenced by this awesome varsity jacket. I love it...and am reminded of my varsity band jacket that I proudly wore in high school.

Uh, did I really just admit that?

Lest I make the Koreans seem too stereotypically, well, Asian (in the American definition of the stereoptype), the night of the "Let's beg for free food" gangs was also the same night as Seoul's Cyon B-Boy Competition in my neighborhood (Cyon is a Korean phone brand by LG Electronics) . Korean hip hop culture! Who woulda thunk it? More surprising, however, is how cool Korean hip hop (specifically, b-boy) culture is. Really, it's not the "Oh my gosh, these guys are so lame" attempts to replicate hip hop. The only slightly lame part was when the Cyon executive came out to present the 1st place prize. A suit amongst a bunch of b-boys. Amusing.

Korean b-boys are apparently some of the best in the world...I guess they are skinnier so they, er, spin faster? Anyways, the competition was really entertaining. You know, for all the people taking videos at the event, there wasn't one video that I could find online! This is the closest I could get, and these guys weren't even as half as good as the actual competition finalists! Still, it's an entertaining bit about Korean life that you probably didn't know about before.

The more you know...

Seoul Living: Most powerful toothpaste ever

2007-10-01T20:54:00.000+09:00

A few days have passed in Seoul. I'm getting settled, including purchasing full-sized toiletries. Like toothpaste.

Oh, look, I found a brand that looks pretty good!

Hey, what's that say in the corner there?

Whoa! Where was this when I needed it during first year of college?!?

Sorry. I promise I won't make my blog posts too much about poking fun at Engrish. I can only imagine what I sound like when speaking another language...and the Koreans are trying hard! I just found this one too good to not share. :)

Anyhoo, things are plugging along! I've found a place to live (moving in Wednesday!) and Seoul is great...not least of all because there is food EVERYWHERE. I love it.

More soon!

Switzerland (Suisse - Schweiz - Svizzera - Svizra): Just like a postcard...

2007-10-01T19:01:00.000+09:00

Geneva's glorious Jet d'Eau by sunset.

Ah, yes. Yet another retroactive post.

It seems a bit odd that I spent 4 months in Switzerland and didn't really blog about it at all. Honestly, there is so much and yet so little to say about this country. That's not to sound perjorative! What I mean is that one's stereotypes about Switzerland - clean, orderly, full of chocolate, watches, and secure banking - are not unfounded. At the same time, there are subtleties about the country that make it more complex than an outsider could ever imagine.

I lived in Francophone Switzerland, or, as those "in the know" call it, Suisse Romande. Most of my time was spent in Geneva (Genève), although I actually lived in small villages just outside of the city. Still, I got to brush up my French...and realize how very badly I speak it!

Swiss Independence: From Moola to the UN (until 2002, anyway)
Although it is smack-dab in the middle of Europe and the crossroads of three very distinct cultures (French, German, and Italian), Switzerland has usually walked its own road in history. Some may call it "independent", others say "isolated", but what's sure is that the Swiss are an interesting lot! Is it the four official languages (German, French, Italian, Romansch...and English, which should probably be the unofficial fifth language)? Or maybe it's the conscript army in which all "on-call" able-bodied men can keep their machine guns at home? Or the fact that the country didn't join the United Nations until 2002, despite Geneva being the European headquarters of the UN?

It shouldn't be surprising, then, that Swiss are also not in the European Union. Most people don't know that Switzerland uses the noble Swiss Franc (usually denoted "CHF") instead of the Euro. It's about 1CHF=US$0.70. This exchange rate sorta makes Americans feel better when they buy stuff, because it means that the Swiss Franc price paid is usually less than one thinks. Unfortunately, this joy does not last long, because everything is wicked expensive in Switzerland. Sigh. Small victories, people...small victories!

Swiss food: Cheese - No longer an enemy

Best rösti ever.

Sure, I tried Swiss food! As previous readers I know, there's nothing I don't like to eat (or, at least I haven't found it yet) so of course I shall say that Swiss cuisines is delicious, even if I'm a bit of a cheese hater in the States. Fondue is excellent, but a bit overkill if you find staring down a pot of cheese mixed with booze (white wine) tough (and, believe me, it's tough!). Raclette, however, is a cheesy delight. It consists of raclette cheese that is melted slowly and served over boiled potatoes and pickled pearl onions and gherkins. Yum.

By far my favorite traditional Swiss dish, however, is Rösti. Okay, so it's basically hash browns. BUT it's jazzed up! You can get it a lot of different ways - from plain to topped with all sorts of veggies or even fruit. I like rösti campagnard (country-style), with cheese, ham, and a fried egg on top (yeah, so you've figured out through my food posts that I like things with fried eggs on top...so sue me!). You could say I'm a bit of a rösti connoisseur by now.

I definitely grew to have a greater appreciation for cheese over the summer. I always have a great fondness of cheese that I eat a lot of while I'm traveling and living abroad. So my triumvirate of cheeses shall always remain: camembert (thanks, Bordeaux!), emmental (a.k.a. Swiss cheese), and Gruyère. I guess I can no longer call myself a cheese hater! Julie, aren't you proud?!?!

Real-life postcards

A pretty nifty castle here, Château Chillon in Montreux is the postcard perfect scene for Switzerland.

Sometimes, though, the high cost of living nearly seems worth it, because Switzerland must truly be one of the most beautiful places in Europe, if not the world. The mountains and the great outdoors rule, and some places can't help but scream "Heidi Land". Armed with my trusty half-price train card, I did as much traveling around Switzerland as was possible on the weekend, while keeping a budget. I hit nearly every major corner of the country (exceptions: Lake Constance, which is the country's northeast border with Germany, and the southern border with Italy).

Here are just a few of the glorious sights I was lucky enough to see this summer:

After a climb up the Gornergrat Mountain near Zermatt, we get to see the Gornergrat Glacier. Pretty spiffy, eh?

The view of the Aletsh Glacier is spectacular from the equally impressive Jungfraujoch, the highest railway station in Europe and destination of one of the most incredible railway journeys ever.

The quaint Swiss countryside (complete and, indeed, replete with dairy cows) is alive and well in Gruyères.

A short jaunt from my guesthouse led me to beautiful Lake Stadz (Laj da Staz in Romansch) in St. Moritz.

The triumvirate of the Lauterbrunnen valley - a view of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau massifs from Mürren, one of my favorite places in Switzerland.

In Mürren lives one of the coolest restaurant couples ever - Mr. Tham and his wife, Ruth. Good food, great people (Singaporean and Malaysian to boot!)! Mr. Tham used to be a five-star Chinese chef in Zürich but ran away to the mountains to escape the rat race (and get good skiing in the winter!). Shameless plug: visit Tham's Snacks and Drinks if you're ever in Mürren!

You can see some more pictures of my excellent time in Switzerland here.

Swiss Issues (Can I say "swissues"?)
Switzerland's isolation/independence was largely aided by the prevalence of mountains in the country, but that was really in a time when mountains were really hard to climb, doggone it!, and there was not much technological means to overcome the physical and social barriers between countries.

Not so today. Like much of the rest of Europe, one of the major swissues (hee) of the day is that of immigration, both documented and undocumented. As I understand it, Swiss citizenship is alot like Maslow's self-actualization or the One Ring - it's pretty tough to get. There is some contention that "outside" cultures may be breaking down Swiss identity (er, whatever that means), but this gets to be a touchy subject when it comes to using physical appearance to identify threats to Swiss-ness.

One of the biggest controversies when I was in Switzerland was this little sign here, which is plastered all over Switzerland:

Interpret as you will, but I think the graffiti on the sign is probably a hint for you. I won't go on too much, as this article from the UK newspaper, The Independent, does a great job explaining the issue in detail (plus, I am trying to get you to read something intelligent instead this blog...). It's pretty interesting stuff! And quite indicative of a lot of the social pains that Switzerland - and Western Europe at large - is experiencing these days.

In the end...
...can I really complain that it was awful living in an ideologically isolationist, I'm-going-to-go-broke-because-I-want-to-eat, force-me-to-eat-your-darn-tasty-hash-browns, maybe-kinda-sorta-racist country? Nope. I really enjoyed living in Switzerland. The mountain air was delightful (especially now that I'm choking in Seoul and will likely be suffocating from pollution in Beijing), Evian-like water flowed straight from the taps, and the country's dedication to green living was awesome. I really wish we had parts of this in the US.

I don't think I'll miss everything closing at 7 PM and on Sunday, though. Or being broke. :)

Merci, Suisse!

Asia-bound (again), commencing blogging (again) with thoughts of Myanmar on the mind (again)

2007-09-28T16:59:00.000+09:00

Hello all! I'm blogging from Tokyo Narita Airport. I am en route to Seoul, South Korea, which will be my home for the remainder of 2007.

During the past year - my first year of graduate school - I debated whether to continue the blog at all, since I had really started it as a way to document my year-off adventures. But I guess I'm on the move again and by popular demand (er, about 3 friends), I will resume blogging regularly. Please do check in from time to time.

That said, I'm plopped in front of an airport TV, watching CNN coverage of the protests in Myanmar. When I see the coverage, I can’t help but think about my short experience there, and the people I met, their hopes for this opportunity (except, obviously, sans violence). I am hoping that it will turn out for the best. In the meantime, I encourage anyone reading out there to keep up-to-date on the situation…like, you know, only if you care about freedom and stuff. The Economist and NY Times are keeping some really nice coverage, good for both newbies and those already following the incident.

Also, shameless promotion of my past posts on Myanmar are here and here.

Back from the dead (and an update on where I have been and will be...)

2007-07-18T05:03:00.001+09:00

It's been a long time since I blogged. That is because I was stuck in the basement of this wretched building all year. Grrr.

I finished my first year of my master's degree in Public Affairs this past May. As much as I complain (surprise surprise), I really enjoyed it. If not for the interesting things I learned, then for my awesome classmates.

The headless army in front of the Princeton Art Museum.

Yep, it's pretty. Only undergrads are good enough to live here, though...

...I lived here. They used to be old army barracks. It kinda felt like camp, but it was quite nice and cozy (and cheap!).

This is the spiffy concert hall / auditorium type thing. It has about 4 names, because different donors means different names! And at Princeton, there is no shortage of donors...I think I know this building by the name Alexander Hall.

As to where I am now, currently, I'm blogging from Geneva, Switzerland (not Illinois). I've been here for most of the summer so far, finishing up my requisite internships. Yes, I've been working at/with the United Nations! I really get a lot of mileage out of my name in this regard. Love it.

Where will I be? Weeeelllll, a good opportunity popped up, and I will be taking a year off between my two years of graduate study to live/work/study in Korea and China. I'll be based in Seoul, South Korea, for 3 months (October - December), working on North Korean tuberculosis relief with the Eugene Bell Foundation. Then it's off to Beijing, where I'll be posted from January to August-ish, hopefully working on AIDS/HIV relief with the Clinton Foundation.

Along with work, I will be studying languages, too. I'll concentrate on improving my Mandarin, but hopefully I'll pick up some Korean along the way. It makes me sad to think of how much I will miss my family and friends - as well we graduating with my awesome classmates! - but when opportunity knocks, you gotta run with it, right? I'll try to think only about the good things, then...

International Hello! tour gets the big International Goodbye: My trip in numbers (and other vague expressions of quantity...)

2006-12-23T12:56:00.000+09:00

Total time spent without a real job: 355 days of irresponsibility!

Itinerary: Ghana (September-November 2005), France (November-December 2005), New Jersey-Virginia-Illinois (January 2006), Paris & Amsterdam (February 2006), Guatemala (February - May 2006), Honduras (May 2006), China-Myanmar-Cambodia-Malaysia-Singapore (June-August 2006)

Countries Visited for more than 24 hours: 10
Ghana, France, the Netherlands, Guatemala, Honduras, China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore

Total who where lucky/unfortunate enough to have my feet touch their soil: 14
above, plus Nigeria, Germany, Canada, Thailand

Languages spoken: English, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin (all rather shoddily...)

Random phrases learned (and largely forgotten) in: Twi (Ghana), Larabangese (Ghana), Myanmar/Burmese (Myanmar), Khmer (Cambodia)

MOOLA

Currencies used: 11
Cedis (Ghana), Euros (France, Netherlands), Quetzales (Guatemala), Lempiras (Honduras), Renminbi (China), Kyats (Myanmar), Riels (Cambodia), Bahts (Thailand), Ringgits (Malaysia), Singapore dollars (Singapore), US dollars (everywhere!)

Daily budget: US$10-15

Most expensive country: France

Least expensive country: Myanmar

Cheapest pleasures: Street food (US$0.10 - 0.25)

Biggest splurges*: Open Water Scuba Certification In Honduras (US$280), French language school (let's not talk about that...)

* I'm assuming that I can't count air tickets here...or this whole trip for that matter! :)

BY AIR, LAND, AND SEA (and many a dirt path/road)

Total distance flown: 54,954 miles (88,421 kilometers)

Total distance traveled (air, land, sea): er...more than 54,954 miles?

Airports visited: 14

Longest voluntary layover: 9 hours at Frankfurt International (Germany)

Longest involuntary layover: 6 hours on an (allegedly!) nearly derailed train (Malaysia)

Favorite airports: Siem Reap International (Cambodia) and Hong Kong International (China)

"Hmm, I expected more" airport: Changi International (Singapore)

Airport most like a mall: Bangkok International (Thailand)
The old Bangkok airport (not the new one, which is apparently very airport-like)

Airport with most Speed-like transportation: Kotoka International (Ghana)

Modes of transportation used: 11
planes, trains (steam locomotives, MagLev, subways), automobiles (taxis, bus, minibus, sleeper bus, pick-up truck), boats (large and small motors, sail, row), tuk-tuk (motorcycle taxi), motorcycle, bicycle (well, attempted...otherwise, I just rode on the back of my friend's bike!), trishaw (bicycle taxi), horse carriage, ox cart, good ol' fashioned walking!

Longest continuous trip by vehicle: 28 hours by train from Shanghai to Guilin (China) (about 800 miles or 1,287 km)

Longest continuous trip trip by foot: 3 days from Kalaw to Inle Lake (Myanmar) (about 37.3 miles or 60 km)

Most luxurious trip: 14-hour business class flight from Hong Kong to Chicago (about 7,791 mi or 12,538 km) Yeah, upgrade!

MY SOLE PURPOSE FOR LIVING: FOOD & DRINK

Times McDonalds eaten: 1 (China)

Times KFC eaten: 1 (China)

Poshest meal (by local standards): Fancy, gentrified version of traditional Myanmar meal at a posh restaurant in Mandalay (US$8)

Best food countries: Singapore, China

Unforgettable meals (not necessarily fancy but maybe I was just really hungry and/or they were just extra good!): Across-the-bridge noodles (Guoqiao mixian) in Kunming (China), homemade food during my Shan country trek (Myanmar), Chicken biriyani and Star Cola in Yangon (Myanmar), Chili crab at Jumbo's (Singapore)

Most international foods: fried chicken, fried rice, "Chinese" food

Weirdest food/snack eaten: fried sparrow on a stick (Shanghai, China)

Weirdest food/snack I wish I had eaten: fried crickets (Cambodia)

Best international fast food: kebabs and fries (France; tip: the closer the kebab stand to a shady place, like, say, a XXX porno theater, the better the kebab!), crêpes (France), Pollo Campero fried chicken (Guatemala)

Best drink discovery: Fresh lime juice (Myanmar)

Best food discovery: Everything! (Everywhere!)

Tummy problems from local food: amazingly, ZERO!!!

KEEPING CLEAN AND CLEAR

Longest time between showers: 4 days

I ♥ bucket showers: Rural Ghana

Cleanest developing world toilets: Myanmar

Nastiest developing world toilets: China

Number of countries where I got sick: 2 (weird virus things in Ghana and Guatemala)

Best friend when sick: ciprofloxacin

Sickest (as in being ill, not "sick" as in "cool") moment : Coming down with mysterious virus in rural Ghana and having doctor in Accra worry over a period of days whether I would live or not. Fun!

BEST/WORST - MOST/LEAST - FAVORITES & MISCELLANY!

Most beautiful nature: Guatemala, Yunnan Province (China)

Extra points for fascinating indigenous culture: Guatemala

Best rice paddies: Myanmar

Best shopping: Singapore

Friendliest people: Myanmar

Best words learned: "gooder", "ecotourism", various Spanish curses and football chants (same thing, really!)

Weird habits picked up: Touching left hand to right elbow when giving/receiving stuff (Myanmar), throwing used toilet paper in a trashbasket instead of the toilet (Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia)

Most common question asked all year: "Are you from China (Japan / Korea)?"

Best question asked all year: "What is the meaning of life?" (student in Mandalay English class)

Worst question asked all year: "Are you married?" / "Do you have a boyfriend?" (random men and women everywhere)

Most marriage proposals: Ghana (3)

Most attempted pick-ups by monks: Myanmar (2)

Most people waiting to scam you: China (∞)

Most kids waiting to scam you: Cambodia (∞+1)

Nicest law enforcement dudes encountered: Police Officers in Kunming (China), Chinese border patrol between Jiegao and Mu-Se (China and Myanmar)

Favorite subset of the local population: Trishaw drivers of Mandalay

Most awesome manmade wonders: Tikal (Guatemala), Angkor (Cambodia), Eiffel Tower (France), Shwedagon Pagoda (Myanmar)

Most awesome natural sites: Karst mountains in Yangshuo (China), Lake Atitlan (Guatemala), Semuc Champey (Guatemala), Coral reefs of Redang (Malaysia)

Most outdoor fun: Climbing Tajumulco (Guatemala), canoeing in a mangrove forest in Cuero y Salado (Honduras), hiking in Shan Country (Myanmar), creeping across the 40m tall rainforest canopy bridge in Kakum National Park (Ghana), anything scuba related! :)

Favorite travel activities: Scuba diving, sunset chasing, finding the local Chinatown (or Chinese restaurant), trying the local cuisine, chatting with locals, climbing stuff (cathedrals, temples, volcanoes)

Least favorite travel activities: Venturing into a random rural roadside toilet, battling mosquitoes, encountering poverty and inequality (boo!)

Useful skills learned: Packing lightly, living out of a backpack, having no shame in asking for directions, rationing water, responding "yes" quickly and convincingly to all questions sounding like "Are you married?" and "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Useful skills that Americans have unlearned (as observed by YuhChic): Fixing stuff instead of throwing away and buying a new one; preserving natural resources; appreciating the simplicity of life

Bane of the developing world: Plastic bags and bottles littered everywhere (I'm convinced!)

Best Museum/Zoo/Cultural-type thingies: Cape Coast Castle (Ghana), Musée D'Orsay (France), Musée de Petit Palais Quentin Blake exhibit! (France), VanGogh Museum (the Netherlands), Rijksmuseum (the Netherlands), Underwater World (Singapore)

Unexpectedly awesome sites: Old British colonial buildings in Pyin U Lwin and Yangon (Myanmar)

Most anti-climatic site: Musée de Louvre (Paris)

Favorite big cities: Paris (France), Mandalay (Myanmar), Singapore

Favorite smallish cities/biggish towns: Quetzaltenango (Guatemala), Antigua (Guatemala), Pyin U Lwin (Myanmar), Yangshuo (China)

Favorite one-horse towns: Tornabé (Honduras), San Pedro La Laguna (Guatemala), Hsipaw (Myanmar)

Least favorite ("Get me the hell outta here!") cities: Guatemala "You're going to get raped!" City (Guatemala), San Pedro (Honduras)

Great feats in urban planning: Shanghai (China)

"Could you please hire an urban planner?": Accra (Ghana)

Favorite country: Myanmar and Guatemala (tie)

Least favorite country: A cruel and absolutely unanswerable question!

High points of the year: Oh, gee...so many! Er, the whole year?

Low points: camera and memory card stolen (China), I-Pod broken in the middle of rural province (China), spending the day in the pediatric ward of a rural hospital in Africa (Ghana - saaaadness), realizing that you've fallen in love with the world and have to leave it for steeenkin' grad school! (boo...)

Number of friends made: Lots...

Number of smiles received: Many...

Number of smiles given: Even more!

Number of pictures taken: ∞

Number of memories collected: ∞+1

Number of regrets: 0

Best thing I did all year: this entire trip!

Best thing I've done with my life so far: this entire trip! :)

Thanks for allowing me to share this whole experience with you!

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

~T.S. Eliot ~

More Myanmar: Shiny happy people

2006-12-23T12:50:00.000+09:00

Okay, not a "person", perse, but I swear even the water buffalo of Myanmar smile at you!

Many of the sites of Myanmar were beautiful, but undoubtedly the best part of the country is the people. They are among the kindest, sweetest people in the world - a smile was never far away! Sure, I bumped into a few opportunistic ones who openly asked for money (or pens...), but they were few and far between. On one hand, I know they are so friendly (almost innocently so) because of their wacky (yes, that was meant to be pejorative!) government's reluctance to open them to the wider world. I want this crazy military government to be toppled as much as the next person, but, on the other hand, this would force many them into the cynicism (and blatant opportunism) of the modern world....and I want them to stay as sweet as they have always been! Ah, what to do? I truly believe that, one day, the good people of Myanmar will be afforded the opportunity to enjoy the wider world...and if it means they become assholes...well, I'll deal with that. At least I'll always have memories of the wonderful people (and smiles) from this trip!

In the predominantly Buddhist culture of Myanmar (over 80% of the people are Buddhist), most boys will become novices (kinda like junior monks) in a local monastery by the time they're 10 years old or so. This is important because only men are technically allowed to interact with senior monks, so the novices learn the basics of the ancient Bali language (for chanting prayers) and eitquette for interacting with monks. What's funny is that the kids actually don't stay monks for very long. Maybe a few weeks during their summer vacation? It's a very interesting thing, though. This little novice was really cute and smiley...except when I took his picture, of course!

Another sweet, smiley kid who I met when my bus broke down in the middle-of-nowhere!

I met this little boy while I was waiting in a teashop for my boat to (somewhere I can't remember!). He was funny...just kept smiling and giggling nervously when I smiled at him. Of course, i had to take a picture!

Here I am with one of my favorite people in all of Myanmar: Mr. Tun Ti, my guide during my three-day trek through the Shan countryside. His family runs a trekking company in the town of Kalaw, but they do waaaay more than just lead treks. The family works closely with numerous villages in the region to create responsible and productive tourism. They use a different trekking path each time (so that no one village ever gets too "spoiled" by the foreigners) and never give money to the villages. Instead, they offer their time and services to the villages in exchange for permission to pass through them - that is, offering rides to nearest hospital for sick villagers, finding teachers for local schools, etc. Mr. Tun Ti and his wife even opened their house to kids from remote villages who want to continue their education in Kalaw - without asking for a dime. It's great. Mr. Tun Ti was the best guide! He spoke 5 of the local dialects fluently and knows the region like the back of his hand, so I always got a good insight on village life and culture. The trek was definitely the highlight of my Burmese days, in large part to Mr. Tun Ti.

One of the villagers of the Palaung tribe who was so kind to host us in their home for lunch during my trek through the Shan countryside with Mr. Tun Ti.

I stayed in this wonderful lady's home during the trek. It was a simple and lovely home, and she and her husband were so nice. Here she is, hard at work prepping vegetables for a later meal.

Captured in one of the villages through which I trekked, this is quite a common scene! You can often catch glimpses of kids riding through the village on their water buffalo, stick in hand and topped off with a topi hat, one of the quainter remnaints of British colonial times. This is one of my favorite pictures of my whole year of traveling.

No paved roads and the existence of only narrow footpaths winding through much of the rice paddies of the Shan province means that most transport takes place by foot. It can take hours to arrive at a main road, where you might be lucky enough to flag down a pick-up truck into town to sell your goods or buy some supplies. Want to carry that stuff? Try the handy basket thingy pictured here! Notice the ever-spiffy topi hat, perfect protection from both the sun and rain.

During the trek, we came upon a small rural school, where kids were playing outside for recess. They were a curious group who were a lot a fun! They did not ask for anything, but were really keen about these crazy digital camera gadgets. What a really sweet bunch of kids...apparently good students, too: as soon as the teacher rang her bell, they forgot about us promptly and ran back inside in 2 seconds flat!

People generally consider women of the Shan tribe to be the most beautiful in Myanmar. Throughout my trip, I kept hearing, "Ah, Shan women! Very beautiful! Hard working, too! Want to take care of their husbands! Very good!" I certainly met quite a few very pretty Shan women, including this lovely lady and her (slightly gloomy but very cute) baby in one of the small villages outside of Hsipaw. Notice the thanaka to protect and moisturize her skin. Like she needs it...yeesh! I argue that famed Shan beauty is particularly pronouced because the Shan people originally came from China. Tee hee.

An adorable little girl whom I played with at Inle Lake. They teach 'em early how to work hard, that's for sure.

Adorable little brother of above-pictured adorable little girl. He was such a ham! He loved seeing his digital picture pop up on my camera and insisted I take few more. How could I say no?

Cheroot are Myanmar cigars filled with a mix of mild tobacco and herbs. They are rolled by hand by girls and young women, like this cheery girl at an Inle Lake cheroot "factory" (i.e., bunch of girls in a room). She treated me to cheroot, and we smoked up together. :)

At one of the Inle Lake markets, I was intrigued by the homegrown and smoked teas sold by some of the hill tribe villagers. This girl actually called out to me (in Burmese) and encouraged me to buy some. Take note: a smile and friendly demeanor can compell me buy just about anything. This girl was really sweet. And a small bag of tea cost a hot 200 kyat (US$0.15).

I waved at a lot of kids while I was in Myanmar. I mean, like, a lot. What I always found really sweet (and a bit funny) was how the moms would always force the most unwilling kid to wave back at me. Well, this little girl wasn't so unwilling, as you see by her lovely smile. She definitely provided my most memorable game of "Make faces at cute kids and have 'em make 'em back at you!" in Myanmar. These kids (and their moms) just kill me!

There are so many monks in Myanmar, particularly in Mandalay. On top of Mandalay Hill, I met Shawana. A lot of the monks speak English and go to popular tourist spots to practice with foreigners. Some of them are real monks, others are con artists. Shawana seemed reasonably honest (at least he didn't ask me for money...like some monks I met!), so we chatted a bit. Interesting characters, those monks!

Gosh, I certainly took a lot of random pictures of random people in Myanmar (like this friendly girl who rode the ferry with me in Monywa). What's even more surprising are the number of people who allowed me to take their photo! And always with a smile!

This man randomly bumped into me and a fellow American, Hugh (3rd grade teacher from Colorado), who was traveling with me in Mandalay. He found out that we were Americans and started rattling off happily in English! He was so engrossed in chatting that he didn't even flinch when I took this photo. He spoke really fast and used "man" (as in, "That's good, man!") quite alot, all the while so happy to see that Americans were visiting Myanmar. With his USMC(?) veteran's cap, I began to wonder if he had ever worked with Americans (maybe waaaay back in the day, during World War II or something? That would explain the use of "man", I guess). In any case, he actually thought I was Burmese (mad props to my dark tan at the time) and said that I looked like a sweet girl (in a non-pervy, nice way). Geepers, thanks, mister!

As in much of Southeast Asia, there is a sizeable Chinese population in Myanmar. Many of the larger towns have a very visible Chinese community within each of them. It is surprising how many still know how to speak Chinese (the dialects of their home provinces or variations on Mandarin with funny accents) despite being many generations removed from the Mainland. This was really helpful, as I often resorted to Mandarin when I couldn't find anyone who spoke English...and was rather successful some of the time! I visited the Chinese temple in Pyin U Lwin, where I met this wonderful elderly gentleman, who was thrilled to find out that I was also Chinese. In broken and heavily accented Chinese (regional Yunnan dialect, I think), he explained to me the story of Buddha (drawn on panels in the temple). I asked to take his picture, and he was so cute, buttoning his shirt up all the way to the collar to look "proper" for the photo. At the end, he said something I'll never forget: "You know, you may be from America and I may be from Myanmar, but we're still Chinese! You come back and visit me anytime you like!"

Another favorite in the "YuhChic Loves Senior Citizens of Myanmar!" series. I met this wonderful lady while trekking through the Shan hills. My trekking guide stopped by this lady's house because she (and her son-in-law) are personal friends. At age 76, she is the oldest person in her Pa-Oh village of 300 people . She shared some really interesting bits of village culture with us, recounting stories of the old days (e.g., men used to court women by showing up in front of the woman's house and court them by playing flute music; this tradition still continues, although a bit unromantically by playing the radio instead of a flute) as well as humbly mentioning some of the tougher "facts of life" during our conversation (e.g., 5 of her 9 children died, including a daughter who died from childbirth at age 19). She offered us some rice and beans, so of course I could not refuse! As I ate it, she said, "I hope that you will always remember me when you eat rice and beans." I certainly will!

Myanmar Madness! The way things used to be...

2006-12-23T12:24:00.000+09:00

The impressive Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon (Rangoon) - as iconic in Myanmar as the Eiffel Tower is in France (and the Western world), Shwedagon is just one of many Buddhist shrines in the country. It may, however, be the most beautiful.

After a very long absence, I'm back with a vengeance! And I've saved the best for last. It just wouldn't be right if this blog faded away without any mention of probably my favorite country I visited during the year abroad: Myanmar. Yes, a.k.a. Burma, home to one of the arguably most repressive military regimes in the world, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and some of the nicest people on earth.

It seems just like yesterday that I was in Myanmar, but - wow! - it was actually July! Knowing that travel would be a bit slow there and that the country would be unlike any other where I had been before, I planned to milk my 4-week tourist visa for as long as I could. Indeed, I spent 3.5 weeks in Myanmar, and it was a real highlight of my year. Most of the time, it was charming beyond imagination. Only occasionally did enter creepy totalitarianism à la Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

It's always pretty fun to me how staunch, anti-communist militarists usually end up coming back full-circle to full-on commie! This military junta sign is usually found in Burmese, but at many touristy sites you'll see a strategically placed English-language one. This one was directly facing the US Embassy in Yangon. Ooooh, bad move, military dudes! Give this photo a click to see a larger version and read the excellent "edicts" of the crazy military dudes...

A bit of historical background on Myanmar for you: it used to be a British colony, a province of British India known as "Burma". The Burmese gained independence in 1948, largely because of the leadership of General Aung San (Aung San Suu Kyi's dad!). However, Aung San was assassinated by political rivals shortly before independence, and the country has been under military junta rule ever since. Fun fact: at the time of its independence, Myanmar was one of the richest countries (if not the richest?) in Southeast Asia, with ample resources of teak wood, rubies, and jade (all of which it still has a lot of) and called "the ricebowl" of Asia for all the rice it used to export. Not-so-fun fact: today, the country is on the United Nation's list of Least Developed Countries in the world. I don't think many people dispute that this status is a result of poor governance over the past sixty years.

The current military government has taken over the old government buildings from colonial times. For a regime wanting to throw off the repressive yoke of colonialism, it's quite ironic!

Yeah, so the government is a bit...wacky? In late 2005, General Than Shwe, the head of the military government, consulted with his fortune teller (sigh! Sounds crazy already, doesn't it?) and decided to move the capital from Yangon (known in British times as Rangoon) to an isolated area of the country. Some say it's because the government also didn't want the US to attack and depose them in Yangon. Whatever. Anyhoo, the new capital, Naypyidaw (formerly Pyinmina, which just might be Burmese for "middle of friggin' nowhere"), is basically in the middle of the jungle. The government is now spending tons of money (that they could use for other development purposes!) to build a capital city from the ground-up. Other wacky fun includes:

(1) The government being able to throw you in jail if you speak out against them! (No jokes, please...)
(2) Being placed under surveillance if you are a native Myanmar citizen like, say Aung San Suu Kyi's name (not too much of a stretch here...)!
(3) Being randomly rounded up for forced labor projects!

(Pssst! I encourage you to read more about the country here if you want more details about the political situation of the country, which is quite interesting! Or maybe just interesting to dorks like me...)

Yangon's own Big Ben. This is the Department of Justice building.

Despite the governmental wackiness, perhaps more than any other country, Myanmar left a real impression on me. At first I didn't want to go, because I didn't want to support the government in any way through tourism. But I managed to go "indie" (i.e. by myself with no organized tour group), so I kept the financial support to the government to a minimum (only at the really big tourist sites, where paying government fees is unavoidable), supported local independent entrepeneurs instead, and had a wonderful time. I had many opportunities to talk with locals, see life beyond the touristy glitz (what the military junta wants you to see as glitz, anyway), and just appreciate how life plugs along under the most undesireable of circumstances. This is why you travel, people! Of potential concern to my mom and dad is that going to Myanmar has left me with an even stronger desire to visit Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Libya...but that's another blog, and maybe another lifetime! On with the show!

Just semantics: Is Myanmar or Burma? Is "Myanmar" a noun or adjective?

A view from the top of Mandalay Hill.

Yes, very confusing! Is it Myanmar or Burma? What's more politically correct? I've observed that people who say "Burma" are those who associate the name "Myanmar" with the military government, and therefore don't like using the name "Myanmar" because it legitimizes the military junta. However, the name of the country in the local language is, indeed, "Myanmar"! Besides, is calling the place "Burma", a vestige of colonialism that was equally repressive, any better? So I decided to ask the source: Myanmar citizens! Most of them expressed that they preferred "Myanmar" over "Burma" for a few reasons. (1) That's how it's pronounced in their language! and (2) "Burmese" imples only a certain group/tribe of people - the "ruling race" of Myanmar, if you will. Someone said to me that it is not right to classify an entire nation of very diverse tribes and people as "Burmese" in "Burma". As for myself, having previously been one of those "I'm going to call it 'Burma'" people, I decided to switch over to calling the country "Myanmar," out of respect for the nation's diversity, if anything.

The famous Mandalay Palace (with a view of the famous Mandalay Hill in the background).

The problem, of course, is that "Myanmar" doesn't really lend itself to easy adjective formation (Myanmese? Myanmarish?)! What to do? Why, just use the noun as the adjective! So it's "Myanmar people", "Myanmar food", "Myanmar language", etc. Easy enough, right?

An adventure everytime: Traveling (creeping, really) down and around Myanmar

I crossed into Myanmar from China by land, traveling on the famed Burma Road through part of the region known as the Golden Triangle encompassing parts of Southwest China, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. Opium is an important crop for many farmers here, and trade in heroin (as well as trafficked prostitution and black market goods) is common. Hmm, that explains the multiple military checkpoints during the trip!

Transportation logistics in Myanmar are not easy. Sometimes, you really are better off walking (See "Life outside the city: A trek through Shan country" below)! The transportation infrastructure is poor, and paved roads that do exist are often not well-maintained. Still, it's not impossible to get around. But you might have to get creative sometimes. And, truly, patience is a necessary virtue!

Buses get canceled regularly, especially if they can't fill the seats. I waited by the roadside for a bus in an attempt to get to a remote part of Myanmar called Namhsan...but I finally threw in the towel after a few hours of solitariness at the side fo the road.

You wouldn't have properly traveled in Myanmar if your bus didn't break down...for hours at a time. Wheeeee!

But I'm not sure if hopping on a bus is necessarily helpful either, especially since the vehicles in Myanmar tend to be old as Father Time and break down quite frequently. On my way to Kalaw, I was delayed about 6 hours because the bus just broke down in the middle of nowhere. The driver and his assistant announced that they were going to the next biggest town to get some new parts of the bus, and just disappeared! Ah! Well, at least they came back. :)

On the bright side, it's all a big adventure! It's also pretty amusing that the steering wheel is on the right side (like in England), but the cars still drive on the right side (just like in America!). It feels a bit weird.

Riding on a train that hasn't been updated much since British colonial rule - cool! Riding over a 800 foot-high viaduct that hasn't been radically updated since its construction in the 1930s on a train that might derail - a bit nerve-wracking! Sure enough, the train crept over the viaduct at a speed of about 2 miles per hour (OK, I'm exagerrating...but just barely!). The adventure (and long ride) was certainly worth the ride!

I also got to ride on some old locomotives that haven't really been updated since the British left! On my way from Hsipaw to Pyin U Lwin, I rode in the "common class" of the train with the locals, and it was lots of fun to be stuffed in with baskets of fruit and other groups being brought to market. Those trains really creep, though, and it's a bumpy ride! It would have taken 2 hours to drive to Pyin U Lwin from Hsipaw...instead it took about 7 hours on the train. I guess I should have been afraid of derailing, but I was having too much fun. :)

More trains! I love the guy waving to me from the window...

Other clever ways of getting around included oxcarts, horse carts (I discovered I'm allergic, though...boo!), and good ol' trishaws. Trishaws are basically bikes with a seat attached to the side. They're great, and the drivers are friendly and fun. My favorite people are probably the trishaw drivers of Mandalay. What a bunch of guys!

Mr. Chit Koko and his trusty trishaw in Mandalay.

In Mandalay, the trishaw drivers work 12+ hours a day, and many of them have picked up very good English (better than students who pay for classes!) just in their interaction with foreign tourists. They work really hard and are always continually improving their English and learning more about the local sites so that they can act as de facto tour guides for the foreign tourists (otherwise, you need to pay large fees and undergo expensive training to be a licensed as an "official" tour guide with the government). They are working towards bettering life for themselves and their families, and you gotta respect that! During my time in Mandalay, I stuck with two trusty trishaw men - Mr. Chit Koko, who looked like a kind of hardened street dude, but was really the nicest guy ever, and Kyaw Kyaw (believe it or not, this is pronounced like "Joe Joe"!), who was 17 years and had been working as a driver for 2 years in order to support his parents and little brother. Two really great people. If you're ever in Mandalay, look them up (really! they're always in the same spot and take referrals!)!

Myanmar Moolah

The old kyat notes that were discontinued some time ago all had portraits of national hero Aung San on them. It is said that the notes were taken out of circulation for a few reasons: maybe the government didn't want Aung San's portrait reminding Myanmar people of his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi. Some say the ruling General's fortune teller told him the denomination of the notes were in an unlucky number. Then again, maybe it was the hyperinflation. In Myanmar, anything is possible!

They're kyats. That's pronouced "chat", not "ky-at" (crazy Sino-Tibetan languages!). At the time I was in Myanmar, a good exchange rate was about US$1 to 1200-1300 kyat. Considering you could get a nice meal for under 1000 kyat, this wasn't too bad!

The first thing you should know about Myanmar is that (unlike other countries), you never ever ever change money officially in a bank or currency exchange. You will get about 500 kyat for US$1, as the military government takes a big juicy cut and you want to avoid supporting those dudes whenever possible! So...what to do? Change your moola in the street! Usually, it's pretty easy - the moneychangers will find you (hmm, I guess I don't look "Myanmar" enough...). Yeah, it's pretty shady handing over money to strangers and then having them give you a big stack of bills back, but people I dealt with in the moneychanging business weren't shady at all. In most cases, they let me take the kyat with me to a private place, let me count it, and then let me give them the US dollars. That's pretty trustworthy! Added plus is that private moneychaing helps the locals more and you benefit from not being ripped off. PLUS, you feel like a real baller with that fat wad of cash in your pocket.

Second thing you should know about Myanmar: leave your credit cards and travelers checks at home. They just don't work here. That's what it means to be a pariah state and have all the major Western banks and corporations not affilate with your country! I think there might be one Singporean-run hotel in Mandalay that accepts credit card, but that's because they have off-shore processing and also charge you a spiffy 20% fee or something. So it's all about carrying large chunks of US dollars during your trip! Luckily, no one will rob you (see "Religion" below).

Language fun: Adventures in Burmese and (Idiomatic) English

Having arrived in Myanmar without speaking a lick of Burmese, I was very, very appreciative for this sign in Hsipaw.

Besides Ghana (where most people spoke English and my most excellent guides/friends, Yinka and Calvin, provided superb translation), Myanmar was the first big country where I did not speak the local language, Burmese. Officially, the language is called "Myanmar" or "Myanmar language", but a lot of people still say "Burmese".

Indeed, once I hit Southeast Asia, my foreign language brain really just shut down. I'd like to say that Burmese (the official language of Myanmar) was just really hard (it was! Crazy southeast Asian pronounciations...DAMN YOU!), but they do have an alphabet so who am I to talk? It was so hard for me just to learn the basic phrases of Burmese.

True, Burmese at least has an alphabet, but that doesn't mean it's easy to pronounce or read! Here, a tablet at Sule Pagoda in Yangon. Cool picture, eh? Photo cred to Globe trotter Ted Chang.

Luckily, as a former British colony, a lot of Myanmar people (particularly people who are 50 years old and up) speak excellent English. And with that quaint Queen's British accent, too! Unfortunately, the military government allowed the schools to go to shit, and a lot of the younger generation don't speak English too well (if at all). There is, however, still a really high demand for English language instruction. In fact, in Mandalay, I befriended a bunch of locals who ran an English school in order to fund the Myanmar puppet theater! I was officially invited to be a guest speaker in their classes! It was a lot of fun. I just stood in front of the classroom and talked about America to a room full of Myanmar youth (ages 14-25). They were really fun and completely intrigued by my odd American accent. I had a question-and-answer session, and it was really amusing. The kids were very shy, but some managed to ask all sorts of great questions. My favorite was "What is the meaning of life?" (I made something up)

One funny bit about Myanmar English speakers - young and old - is that they absolutely love idioms! In the class where I "lectured", the kids were using a book called "American Idiomatic English." Dang, let me tell you - American English is really impossible to learn with all those darn idioms! I mean, think about it, if you were learning another language and people referred to "being loaded" and "broke" as references to money, wouldn't you be confused? In any case, many of the Myanmar people whom I chatted with or befriended loved peppering their speech with idioms and slang. It sounded a bit silly at times, but it was very cute. I got a lot of "See you later, alligator!" In order to contribute a little something to their cultural education, I also taughted them a few new words here and there ("cool", "rad", "awesome", "dope", "wicked").

I'm hoping that English education can really improve in Myanmar. In fact, it is really one of the big assets that the country has, and the young people there are very eager to learn (and pretty darn good at self-teaching themselves, from what I saw). I think it will come in very handy when (and if?) the military government dissolves and the economy liberalizes. If the society is educated and can speak English, that is the first step towards success (much like India). Fingers crossed!

Dress and Customs: Whoa, are guys wearing skirts? Why's your face all yellow? Why are your teeth red and nasty? And why am I grabbing my elbow all the time?!?!
The first thing you might ask yourself in Myanmar is, "Hey, why are the dudes wearing skirts?" Myanmar is one of the few places left in Southeast Asia where traditional dress is still a part of everyday life. Both men and women wear the traditional longyi, which is a long sarong. Men knot it in the front, while women sort of wrap it around their waist. You can really make a fashion statement with those things! And weaving the cloth can be quite the art. There are plenty of weavers and longyi shops in big towns, and some of the nice ones are just lovely! Of course, I couldn't resist buying one while I was there (even though I'll probably never wear it).

In addition to moisturizer and sunscreen, thanaka paste is also used to draw cute designs on faces. In this way, it's actually a bit like makeup. The "circle on each cheek" design is quite popular. This little girl's thanaka was really nice, so (after buying a hat from her to protect myself from the sun, since I didn't have any thanaka) I asked to take her picture.

Walking around the first few days is also quite disconcerting because you'll see people (usually women and kids) with yellow paste smeared all over their faces and arms! At first, you'll think this crazy clown show is getting out of hand, but then you realize the paste is just thanaka, a sunscreen/moisturizer made from tree bark. Seeing girls draw the thanaka in cute shapes on their faces also makes you realize it's like make-up. Really cute! And who am I to criticize tried-and-true beauty regimes?

Red teeth = betel. It's really a testament to the heavy Indian influences in Myanmar culture, but, my goodness, that stuff is nasty. It makes smoking look good. Basically, "betel" as I knew it was a red, limey paste wrapped in fresh betel leaves, placed in the mouth, and chewed for a mild stimulant effect. You spit out the juice and saliva that builds up from chewing. Everywhere you'll see puddles of red spit and red, betel-stained teeth. Mmmmm, pretty!

One of the Myanmar customs/traditions that I quite like is the "holding-your-right-elbow-with-your-left-hand" custom when you give and receive things. It's really a respectful way exchanging things (like using two hands in Chinese custom when presenting things to elders), and I just love it. It becomes automatic after a while...and, in fact, I still find myself doing it from time to time here in America. Weird!

Food & Drink: Mmmm....greasy curry and tea shops

The traditional Myanmar meal comes with a main dish curry, (lots of) rice, soup, and more side dishes than you can shake a stick at. This is a gentrified version (less greasy curry, less side dishes) that I had in a fancier restaurant in Mandalay, but it was one of the best meals I had in Myanmar. Note the presence of my favorite drink discovery of my travels: fresh lime juice!

I liked Myanmar food. But, coming from me, that's like saying, "Yeah, I breathe air", so let me elaborate a bit more...

Typical Myanmar food is centered around curry (Indian influences again!), but fear not non-spicy food lovers, Myanmar curry is not spicy at all. It's flavorful and tasty. What's not so nice is that there is usually a big slick of oil floating on top that you have to scoop away before eating. This is because most curries are prepared fresh for lunch, but it tends to sit around while the customers float in. The layer of oil apparently keeps flies away. Hmmm...good idea (I guess)!

When you walk into a Myanmar food restaurant, you'll ask for a curry of your choice, and you'll automatically get rice, soup, and a TON of side dishes with it. Super tasty...and all for around 800-1000 kyat (US$0.70-0.90). Wash it down with a Star Cola or Crusher orange soda (Pepsi and Coke don't operate in Myanmar, you see...), and it's a filling meal that'll last you all day!

In between your filling Myanmar meals, you can also grab snacks at the local tea shop. Tea shops were one of my favorite aspects of Myanmar life. They are everywhere, a center of social life in Myanmar and characterized by low tables and small, kid-sized stools. I would love ordering a tea (sweetened with condensed milk, of course!) and a snack (maybe a samosa or a sweet treat...mmm, Burmese banana pancakes!) and just chilling out while absorbing the local atmosphere. A lot of the "waiters" in the tea shops were young boys who are probably not subject to the fairest of labor conditions, but they were sweet and always very helpful (especially in light of my lack of language skills). I always left a well-deserved tip (not difficult to leave when your tea and snack cost about US$0.10-0.25 total).

Religion: Monks, Buddhas, and Pagodas aplenty (and maybe a Jumping Cat or two...)

A temple in Mingun, and probably one of the most beautiful ones I saw during my time in Myanmar (you can only be impressed by so many golden stupas, you see...). I think it was one of the nicest visual memories I had of my trip...and there were quite a few, dontcha know?

Buddhism reigns supreme in Myanmar. Over 80% of the people are Buddhist, and most of them actually practice their religion. In my humble opinion, I always feel that the big difference between most Western and Eastern religion is that the latter is more often adopted as a true lifestyle and personal philosophy. So the fact that the country is predominantly Buddhist and largely still untainted (for lack of a better word!) by the excesses of modernity is a reason that people give for the relative safety of the country. I never felt unsafe in Myanmar at all. I just had to count on the fact that Myanmar people didn't want to come back as cockroaches in their next life. :)

Just outside of Mandalay, Amarapura is famous for a really really long teak bridge and the daily alms to monks. As a predominantly Buddhist culture, giving alms to monks is quite common (in fact, a lot of "monks" are really just fakin' to get alms and dupe foreigners). However, at Amarapura, a "donor" funds the morning meal of monks and TONS of them line up at the monastery, which is one of the biggest in Myanmar! I've never seen so many monks in one place in my life!

Everywhere you go, you'll see monks - young and old - shaved and clad in saffron and yellow robes. In fact, every boy undergoes novitiate training for a short time (usually during summer vacation or some other long holiday) at their local monastery. This is because only men are allowed to interact with monks (fun fact!). So the boys learn the basics of the Bali language (for chanting and prayers), how to interact with priests, etc., and become the representative of their families in the monasteries. A lot of boys also tend to stay on for training as monks.

The "Jumping Cat" Monastery at Inle Lake is famous for just that...jumping cats! It's crazy! Maybe a life of devotion is a bit boring sometimes...so boring that you might resort to training cats to jump through hoops.

Yes, there are also nuns. They also shave their heads and are usually clad in pink, but women are not afforded the same status as men in Buddhism, so it is not as prestigious to be nun (and certainly not required).

What luck! A big ol' convoy of nuns in front of Mandalay Palace!

There are also lots of temples, pagodas, and Buddhas around. And I mean lots. Buddhists show their devotion by building temples, donating Buddha statues, applying gold-leaf and jewels to said temples and Buddhas, and the like. So in a religious country like Myanmar, you've got no shortage of displays of devotion! In fact, Shwedagon Pagoda (pictured at the beginning of this blog post) is covered in literally tons of gold. At the top of the monument are 5,448 small diamonds, 2,317 rubies, and a 76 carat (15 g) diamond!

Just outside of Mandalay, in the town of Mingun, is the largest Buddhist temple in the world...or, rather, what would've been the largest one in the world. An earthquake halted construction in the 1790s, so now it's just a pile of rocks. But, as a would-be Buddhist temple, you've still got to take off your shoes out of respect if you want to climb it. What's a bunch of sharp, hot rocks in the way of a good view from the top? No problem, I say! My feet did hurt quite a bit during the climb, though...

Travel tip: when going to Buddhist temples, skip the socks and shoes and stick with sandals. That's because you must take off all footwear when entering a Buddhist temple. This means a lot of walking on hot outdoor pavements, restrooms (squat toilets!) onsite, and even the ruins of holy Buddhist sites. No one cares about you hurting your delicate feet here, buddy! Luckily, most sites are really clean (squat toilets included!), so don't worry about stepping in too many surprises. There's nothing you can do about pointy, sharp rocks, though...

Maybe this is punishment is what happens if you wear shoes into a Buddhist temple...

Watching the sun set over the Ayerwaddy River with locals.

The temples of Bagan are often compared to Cambodia's Angkor temples. Back in the day (maybe 1,000 years ago?), a few ancient Burmese kings decided it would be a good idea to build a helluva lotta temples on the river plain of the Ayerwaddy River. There still about (more than?) 2,000 temples standing, all concentrated in a 40-square kilometer area! It's pretty cool. I was able to combine my two travel passions of temple climbing and sunset chasing over my few days in Bagan. It was also the low season, so I didn't really have to climb over people (not a travel passion of mine).

From the tops of one of the many temples of Bagan, I chased sunsets, scoped out the flocks of sheep grazing as well as the many other temples in the complex.

Buddhas...Bagan style!

I heard from one of my guides that the idea behind the presence of so many Buddha statues in Myanmar is that, as long as Buddha has his eye on you, you're bound to behave well! Hmm, that explains a lot...

In Monywa, there is many a Buddha statue to be seen and admired. Here's just a sampling!

And they just can't stop making the Buddhas!

Life outside the city: A trek through Shan country
At the suggestion of some friends who had been to Myanmar before, I decided to take to the hills! I arrived in the sleepy town of Kalaw (after the 6-hour broken-down bus incident) and proceeded to track down my recommended guide, Mr. Tun Ti, who took foreigners on 3-day treks through the hilly Shan countryside and villages to Inle Lake - one of the major tourist attractions of Myanmar- 60 kilometers (just under 40 miles) away. Mr. Tun Ti came highly recommended because he would take alternate, less-traveled routes that would give trekkers a better sense of village life. He also spoke 5 of the local dialects, so I figured he would be a good guy to guide me.

The problem, of course, was that I couldn't find him! My friend who had recommended Mr. Tun Ti had forgotten his name, so I was vaguely describing some guy who led treks, spoke 5 local dialects, and whose father-in-law owned a restaurant to anyone who could've helped me. Kalaw is a sleepy town, and there are only so many trekking guides (and restaurants), but I was getting discouraged. I guess it didn't help that other guides wanted my business (it was the off-season!) and wouldn't tell me where to find him. So, too discouraged to look any further, I wandered into a small storefront advertising trekking to Inle Lake, convinced that I would have to settle for someone not as good. I started chatting with a guide in that trekking outfit...and discovered I was actually talking to Mr. Tun Ti himself! I recruited a fellow traveler (Anne from Germany) to go with me so that Mr. Tun Ti could personally guide us (he was very responsible in telling me that if I went hiking alone, he could not take me, since a man guiding a young girl solo would look not so great!).

So I got lucky! And the trek was just awesome. We walked from about 8 AM to 5 PM everyday for 3 days through the countryside, and it was lovely and wonderfully relaxing. There's nothing like walking for miles and miles everyday! The entire trek took three days, and we stayed in a local home the first night, a monastery the next. We also stopped by local villagers homes along the way, both for lunch and so that Mr. Tun Ti could check up on friends and check in with village elders to see how the village was doing. I got a wonderful insight on some of the different minority tribes of Myanmar and village life, from both Mr. Tun Ti and local Myanmar people themselves. I'll never forget the experience.

One silly bit of the trip: my experience with leeches (it was rainy season, after all)! Just one leech, really...which managed to crawl into my bellybutton! I must have brushed up against a tree and it somehow attached itself to me (it was a tree leech, I learned...black in color and not brown like the ones in the mud). I felt a sharp pinch in my bellybutton and looked down to see something black and wormy disappearing into the deep crevices of my navel! In this shot, Mr. Tun Ti, is actually just looking for the sucker. Mr. Leechy actually went so deep that we could no longer see it! If we couldn't see it, we couldn't pick it out. All I could do was wait for it to feed, get fat, and then have Mr. Tun Ti pick it out if he could see it. I probably should've been freaked out, but I kept giggling throughout the whole experience. Apparently, nothing like it (leech in the navel) had ever been heard of...neither by Mr. Tun Ti nor villagers, who deal with leeches every day. I just kept thinking about how my mom used to tell me that my bellybutton was just a hole into my body where cold air could enter - good thing we got that leech out before it got inside my organs! Hee!

Other than that, some pictures from village life...

We were treated to many delicious meals prepared in village kitchens.

With the lack of paved roads or cars in the Shan hills, sometimes the good ol' oxcart is the best mode of transport!

Just one of the many rice paddies I trekked through/by during my foot journey through the Shan mountains. I just couldn't get enough of 'em!

Villagers from the Pa-Oh hill tribe hard at work in the paddies.

During my three-day trek through the Shan mountains, I passed through a village where the land is not so amenable to farming. As such, the villagers weave bamboo baskets to sell to local farmers and merchants. The villagers do everything from grow the bamboo, cut the bark into strips, weave the baskets, to bringing the finished product to the distant markets by foot (good thing these suckers are relatively light). The baskets are sold for about 600 kyat (a bit less than US$0.50) each.

Inle Lake: Life floats along...

Inle Lake is shallow, but huge. It is surrounded by the hills of the Shan countryside and looks like a sheet of glass on a calm day.

My trek led me to Inle Lake, which is quite literally a floating world unto itself. Everything from villages, temples, and gardens float here...or are propped up on stilts. You even have to row to your neighbor's house, as land is a rare commodity! But this has also created a unique society (and tourist attraction) where life floats on and people row on (with their legs!).

A few images below...

Boats are the main mode of transportation at Inle Lake, where communities thrive among floating villages and gardens nestled within the Shan mountains. This was the boat "parking lot" outside one of the markets at the lake.

Markets take place on a rotating weekly schedule at Inle Lake - a market takes place in a different village (the ones on land!) each day. Villagers from local hill tribes come to market to sell and buy goods, which can be produce, tea, crafts, etc.

The fishermen of Inle Lake developed a special rowing technique in which they stand on the bow of their boats and row with their legs...I mean, oars...oh, whatever, it looks like this! It leaves their hands free to handle fishing nets. Cool, eh? Of course, just as I was getting really close for some good photo ops, my camera died. Argh, I hate you Kodak!

More leg-rowing...and longyis!

Life goes on...

Myanmar people who live in places where travelers may go do the best they can by selling the usual touristy knick knacks. The colorful sculptures and puppets at market were always nice to browse.

In the West, the government of Myanmar is (rightly!) villanized to the point of parody. Yes, they're repressive and creepy. As people fortunate enough to live in a functioning democracy where we take a lot of our freedoms for granted, it may be hard for us Americans to believe that life would be bearable under a government so corrupt, repressive and, well, shitty. The most naive of us might believe that Myanmar people sit around all day moping about how horrible their lives are, but this definitely isn't the case. Seeing how Myanmar people go about their daily lives is both inspiring and sad at the same time. People really plug along with their daily routines, trying to do the best they can for themselves and their families.

The famous and beautiful Strand Hotel in Yangon. Inside and out, it demonstrates a little bit of what it must have felt like to be an white colonial dude back in the day (for the bargain price of US$450-900 per night).

Most people cherish the opportunity to interact with foreigners. There is a genuine innocence and curiosity about the people of Myanmar that you cannot find in many places in the world today. It is sweet and absolutely charming. A vast majority of the people that I was lucky enough to meet and befriend are very good, honest, hardworking, and trusting people. Some people say that Myanmar is what Thailand must have been like 50 years ago, before western tourism made much of it into a capitalistic hellhole of a tourist trap (OK, that is harsh, but that's the general sentiment about Thailand!). After being cautious around people all year (having my camera stolen in China didn't help!) and all my life (I blame American cynicism!), this was refreshing. Pardon my corniness, but it really restored my faith in mankind!

So why is it sad? The very fact that they plug along almost apathetically to their political situation is a result of how hopeless alot of them regard their political reality. It's nice that Myanmar people can retain a very wry sense of humor despite it all (one joke: in Myanmar, blackouts even in the big cities like Yangon, are common occurrences everyday. The state-run newspapers, on the other hand, always show the military generals touring new electricity plants. The locals joke that you would probably get shocked touching the newspapers instead of an electric outlet, since there is apparently more electricity in the papers than in the cities!). Still, the most that people can do to express their feelings about their political and social position is to smile and shrug, and go on doing what they're doing to survive, whether that is leading a trek for tourists or driving a trishaw for 12+ hours a day. It's quite a bittersweet, melancholy existence. Maybe that's all that life is about, but it should be worth more, shouldn't it? I think I have a better sense of life, living, and appreciation after my trip. So for that, I thank the fine people of Myanmar. Ce zu beh, Myanmar!

Good job, Angelina! Amazing Angkor and a glimpse at Cambodia

2006-08-22T09:16:00.000+09:00

Angkor Wat, the most famous of the Khmer temples in Cambodia, is beyond verbal expression!

[Yes, it's been a while...and now I'm blogging backwards! I was in Cambodia before I headed to Malaysia and Singapore. Next up: Myanmar!]

When describing the famous Khmer temples of Cambodia , most people make the mistake of collectively calling them “Angkor Wat.” Maybe you even have done so in the past. Or now!!! That’s OK, because I’m here to set you straight! Angkor Wat is actually just one of the amazing temples in the man-made wonder that is Angkor , the ancient capital that is home to an incredible (and huge) complex of temples built gradually over a period of approximately 800-1000+ years ago by the great Khmer civilization. These peeps were shaping heaven out of rocks when the English and French were shuffling around in their feudal rags, people! Ah, sigh, yet another example of an advanced people that mysteriously disappeared after a period of prosperity, only to leave behind an architectural shadow of their greatness in a developing country, a la the Mayans and Egyptians). But I digress!

Bayon temple at Angkor Thom features the serene, smiling faces of Khmer King Jayavarman VIII - 173 of them, to be exact.

For those that need a more popular reference to Angkor , did you watch Tomb Raider? OK, so you were probably watching Angelina Jolie (or various parts thereof…), but remember when she was swinging through some dark temple? Or something? Do you remember any temples? OK, good! Yeah, so that’s an Angkor temple. So it’s clear now? Great!

The outer walls of Angkor Wat are decorated with incredible bas-relief murals, the most famous being one depicting the creation myth, Churning of the Sea of Milk. It's my favorite!

Apsaras, the Khmer court dancers, decorate the carved walls of many Angkor temples. It's amazing - 800 years have passed, but some of the carvings still look as fresh and beautiful as if they were finished yesterday.

My five days in Cambodia were spent mostly exploring the city of Siem Reap and its most famous surrounds, the Temples of Angkor. Although I did not have much time to explore the country (and a super-touristy place like Siem Reap and the Temples are bad places to have a genuine experience, anyway), I learned a lot about this interesting country formerly known as Democratic Kampuchea and currently (and unfortunately) known more as the place that is home to the Killing Fields, Pol Pot, landmines, and Angelina’s son’s birthplace than anything else.

After the Khmers abandoned Angkor, the temples were left to the jungle, which promptly proceeded to swallow them up. Mother Nature still reigns supreme at some temples like Ta Prohm, but the coexistence of nature and manmade marvel is really still quite beautiful.

The Journey
I rolled into Cambodia after nearly a month in Myanmar . And by “rolled,” I mean “flew on an airplane.” Originally, I had planned to travel by bus and pickup to Cambodia from Bangkok, but decided against it at the last minute – not because I didn’t want to have the adventure of getting all dirty in the back of a pickup truck (I’ve grown rather fond of dodgy overland border crossings), but because I wanted to save that day of traveling in my increasingly tight schedule. It was worth it!

The beautiful international terminal of the Siem Reap Airport, open all of 2 weeks. Hmmm, maybe taking pictures of airports is somehow a security risk...?

The flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap was a ridonkulously short affair - perhaps 35 minutes (and still we got a nice, almost-meal-like snack onboard! Damn you, crappy American air carriers!). The new international terminal at Siem Reap Airport was approximately 2 weeks old, and it was really beautiful. Call me crazy, but – even after having the great pleasure of transiting through Singapore ’s Changi (apparently, the world’s best airport) and Hong Kong International (#2 on the same list) – I’d have to say I might like lovely little Siem Reap Airport best. Well, except for the pricey US$25 exit tax that everyone needs to pay in order to fly out of Cambodia . Yeesh. Thanks a lot, Hun Sen…

Ah, the Honda Dream. Includes its own driver, too!

From the airport, I hired a motorbike driver for the US$1 ride into town. He seemed like nice enough of a guy, so I hired him for all 5 days to take me around the temples and town. I spent most of my time in Cambodia , therefore, on the back of a motorbike, inhaling large amounts of dust. Just like a local! :)

Language: Krazy Khmer!
The Cambodian peeps speak Khmer ("Khmer" is also used to describe native Cambodian people and culture). I believe the language is of the same family as Thai. To me, it sounds like a blend of Thai and Vietnamese and has lots of nuances in tones (more so than Mandarin, in my opinion). In any case, it sounds difficult! I wasn’t able to learn many (OK, any) Khmer during my short time there, but, luckily, many people in a touristy place like Siem Reap speak good English. WHEW!

Cambodian Moolah: Hope you learned your 4 times tables!
Ah, America ! You’ll be glad to know that your covert bombings of Cambodia in the 1960s and 1970s apparently had no effect on Khmer faith in the mighty (::cough::sarcasm!::cough::) US dollar! Along with the officially issued riel (pronounced "reel"), the U.S. dollar is freely used as a de facto currency of Cambodia. Prices are often quoted in riel and US dollars, although you can convert fairly quickly if you have a 3rd grade education and/or learned the 4 times tables when you learned multiplication (gee, I sure hope you did!): the exchange rate is about R$4000=US$1. Since there are no US coins in circulation, the riel is used mostly as small change. So if something costs US$1.50, and you hand over US$5, you will get US$3 and R$2000 back in change.

Food and Drink
Khmer cuisine reminds me of Thai food, except that it’s not so spicy (whew). There is liberal use of curries, lemon grass, and coconut milk. Also, we’re in Southeast Asia territory now, kids, so "fried egg on top of rice" cuisine is widely and wonderfully available. Yum. Cambodia ’s national dish is arguably amok, a mélange, if you will, of vegetables and fish (also could be chicken or pork) cooked in a banana leaf with spices and coconut milk. Positively dreamy. I also ate an awful lot of lok lak, which was beef in a savory sauce, served over rice, with a fried egg on top. And, because Cambodia was a French colony once upon a time, there are quite a few cafés around and local sandwiches on baguettes, as well as some French influence that creeps into the local cuisine (especially in the more upscale restaurants). Let me now heave a dreamy SIGH for the cuisine I have left behind.

While in Cambodia , I also discovered dragon fruit. It’s totally wacky-looking (with its skin on, it looks almost like a oversized flower bud), but delicious. The flesh is white and sweet, spotted throughout with small black seeds that sort of resemble sesame. It tastes sort of like a cross between an apple and pear – a really mild flavor, actually. My motorbike driver took me to dragon fruit farm of a friend, where we plucked a few as snacks. I guess you could say we enjoyed the fruits of our labor. Haha…I’m so funny…OK, no, I’m not. I just couldn’t resist the bad pun.

Mmmm...crickety! (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

Oh, I almost forgot! I didn’t try it, but I certainly saw the most famous of local Khmer snacks on sale at the local night market, too. What local snack do I speak of? Fried crickets!!! As you can see, they look exactly as you might expect. Supposedly, they are crunchy and nutty tasting. Quite delicious, I’m told. Um, OK. I wanted to try some, but, as I stepped up tentatively to the fried cricket snack cart (geez, I can’t believe those last 4 words exist as a collective), I chickened out as I realized I would have to buy a whole bag of crickets. I would try one or two, but buying the whole bag was a little daunting. And maybe a little gross. Still, now I sort of regret not trying them. I mean, it was probably all of US$0.10 for the bag. Let me now heave a SIGH of disappointment...but maybe also one of relief...?

Kids, kids, kids...and landmines, too
Cambodian people are generally friendly, but one aspect that I found not-so-appealing about the country was the prevalence of kids begging. Perhaps it’s because I was in a touristy area, but I’ve never seen so many kids out in full force in any country I’ve been. Yikes! These kids are professionals! In Angkor, a lot of them are selling stuff, which isn’t bad, I suppose. What I found really enteretaining were all the tricks they knew to attract foreign tourists: for example, "Hi! Would you like to buy this set of 15 postcards? I’m going to count them in 5 languages! Eins, zwei, drei.......uno, dos, tres......" and "What country are you from? America? Capital: Washington, D.C.! Population: 299 million!" (they know this for tons of countries!). Cute, but slightly disturbing when you think about the fact that they are working instead of in school. Sigh.

Still, what I find particularly disturbing are the kids who are taken out of school and then into the streets by their parents in order to beg. Nooooo! Okay, I am being a pampered, judgmental Westerner here, but I think I’m a little justified. At first, of course, the kids ask for money...and when they don’t get that they ask for pens and candy ("Candy, yum yum?"). Sigh. What can they do with candy and pens. Okay, okay...they could sell them. But I didn’t seem to see many second-hand pens (or candy...thank goodness!) on sale in the streets. I dunno...

The culture of kids begging surprised me in the most unexpected of ways. For example, I was out on Tonlé Sap lake, enjoying a boat ride through a floating village. It was quite nice to see how life was in this village, which indeed is floating: everyone's houses, the shops, and even a school were basically buildings on a floating raft platform. Other than that, life is not all that different in a floating village:

Doing the laundry...

...hitching a ride to school with friends...

...playing on the porch...

...dealing with that crazy neighbor that paints his house all brightly!

After passing the village, my boat driver drove out into the open lake, which, by the way, is the biggest freshwater lake in Asia. Yay, no people except me and my driver in the middle of a huge lake. Wait a minute...what’s this?!?

Poor kids...good thing that water is shallow!

The kids paddle out into the lake in laundry tubs and beg tourists on boatrides, too! I even saw a mom who took her kids out on a boat and paddled towards tourists so that they could get a head start in their laundry tubs. Double sigh.

Again, yes, I know I’m imposing my own social beliefs on this country when I express my disbelief/anger/sadness on this. From a purely selfish and personal point of view, I just hate seeing kids’ innocence stolen from them in this way. In a perfect world, kids would be in school and playing, and wouldn’t see begging as a viable way of life (which I see as the beginning to greed and, eventually, theft and perhaps even worse). But life isn’t perfect, I suppose. It just makes me really sad.

Another sad aspect of Cambodia is its still-prevalent landmine problem, another legacy left by years of war. There are about 40,000 landmine amputees in the country. It was an aspect of Cambodia of which I had heard, but I didn’t know much past superficial details. Now, well, I can’t say I know the nitty gritty of it, but my experiences in Cambodia have really raised my awareness. I hate to say it, but that Angelina Jolie is doing some great work (you have to give her that, even if you’re pro-Jennifer Aniston!). Gosh, that was the second Angelina reference in this blog! Yikes.

Lasting Impressions: Crafts, Music, and An Unexpected Lesson in Cambodian Healthcare

I want one.

Lest I sound pessimistic about Cambodia, let me say this: I think the country has wonderful potential for development. Besides developing responsible tourism (every country - even the so-called "developed" ones - can benefit from this), I think there is great promise in traditional Khmer crafts. I visited the Siem Reap workshops of an organization called Artisans d’Angkor, which trains Cambodia youth in the traditional craftworking so that they can develop real skills while producing things for sale. Okay, the cynical side of me (and probably you) is thinking, "OMG, this is exploitative labor!” All right, all right...I see your point. But I think it is a start. And the stuff produced by these kids is beautiful:

Finished!

The carved stone tablet above (a replica of one of the bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat) costs US$1,200! I’m sure the artisan (the talented and very nice girl with the mask made this tablet by hand) does not see a significant cut of that, but imagine how she could use the skills for her benefit in the future! Well, that’s the way I’d like to see it anyway.

Ah, one last thing: While riding back and forth (and back and forth...and back and forth over the length of my 3-day entry pass) from the temples to Siem Reap, I passed by Katha Bopha II Jayavarman VII Children’s Hospital everyday. A sign outside advertised “Free Cello Concert by Beatocello Every Saturday.” Hmmm, free music! And the cello, no less! I was game! Well, it turned out that Dr. Beat Richner, founder of several kid’s hospitals in Cambodia, talked more than he played (and he played beautifully...I pretended I didn’t know that his tone went sharp, though :). He spoke a lot about the dire state of Cambodian healthcare and how third world countries deserved first world facilities, too, despite many naysayers (including many policy makers and politicians) who claim that his hospitals are too “advanced” for the Cambodia people. It was really quite an inspiring night, from learning about the poor healthcare conditions of countries like Cambodia to appreciating the passion and hard work of people like Dr. Richner who try to improve things in the small ways they know how. As I didn’t have much money to donate, I instead dropped in 350 mL of my universal donor O+ blood for the kiddies.

The famous Dr. Beat Richner and cello.

The concert was my last activity in Cambodia. Perhaps it’s appropriate I will always associate the country with the cello, an instrument that sounds so sad, but is always so beautiful despite its melancholy. Thank you, Cambodia!

Return to the homeland: Chillin' with marine life (and then some) in Singapore

2006-07-31T00:21:00.000+09:00

Singapore: Land of my birth, cleanliness, and strangely evil-looking Merlion statues.

I took an express night train from Malaysia to Singapore, but, apparently, the train wasn't so express after all. In fact, during the night, it almost derailed (or something like that), so I ended up arriving in Singapore 7 hours late. Well, better late and alive than...er, something else, I say. Yay!

Singapore has been great so far. It's my first time back in about 19 years (since I left as a 6 year-old). Needless to say, I don't remember much in terms of what things looked like, but the weirdest experiences make me recall memories from my youth -- in particular, eating some of the local food, with which my aunt, uncle, and cousins are stuffing me silly (no complaints from my end, though...)!

I wish I could say these cuties were the same ones I saw when diving, but they are courtesy of my trip to Underwater World, which is quite possibly the coolest thing next to scuba diving itself.

My family has also been taking me around to see some of the more popular, "touristy" sites. Today, I went to Sentosa Island. Nice family fun, really...especially Underwater World! Some pics follow below, some of them demonstrating the crazy things that one ends up doing when a few persistent cousins provide a bit of encouragement.

Fishies!

Encouraged to pet a pink/humpback dolphin...

...persuaded to put a large snake around my neck...

...and, after such crazy behavior, why not go all out and take a picture of some cranes blocking the Singapore skyline? In this brave endeavor, no encouragement from my relatives was needed. I'm really such a daredevil!

Blogging backwards from Paradise...sorta

2006-07-28T14:19:00.000+09:00

Um, yeah. So I don't really know why I left this, but I did.

Hello, everyone! Well, seeing that I have been negligent in my blogging duties, I suppose I'll have to write about my recent adventures in reverse chronological order. I'll try to keep it straight for you all!

After my brief internet interlude in Bangkok International Airport, I flew to Siem Reap in Cambodia where I saw the famed temples of Angkor. Amazing! Words cannot really describe it, so I won't even try. I will post pictures soon.

After a week in Cambodia, I flew (I know, I know...so posh!) to Kuala Lumpur ("KL" is what the cool kids say), Malaysia, arriving at about 3:00 PM in the afternoon. For some reason, the Kuala Lumpur Airport is ridonkulously far from the city of Kuala Lumpur (about a 1.5 hour ride!). So after I wandered around looking for cheap transport, got on the bus, arrived in KL city, it was already 5:15 PM. Some more wandering around yielded the fact that a train to Wakaf Bahru (from here, I could go to the Perhentian Islands for scuba diving!) was leaving at 6:00 PM. I originally wanted to stay a night or two so I could stroll around this cosmopolitan capital city, but I wanted to dive more, so I hopped on the night train bound for Wakaf Bahru. The 13-hour ride in Economy Class included my usual train/bus travel activity of playing with local kids. So cute!

So I have been scuba diving for 5 days at the Perhentian Islands. It was a great time. Now I'm an "Advanced" Open Water diver. Whee! Actually, this effectively means nothing...except now I can dive deeper (below 18 meters/60 feet). I saw some wonderful things during my 10 dives - including my first shark (a beautiful 1.5m long black tip reef shark!), turtles (oh, how I love thee!), and tons and tons of Nemos (i.e., Clownfish). Funny thing - I asked my instructor if anyone ever calls them clownfish anymore and he replied, very seriously, no. I guess Nemo is clear enough. :)

Now that I am more relaxed in my diving, I can concentrate on enjoying the experience instead of worrying about, say, drowning. I also realized that I sing to myself underwater. Mostly, it's the soundtrack to Disney's The Little Mermaid (personally, one of my favorite movies). I was swimming along and playing with some Nemos when I thought, "Wait...am I singing 'Part of Your World' right now?" "Under the Sea" is also a popular one...obviously!

In any case, I had a wonderful time in the Perhentians. It's hard to leave, but now I'm back on the mainland, awaiting my train to Singapore. Lots of time left, so I'll attempt a Cambodia update and start on my monster Myanmar update, which could take ages!

Keep an eye open...!

Goodbye, Myanmar...Hello, Cambodia (and, temporarily, Bangkok)!

2006-07-18T18:47:00.000+09:00

I return from the internet-less abyss of Myanmar courtesy of the free internet access in the Bangkok Airways passenger lounge (terrific airline, by the way!). Glorious high-speed internet! Bangkok International Airport is pretty spiffy, too...from what I've seen, I guess Bangkok is like a really really really big mall. :)

I am currently in transit to Siem Reap in Cambodia, where I hope to see the temples of Angkor - apparently quite blog-worthy. In any case, Myanmar was wonderful. I had a super time and much blogging is needed on that journey, too. But keep cool, my babies...it might take a while, but I'll work on it. First I'll tackle this email business. Apparently, I've got 324 unread emails...most of it not spam. Yikes.

I'll also figure out what's going on with the Spartan weirdness going on with my blog design. I apologize for the lack of prettiness these few weeks. :)

See ya soon!

Time warp! The Road to Mandalay (Ruili–Jiegao–Mu-Se–Lashio–Hsipaw–Pyin U Lwin–Mandalay)

2006-06-29T18:55:00.000+09:00

Hello, everyone! Actually, I'm not in Mandalay yet...but I was able to get online faster than I thought! The internet is indeed slooow. As such, I'm not going to attempt to post any pictures in this post.

I am currently in Pyin U Lwin (or Pyin Oo Lwin, however you want to spell it), a lovely old town about 2 hours drive outside of Mandalay where one still feels the lingering presence of the British colonial air.

In fact, I imagine that much of the Myanmar that I have seen has not changed much since the British left in the 1940s. This is the type of place where most people still get excited and wave at trains as they pass. It's a place that remains very sweet and innocent, something that I honestly haven't seen very much of in my travels this year.

On Monday, I crossed the border from Jiegao (China) to Mu-Se (Myanmar). The Chinese border guards were awesome! I had a great chat with this wonderful bunch of fellows. They were very kind...and extremely amused to see an American passport!

It took a bit of time to exit the Chinese side (the customs officials took a digital photo of every single page of my passport), but this was nothing compared to the paperwork on the Myanmar side. Holy crap! I had to sign copies upon copies of...stuff. OK, I'm ashamed to say I signed all sorts of stuff without even reading it! But – trust me, legal types - I wouldn't have had time to! Luckily, my guide (if you cross overland from China, you must have an official "guide"), Mr. Tong Kai, assured me I wasn't agreeing to anything crazy. In Mu-Se, Mr. Tong Kai – an adorable (as in "little kid" adorable) Burmese guy who looked like he was about 15 (he was 27)– said, "I just have to make some photocopies for the government and our personal records, OK?" He proceeded to photocopy non-stop for about 45 minutes. Yikes.

I learned that my overland passage into Myanmar is actually an arrangement that the owner of the travel agency has with a high-up government (i.e, military) official. The officials gets a little bribe for allowing foreigners' passages overland. Hmmm...so that's what my "tourist permit" fee was for!

I eventually did get to leave Mu-Se, in a hired car that took me on the 4 ½ hour trip from Mu-Se to Lashio on the old Burma Road. This particular Burma Road (this is just one of the three actual "Burma Roads" used during WWII) was an overland route from Mandalay to Kunming (in China) that the Allies used to supply the Chinese Nationalist troops. The road was decent, but the views were stunningly beautiful (darn! A picture is really necessary here!). Along the way were a few police checkpoints, which the Myanmar government has set up in an attempt to curb smuggling over the Chinese border. "You can take pictures of anything along the journey,\" Mr. Tong Kai tells me, "But please do not take pictures of the checkpoints. The military will be very mad." Thanks for the tip, Mr. Tong Kai!

In any case, I eventually got to Hsipaw without too much incident, although I have already had experiences with frequently blocked roads (traffic comes to a standstill for hours on these old single lane roads) and inconsistent electricity (power in Hsipaw only from 6 to 10 PM!). I stayed at a wonderful guesthouse and took some lovely treks out to local villages. In the Hsipaw area (Shan state in general), there are many ethnic Chinese, so I was delighted that I could still practice my Mandarin with some of them!! It was a great experience chatting with the villagers, either with my own Mandarin or through the help of my guide (the owner of the guesthouse, Mr. Charles, who spoke excellent Mandarin).

I had to drop the dream of hiking in Namhsan, the "Switzerland of Myanmar" (why is everyone forever comparing nice places with Switzerland?!?!), because – after waiting for transport for 5 hours – it was apparent that the bus to this very remote area of Myanmar was not coming...ever. Boo! So I headed to Pyin U Lwin on a sloooooow train, packed with people, baskets of fruit, and various other cargo. The journey took 7 hours (would have taken only 2-3 hours by road), but it was fun! We slowed to a creep over the Gokteik Railway bridge, built by American engineers in the early 1900s over a deep gorge. Felt like we would fall into the gorge at any second, but what an experience!

I hired a guide today to try to hike to the Anisakan Waterfalls outside of Pyin U Lwin, but it was too rainy to brave the steep 45 minute descent into the waterfall valley. Boo! On the bright side, I did get to see the lovely old buildings of Pyin U Lwin, built by the British during their time here (red brick = British!), as well as some other little sites out of town (smaller waterfalls and a weird cave filled with Buddha statues). My guide is also an awesome dude – he invited me to his house for tea, and I ended up chatting for a long time with his uncle. It turns out a lot of the older folks here – around 50-60ish years old – speak terrific, quaint British-accented English because of their education in British schools during the old days (before the military government nationalized the schools and education became crap). They love chatting about country's current situation and just about anything. It is an extremely humbling experience. If you don't know much about Myanmar, please read up on it! You'll be amazed at what has been happening here for the past 40 or so years.

So I guess things aren't working out 100% in terms of visits to sites I want to see, but that's just more excuses to come back here. I already realize that I won't have enough time to see all of this wonderful country, and it certainly deserves a better look!

Off to Mandalay, then! Hopefully another blog is right around the corner...

Zaijian, Zhongguo! (Goodbye, China!)

2006-06-25T23:19:00.000+09:00

Well, this was my second trip to China, and I can definitively say that I appreciated it much more at the ripe old age of 25 than at 19.

It is hard to compare my two trips here, as I visited different places each time. Indeed, it would be like comparing apples and oranges (pardon the cliché!). One thing that is very noticeable is that China is no longer as cheap as it was when I last traveled here. Sure, accomodation and food are still very cheap, but I was shocked to see that train and bus ticket prices had literally doubled (even tripled) in price since 2000. This is due not only to the increased number of foreign tourists visiting China these days, but also to the growing middle-class in China that can afford to travel now. In fact, I was surprised to learn that most of the Chinese tourists I bumped into actually flew from city to city, something that was quite uncommon when I was last in China (airfare is twice as expensive as traveling by train, and in 2000, the only people I knew who could afford to travel via airplane were foreign tourists). The Chinese tourists, meanwhile, thought I was superweird for taking the train.

On a sour note, I also realized just how much the Chinese will try to rip off foreigners - vendors, taxi drivers, etc. Yes, if you are "white", the ripping off is sometimes just obscene and much more apparent. For example, I was bargaining with a vendor for a hat, and he claimed that he was giving it to me for a good price at 15 RMB. I asked what he would charge if I was white. "Nothing less than 40 RMB," he responded. Even at that point, I still knew I was being ripped off. You see, one is not exempt from the gouging simply because his/her skin is yellow, or even if one speaks fluent Chinese. There are so many regional dialects and accents in China that simply opening your mouth will give away whether you're a waidiren (outsider). Still, I can understand why they do it to a point. Obviously, the west is much more affluent, and the need to make a living is obviously important. Plus, there are very honest people out there (I was helped by many of them), so for them I am grateful. I just wish that the price gouging was a little more...civil?

By the way, I did buy the hat for 15 RMB. :)

As an older, more reflective (I hope?) traveler this time around, I also took more care to observe more around me. Nothing specific, perse, just what I've been doing throughout my travels, I suppose. And, given the loooonnnnng distances I've had to travel during this trip, I had a lot of time to reflect upon the things I've learned.

(1) We westerners are likely to be enraged by what we perceive as China's disrepect towards environment and history, what with their flooding villages to build huge hydroelectric dams and ripping down centuries-old buildings to make way for skyscrapers. However, the average Chinese is rather nonplussed by such occurrences. The typical train of thought is "Well, if it's newer, then it's better. And that's progress." Maybe it's that a people with 5,000 years of history can deal with loss/progress a little better than Americans with a history of just 230 years. Or...maybe it's something else? I'm not quite sure.

(2) Similar nonchalant Chinese attitudes apply to Tibet. When I asked Mr. Yang, the Tibetan who drove me to Yak Meadow, what he thought about the Tibet situation, he simply replied, "Well, Tibet is part of China. I mean, they conquered Tibet hundreds of years of ago, so all's fair, right? Isn't that what happened in the rest of the world?" He said that many/most Tibetans inside China (the ones from his community, anyway) probably feel the same, and noted that they do distinguish themselves from the "Free Tibet" Tibetans who live outside the country. Maybe we could argue brainwashing, but Mr. Yang answered so simply and sincerely that I would find it hard to disrespect his views.

(3) China's big cities are incredible - truly. It would be hard to find cleaner/wider streets, more orderly public transport, more impressive urban planning in any of the biggest cities in the world. However, I do see how it is window dressing for many of the problems in the country. You can very easily duck behind the side streets of the big cities to see how they are so not clean, and the disparity between life in the city and the country are heart-rendingly sad. In Yangshuo, I chatted with a lady from the countryside, Mrs. Zhang, who climbed all the way up Moon Hill (big tourist spot) with me just to be able to sell me a drink or some postcards. She seemed pleasant enough (plus, call me super Chinese, I can't stand to be rude to older people), so we chatted during the climb up. She said that she came to Moon Hill everyday just so that she could maybe sell something to a tourist. She didn't sell something everyday. I eventually bought some postcards from her for 10 RMB (US$1.25), the least I could do for her interesting insight and company.

(4) In two weeks, I have probably seen more of China - and the world - than the average Chinese will ever see. In Tengchong, I bought yogurt (aloe flavor! How you like them apples?!?) from a small dairy store near my hotel. Naturally, given the lactose intolerance suffered by most Chinese, the store was always empty, and so the cute little shopgirl, maybe 16 or so, and I got to chatting. During my second visit there, she asked if I was from Kunming, seeming really impressed that I was from the "big city" (by the way, she probably thought I was from Kunming because I didn't speak with the local accent, which was completely incomprehensible to me. Therefore, anyone who speaks with a somewhat "standard" accent must be from the big city!). When I said I was actually from America, her eyes got superwide. "You're really from America?" she said, "Wow!" She had never even been to Kunming before (12 hours away), so I could only imagine what she actually thought of meeting something from outside the country when she came from a place where seemingly no one visited. There are just moments when you feel very lucky for and humbled by your place in the world, and this was one of them.

(5) Although my Chinese is crap, I have had lots of fun chatting with local people. It is terribly fun, especially when they ask where I am from and I ask them to guess ("Korea?" "No? Not Korea? Are you sure you're not Korean?"). One of my favorite conversations was with one Mrs. Pei, a really sweet 40-ish lady from Sichuan, who will always remain near and dear to my heart because she thought I was 18! :) Anyhoo, her husband and she were on vacation in Lijiang, staying at the same hotel where I stayed. I had just arrived, while they were preparing to leave. I asked them for recommendations on what was fun to do in Lijiang. Her husband started raving on and on about some Xianggelila, the Chinese transliteration for "Shangri-La" (it took me a while to figure this out!), which most people believe is in Yunnan Province (Zhongdian, actually). I must have looked confused on why he was going on and on about Shangri-La, until Mrs. Pei interrupted.

Mrs. Pei: He's just kidding...he's just saying that everywhere around here is pretty nice, so you can probably see whatever you like. You know Shangri-La is just an imaginary place? It doesn't really exist. It's just that perfect someplace that is in your heart.

Me: So if it's that perfect someplace in your heart, then Shangri-La could be anywhere then? Every country and every place could have it's own Shangri-La?

Mrs. Pei: Well, yes! That's exactly right!

That said, I'm hoping that my travels to Myanmar (which I expect to last about 3 weeks) will bring some Shangri-La moments, too! The trip will also bring a temporary hiatus to blogging activity, given that most of the country is not online and, where it is online, the connections are slow and censored. Boo. I'll miss you, dear readers, but hope to come back with many tales and pictures of my Burmese days!

Tengchong to Ruili: The road that time nearly forgot

2006-06-25T20:06:00.000+09:00

Quite frankly, the most quality dirt road on which I've ever had the pleasure to travel!

I spent the better half of today traveling from Tengchong to Ruili, two towns in the further reaches of already far-reaching Yunnan Province. How can I tell that these two towns are a bit off the beaten path? Both lack a KFC.

Paddies...crop fields...repeat scenery for several hours.

Anyhoo, the trip took little more than 6 hours by bus, half of which was on a dirt road crossing through some countryside that China's modernization had apparently not yet reached (save the occasional power line or two). Locals still trotted along the road herding their water buffalo and the occasional donkey, and the countryside was lush with rice paddies and farms. Unlike much of the rest of China, it seems that time had stood still for decades (maybe centuries?) in this little stretch of the country. I sat in the front seat of the bus (right next to the driver!), trying not to get freaked out by the fact that I had no seatbelt and could be thrown from the vehicle if any of the bus driver's crazy attempts at passing vehicles on the curvy mountain roads went awry. The voyage was very scenic, and I really enjoyed it. I barely noticed that my I-Pod finally died...but at least I was expecting this (unlike with my camera!), as it has been acting funny for weeks.

Mmm...dog meat restaurant! (Yes, they do eat dog in certain parts of China, but the Chinese also love to keep doggies - really cute ones! - as their pets, too. It seems that man's best friend for man's best friend sake is particularly popular in Yunnan Province, where pampered pups roam the streets!)

Ruili is the (seedy?) town on the border with Myanmar (it's the only place in China where I've stumbled across an open sex shop), and I will be crossing over tomorrow. The town itself has an interesting mix of people - there are Chinese, Burmese, Uighurs, Thai, and even some South Asians. At dinner, my waiter was actually Burmese (his longyi - the wrap-around sarong "skirt" that both Burmese men and women wear - gave it away). He spoke no Chinese, but did speak English, so he gave me some tips on where to eat when I was in Mandalay (his hometown). The little kids in the restaurant were also Burmese, but spoke Chinese, so I had a nice chat with them. So cute!

Around these parts, it doesn't seem so much like China anymore, but I guess it will make the transition to Myanmar easier!

RIP "Poddy" (November 2004-June 2006) "Oh, we knew ye all too well."

How I know I'm not Chinese (nationality-wise, I mean...I know I'm ethnically Chinese! Yeesh, the terms are so technical!)

2006-06-24T17:04:00.000+09:00

How I know I am not a Chinese girl

(1) My hair is not bleached blonde (or, rather, orange) or colored bright red, nor is it streaked, tipped, highlighted in any of these colors. Now, as someone who did color their hair a bit in the past, I'm a fan of haircoloring as a means to enhance your own natural color; however, the orange-blond look is utterly ridiculous. By the way, bonus points to being a real Chinese girl if one has an unevenly spiky haircut or a frizzy perm with her colored locks!

(2) I do not wear spiky, high-heeled sandals or three-inch wedges, which seem to be very popular with the Chinese chicks, especially when climbing mountains and stairs at tourist sites. Even if I did wear such inappropriate footwear, I would hope that I wouldn't pair them with "ankle-highs," which is exactly what they sound like - stockings (in all the usual stocking colors like nude, beige, sand, etc.) that only go up to the ankle. They look weird.

(3) I don't use an umbrella on a sunny day. To be fair, I can sort of understand the girls. An umbrella on a sunny day does keep you cool. But the girls here seem to fear the sun because they do not want to get tanned. Historically and culturally, anyway, dark skin meant that you worked out in the fields and were too "common" or unladylike (for a more disturbing reason for the fear of the sun, please also see #4). Ah, well, at least it's good for the umbrella industry here - there are lots of cute umbrellas for sale all the time...regardless of the weather!

(4) I don't use skin-whitening cream. Again, from the historical-cultural reason, I could understand wanting to be pale. However, it was explained to me from some Chinese friends that most girls use these creams because they actually want to be whiter...like a white American or European. What?!?! Sigh. I'd like to point out that no one is whiter than white people than Chinese girls. Well, except maybe the Japanese girls. Darn, why do they have to be better than the Chinese in everything?!?! :)

(5) I'm not obsessed with enlarging my breasts. In Shanghai, I kept seeing posters (even in taxis!) advertising breast-enlargement clinics. I've also seen several infomercials for a "breast pump" that is suppose to enhance one's cleavage. Yikes!

All of the above reasons are actually a bit disturbing to me, because they all indicate a desire to look "western" or "white." Kind of ironic that Chinese are always so proud to be Chinese...except when it comes to their looks. Next thing you know, they'll be getting surgery to form a "crease" on their eyelid so th at they can look "white," too. ::shudder:: Yes, I know that I might be a bit harsh here, since we can argue cultural imperialism of the West and whatnot as opposed to Chinese hypocrisy, but I feel sad when people can't be proud of the way they naturally are. Hey, Chinese girls! Your hair is supposed to be black! On average, you are likely to be petite! Your skin is supposed to be a bit yellow, and your boobs are probably going to be a bit small! Don't be ashamed of it!!!

How I know I am not a Chinese guy

(1) On hot days, I don't walk down the street with my T-shirt pulled over my belly.

(2) I don't hack up phlegm on the streets (Note: My lack of hacking also distinguishes me from many Chinese girls).

(3) I'm not obsessed with my cellphone (Note: My lack of obsession also distinguishes me from Chinese girls).

(4) I don't have a spiky, anime-type hairdo or a mullet haircut a la hip Koreans.

(5) I don't spend hours and hours (and I mean, hours and hours...) "gaming" (that is, playing video games online) or watching VCDs at the local internet cafe. Dorks!

(6) My pinky fingernail isn't 2 inches long (eeeeew).

(7) I don't smoke like a chimney...no, wait, make that car wreck...no, wait, make that big flaming plane crash (Boeing 747 or Airbus Jet variety). Call me the spoiled westerner, but the cigarette smoking here is intolerable. I guess that's what you get when ciggies cost about 10RMB (about US$1.25) per pack.

Lijiang Luck: In addition to the natural beauty of Southwest China, I also discover that yak jerky is tasty!

2006-06-22T16:09:00.000+09:00

According to Lonely Planet, the view of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan) from Lijiang's Black Dragon Pool Park is the "most obligatory photo shoot in Southwestern China." Entry fee cost too much, though (thank goodness for my old student ID...discount!). By the way, I still hate my new camera.

Working my way westward through Yunnan province, I realize that even cheesiest of tourist set-ups (Dress up like a Tibetan Princess! Take a picture with this gussied-up yak!) cannot detract from the great natural beauty of Yunnan. Sure, imperial buildings and the Great Wall in Beijing are impressive, and Shanghai is pretty nifty with its use of neon, but Yunnan (which, because of the high altitude of much of the province, means "South of the Clouds") is simply beautiful. It is in the far southwest of China, bordering Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, as well as next door to Tibet. The minority presence here is quite strong and definitely makes for an interesting cultural experience. In Lijiang, the most prevalent minorities are the Naxi/Nakhi (their written language is a form of hieroglyphics! Cool!) and the Tibetans. The Naxi and Tibetans, of course, were originally nomadic people dependent on the humble yak for much in their lives. Thus the yak jerky. Yum (although I must admit it doesn't taste terribly different from beef jerky)!

Oooh, old.

Lijiang is famed for its "Old Town", or Gucheng, which is basically a part of town that hasn't changed very much since it was founded (ignore the whole electricity and running water thing, will you?). There is also the "New Town," but it's just your typical modern Chinese city...nothing special! After a big earthquake in 1996, much of the New Town suffered damage, but the Old Town stood up pretty well. The government decided to pour some money into developing tourism in the Old Town, and UNESCO eventually granted the Lijiang Old Town World Heritage status (all right! Another World Heritage Site that I have visited!). Anyhoo, the Old Town is pedestrianized (no cars allowed!) - a good thing, considering that bikes would barely fit in the narrow, winding alleys that are the "streets" of Old Town! It's a twisting maze to get anywhere, but it's sort of fun to get lost in the mix. Other than that, I have to say that Lijiang isn't terribly exciting. Nice, but kinda boring. The exciting part about this place is the nature that surrounds it!

So I took a daytrip out to see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (by the way, the name sounds so much cooler in Chinese...). At first I was really mad, because package tourist touts kept telling me that I couldn't get to Yak Meadow (Maoniuping, one of the nicest sites from where one can view the mountains and surrounding scenery) by myself and, even if I did manage to get there, I would never be able to finish the trip in time to catch my bus out of Lijiang. So everyone kept telling me the wrong directions as to where to catch the bus to Yak Meadow! Jerks! Finally, the clerk at a camera shop clued me in, and I was able to get there myself. I did have to relent and hire private transport, though. At 80RMB (about US$10) roundtrip to Yak Meadow (which is about a 90 km total trip), I figured it was worth the cost. It was!

Apparently, we are not far enough south of the clouds so that I can actually see the snow peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Bummer.

My driver, Mr. Yang, was actually a really nice Tibetan guy who grew up in Lijiang. He will also remain near and dear to me because he guessed that I looked about 19 or 20 - God bless you, Mr. Yang! Anyhoo, we chatted about differences between China and America (a common topic once people find out I'm a Meiji huaqiao - overseas Chinese living in America), what he thought about minorities in Lijiang, what he thought about China, his wanting to leave the country, and his thoughts about Tibet. Really interesting!

The view from Yak Meadow isn't too bad, wouldn't you say?

Mr. Yang also helped me have a very Chinese experience of zou houmen - "going through the backdoor," so the Chinese say. The only way to get up to Yak Meadow (which is approximately 3,700 meters, or a bit more than 10,000 feet, high up on a hill) is to take a 60 RMB cable car. Mr. Yang said he "knew people," and so he could get me in the cable car for 40RMB. Sweet! This, combined with my sly use of my old University ID in getting a "student" entry ticket, saved me tons on what would have been a really expensive trip. Well, it was still pretty expensive, but it was definitely worth it.

Mr. Yang made a pretty clever observation, too. On the way back from Yak Meadow, he saw me snapping pictures out the car window. "Ah," he says, "I know you are really a foreigner (waiguoren) because you like taking pictures of only the scenery. We Chinese like to take pictures of ourselves, you know."

Yeah, I know!

Local people working on the tourist walkway that runs through Yak Meadow.

Unfortunately, you can't hike too much on the meadow or the surrounding mountains, just walk on a rickety wooden walkway and admire the view all around. Also unfortunately for me, it was a cloudy day, so I couldn't really see the snow peaks of the mountains...which is really the point of a place called Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, right? Still, very lovely. The weather was great for being at such a high altitude.

Just one type of the beautiful little field flowers growing around Yak Meadow.

You're not supposed to stray off the wooden walkway, but at one point I had to because the workmen were rebuilding part of the walkway. Great! Time to prance in the meadow! The meadow is wonderfully green and dotted with so many little wild flowers. There is not much development for miles and miles around (save for touristy kiosks) and, at the time, I was the only tourist in the area. It was so peaceful.

The snow from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain actually melts and flows all the way down to this natural reservoir, which is called Whitewater River (Baishui He) because the water is so incredibly clear. You're not likely to find water so clear in fast-developing (read: fast-polluting) China.

I would love to come back to Yunnan (and Lijiang) again to see the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on a clear day and also to try hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge. Let me know if you'd like to join me!

Ah, off to Tengchong then, where I will try to hike some local volcanoes (haven't quite kicked that Guatemalan volcano addiction just yet) before crossing into Myanmar. Until next time!

Bad news, bears: A slight setback...but don't worry! I'm OK!

2006-06-21T08:12:00.000+09:00

I had originally planned to title this post "Guilin Gabbin' and Yangshuo Yappin'", so that I could perhaps describe to you the awesome beauty of the karst topography of both Guilin and Yangshuo in Guanxi Province. If you've ever seen a "traditional" Chinese shan-shui (mountain-water) painting, you might have an idea of what this scenery might have looked like. Indeed, it was awesome.

Actually, Guilin was just OK - too big of a city...I couldn't see the mountains past the big buildings, but the city parks were pretty nice. Yangshuo, on the other hand, was terrific. I would have described in greater detail about how I rode a twin-bike with my guide (a lovely local woman who lived in the countryside...best 20RMB I've ever spent!) through the Yangshuo countryside, bought flower tiaras from sweet elderly women on the side of the road, how I climbed Moon Hill, how I ate the local specialty of pijiu yu (beer fish!), my boat ride down the beautiful Lijiang River and just what a wonderful time I had in general. And, of course, I would have posted plenty of pictures.

Would, of course, is the operative word.

I'm now in Kunming, where I came to arrange my land crossing into Myanmar/Burma (as you wish...). Last night, happy that everything was arranged (surprisingly easy!), I took a stroll down the main town square, happily snacking on street food and looking at the cute things on sale in the street...all the while taking pictures of course. I usually keep my camera in my pocket, with my hand on it at all times. Yesterday night, however, I must have pulled my hand out for a second too long when I was picking at some of the street goods.

My camera was stolen. Right out of my pocket. And I didn't even feel a thing.

At first, I thought I just dropped it, so I just went back and forth on the square, asking everyone if they had seen something. No go. There were definitely lots of people around me and quite a few street kids, all bumping into me as we were on the crowded sidewalk. It took me a while to accept the fact that the camera was really gone. I just kinda sat in the square for a while, in denial that something so bad could happen that quickly. Maybe it would have helped if I cried, but I was too tired to do even that. If the camera was just gone, I could deal with that, but I was really sad about the wonderful pictures that I wanted to show my family and, of course, you guys! Needless to say, the night was kind of a bummer. This morning I filed a police report for my beloved Canon (yeah, I know my camera is gone, but when there's hope there's possibility!). I had to skip climbing Xi Shan, a mountain with lovely views over Dianchi Lake.

Well, perhaps I've been traveling too long without bad stuff happening to me! Everyone needs a good "I was robbed!" story, and here's mine. Pretty anticlimatic, huh? Anyhoo, it's a good lesson that you can never be too careful. Actually, I feel quite OK now...just trying to maintain a zen-like approach to life. Plus, I can say that I had a good experience practicing my Chinese with the nice police officers. I also got to know Jenny, the local girl who helped me arrange my land crossing permit to Myanmar/Burma, a lot better. We started chatting about my bad day and ended up chatting for a long time about everything else instead. She eventually took me to the lovely city park by her house so that I could take some pictures for some (good) memories and introduced me to Kunming's famous "across the bridge" noodles (guoqiao mixian...yum!).

So gaining a new friend isn't bad, considering I only lost a material thing. Plus, I know that my memories will always remain sweetest in my mind, even if I don't have any pictures to show for it. If anything, this experience provides a good excuse to visit Yangshuo next time I am in China (something I would do in a heartbeat, anyway). At least I still have my health...oh, yeah, and my passport and money! But, of course, I went out and bought a new camera (crappy!) right away, so even the money is slowly disappearing.

This trip is getting expensive! Still fun, though...I think! In any case, I've decided to stay in China for an extra week before crossing into Myanmar. Need to catch up on my picture-taking, of course! I promise that I won't disappoint! :)

RIP "Canny" (July 2005 - June 2006) "Oh, we hardly knew ye."

Shanghai Stories: Quite the city!

2006-06-15T21:47:00.000+09:00

Bright lights + big city + Chinese fascination with neon = Shanghai! This is Pudong, the "newer" district of China's would-be business capital.

New York City is the biggest city in the U.S. of A at a respectable 8 million people. Shanghai is the largest city in the People's Republic at a massive 16-plus million...and growing.

Wowee.

I enjoyed my time in Shanghai. It was pretty much what one might expect of a big city - I spent quite a lot of time looking at big buildings and walking around brightly neon-lit shopping districts. The city is really very cosmopolitan, due in part to its colonial past. It seemed appropriate, then, that my journey began on a German train.

Ready to fly on a magnetic track?

OK, it is lame that I took a picture of the Maglev poster to represent my ride on it, but - trust me - the poster is much more impressive than the train itself. Actually, let me rephrase: the train is pretty cool...inside. Outside it looks rather unspectacular (go figure). But the fact that the train can hit top speed of 430 kilometers per hour is pretty neat. Um, I guess. As I expected, the Maglev ride was anticlimatic: 8 minutes, with less than 30 seconds at the top speed. Obviously, it's just a show of modernity. A 50RMB (that's RMB = Renminbi, aka kuai...about US$6.25) show. At least I got to keep myself amused by this guy on the train:

This one's for the grandkids.

It was my humorous re-introduction to how much Chinese people love taking pictures of seemingly pointless things. Oh, how could I ever forget?!? Anyhoo, each car of the Maglev train has a display to show passengers how fast the train is going. The dude above kept telling his friend to take a picture of him by the speedometer display. First at 250 km/hr...then at 320...("Oh, no, wait! It goes faster!")...then at 399...then 429...("Wait! It goes up to 430! Wait 'til it goes up to 430!!")...and finally at 430 km/hr ("Hurry up and take the picture before it slows down!"). Of course, I had to take the opportunity to capture this moment. After all, I'm Chinese, too. :)

Gardening tip #1: Nothing brightens up hazy polluted vistas like a manicured lawn with pink flowers.

Maybe I've forgotten what the streets of Beijing look like, but I found Shanghai to be clean, green, and very wide. The streets are impressively wide! And the pollution isn't nearly as bad as Beijing.

I had a flashback when I saw this sign and started convulsing in the street, all the while foaming at the mouth...just kidding! I think...

As every good youke (tourist) must do, I took a stroll for several hours on the Bund, which is basically all the classic colonial-power-built business buildings of Old Shanghai. Imagine my surprise to find my old employer's Shanghai branch! Just FYI, ABN AMRO's Chinese name is translated simply as "Dutch Bank."

More taking pictures of pointless signs in the street! Hey, I really am Chinese!

The building that is going to house this Dolce & Gabanna is huge They don't build stores like this because of the demand from foreign tourists...in case you had any doubt how rich the Chinese are getting!

The Bund at night, in all its Bundy goodness.

The Bund is lovely, especially when lit up at night. Here are the two classic buildings of the street: the old Customs House and the old HSBC bank. In my opinion, the Bund really resembles Chicago's Michigan Avenue (around the Wrigley building, for those "in the know"), so much that, when I was strolling along, I just kinda shrugged my shoulders and thought, "I think I've seen this before!" Still, I love looking at old architecture, so it was quite fun to walk around.

Mmm...small birds on sticks.

Thanks to a certain set of Shanghai-born Chicago twins, I got hooked up with Edith (above) and her mom. They were the cutest, sweetest people ever! Besides inviting me into their home, showing me around, and refusing my money, they also introduced me to the wonders of Shanghainese street food, such as fried sparrow on a stick shown here! You can eat the bones!

An aside on Urban Planning (and general government power) in the People's Republic
I mentioned in my last post that Shanghai was really quite fascinating from a urban planning point of view. And, seeing that one faithful reader even expressed interest in learning more about this (thanks for indulging me, Panda!), here we go!

You should first know, faithful readers, that Shanghai has historically been quite an international city. This is due to the fact that, when China opened (or, depending on your point of view, was forced opened) to the West in the 19th century, many colonial powers came in and basically divied up the city into their own spheres of influence. As the city was eventually built into the "Paris of the Orient," a glamorous if capitalistic representation of the Far East.

Then the Commmunists took power in 1949, and for many years Shanghai's development - economically, culturally, architecturally - lagged. The British (one of those colonial powers with great influence in Old Shanghai) concentrated their efforts in further developing Hong Kong. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore took off in their own ways, too.

If history was different, Shanghai may have developed into the economic center of the Far East. Alas, history can be a cruel bee-otch. I think that the Communist Party in China has realized this (as they well should, since the lag of development is partly their fault...but I digress...and plus, I'm probably being watched by some Chinese internet security!). Thus, Shanghai has been - and indeed is - undergoing the quickest development of any city in recent history.

The heart of the city is found on the banks of the Huangpu river. The west bank is where the famous Bund is located. Much newer is the Pudong business district on the east bank, and the construction here is, in a word, mad. The government wants Shanghai to be the premier business capital of Asia, and Pudong shows it. High rise office buildings abound, with more being built by the day. The Pudong area is also being built up with luxury high-rise apartments all along the banks of the river, replacing old riverside port warehouses, which are being razed alongside old low-rise residences.

At night (partly, I've long discovered, thanks to the Chinese's fascination with neon and bright lights), the Bund and Pudong are lit up in a dazzling display of modernity and wealth. Both banks of the Huangpu sparkle, and it's hard to imagine that the sky above Shanghai could ever be totally dark with such a luminous display. Still, along the southern end of the river, the banks are still dark, as shuttered warehouses are still standing, waiting for demolition. Indeed, some parts of the city which still hold older residences look pitch black against the brightness of the Bund and Pudong.

Because a lot of construction takes place along the riverbanks of the Huangpu River and there is little space on land, huge barges with cranes and building equipment are docked in the river during the construction of the new buildings.

In two or three years, I doubt that any part of the Huangpu's banks - or much of Shanghai, for that matter - will be dark. The plan is to build the city into an (even more) modern one, with the banks of the river replete with high rise luxury apartments and commerical buildings. Richer residents can live in luxurious single-family homes in outer Pudong, and poorer local residents will likely be pushed out further into the city edges in high-rise block apartments.

In America, this type of razing-and-building would take years, with developers having to buy land from the owners of businesses and residences, getting proper licences, and eventually building. In China, the process is considerably shorter, since the PRC government simply says, "We're relocating you! Suck it up!" and then starts the whole building process. Plus, given the availability of manpower and, well, strong desire to develop the city, this means buildings can be up in a matter of months.

This type of government power is pretty incredible. I got a good taste of it while I was actually in Shanghai. I was staying with an old friend from college, Kristen, who informed me that the Shanghai city government was declaring a 5-day holiday from Wednesday to Sunday (June 14-18), because there was an scheduled Shanghai Cooperation Organization)conference of political leaders in the city. The entire Bund was effectively closed down so that the politicos could move freely about the city. I found this to be pretty crazy! We Americans would step up the security for political conferences and people would be pissed off at the traffic jams, but shutting down an entire city is almost unimaginable to me! Edith and her mom ironically remarked that maybe the government didn't really want regular Chinese folks to be walking around with the politicos. Hmmm, interesting. Anyhoo, they also informed me nonchalantly that their apartment will be getting torn down in a couple of years, so maybe they will need to start finding a new place to live.

::Sigh::

Anyhoo, quasi-political soapbox aside, if you are in Shanghai and want to learn more about the city's urban planning, they actually have a museum (or is it "exhibition center"?) on all this stuff! Pretty spiffy architecture job on the place, too!

One last note...
It's official: the U.S. is probably the only place in the whole wide world (maybe universe) where people don't care about the World Cup (or should I say Shijie Bei. The many channels of CCTV have nightly reports on the weather conditions in Germany, people! Come on, America! Why don't you like football/soccer?!?!

Shanghai stories pending, I realize that my Mandarin is horrible...and, oh yeah, I'm really really fat

2006-06-13T15:24:00.000+09:00

Hello from the People's Republic! I have spent the last several days wandering around the streets of Shanghai and recovering from jet lag.

As it is, I realize that my Mandarin is in a sorry state. More than a few times, people I have talked to have given me that "Uh, what did you just say?" look. Oops. Looks like someone needs a language brush up!

Also, as different as Shanghai may be from the rest of China, it's nice to know that one thing stays constant throughout the mainland: super skinny Chinese girls. Really, I'm like King Kong compared with these chicks. My arm might be the girth of their their thighs or something. ::Sigh:: Well, I guess my constant eating of Chinese street snacks (sooooo delicious!) isn't exactly helping either. Ahh, well...you only live once, right?

As for Shanghai, it's a terrific city - incredibly modern and quite different from Beijing. In terms of traditional culture, there doesn't seem to be too much. The architecture of the buildings is pretty amazing, though, and this place is a great feat in modern urban planning (if you're into nerdy stuff like that). When I get a chance, I will definitely post some pictures.

Oddly enough, while I am able to access Blogger to post new entries, I can't actually see my own blog in China. When I type in "http://thewilltoblog.blogspot.com", the browser mysteriously stops loading anything. Ah, government censorship!

King Kong, signing out!

Nearing the end of my year of irresponsibility, I kick off the Repressive Regimes Tour ‘06

2006-06-09T10:28:00.000+09:00

I suppose it’s true: the third time (or, I suppose, the third country or continent...if you can count Central America as a separate continent) is a charm. Although I thoroughly enjoyed my travels to Ghana and to France, I have to say that the 3 ½ months in Guatemala (and bits of Honduras) have really been among my favorites since I started this year-long sabbatical. Not only was I able to pick up some Spanish skills, as per my original plan, but I also saw some of the most beautiful places on earth, did some things that would have been wholly unimaginable to me last year (climbing volcanoes and scuba diving!), met some wonderful people, and learned a lot about a culture of which I knew nothing just a short while ago. Moreover, I left Guatemala feeling a lot more confident about myself and surer about what I want out of life. Whoa, sorry about that cheese factor, folks! Anyhoo, you really can’t ask for more out of life more than that! Ahh, the power of travel! I will always have special memories of Guatemala and sincerely recommend it for anyone looking for a great travel destination, whether you are looking to backpack or go “posh” on your next vacation.

The only problem now is that I can’t seem to remember that it is OK to flush toilet paper down the toilet. Oh, I forgot how nice it was to be in a country with a modern sewage system! I suppose I shouldn't get too comfortable...

...because the final leg (I can't believe it!) of the International Hello! Tour begins this Friday: I will be flying to Shanghai, China (the Motherland!), and am giving myself 7 ½ weeks to trek down to Singapore (land of my birth and shudder-inducing Singlish). I admittedly don’t have a lot of time, but I hope to travel through southern China, Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma), Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Given that I plan on spending quite a lot of time (about 3 weeks) in Myanmar and the rest of the countries are a bit, er, strict/screwy either currently or historically, I guess I can call this leg of my travels the Repressive Regimes Tour?

To be fair, I’d say that most of the governments of the world are repressive in some way, but some of the ones on my itinerary are pretty spiffy in their freakiness. Malaysia and Singapore seem fairly benign and nominally democratic, but I know that this isn’t totally true in practice, particularly when you look at history. Cambodia = Killing Fields, so stew on that a while. Thailand...um, does the Prime Minister really want to be Prime Minister? China...well, just a heads up, I might not be able to blog from there because Blogger is reportedly still blocked in some parts of the country (oh, those crazy Chinese with their ideas that blogging promotes democracy! Crazy!). I just hope that my recent bloggin’-like-crazy ways will keep you occupied for some time! And Myanmar? Dude, forgeddaboudit. The military government there is pretty 1984ish and blocks mail portals of Yahoo!, Gmail, and Hotmail, so I will have to find some non-threatening email portal works that decently. Hey, maybe this is a perfect time to use my Hello Kitty email (yes, I really do have an email here…you got a problem with that, punk?!)!

In any case, Southeast Asia is actually my first attempt at an extended backpacking trip – moving from place to place in relatively quick order as opposed to living in one town for an extended period of time. Also, outside of China and Singapore (and parts of Malaysia, where English and Mandarin may be spoken), I really won’t speak any of the local language. GULP! Plus, it’s going to be blazing hot and disgustingly humid throughout the region. Double GULP! Well, given that it’s my last adventure of the year, the Repressive Regimes Tour will be an excellent test of my travel savvy and general mettle...or lack thereof. Let’s see if I make it back in one piece. I just hope this trip is worth my missing the NBA finals and World Cup!

I'll see you from the road!

A quick note
This blog officially turned 1 year old this week! Thanks for reading, especially if you have been doing so since the shaky/boring beginning! :)

Charming little Antigua (a.k.a., Gringolandia)

2006-06-09T06:57:00.000+09:00

Classic Antigua: cobblestone streets with a view Volcán Agua from just about everywhere in town.

If you visit Guatemala, chances are you’ll end up in Antigua. Just an hour outside the seriously urban (i.e., crowded, dirty, dangerous) capital of Guatemala City, it couldn’t be more different. Antigua (I believe its official name is actually La Antigua Guatemala – "The Old Guatemala") is a classic colonial town nestled between several volcanoes and lined with cobblestone streets. It was the first capital of Guatemala during the Spanish colonial times, originally named Santiago. Apparently, the Spanish named a lot of their colonial capitals “Santiago”, thereby explaining the excessive number of “Santiagos” in Latin America. Similarly, the imported Catholic faith explains the reason why the region is also rife with towns named San Pedro (Saint Peter).

Because of the city’s propensity to be destroyed every so often by earthquakes, the Spanish decided to move the capital from Antigua to Guatemala City in the late 18th century, after a particularly nasty earthquake had leveled the town in the 1770s. Antigua is still filled with remnants of the colonial days – there are buildings and (especially!) churches that are beautifully restored, just as there are still crumbling ruins that remain. The entire town is appropriately designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The ruins of an old church in Antigua.

In any case, Antigua is impossibly charming. Really lovely with a very European feel – at times, you wouldn’t even know you were in Guatemala. Still, I had avoided Antigua like the plague during my first three months in the country because of its reputation as “Gringolandia.” The city is famed for its Spanish schools, but, ironically, because of the popularity of tourism here, you can actually walk around Antigua all day without speaking any Spanish at all. Eventually, I caved and visited twice: spending a night when I traveled my way back to Xelá from my 3-week holiday and another night before I flew back to the U.S. (because I hate staying overnight in Guatemala City!).

The only bad part about my stay in Antigua was the youth hostel where I stayed during my second visit (during my first visit, I stayed at a basic but cheap local guesthouse owned by some lovely Guatemalans). Usually I don’t do the hostel thing, as I find that I have little in common with young’uns who travel solely to party and get drunk or high. That said, it wasn’t a bad hostel – in fact, it was quite new and packed full of nice travelers (in my room, anyway). Rather, my experience involved an incident that further reminded me of the inequalities that exist in countries like Guatemala, and the price that locals have to pay for the benefits of tourism. I had to wait for my airport shuttle very early in the morning (around 3:30 AM), so it was basically me and the hostel’s nighttime security guard, an older gentleman named Javier, sitting around for awhile. I asked how he was (the usual niceties of waiting-around conversation), and we ended up chatting for a bit about his work. That particular night was Javier’s last night of work after 3 weeks on the job – he confessed that he could no longer take the rude, drunk gringos stumbling in every night and giving him a hard time for no reason, so he was quitting the next day. He used to be a tour guide for local Guatemalans, but now the English-speaking tourists far outnumber local ones, so work is hard to come by. Javier took the security guard job at the hostel because he needed work, but he only got paid Q$50 (US$6.50) for 9 hours of work (whereas the hostel charged Q$50 per night per person – and the place was full every night). Of course, many people in Guatemala would feel lucky to make Q$50, but this is Antigua – where prices are simply sky-high for everyone because of tourists. He seemed pretty bummed, not only about his impending unemployment, but also about the fact that rude, dumbass gringos were ruling the streets of Antigua and not respecting local culture. When my shuttle came, I said thank you and goodbye to Javier, and he said that it was a pleasure to finally talk to someone nice. This made me happy and sad at the same time.

The famous Antigua Arch.

Despite the drunken assholes that give gringos a bad name, I can say that – for the most part – I do like Antigua. There are terrific museums (hello, Textiles and Weaving!), restaurants, art galleries, shops (Antigua is famous for jade), and hotels (not like I was able to afford any of the nice ones). One of the favorite places that I visited was Casa Popenoe, an old colonial home from the 1600s that was restored by an American businessman who lived in Antigua in the 1930s. It’s amazing, and the original owner’s daughters (now in their 70s) still live there! I only regret that I wasn’t able to climb Volcán Pacaya, a nearby volcano that is still active – you can even see the lava flow from the top. All in all, Antigua was a great way to spend my last day in Guatemala. Maybe next time I will stay in Antigua for more than 24 hours at a time? :)

Speaking of “lasts” in Guatemala, my last meal was quite Guatemala-appropriate: Pollo Campero. Campero, as it’s known, is just fast food fried chicken, but it’s amazingly tasty. Chapines (nickname for Guatemalans) are very proud of the chain, because it’s a Guatemalan-owned company that is so successful that KFC is actually unable to enter the domestic fried chicken market! There is actually a Campero restaurant in the Guatemala City Airport, and many Guatemalans flying out of the country – presumably to visit their relatives abroad – buy huge 24-piece boxes of fried chicken as gifts. The smell on the plane almost drove me crazy...I should have been so smart as to buy a box for myself. Mmmm...chicken.

As long as we’re talking about food, I might as well share this lovely photo of my last meal in Xelá, from my favorite (and only) Indian (yes, Indian!) restaurant in town. Mmmm...I miss those mango-pineapple licuados (smoothies) already.

Adventures in Fiber Arts

2006-06-06T15:26:00.000+09:00

Weaving: The Final Frontier

A part of my Guatemala trip that I didn’t get a chance to share with you was my foray into the fiber arts! (NOTE: I'm experimenting with my new Photobucket account, so apologies for the screwy picture sizes!)

I went with other students from my school to Momostenango (popularly known as "Momo" – how cute!), which is famous for its woven wool carpets and blankets. We visited the home of Thelma and Luis (for real!), a wonderful married couple whose entire family (kids and all!) work together weaving goods for sale. They give tours of their home, which is a equipped with looms and spinning wheels. Yup, they raise their own sheep, spin their own wool, and weave all the products. Really cool stuff. They let the students give it a try, too...

Look at me spin!

And weave (only with the help of awesome Luis, of course).

I also took Mayan backstrap weaving lessons during my time in Xela. This is really difficult! A backstrap loom is really simple – it just consists of a couple of rods and some rope (one end that you must secure to a column or maybe a tree, the other you must tie around your back). You line up your material on it and start a-weaving, which I can’t even really being how to describe. Unfortunately, there is no friggin’ way you can remember how to do this after making just one piece (this scarf took me about 11 hours to complete from beginning to end).

My finished scarf kinda looks like crap and, in retrospect, it would have been a lot easier to just buy a nicer scarf, but I really enjoyed learning more about the art of weaving. My teachers (Aurelia and Amparo, two Ki'che women who head the women’s weaving cooperative that runs the classes) were really sweet, and I definitely have a greater appreciation for the hard-working women who weave these pieces (they put in all the labor and are able to sell them for only ludicrously low prices).

Salcaja, a town just outside of Xela, is famous for the fabrics that its craftsmen weave. Each town in Guatemala has its own special pattern for traditional clothing (and many Guatemalans still wear traditional clothing on an everyday basis), so these guys work hard creating the different fabrics!

Keeping up with my usual nerdy, museum-going ways, I also visited the Textile and Weaving Museum in Antigua. Actually, it was closed, but the nice man running the museum opened it up just for me and walked me through all the exhibits, giving me commentary on the exhibits. He even let me take photos for free (usually you have to pay). How nice! The museum itself, although small, was interesting, and the fabrics inside were all beautiful.

Belated Guatemala Travel Report: That was a gooder

2006-06-06T15:23:00.000+09:00

General formula at Semuc Champey: Natural wonder + Lovely weather = Gooder

I recently learned a bit of Canadian slang that will definitely be a keeper in the YuhChic lexicon: "gooder." As in, something that is good. If you’ve had a good day or a really good experience (i.e., movie, meal, trip, etc.), you can say, "That was a gooder." This was just one of the excellent little pieces of knowledge that I picked up as I worked my way westward from Honduras to Guatemala – a journey that was full of gooders. By this time, I had resumed to traveling alone (my usual mode of traveling), so was just getting reacquainted with answering the age-old, female-traveling-alone questions of "How old are you?" (apparently, I still look 20-21, everyone! YESSSSS!) and "Are you married?"/"Do you have a boyfriend?" A nice thing about Guatemala, however (as opposed to my travels in Ghana), is that there is a well-established backpacker crowd in the country, so one never finds themselves traveling alone for long – you’ll inevitably meet another lone traveler and pair up to go to your next destination.

So it was with me as I left El Estor (at long friggin’ last) for Semuc Champey. After the challenge of being stuck in a quasi-middle of nowhere, I traveled for about 10 hours straight (stopping only to change buses, from 1:00 AM to 10:00 AM) and finally arrived in Lanquin, a small town just outside Semuc Champey. I stayed at an incredible hostel called El Retiro, which consists of cozy, thatched-roof huts dotted along a hill beside the River Lanquin. It was here that I learned to appreciate the relaxing properties of a hammock. Aaaah.

You might be asking what’s so special about this Semuc Champey place that I was willing to get stuck in a bohunk town and travel for 10 hours on buses? To be truthful, Semuc Champey as a place is very difficult to describe. All I can say is that it has got to be one of the great natural wonders of Guatemala and is truly a beautiful place. I guess it’s a...park? Yeah, a park! Not an amusement park...a national park type thing. And it’s famous because of the natural jade-green pools of crystal clear water that flow from a the source of the River Cahabon and Semuc’s famous natural 300-meter limestone bridge.

I know, I know – you’re thinking, "What? What does that even mean, natural limestone bridge? That sounds boring!" That’s what I thought, too! All that kept me going as that bus plunked along the crap road was that my Guatemalan Spanish teachers told me that Semuc Champey was where they dreamed of going for vacation...you know, when they got time off from teaching gringos English, found someone to watch their four kids and actually saved up enough money to make the long trip. OK, good enough for me! But I was initially confused about what I was getting myself into, too. But trust me, it’s a gooder! I swam in the pools and did a bit of hiking up to the Mirador (lookout point), where I captured the photo above.

I will never harm a tree ever again

Incidentally, from the amusing and really cute "save the environment" signs posted throughout Semuc Champey (did they get someone in from Sanrio to design this tree?), I learned that the park is actually an eco-tourism initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This makes for at least two USAID project sites that I have visited so far (remember that rainforest canopy bridge I trekked across in Ghana?). Quite honestly, nice job, USAID! My experience from both sites has convinced me a little more that self-sustaining eco-tourism projects are quite beneficial to the local community. I'll have to keep a lookout for more and try to research some downsides as well, analytical pessismist that I am!

While near Semuc Champey, I also managed to go spelunking in a nearby cave called Kan’bal, swimming through it (yup, it was filled with water...up to about 10-15 feet at some points?) with just a candle in hand and squeezing through some claustrophobia-inducing spaces. Really fun! Obviously, no photos on this outing, as I didn’t think my camera would be good to bring along...I was busy trying to keep my candle above water the whole time!

After the whole spelunking thing, I also managed to jump off this bridge. Y’know...just for fun. Luckily, as you can see, there was a river below and not cold, hard concrete. Whew.

As long as we’re talking about fun, nature-y type things I have done in Guatemala, I mentioned a while back that I climbed the Volcán Tajumulco, the tallest point in Central America. Since that was a gooder, too, here are some pictures!

I took the trek up to 4,220 meters (yes, that's high...13,845 feet!) with Quetzaltrekkers, a great group of volunteer guides that donates all profits from their hikes to their nonprofit school for streetkids. The trek itself wasn't too difficult, and we were already pretty high up (at around 3,000 meters) when we started, so obviously I'm just trying to sound cool. It took the group about 7-8 hours (over two days) to hike up to the top of the volcano. I met a lot of really nice people during the trek - including an English couple that is planning to travel around England next year in search of the most delicious sausages (they're going to write a book!). Very amusing.

The volcano is so high that it casts a shadow over the landscape. Nifty.

From the top of Tajumulco on a clear day, you are supposed to be able to see into Mexico, El Salvador and even Nicaragua. It would have been amazing, but, unfortunately, it was very cloudy the day I was there. Still a nice view, though.

I made it!

More Honduras visuals; Sudden realization about amateur travel photography

2006-06-06T15:11:00.000+09:00

Usually I ask before taking a picture, but I always end up sneaking photos of private moments...like this elderly gentleman fishing on the pier in Omoa.

Upon re-reading my previous Honduras post, I have realized that, visually, I did a piss poor job of giving you a sense of what Honduras was like. Admittedly, part of this was due to my impatience and laziness with loading photos via dial-up modem, but that’s not even a good excuse. Because, seriously, letting you share a bit of my travel experience is the point of this blog after all! I endeavored to dig up some more photos of the Honduras, because much of it is really beautiful.

This way to the ruins!

And what ruins they are. Copan Ruinas are really incredible.

The Honduran countryside can range from mountainous and cool...

...to lush and intensely tropical.

The only thing for sure is that cows rule the land! As I traveled through Honduras, I wondered, "Is this place like Ireland, with more livestock than people?" Most of the cows I saw were pathetically skinny. I think I took a picture of this fine bovine because it actually seemed quite fat in comparison. Still, notice protrusion of ribcage on this creature. We wouldn't stand for such skinny cows in America!! :)

Omoa, the first of the two Caribbean villages where I stayed, was really very lovely. The pier was quite nice place just to hang out around sunset, where locals would do a bit of fishing with just line (no fancy schmancy fishing poles for these folks) and gather to chat. It seemed rarely empty, so I was lucky to capture this the photo above early in the morning. I should have posted more pictures in the first place!

One of the original Spanish colonial forts is also found in Omoa (Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa). You can climb to the top of the fort - here's just one of the lovely views! The grounds and facilities were kept up so nicely by the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History that I couldn't help but be impressed. The Institute is even working their way slowly to restoring all the rooms of the fort so that they are not so damp, moldy, or bat-inhabited (although I actually find the damp, moldy, bat-inhabited nature part of the charm). Really excellent museum on the history of colonialism and of the fort, too (yes, I'm a dork).

Here is lovely Tornabé in all its one-street glory.

OK, so the beach in Tornabé wasn't exactly empty...there were lots of fishing boats scattered along the shore.

A shy, cute, but slightly bored kid manning one of the tiendas in Tornabé (photo credit to Christian). Did I mention they sell drinking water out of little plastic pouches in Honduras, too? Ah, memories...

I’ve realized that photos can never fully capture the beautiful places that I have seen and the wonderful experiences I have had over the past year. The memories of these things remain clearer and so much more incredible in my mind, that – after I describe them to you – I feel that showing you the pictures is somehow a letdown. Indeed, I always feel a bit bummed when I go back to review my pictures, only to realize that “Hey...that’s just not as cool as it seemed in person!” I suppose my shoddy photography skills don’t really help matters! Still, I do hope you can enjoy the visual images provided here while I desperately attempt to describe the coolness factor of certain places/things. And, if you find something in a picture to be honestly gorgeous, well, just imagine how incredible the actual place/thing is in person!

Belated Honduras Travel Report: I've never consumed so many sugary beverages in my life

2006-05-25T05:13:00.000+09:00

If you'd like diabetes, cavities or just a deadly sugar high, try the neon-colored Mirinda soft drinks in Honduras! The bottles pictured here are supposedly flavored in green apple and orange cream. However, one would be hard-pressed to taste anything but sugar water.

Let´s have a little flashback, shall we?

As you may already know, I took 3 weeks off from my language studies to venture outside of Xelá. Two of those weeks were spent in Honduras, which was named by good ol´ Christopher Columbus when he landed here way back when (Fun fact of the day: Honduras means "depths", a reference to the deep waters off the northern coast). What, pray tell, is the difference between a country like Guatemala and Honduras, you may ask? In my short time, I observed the following:

(1) They use red frijoles (beans) here, not black ones like in Guatemala

(2) More land, less people than Guatemala - lots of skinny cows, too

(3) Less indigenous culture, but more diversity in terms of peoples represented (black Garifuna people descended from slaves, whites on the formerly British-controlled Bay Islands)

(4) Insane concentration of American fast food chains (in addition to the usual suspects like McDonald´s and Burger King, they have many a Church´s Chicken and Popeye´s...come on!)

(5) An accent I really couldn´t understand very well (too bad! I met a really nice old man who wanted to chat because I was obviously the first chinita that he had ever seen in his life, but I could barely make out a few words. Boo...)

(6) Excessive use of the color lime green in women´s fashions (for realz!).

(7) The most sugary sodas (i.e., Mirinda) and juices known to mankind (try finding "natural" orange juice that doesn´t have sugar as one of the first three ingredients, and I will pay you 100 Lempiras...er, I guess that´s a bit less than US$5).

All in all, I did enjoy my time in Honduras. From the Guatemalan border, Copán Ruinas, site of those really beautiful Mayan ruins (I posted pictures a little earlier here), I traveled a bit along the northern Caribbean coast before heading to the Bay Islands. Here are some pictoral memories!

I discovered how to take black and white pictures on my camera, so now I think I'm all "artsy."

Omoa is a smallish village...and a really lovely one at that. The water is calm and wonderfully clear (although I would pretty much get used to this "clear Caribbean waters" thing before my trip was over).

A view of Tornabé's beach from right outside my beach hut room.

From Omoa, I traveled to Tornabé, which is an even smaller village inhabited almost solely by Garifuna people, who are the black descendants of slaves from way back in the colonial days. The village of Tornabé itself consisted of an unpaved, packed-down sand street running parallel to an incredible and pretty much deserted beach. My travel buddy, Chris, and I were the only tourists in the town. We stayed at a ramshackle but cheap "hotel" right on the beach. I say "hotel", but it was basically four concrete walls with a rusty tin roof and equally rusty, very sketchy electrical wiring (it reminded me of one of those elctrical boards that your 8th grade science teacher uses to demonstrate the idea of simple and alternating currents...except what your teacher used was much much safer). Also in Tornabé, we sampled some amazing fish at a little restaurant owned by Don Tiki, a nice elderly gentleman who used to live in the U.S. (the Bronx, for 20 years!). By the way, "Don" is an address of respect for older men in Latin America...Don Tiki's name wasn't really "Don." All in all, I really enjoyed Tornabé. It was really a bit of laid-back paradise, but the unfortunate lack of stuff to do (beyond lying on the awesome beach and swimming) led us to leave fairly quickly.

Lots of stray dogs in Tornabé. Well, at least they were friendly and not rabid...I think.

Look at me! All wet and in the water! See, I told you! I wasn't lying about learning how to scuba dive!!! This is me coming up after one of my open water certification dives. I learned to dive on the Bay Islands - more specifically, I got my certification on Utila (the smaller, more backpacker-y of the three islands) and did some fun dives on Roatán (the larger, posher island which is filled with vacation homes of rich Americans and Canadians). The water was so warm and clear that it was literally like learning in a swimming pool...except that you were surrounded by beautiful coral and amazing fish. Adding to the fun of the experience was the fact that Chris and I bumped into our friends, Jesper and Natalie, who went to Spanish school with us in Xelá. The two of them are diving instructors and divemasters (Chris is also pretty experienced as a Rescue Diver), so they were just in search of good diving. I mostly concentrated on passing my Open Water Diver course (that's the first level for a certified diver). This explains the conspicuous lack of pictures documenting my stays on Utila and Roatán: I was busy trying not to drown.

Lest I paint a bleak/scary picture with regards to diving, I have to say that scuba diving is indescribibly amazing. Definitely the poshest and probably most enjoyable of all my hobbies so far, novice that I am! You will never watch Finding Nemo in the same way again (really! You won't! I watched it after I dove and felt so much more appreciation for it!). It is not often that you get to drop into an entirely different world so quickly, and I would highly recommend it to all of you...and I'm really not saying that just because I need future diving buddies. Yes, it is a bit scary at first, but the experience of diving totally makes any fears melt away (trust me, I swallowed my fair share of saltwater during my certification course). Anyhoo, back to the topic of how enjoyable diving is, it's also quite educational. For anyone who doesn't believe in evolution, I challenge them to go scuba diving, look at some fish, and still hold that belief after they surface.

One bad point I noted about learning to scuba dive, however, was the fact that most, if not all, scuba chicks wear bikinis. Hmmm. This is understandable from a purely pragmatic standpoint (you're in your bathing suit all day, on land and water, you need to pee, etc.), but nonetheless quite disturbing to me, as one who finds herself very far from bikini-ready shape ("very far"=never). Well, I think I can work my way around this little loophole in the general coolness that is scuba diving, but it just means that I'll be forever unfashionable. So what else is new?

Another potentially bad point is that divers also become invariably obsessed with creatures and coral that they see under the water. Typical conversation after a dive:

Diver 1: Whoa, did you see that spiny-tail-thingy-majiggy fish? That was amazing!
Diver 2: OMG, I can't believe you saw a spiny-tailed-thingy-majiggy fish! I only saw a spiky-tailed one when I last dove! But I did see some spotty-dick-stingray-clowny!
Diver 1: Wow! Awesome!

This happened many times, and I didn't know what the heck people were really talking about, but I could see myself becoming a fish nerd quite quickly. As the girly novice that I am, I was merely pleased with seeing baby fish. So tiny! So cute!

Ahem. But I digress. Anyhoo, the Bay Islands are a little bit of paradise, but they are very, well, weird when compared with the rest of Honduras. For one thing, the islands used to be British colonial possessions, so most of the people there speak English (with a really strange accent!), not Spanish (on my way back to Guatemala, I even met a guy from the Bay Island of Guanaja who could not speak any Spanish. I spoke better Spanish than him...this is sad!). Most of the people also look like they stepped off the boat from Ireland, when in fact their families have been living in Honduras for generations. A bit weird, but therein lies some of the charm...and screwy English? Or should I say Engrish...?

Honestly, I found the Engrish to be quite a charming part of life on the islands, which were pretty much lacking in charm due to their super-touristy nature (especially super posh Roatán). Of course, as someone who is often subjected to annoying Asian stereotypes and whose dad speaks heavily accented English, I mean this in the least pejorative way possible. That said, here's my favorite sign so far, although I'm sure the unintended sentiment was due to unfortunate font selection rather than poor choice of words (just like the "crocery" store above). I hope so, anyway.

An ideal place to worship the Lord...?

My last stop in Honduras was the lovely Cuero y Salado Wildlife Reserve, which is a mangrove forest along a lovely river than empties into the Caribbean. You can only get to the reserve on a banana train, which is an open-air, two-car rickety little thing that bumps along a grassy track. The reserve itself was lovely, although very hot (like the rest of the Honduran coast). After camping out in a tent (waaaayyyy to hot too sleep inside!), Chris and I went on an early morning tour...canoeing on the river! Jaro (behind me in the photo) was our guide - he's a self-taught local kid who loves studying bugs. Apparently, there are supposed to be manatees in the reserve, but we didn't see any. Pooh! Still, we saw plenty of beautiful birds, huge bugs, some monkeys (white-faced ones...we mostly just heard a lot of the howler monkeys), and even a huge crocodile (nearly 10 feet long)! Or was it an alligator? Whatever!

All good things must come to an end, of course, and my vacation was no exception. I parted ways with my good ol' travel buddy and began to work my way westward towards and across Guatemala, where I saw plenty of other cool things, too! But you'll just have to wait for that blog post...!

Back in Xelá, being punished by rain and present subjunctive

2006-05-24T08:43:00.000+09:00

When I was traveling in Honduras, the weather was so sweltering that I regularly wished that I was back in Xelá´s cool highland weather. Rude awakening: rainy season has arrived in the highlands...and it ain´t pretty. It rains pretty much every day. Cold, "I want to give you pneumonia!" type of rain. Good thing I am leaving soon!

So, yes, I am back in wonderful, albeit very wet, Xelá, and it´s quite nice. I have also resumed my language studies for a final week. I didn´t realize how much I missed my friends and teachers at school, so it is nice to be back...well, except for this crazy subjunctive business! Yeesh. Why is español so complicated anyhoo?

In any case, friends, since it is my last week in Guatemala, rest assured that I will resume the usual end-of-my-travels-in-this-country activities. That is to say, I will be blogging as much as humanly possibly before having to get on my plane). Sweet! Well, at least it will be sweet for the 2 or 3 of you who are my faithful regular readers! Until next time, then...

My first "stranded somewhere I can´t get out of!" experience

2006-05-18T11:19:00.000+09:00

The title says it all. Today, I woke up all chipper and ready to bus the 7 or so hours from Río Dulce to Semuc Champey. On the way, I had to stop at El Estor, which is a small town where I would catch a connecting bus between the two spots. Seemed easy enough, right?

After 4 hours of waiting for a bus that never came (I later found out that there were problems with the roads), I resorted to asking random pickup trucks (that´s an actual mode of transportation here, folks!) and anyone with wheels (I was tempted to ask a little kid with his training wheels bicycle, too) for a ride. No luck today. No ride in sight. With half my traveling day gone, I got a little huffy and whiny about the situation, which doesn´t do much good now that I am traveling alone again.

Anyhoo, I decided to enjoy what was left of my day by going to a local finca which is famed for a pretty natural waterfall. It was really lovely, actually. Lookeee!

But the bad luck continued when I realized that I forgot my towel and swimsuit to go swimming in the waterfall (which is the point of the whole trip, after all) and I missed the last bus going back to El Estor. DANG. So I had to hitchhike. Luckily, people here are significantly nicer about the whole "I´m going to pick up hitchhikers to rob and rape them!" type of thing than they are in the States. The guy who picked me up was actually really nice, and we had a neat conversation about Guatemala, what he thinks about the country, etc. More importantly, he did not rob or rape me. Actually, most importantly of all, his truck had air conditioning, which was much appreciated after a sweltering hot day. Thanks, Enrique!

El Estor ended up being a lot nicer than I gave it credit for, too. The town is on the shores of Lake Izabal and very lovely. Everyone is so nice. I walked on one of the docks and encountered some dude swimming. He spoke English and was eager to practice, although we just ended up chatting in Spanish. Good practice after more than 2 weeks of not speaking any español!

So now I am just biding my time until my bus at 12:30 AM (that´s right! AM!) to finally get to this darn Semuc Champey! It better be worth it! Many of my teachers in Xelá have said it´s where they dream of going in Guatemala, so I´m hoping it is. Wish me luck, folks!

Scuba diving: Something else to accomplish with amazing mediocrity!

2006-05-12T05:03:00.000+09:00

Hello, everyone! Well, this internet cafe costs a heck of a lot, but just to let you all know that I'm amazingly tan and certified to dive many meters below the ocean seas! Scuba diving is truly amazing and loads of fun...even for people with "beached whale" potential like myself.

The vacation is going great so far, so I will have to describe my good times and scuba (mis)adventures to you all in minute details and pictures. Later, though...when going online doesn't cost an arm and a leg! Tranquila!

In Honduras, there are more Mayan ruins to desecrate! (Oh, yeah, did I mention that I climbed the tallest point in Central America last weekend?)

2006-05-02T07:07:00.000+09:00

I crossed the Guatemalan border yesterday morning with my travel buddy, Chris. Indeed, Honduras es amor. Actually, I am having a hard time remembering that I am in Honduras rather than Guatemala, but I am sure that will set in soon enough.

I am currently in Copan Ruinas, a small town that is very famous for the Mayan ruins of Copan (inventive naming, eh?). Although the site of the ruins aren't as big as Tikal, they are very impressive for the hieroglyphics and carvings present throughout the ruins. The desecration of Mayan culture continues, as demonstrated below:

An added plus is that the museum onsite is really spectacular. Thumbs up!

And, oh yes!, I climbed Volcano Tajumulco last week, which is the tallest point in Central America at a whopping 4,220 meters - that is about 13,900 feet for us non-metric folks from the U.S. It was really great 2 days climbing to the top, although it was a bit of a bummer that it was cloudy the whole weekend.

More pictures later!

Honduras or bust!

2006-04-29T09:29:00.000+09:00

I am headed off to vacation once again, this time for a whopping three weeks. The plan is to head to Honduras for some more Mayan Ruins (at Copan) and to hopefully get my open water scuba diving certificate (seriously!). Time permitting, I hope to explore some of Belize and more of Guatemala. I will be back in Xelá during the last full week of May to finish up my Spanish studies, and then it´s a fun trip back to the States by way of L.A.!

I know, I know...my life is so hard.

More posts from the road! See you all soon, either virtually or in person!

Holy cow, Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Guatemala

2006-04-18T10:35:00.000+09:00

Processions and Jesus rule the roads during Semana Santa. Don´t try to drive.

Happy belated Easter, everyone. As you may well know, this part of the world is predominantly Catholic, and Holy Week/Semana Santa (in particular, the Holy Thursday and Good Friday leading up to Easter) is especially important. Most people will have the entire week before Easter off from work. Sweet! What is particularly weird to me is that no one really makes a big deal out of Easter itself. Everything is open as usual. Semana Santa is really about remembering Christ´s sacrifice, so I guess by the time the resurrection comes around people are kind of relieved. Of course, Semana Santa has taken on a really commercial, Christmas-y type feel, but it´s still a really interesting thing for someone who has never seen it before.

I have learned that, in Guatemala at least, Semana Santa means the following things:

(1) Processions
Basically, the processions consist of floats with statues of Jesus and Mary from the local churches decorated with new clothes and flowers, carried on the shoulders of the repetant. Yes, you too can pay to carry the heavy ass float to repent for a whole year of sins! The paying-to-be-repetent part is all a bit sketchy to me, personally, but ah well!

On Holy Thursday, you´ll have floats with Jesus carrying the cross (above), and on Good Friday there are floats with crying Marys and bloody, recently deceased Jesuses. Despite the frequent stops in traffic, the processions are very pretty. People will also make carpets of colored sawdust and flowers in the streets so that Jesus and Mary can step out in style. It´s lovely. Apparently, the place to go for processions in Guatemala is touristy Antigua, but I didn´t want to brave the trip... (see Number 3 below).

(2) Bread and Sweet Garbanzo Beans
Suck it up...you will eat nothing else during Semana Santa. Actually, this is another one of my bold-faced lies. Just keeping you on your toes, people! Sure, you eat other stuff, but all people talk about is the bread and sweet garbanzo. Especially the garbanzo, garbanzo, garbanzo! Bakeries will actually stop baking all other products and just sell the Semana Santa bread (as I learned the hard way when I attempted to buy sandwich bread on Holy Thursday), which is usually a big corona bread that is sweet and yellow. It´s tasty, dude. The tooth-achingly sweet stew of garbanzo beans is tasty, too...but I have a slight aversion to them now. This is because, when we learned to make them at school during a cooking class, I sliced my fingers open cutting the huge block of sugar used to sweeten them. Hard not to think about fingers gushing with blood when I think about sweet garbanzo now.

(3) Vacation for the whole friggin´ country
Holy crap (no pun intended). Unless you are a glutton for punishment, like running around trying to find an empty hotel room, or enjoy eating your knees (or someone else´s) on a more-crowded-than-usual chicken bus, don´t leave for any type of vacation during Semana Santa. Indeed, the news is filled with stories about some bus flipped over or how people got trampled to death at the beach. Fun! For the love of Jesus (literally!)!

(4) Remembering the Passion of Christ...in kinda weird ways
This is actually the point of Semana Santa, of course, and it´s actually very neat to see it in action. People really go all out. Occasionally in weird ways. Each town has its own traditions, and I actually spent Holy Thursday and Friday in Cantel, a small town just outside of Xelá, because my teacher invited me to her house there (¡que amable!). They have a tradition of gathering in the town square and putting on the passion play all frickin´weekend. Not weird, right? Well, on Friday, they have the "Romans" on horseback (real horses here!) and groups of townspeople take sticks and try to beat the crap out of the horses and "Romans" (for crucifying Jesus, of course). OK!!! It was seriously one of the strangest/most brutal displays I have ever seen...but I guess people do weird things in the name of religion all the time, right?

How do I call the ASPCA in Guatemala? Better question: Is there an ASPCA in Guatemala?

Some other fun images from Semana Santa:

Yes, I took a picture with Jesus. Erica (my classmate and fellow Semana Santa first-timer) and I just couldn´t resist. Obviously, it´s quite an honor to play Jesus...but you have to commit to the job for 7 years! This Jesus is pretty new...he has 5 more years to go!

In Cantel´s passion play, Judas is always recognizable by the cool bread on his back. This is real bread...Erica and I are trying to eat it, although Judas moved, so it looks like I am trying to kiss him. Of course, I´m not (who wants to kiss Judas, anyway?!?).

There is usually a Children´s Procession during Semana Santa, where the kids have to carry the float. The poor kids in Cantel could barely hoist this sucker up. It was lovely though.

This is from a procession in Xelá, courtesy of Christian, source of many a cool picture. At many of the Semana Santa processions, there will be a girl chosen to represent Mary. Virginity is a prerequisite, of course (in case you are thinking about applying next year).

Talk is cheap...you want pictures (of Mayan temples and touristy Guatemalan markets)!

2006-04-14T06:59:00.000+09:00

Jaguar Temple, or Temple I, the most famous one in Tikal. You cannot climb it anymore because, a few years back, some tourists died in their attempts to reenact the Nike commercial in which some guy ran up the side of the temple in (of course) his oh-so-swift Nikes. Idiots.

I didn´t die! But I did climb a lot of really cool Mayan ruins at Tikal. By the way, if you ever make it to Guatemala, this is a highly recommended outing. The ruins are in a national park in a fairly remote, jungly region of Guatemala called Petén, which is about a 14 hour bus ride from Xelá. Get there before the American tour groups filled with whiny types who can´t stand to walk more than 10 minutes in the heat take over more than they already have (I blame Survivor: Guatemala for this development).

So I could go on and on and on about the history of the Mayans there, how the main temples were built with reference to the stars and equinoxes and stuff, and how there are actually hundreds (thousands?) more temples yet to be uncovered, but I will just leave it at this: it is absolutely amazing there, and I had a lot of fun with my wonderful travel buddies, Meg (aka Margarita, Mags, Dirty Bitch) and Chris.

So here was my basic position during my two days at Tikal...climbing up and down temples on my hands and knees while Meg and Chris (outdoor adventurers from Connecticut and Switzerland, respectively) bounded up and down gleefully. Jerks. :)

I took this photo from my last place position (what else is new?) when we climbed down one of the more minor temples.

Temple V (second tallest in the park) is a beast. Fun to climb, though.

Two views of the Central Plaza, where the Jaguar Temple and a spiffy sort of side temples are located. Seriously, when you are in Tikal, one of the most common questions running through your brain is, "Dude, how did they build all these stuff with the type of technology they had?" It´s just amazing.

Here I am watching the sun set from the top of the Temple of the Lost World, one of the oldest pyramids in Tikal. Yes, the temple is as cool as the name. It was probably my favorite spot.

Alternate sunset view with Meg and Chris.

We stayed in the park and got up early (really early!) the next day to see the sun rise from Temple IV, the tallest temple in the park. ¡Való la pena! (It was worth the pain! Actually, I don´t know if there should be an accent on that last "o", but whatever...)

Seriously, I have been deprived of too many sunsets and sunrises in my life. This will change from this point forward! I took this photo in Flores, a lovely, small, and touristy island town located in the middle of Lake Itza that is about 40 minutes outside of Tikal.

I guess you could say I have been busy! Recently, I also took a trip to Chichicastenango, a town which is famous for their market on Thursdays and Sundays. Again, ¡való la pena(and, again, don´t know if I need that accent...)! The pictures are fairly self-explanatory. I just love the colors of the place...not to mention the irony of the side-by-side presence of Mayan and Catholic icons in all of Guatemala (the Catholicism here was adopted by the Mayans within their original beliefs! Neat!).

Coming up...photos and an report on Semana Santa (Holy Week leading up to Easter) in Catholic Central America! I promise the update will be much more rapid than this one! Until then...!

Not dead...merely vacationing

2006-03-27T10:12:00.000+09:00

I am not going to lie: I am one lucky bee-atch.

Although Spanish has been going well, I´ve decided to take a weeklong break to travel with my friends from school, Mags/Meg and Christian. Meg and I spent a relaxing day and a half at Lago Atitlan (get here, ASAFP!). We stayed in the lakeside town of San Pedro, which is reknown for its "gringo hipsters," according to Lonely Planet. HA! I always knew I was a hipster somehow! Anyhoo, it was very relaxing and nice, but you kind of get a feel of why San Pedro is known as a place just to smoke up (cheap marjuana abounds, apparently...not that I know...) and chillax - there`s not terribly much to do. It`s just insanely beautiful...

I am currently blogging from Guatemala City, where we bumped into an American and her local "mom" who helped us out because they were convinced that we would get robbed and raped while waiting for Christian. Not yet robbed and raped, but Christian, Meg, and I are now headed to Tikal to see some dope Mayan ruins. Apparently, after one sees Tikal, all other ruins seem like piles of rocks. Let´s hope so, since it is a 10 hour bus ride!

More later!

Same old, same old...except yo voy a ir al inferno (I am going to hell)

2006-03-21T08:21:00.000+09:00

Climbin´ stuff and hikin´ again. One time just wasn´t enough! I decided to climb up Volcan Chicabal again to see the lake. It was actually a bit easier this time (less pain!) and quite a bit more enjoyable...plus, I am trying to work my way up to this.

I just hope that Guatemalans know how awesomely beautiful their country is!!!

Aaaah, so more about the realization that I am going to hell (not that I wasn´t completely unaware of it before...). So my last teacher was a really nice guy, and we had some fun conversations about popular culture (dude, I learned so many bad words for someone with such a poor comprehension of Spanish that it just ain´t funny) and also religion, because he is quite religious. Now, I deeply respect all religions, but I made the mistake of mentioning to my teacher that I didn´t approve of how some religions so easily dictate that certain people will go to hell just because they do not share the same beliefs. I continued digging my grave in a conversation went, more or less, like this...except in Spanish (and my Spanish was definitely not as grammatically correct as it appears below):

YuhChic: Do you think that I´m going to hell?

Generally Cool Maestro: Well, not if you believe in Jesus Christ. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? [emphasis added by me because at this point I am thinking, "Holy crap, what have I gotten myself into?"]

YC: . . . .

GCM: Well...?

YC: (clears throat then smiles nervously) I don´t want to insult you because I really do respect your beliefs, but...

GCM: Don´t worry! Please go ahead! We can go and get a cup of coffee and speak outside the school if you like.

YC: Uh, I think I am safer here, because you won´t want to kill me here.

GCM: Er, OK...

YC: Well, it´s like this. I really respect religion and the good things it brings to people´s lives...[more incoherent babble about how much about how religion can be good]...but I really believe that it is important to speak honestly about my how I feel. I believe in Jesus Christ as a man who lived in history, but I do not believe that he was the son of God.

GCM: . . . .

So my teacher basically thinks that I am going to hell. Hee! Actually, the reaction on my teacher´s face after I dropped the "JC wasn´t the hijo de Dios!" bit was a combination of absolute horror and confusion. I think if he could have, he would have either kicked my ass from across the table or thrown Holy Water on me...luckily, I was paying his salary at the time, and thus I was temporarily safe. However, now he is no longer my teacher (another two weeks, another teacher), so I´m keeping all eyes open.

Fun conversations abound in broken Spanish!

¡Que cuervas y yo sin frenos!

2006-03-13T03:58:00.000+09:00

I may be frightfully behind on current events and international news, but I am learning something new: lots of slang, bad words, and pick up lines in Spanish. The line above is basically: "What curves, and me with no brakes!" Hee! I am also quite fond of "¡Si así como lo mueve lo bate! ¡Que rico chocolate!" I think it translates to something like "Move it and shake it...what rich chocolate!" OK, so it doesn't translate terribly well, but it basically combines metaphors of slightly raunchy activities with the innocent activity of making a chocolate cake! ¡Que chilero! (How cool!)

The new phrases and words are courtesy of my new teacher, Marvin. At school, we switch teachers every two weeks. My last teacher was also a chico, by name of Julio. They are a couple of cool dudes, but they make me feel terribly old (both are 22 years old and engineering students). In my demented mind that has been warped by Asian culture and tradition, it is weird to have a teacher who is younger than you. Still, they're a couple of really cool vatos (dudes) and igualemente buens maestros, so it has been really fun so far.

Speaking of changes in personnel, I also had to change my family recently. This is because I discovered, much to my surprise, that I was allergic to the two dogs in my family. Yikes! I was aware of my "My-eyes-are-going-to-pop-out-of-my-head-and-my-nose-is-going-to-fall-off" reaction to some cats, but not about my reaction to certain dogs. In any case, the switch was a good move. My new family is even nicer (especially my new mom, Josefina), and the food is tasty. Less bland! Yummy.

In the meantime, a few pictoral representations of what has been happening so far:

One of the doggies from my first homestay says goodbye as I leave. Awwww...

At a park on top of a hill (called Baul), there are incredibly high concrete slides which are really fun to slide down! However, you need to sit on a flattened plastic bottle or a piece of paper to avoid some nasty ass burns from the concrete. Apparently, you also need to have some sense of how to stop when you reach the bottom of the slide. I mistakenly used my knuckle as a brake. Bad move, but much fun. I think the warning sign should have hinted at something...but at least it was not raining. Hee!

Preferred choice of transportation around these parts (outside of walking distance) are the ubiquitous "chicken buses". They can take the form of minivans, too, but they are mostly old public school buses decorated brightly, as demonstrated above. They are really cheap (Q$1-3 for a local trip) and convenient, but I feel a bit like I am in 6th grade when I ride them. I wonder if it is still cool to sit in the back...?

I took a daytrip with school to Zunil, a local village in the mountains that was pretty hard hit by Hurricane Stan last fall, like much of the Western Highlands (sidenote: It is pretty scary the devastation caused by the hurricane...entire roads collapsed and/or were cut off by humongous landslides that occured after the rains). In any case, Zunil is still cleaning up now. It is also home of one of the oldest churches in Guatemala...Catholic, por supuesto. Zunil is also one of the places in Guatemala that is home to San Simon, a "saint" that many Mayan Catholics worship but is condemned by the actual church because they think he is actually a tool of the devil. ANYHOO, San Simon is a wooden statue dressed up like a cowboy that moves from house to house in Zunil (every 6 months or so). People come to him to light candles and give offerings, usually booze (which they can pour right down the statue's mouth) and cigarettes/cigars. The whole San Simon thing is a mix of indigenous Mayan beliefs and Catholicism, though, so it is quite fascinating, actually...when it isn't freaking me out. When I went to see San Simon (Q$5 cover charge!), two women kissed him full on the lips for what seemed like a good few minutes before pouring booze into his mouth. Okkaaaay.

Gallo is the most popular Guatemalan beer. This is obviously a sign for a bar. I took this in Zunil. For such a religious town, the name seems slightly inappropriate...

Every Friday at school, we have the option of an "interactive" class where we can go on a trip. This past Friday, I went to Copavic, a famous glass factory in Guatemala. It was really dope! You can get really up close with the glass workers. They were very nice. Who knew glass could be so interesting?!? OK, so I am lame...

Every Friday night, there is a dinner that serves as a graduation for exiting students. It is usually pretty fun. This past Friday was potluck, so we had to work with our teachers to make something. Julio (my teacher from the last 2 weeks), Susanne (his current student and mi amiga from Germany), me, and my current teacher Marvin made chocolate cake decorated with irregular verbs and choice phrases like "¡Que chilero!", "¡Que onda vos!" ("What's up, dude?"), and "¡Vamos a chupar!" ("Let's go drink!", or, more literally, "Let's go suck [on some beers, that is...get your head out of the gutter!])."

Yet another football match with pals! ¡Vamos, Superchivos! They tied with Guatemala City, but a good time was had by all, as evidenced above.

I get quite a few calls of "¡Chinita!" in the streets here. It may seem racist, but I have come to realize that people use it merely as a descriptive term here, if not a term of endearment - por ejemplo, when cute little old ladies come up to me, stroke my arm, smile, and say "¡Buenos tardes, Chinita!" As it is terribly difficult to curse off little old ladies, I am trying to rise above the racial implications. This little wall advert was for a seemingly unrelated product (I think it was outside of a car repair shop or something...) and, thus, completely random. But cute. I walk by it everyday and giggle to myself.