New Day. New Country.

I was starting to worry that in Saigon I wouldn't meet any CS members. But, true to form, the community came through and I had dinner the night before last with a group of truly cool people. As is typical, there was a nice mix at the table for dinner, an American, a Canadian, two Vietnamese and a Malaysian. I'm not sure I'm going to know what to think next time I go to have dinner with my friends and they're all of my ethnicity.

Before dinner, thuogh, I had a cup of coffee with My Than, a Vietnamese girl that has a wonderful smile. We sat and chatted about many things while waiting for other members of out party. The topic of conversation turned quickly to politics. I, as I have in every country I've traveled to thus far, had to explain American's rationale for re-electing Bush in 2004 and in general what the hell America is thinking right now. My asked me an interesting question about individuality in America. She says she doesn't understand why some people want to stand out so much from the rest. She thinks that everyone should work together for a more societal good rather than to be his or her own bright shining star. Interesting.

The next morning My and Kiet (another CSer) were gracious enough to take me to the airport. I felt like I had my own entourage of motorbikes. They got me safely there and away and my flight then left for India.

I've got enough stories about India already to fil a blog, so I'm going to start an entirely different post for that. Let's just say, for now, that India is the strangest, most difficult and fascinating country I've traveled to- and it's only Day 1.

Chasing the Sun

Just a quick note to let you all know I've arrived in India. I didn't even get to the parking lot before I broke a sweat from the humidity. Anyway, I'll update you all some more tomorrow on my last night in Vietnam, Socialist conversations, and initial thoughts on India. For now, I need to rest. Until the morn...

Indoctrinated.

You know, it's almost easy to forget that Vietnam is a Communist country. Then, you get subtle (read: propaganda) reminders. I was exposed to this today as I took a tour out of Ho Chi Minh City to the countryside to the Cu Chi Tunnels. I'm sure some of my elder (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) readers are familiar with these, but for my generation not so much. The Cu Chi tunnels are a system of tunnels in which the Viet Cong guerrillas hid during US bombing sweeps of the area during the Vietnam War. Not only for hiding, the tunnels were base camps for the NLF fighters. In layman's terms, it's a bunch of tunnels where Vietnamese lived to escape American bombings.

Remember how yesterday I said I wanted to study up a little on the Vietnam War? Well, I won't get an objective viewpoint here. All the pictures I saw today at the tunnels and also at the War Remnants Museum were all about documenting how scared, undermanned and defeated the Americans were. Want to learn about how the US got involved and why campaigns began in the country? Sorry, can't learn about that. But there is a nice exhibit on the My Lai massacre. Want to know about why North Vietnam was attacking South Vietnam? No help there, either. But please watch the video about the brave, courageous and proud Vietnamese and how they were attacked- unprovoked- by the "great white devils".

Now, I claimed to be naive in an earlier post, but I'm not really. I know that the US involvement in Vietnam is something that is in question even today. I know that many veterans still don't understand why we went there in the first place. I also am aware that acts committed by US forces during the campaign are reprehensible. But seriously, a whole day of listening to how America was scared and photos of civilian bombing victims really has my head spinning.

Well, best to move on. I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Delhi. I don't really know what to expect. I'll be sure to update frequently in India.

Bits and Pieces

-I underestimated the bike/car ratio here. It's more like 30:1. Americans drive on the right side of the road. Our British friends drive on the left. Vietnamese drive on both. There is little semblance of order. It actually kind of makes it fun.

-At the Cu Chi tunnels today I got to fire an AK-47. It was a little expensive, but I figured it was something I had to do. Just fired 10 rounds into the distance at some targets. I don't think I hit one. This seemed a little more organized that the trips to the shooting range I was offered in Cambodia. Of course, in Cambodia they have RPGs, grenades and Gatling Guns to use. They also (for a price) will give you a live target, like a cow.

-In general, I find the Vietnamese to be less friendly than Cambodians. They're still nice, but definitely less smiley and friendly.

I suppose my next post will be from New Delhi, India. This is my most anticipated stop on the trip. I will be there for a week. I just imagine a circus from touchdown to takeoff. Until next time...

Human Frogger

I've only been in Ho Chi Minh City for a few hours now but it is definitely an observationalist's (is that a word? No? Ok, I just made it one.) dream come true. Here are some things that have stood out thus far-

1. Everyone wears those pointy straw hats. It's not just a stereotype.
2. What Smith is to Anglos, Nguyen must be to Vietnamese.
3. In the markets, the touch barriers are broken. Those ladies will grab you, pull you, and tug you into their shop. True story, I had one woman pulling each arm in the middle of the crowded market. And these were hard pulls, too. They were even digging into the ground for leverage against the other. I felt as if I needed Solomon as my arbiter.
4. I have never seen so many motorbikes in my life. They must outnumber cars 10-1. So it makes it a little difficult in crossing streets since there are no traffic lights. It is truly like playing human frogger. I have discovered the secret, though, and that is to just walk out into traffic, maintain a slow and steady pace and all the cars, buses and motorbikes will dodge you. It's a little scary at first, but you get used to it.
5. You can instantly tell that HCMC is more Westernized than Cambodia. Definitely doesn't seem as backward. Plus I've already seen a couple KFCs. Phnom Penh just got its first last month.

Many of you have contacted me about what happened in India. I appreciate your thoughts and my plan is to still continue to the country on Wednesday. I really see no reason not to go. The bombings were a long way from Delhi. I realized that doesn't mean too much, but with the country on a little higher alert, I feel that it should be fine. I'm still concerned the most about Syria, but that's a whole 'nother blog.

Tomorrow I will try to soak up a little history. To be frank, I don't know too much about the Vietnam War (or the American War as it's called here), so I will go to the museums and such that they have and try to glean a little better understanding of what really went down.

Until next time...

A Top 10 List

True to their words, almost everything was closed today in Phnom Penh. This led to an incredibly boring yet somewhat relaxing day. I didn't get up until almost 11. Took a quick jaunt out to buy some street food for lunch and retreated back to my hotel to watch Little Giants and wash my clothes. I then went out to the Russian Market, which I was assured was open. The Russian Market is the big touristy souvenir place. It was open, but about 75% of the shops were closed. I bought a couple water color paintings of Angkor and a couple tshirts (they have good tshirts here) and I was gone.

Now, after dinner with a couple Brits I randomly met, I'm here at my second home- the internet cafe to waste the rest of the night. If you could see me now, I'm watching the YouTube video of Jesse McCartney's "Leavin" and drinking a Pepsi Twist with a straw. Suz, you'd be proud.

So since I had the day, I've been preparing a list of the Top 10 things I'll miss most and miss least about Cambodia. Away we go!

Ten Things I'll Miss Most
10. Cheap food
9. Accuracy of maps
8. Knock-off CDs and DVDs
7. ease of transportation
6. A busy nightlife
5. Cheap massages
4. Overall helpfulness of the people
3. Motorbike rides
2. Random monkey sightings
1. The smiles

Ten Things I'll Miss Least
10. Rats on the street
9. Slow internet
8. The unavailabilty of Lemon Fanta
7. Lizards crawling all over the walls
6. The phrase "Same Same," which must be the first learned by Cambodians
5. The city shutting down for Election Day
4. The trend of the long pinky nail on men (just gross)
3. Cambodian pop music
2. Smelly hotel towels (I have been using my own)
1. The road between Thailand and Siem Reap

Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to share the story that gave Eric the most laughs.

I have been teased pretty much constantly my whole life for having a slightly larger posterior. It's a fact I've come to accept and actually embrace. It doesn't really matter even if I drop pounds, lift weights or take my vitamins. My butt remains the same. I know most of you in reader land have actually probably teased me about it at some point, but, in the immortal words of Tupac- "I ain't mad at cha."

But, as it seems, the Cambodians like to make fun of my rear, as well. They pretty much make no bones about telling me I have a large butt. It's really interesting, actually because I've traveled many places, but the Cambodians are the first people that have actually verbalized their thoughts. This has happened twice.

1. Eric and I decided to get massages in Siem Reap. A typical American massage that lasts an hour costs around $60. Here? $6. It was almost impossible to pass it up. It wasn't necessarily a relaxation massage, but rather one of those where the girl walks on your back. As she is doing so she remarks to her friend, walking on Eric's back something in Khmer. I didn't have to be a Cambodian language expert to know what she was saying. The girls giggled to each other and then piped up in English "It's very big". Thank you, ladies.

2. Haggling is a big part of Cambodian life. From tuk tuk rides to market items, reaching a price that's agreeable to both parties is important. So Eric and I start haggling for a motorbike taxi to take us to the Killing Fields. I contend that both of us can fit on to one motorbike, but the driver says "No, too much weight." Of course I threw him the ol "Are you calling me fat" line and he said no, but that my butt was very big. Eric lost it. The driver explodes into laughter. I politely smile. We took two bikes.

What is it with these people? This would not be considered kosher in the USA. But you know what? I kind of like it. It really doesn't bother me at all and I think its really funny, actually. Just makes me wonder what the folks in India are going to think.

The Election

I just read up a little more about this election tomorrow and I thought I would just link an article about it. Nothing too exciting, but as I understand it, the incumbent Hun Sen is a former Khmer Rouge guerilla. He is expected to win.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/07/200872643824630720.html

I can't get the hotlink to work, so you might just have to copy and paste the link if you're interested.

I Guess I'll Have to Stay Another Day

I like Cambodians. There is just something fascinating about them. It is truly difficult to put a finger on it, but I think it's something in their smile. They really love to smile and especially like to smile at foreigners. And we're not talking a half-hearted smile, these are big toothy grins. I didn't really know what to expect from the people when I came. I supposed a suspected generally sad and down-trodden folks because of this country's no-so-distant bloody history, but I have been pleasantly surprised.

I struggle with what I should write in this blog. I don't feel it is in my (or your) best interest to read a minute-by-minute recollection of my days but rather a summation of my observations and experiences. For instance, I could go on and on about how magnificent the temples at Angkor Wat are, but my words don't really do it justice. Angkor Wat, for those of you who aren't familiar is the greater name for a collection of temples re-discovered in the 19th century near Siem Reap, Cambodia. Most of the temples had been lost for centuries, engulfed by the surrounding jungle. I spent most of my day Wednesday touring these temples and really came away with some amazing pictures. It's quite expensive, really, at $20 per day for entrance. Eric and I hired a tuk tuk driver to haul us around all day and act as an unofficial tour guide for $15. Not a bad deal at all.

I had heard that Cambodia was ridiculously inexpensive, but so far I have found that to be a myth. It is cheap, to be sure, but not as much as I had imagined. It's difficult when paying in US dollars for anything to be a huge bargain. So far I haven't purchased much here in way of souvenirs, a t-shirt at Angkor Wat ($2!), a fridge magnet (although I paid for two because I accidently broke one. Let's just say I was testing its untensil strength) and a guide book. Funny thing about guide books here as I only paid $4 for the newest edition of the Lonely Planet guide to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Of course, closer inspection reveals that all the pages and pictures have been photocopied and bound together, but it's all the same to me.

As a side note, let me remark about how good of English the children speak here. Of course, they don't deviate much from "Hey mister, postcard one dollar" but you can have a small conversation with them and they truly uunderstand. One particular girl started harrassing me as I ate lunch near Angkor Wat. She was hawking several books about the Khmer Rouge and wanted me to buy one. "Ok, what is the capital of Madagascar? If you don't know, you buy book." Tough little cookie. But, unfortunately, she didn't know who she was dealing with and I spouted "Antananrivo" before she could say much else. She looked dejected. Then mad. Then she left. I guess I trumped her trump card.

Yesterday Eric and I hired a couple of motorbike drivers and they took us to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a converted schoolhouse where thousands of innocent people were slaughtered during the reign of the Khmer Rouge in 1975-1979. We then took a little jaunt down the road to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. The Killing Fields are home to several dozen mass graves where thousands of bodies were buried. It is estimated that there are up to 12,000 more bodies yet to be unearthed, but it doesn't seem at this moment that the Cambodian government wants to. What's really eerie is that as you walk along the footpath, you can visibly see parts of bone still sticking up from the ground and clothes strewn about. Much is left as it was 30 years ago. I must say that it all still pales in comparison to what I saw at Auschwitz in Poland, but that's not to trivialize the magnitude of the Cambodian genocide.

Ok, enough heavy stuff. Eric and I met an Aussie CSer for dinner last night on the riverfont. She is a delightful gal and we had a great dinner and great conversation. It's funny, but even as the cultures of the USA and Australia seem to be similar (which they are) there are still vast differences. We had a great view of the Pontoon, which is supposedly a popular nightclub on, as the name implies, a pontoon. The only reason I mention this is because we heard later in the evening that the pontoon sank. Too many people on board maybe? Several people could be spotted with pants wet up to the ankles. I kid you not. I have a smile on my face as I retell this story. I can't help but to find humor in the situation.

So this is a strange weekend to be visiting Cambodia. Tomorrow they have a general election and there is a strange vibe in the air. I'm not sure what to make of it, really. All the bars stopped selling alcohol at 11:40pm on Friday night and will not sell again until Monday. Apparently the whole country shuts down for this event. The Aussie CSer I mentioned is a nanny for a employee of the UN who is in Phnom Penh working on investiagtions for the genocide trials and apparently the UN has told its people to avoid all uncessesary travel tomorrow. Unfortunately for me, tomorrow I had planned on traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by bus. I had my decision made for me. No buses tomorrow. None. Can you believe it? I guess I'll have to stay another day in PP, but tomrorow everything will be closed. What am I going to do? I guess I'll have plenty of time to work on my summer readings for Patterson (I've been informed that some Patterson professors may be reading this so I felt I needed to throw that in. Make a good first impression, you know? :) )

I did get my Vietnam visa, though. After all the stress and worry about getting it and all it took was giving the little guy at the front desk my passport and let him shuffle it over to the Vietnam embassy. Eric and I part now. He returns to Bangkok and I'll go to Vietnam. I guess I'll only for to spend two days in the HCMC now, but tight schedules like that are the American way. Or so I'm told. Wednesday I'll leave for India. More to come!

An update...

I haven't forgotten about you, my faithful readers. I'm actually just kind of busy here in Cambodia. I'll try to get another blog up later this evening, but right now I'm off to meet a Aussie CSer for dinner. More to come later, including how I ended up sitting at a bar drinking a banana milkshake and playing Connect Four with Eric. Classic Patrick.

Border Hopping

This blog will catch you up on what happened yesterday as I tried to cross the Thai/Cambodian border. This is a real story. I take no liberties with it.

The trip from Bangkok to the border is supposed to take about 5 hours. We (Eric and I) were told that buses leave from the bus station about every 30 minutes. No problem. We get up early, have a little breakfast and catch a cab to the bus station. After little to no problem arriving, we find out the buses don't depart every half hour, but every 3 hours. We had just missed the 930 bus so we had to wait for the 1230 bus. Not a huge problem, but I would have preferred not sitting in a plastic chair sucking down diesel fumes for 3 hours.
The bus finally departs, and we're on our way. A fairly uneventful trip, if you don't count the scattered monsoons, randomly picking up large groups of people fromalongside the road, Thai political demonstrations in the middle of the road (literally- a 4 lane road became 2) and the occasional pothole.

We arrive at the bus station and patiently wait for our bus. The lady tells us it will be 20 minutes. An hour later, I'm starting to get worried that the border will close by the time we get there. Eric starts chatting up a Thai girl named Tan and we all quickly become friends. She is crossing the border, too, to see her pseudo-boyfriend in Battambang, Cambodia. We decide to stick with each other as we don't speak Thai and she was a single female traveler who has never been to Cambodia before.

Now the story gets fun.

After a truly uneventful ride (the highlight was learning that Tan's brother is a lady-boy ), the bus dropped us off at the border town Aranyaprathet where we had to get a tuk tuk (think moped with a carriage) to the border station. The driver takes a diversion telling Tan that we need to go to the Cambodian Consulate to get our visas. It's getting dark at this point and my fear is that the consulate is closed. I also feared long lines of travelers just like Eric and I fighting for the last Cambodian visas of the night. I was wrong.

Once we removed our shoes and stepped onto the marble floor, we noticed that no one was there except for two guys sitting and smoking cigarettes at a table. One of them jumped up and said "Visa?". We nodded in agreement and almost instantly a shutter opened against the wall with a man inside, lights came on and voila! open for business! We filled out some paperwork and had our visas within 15 minutes. Not hardly the way it would operate in the States, but hey, who cares? We crossed into Cambodia and could immediately tell we were in a different world. Paved roads gave way to dirt and gravel, pressed shirts gave way to sooty clothes, taxis disappeared. Hundreds of people on the street. Street food in all its glory.

I will cut short the next 30-60 minutes of the day. Let's just say we bargained and haggled for a taxi. The actual events we much more complicated than that, but eventually some guy knew a guy who knew a guy who was a roommate of a guy who once had a vague idea of where Siem Reap is. 3 hours to get there, they said. A busted Toyota Camry pulled up with a cracked windshield and caked with dust. I traced 'Wash Me' with my finger over the trunk as they told us that if we just got in the car and paid $40 US dollars we would be on our way. Let's set the scene. Imagine we're standing on a pile of rocks, dirt blowing , the smell of fried something-or-other permeating the air, backpacks on, surrounded by Cambodians who all want our dollars. The easiest thing to do was get in the car. And so we did.

Only once in the car, we headed back to the border. The driver, who spoke no English turned down into a dark alleyway. A group of Cambodians were perched along side a wall and moved to the car. The driver gets out and opens the trunk, taking our backpacks out and stuffing them in the front seat. The group of guys the proceed to stuff huge Styrofoam boxes into the trunk. They push and push. Kick and push. Slam the trunk, sit on the trunk, jump on the trunk and it is all finally in. Whatever "it" may be. I'm honestly a little worried at this point. What's in the boxes? Cocaine? Heroin? We'll never know. One of the guys tosses a spare tire in the front seat and we're off, heading this time in the right direction.

Think for a second. What is the WORST road you've ever seen? It's undoubtedly rocky, made of dirt or gravel and looks like no one has tended to it in years. Now take that image, multiply it by 10 and you've got a Cambodian highway. I'm not even joking. Words really can not express the terror I felt on that road. The driver varied in speeds from 15-80 miles per hour on the road. Once he came precariously close to a slamming into a mound of dirt. Another time we were about 6 inches from another car. Passing on left and right sides, head hitting the ceiling, watching the gas tank drop until the light came on. This is the ride to Siem Reap. Something was also very strange about the ride and it took Eric and I a few minutes to come up with the answer. No lights. None. Oh, the cars had headlights, but the road had no lights itself. Pitch black. This added to my fears.

The one moment where I felt particularly unsafe was when the driver pulled over without warning. He got out of the car and went to the trunk. He pulled out his cell phone and made a call. He got back in the car, drove another mile and pulled over again. Off to the side of the road I saw flashlights coming at us. People we coming from the darkness towards the car. Driver gets out and opens the trunk, pulling out one of the boxes. A man loads the box on his moped and speeds off. A girl pays him. He returns to the car and we drive on.

Maybe to hear me tell this story doesn't sound so bad, but trust me, it was worrisome. I think I would have felt more safe had I made the trip during the day and could see what was going on around me, but as it was, there was nothing to see. Only more darkness. Couple that with a non-English speaking driver who looked to be having a bad day and I felt pretty unsure of the situation. I am very very very thankful I wasn't making the trip alone. Eric assured me he felt the same way. I think I will consider this another notch in my traveler's belt.

Long story short, we got to Siem Reap about 1100pm and made our way to the guest house we had booked.

Today we saw the Angkor Wat temples but I'm much too tired now to blog about that. Maybe tomorrow.

Bits and Pieces

-The currency system is weird here. ATMs dispense US dollars. Accepted currencies are the USD, Thai baht and Cambodian riel. The riel is used as coins because of the low exchange rate. 1000 riel is worth approximately 25 cents.

A Briefing

I just thought I would check in and say Im safely in Cambodia. The experience (and thats the best way to describe it) getting here was quite a memorable one and one in which I didnt know if I was going to come out alive. There were moments when I slightly feared my safety.

Anyway, Ill give you all the lowdown on that later today, but right now I need to eat breakfast and get ready to explore the Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap. Someone we met along the way termed Cambodia as ''the Wild West'' of SE Asia. So far hes proving to be accurate.

A Show With Everything But Yul Brynner

Bangkok has been nothing like I had imagined. I envisioned seeing the sights, the temples, eat some pad thai, and relax. I have done none of those things. In fact, probably the one thing that Bangkok is known for (besides a ping pong show)- the Reclining Buddha - I haven't even seen. You would think this would constitute a travel failure, but you'd be wrong. Bangkok has been unexpectedly wonderful thanks to a handful of great people.

It didn't start that way, though. In fact, I was openly considering jumping ship early and moving onto Cambodia. As I alluded to in an earlier post, I had my first dicey CS experience. I'll take the blame for it, though. I hastily decided on requesting a decorated CSer to be my host, ignoring the warning signs. It's really too much to explain on here, so if you like I'll give you the low down when I get back. Basically my host left for the weekend once I got there and left me sharing her apartment with a sketchy character. I opted to leave. Another guy who was sort of in the same predicament I was in- Eric from San Fran- struck out together and found a nice guest house in which to stay. This is where my story takes a turn for the better.

Long story short, I have ended up meeting (via CS) a truly wonderful group of Thais. They are so wonderful, in fact, that I've become a flip-flopper and I'm now staying an extra day in Bangkok just so I have another night with them. These are the types of people I want to meet. One of the girls actually works at the US Embassy so we had a chance to talk a little State Department (for those of you who don't know, I interned with the State Department in 2006 in DC). Turns out both our life-long goals are to obtain Diplomatic passports.

So what HAVE I actually done in Bangkok? Well, I went and saw The Dark Night, which is the new Batman movie. Some of you might be reminded of how 3 years ago I gave up an opportunity to see Pompeii to stay in Rome and watch Star Wars. You'll be happy to know I haven't changed. After the movie last night, we (a group of about 8) went to karaoke. This isn't the karaoke of the states, mind you. This is Asian karaoke. Same singing principles still apply, but instead of in front of an entire bar audience, you're stuffed in a posh little room with your friends. Food and drink are served. It was truly a great evening. If you've ever wanted to see me singing karaoke to a Thai pop song, I have video.

Today was the most interesting, though. A group of 4 of us went to a Muay Thai boxing match. This was truly a cultural experience. Of the approximately 1,000 people in the Cracker Jack box of a gym, I would estimate only about 25 foreigners. The first bout was between two 14 year old boys. Blue trunks won by TKO. While the match progresses, the crowd gets more collectively involved (read: more bets are placed) and by the 5th round its darn near pandemonium. I had a nice Aussie fellow beside me who does a bit of Muay Thai himself and he explained a lot about what was going on. He told me that these guys, who will fight approximately 200 bouts in their career, are taken from rural villages and groomed to fight to make money for their families. It's the only income some families have. Then, once the fighters retire, the outfit will pay for their educations. Seems like a fairly good deal to me but I'm sure some will disagree. The fighters seemed to be in good spirits and enjoying themselves, though, as they smiled before, during and after the matches. I came thisclose to putting down some Thai baht on a fight, but couldn't bring myself to trust a toothless fellow with my 100 baht bill. Plus I couldn't really say for sure that I knew what I was doing. I struggle with placing bets at Keeneland and they speak English.

So with the aforementioned extra day I've decided to spend in Thailand, I'm going to see the sights tomorrow. I'll take all the obligatory photos so I can finish the Bangkok chapter of my trip. It has been a stop that has been unexpectedly wonderful.

Bangkok- Oriental City

So last night (my last in Seoul) I had one of the most amazing nights of my life. Then, the following morning I had one of the worst mornings ever. Allow me to explain...

First I must say I hit the CS jackpot with my second host in Seoul, the Kims. The daughter is a member of CS and her parents have gracious allowed her to open their home to foreigners passing through. The apartment was quite spacious and I even had my own room! Score! To top it off, the next morning (yesterday) the mother made me a delicious breakfast. Sylvia, the daughter (who had already gone to work) wasn't home so conversation was minimal with the mother.

That evening, I met Sylvia at a metro stop and we went to dinner with a group of her friends. What proceeded was 4 hours of laughter, chatting and generally sharing culture with one another. It really was fabulous. I felt like a rock star. The 6 of them (whose English abilities varied) asked me questions all night, varying from my thoughts on Bush to Rajon Rondo. They taught me all about Korean culture, i.e. how I am supposed to hold my glass when being served and to whom I should serve to how I should speak to elders. I, in turn, shared with them American culture. It was another one of those "I can't believe this is happening to me" moments.

Maybe I'm naive. Actually, I'm sure I am. But why are there so many problems and conflicts in the world today? There were no hostilities last night, we all truly enjoyed each others company and the opportunity to get to know someone else. Maybe it's just my generation that has been brought together with ease by the miracle of the internet, but I don't see how you can't respect and marvel at cultural differences and see people, although maybe physically different, as just that- a person. Maybe one day I can change all this.

Unfortunately, this morning will go down as one of the worst ever. One too many pieces of kim chi, I suppose. I got pretty sick. I had to hold it all down and in on a hour and a half bus ride to the airport and I was pretty sickly. Thankfully, after purging myself I feel better now.

So now I'm in Bangkok, Thailand. I will just say this for right now- I might be in my first sticky CS situation. Nothing major, I just really have no idea what's going on right now. I'm at this girl's apartment, with another American guy from San Fran (who is really cool) but the host hasn't shown up. Finding a hotel for tonight isn't out of the question. Suffice it to say I'm just a little confused. I'll keep you posted.

Bits and Pieces

-Had an encounter with a Thai she-male at the airport. He/she was using a urinal in the men's bathroom but definitely had boobs and long hair and sacheted (SP?) when walking.

-Cool shirt of the day - "Minuteman Meat Puppet Descendents (sic) Agst."

-Thailand is CHEAP!

-I re-read some of my blogs. I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors. Blame is on those dang foreign keyboards.

More to come. This could get interesting...

Wrapping Up Seoul

I have really enjoyed my time in S Korea! I will explain why more tomorrow, but now I must hit the hay. The easy part is over, now the trip gets interesting...

I Could Toss a Rock into the North

So I had to get up early today because I finally got a tour of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). For those of you who are a little rusty on your history, the DMZ is the most heavily fortified border in the world that links North Korea and the South. You have to have a passport, go through checkpoints and bypass minefields to get there. My type of trip!

I won't bore you with historical data in this blog. If you want to know those things, you can ask to see my pictures (or lack thereof- they don't take kindly to pictures there) when I get back. Instead, I will tell you the story of how I almost missed the tour.

I got lost. Big surprise. I had to be there at 745 and I got off the subway at 730. I had plenty of time. Only, as I stated before, I got lost. I entered what I thought was the Lotte Hotel. I was instructed to go to the 6th floor. I found an elevator and got on. Only the elevator didn't stop on the 6th floor- just the 11th. So I take the elevator to the 11th and walk down. I open up the 6th floor door and it was an empty movie theater. Crap. I look at my clock, 738. I decide to walk down the stairs back to the 1st floor. I walk down 6 flights of stairs and get to the 1st floor door. Locked. The whole building was dark. Holy crap. I'm going to miss this tour. I RUN back up 11 flights of stairs, get the elevator and take it back down to 1. I, panting and sweating, ask a guy where the lobby of the Lotte Hotel is. He takes pity on me and points me in the right direction. I arrive, a couple minutes late but find most people havent even checked in yet. All for naught. At least I got some exercise.

Tonight I have made plans to attend a traditional Korean performance at the Chongdong Theater. http://www.chongdong.com/chongdong_english/index.asp . I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Bits and Pieces

-I dont have a Vietnam visa yet. The clock is ticking. Stay tuned.

-I saw the Korean Stephanie Tanner in the subway today.

-I have a standing offer to eat dog meat tomorrow night. I'm not sure if I will accept.

-Has anyone seen the Street Views option on Google Earth? Simply amazing. It will literally show you what my front door looks like. Along with my car on the street. I'm blown away.

-Random t-shirt sighting of the day "Essence of fresh brimming hum". Chuck, I think the Rodriguez Bros would sell really well over here. You just had the wrong market in the States.

*Take note I made two blog posts in 30 minutes so be sure to check out What Happened Yesterday*

Until next time...

What Happened Yesterday

Sorry I didn't get around to posting yesterday. I literally had no time to post. I posted a message on the Seoul CS site and asked if anyone wanted to meet up and the response was overwhelming. I spent most of yesterday meeting with CSers across the city.

After morning touristy things, I met up with a CS Ambassador from Seoul named Min Kyoung in the afternoon. She showed took me to a little Korean restaurant where we got an order of Kim Bap (think raw fish-less sushi) and took it back to her apartment and chatted for a while. This was actually one of the more interesting conversations I've had since I've been on this trip. We talked about a wide variety of things including travel (she's moving to Buffalo in August), North Korea (she says South Koreans really don't think much about North Korea) and finally marriage. This is where I got a good laugh...

You see, Min Kyoung is engaged. More or less. When she told me this I immediately looked at her hand. No ring. Her boyfriend (an American from Buffalo) asked her to marry him. He presented her with his great-grandmother's engagement ring and she accepted. Only, as she put it, "So I´ve been engaged like 10 times." Curious. As we dove a little deeper into conversation I find out that in the Korean culture, one of the first questions you ask is "Will you marry me." Kind of the Korean version of "So, um, do you think I'm marriage material?" I went on to explain to her about what engagment means to Americans and the traditions of the proposal. Min Kyoung doesn't always wear her engagement ring because as she said "It doesn't go with jeans." I then explained to her why her boyfriend/fiancee gets upset when she doesn't wear it.

But, after talking with her I can tell she really loves him and wants to be married to him. There was just a culture gap when it came to the symbolism of the ring and it left both parties a little confused. Min Kyoung, if you're reading (which I hope you are), I wish you and Jake nothing but the best! Just make sure that if you want to keep him happy, keep the ring on. ;)

My short time with her was full of great conersation. Another testament to the beauty of CouchSurfing. After leaving, I went to meet another CSer in the northern part of town near the Korean University. Do you ever have one of those moments in your life where you look around and just take stock of your life? Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you just are amazed at your surrounding and can't believe its really happening to you? This was me last night. So I find myself sitting at a table in a small Korean restaurant eating Sam gyeopsal (literally Triple Fat meat) with two German girls (one of which is half Korean, the other half Japanese), a Korean guy, a Cambodian guy and a Samoan. Can anyone else reading say they found themselves in a a similar company lately?

Anyway, we had good eats, good conversation and good companionship for a couple hours. I then returned back to my place for the evening. I had to get up early...

The Seoul-ful part of my trip

I had to make the obligatory Seoul/soul pun. I'm sorry.

So after spending pretty much the whole day in the Narita/Tokyo Airport I have landed here in South Korea. I had originally planned to take a tour of the DMZ tomorrow, but since I was the only person signed up for the trip, coupled with the fact that the North and the South are having some "peace talks" the tour got cancelled. I had help out hope that I might be able to step inside North Korea for even the briefest of moments just to say I had been. Oh well. Kim Jung-Ill will have to wait for another day for Patrick Barker.

I must say I don't know what to expect from this city. On the exterior, it resembles Tokyo. Bright lights, loads of people and cement everywhere. Hopefully tomorrow I can find a softer side of the city. I'm also looking into taking in a traditional Korean theater performance on Wednesday. Should be interesting.

My hosts in Seoul for the first two nights live near the Olympic section of town. Of course, you remember that Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics. I just finished asking them how they became a couple, a question that is surprisingly easily answered. You see, he is a Spaniard, she is a native of Sri Lanka via Toronto. They now live in Seoul. Pretty cool if you ask me.

I don't have a whole lot to say, since I just arrived, but I did make a few notes.

-When I arrived at the airport going through customs I was stopped and asked if I was a member of the Army or Air Force. Darn this haircut. I even asked the guy if my haircut was the reason he stopped me. It was.

-Want to know how Korean police slow people down on the interstate? Just place random flashing red and blue lights in bushes.

-I am reminded that Korea has the most missionaries per capita of any country in the world as I see dozens of crosses fixed to buildings on the drive in.

-My iPod touch is a spectacular gadget. I recommed anyone who is traveling to own one.

-The cab ride to the apartment was a nightmare. My Korean is limited to Hello and Thank You, so trying to give directions wasn't easy. Luckily I was in the right neighborhood and my host came to my rescue.

-I have a business proposition to anyone who will listen. What we will do is start screen-printing tshirts to sell in Asia. Shirts with English written on them are all the rage. The funny thing is, the shirts don't even make sense in English. So all we have to do is slap a few random phrases on shirts (think: The chimney sweep eats apples, et al.) and we're banking big bucks. Sleep on it.

More on Korea tomorrow...

A Shoulder to Sleep On

So my time in Japan is winding down. I left Tomoko and Kamakura this morning. I took this opportunity to visit the "big city" so to speak. I headed off to Tokyo early in the morning. It was about an hour train ride to Shinjuku Station where I met Setsuko, another CS member who agreed to show me around town.

Can I just say how wonderful CouchSurfing is? How else could I meet so many wonderful people wherever I go? Setsuko and I went to Kichijoji where we had lunch and had good conversation. Her english was really superb as she works as an editor for one of the large Tokyo newspapers. We walked around a local park and I asked her (tactfully) the question that had been on my mind. What do Japanese history books say about World War 2? What are children taught? As it turns out, not much. Apparently the Battle of Pearl Harbor only occupies a couple sentences in the pages of Japanese history and I find out you'd be hard pressed to get any Japanese veterans to talk about their experiences. I guess if you lose the war, there's not much to say. It makes me wonder how my knowledge of history would be different if the outcome of the War was different.

Anyway, enough of the heavy stuff. Setsuko and I spent most of our short time together trying to track down fridge magnets. If you were hoping I would bring you a gift from Japan, please temper your expectations. Japan, as I have found it, is a pretty poor souvenir place. We couldn't find any magnets so I7m holding out hope that the airport will come through for me.

After Setsuko and I departed, I took the train to meet my host for the evening, Yasuke. He has been studying hard for his German exam tomorrow, but he has still been kind enough to offer me his couch. Er, floor mat. His apartment is very very small. One room, half a kitchen and a bathroom. Very cramped, but hey- this is Japanese style. As I write I'm sitting on the floor with a jug of lemon tea and my new favorite sweet- Pocky. Its the equivalent of a small, chocolate dipped breadstick.

Unfortunately for myself and Yasuke, his test is tomorrow morning so he must leave pretty early. I will leave with him and proceed to the airport where my flight doesnt leave until 5. I guess I'll get a lot of reading done tomorrow. But such is life. I'm not paying anything for lodging tonight so I cant complain too much, right?

My flight tomorrow will take me to Seoul, South Korea. I will be staying two nights with a couple from Canada and then two more nights with a Korean family- all CouchSurfers.

Bits and Pieces

-Krispy Kreme has landed in Tokyo. Word on the street says that you have to wait in line two hours to get your hands on some of that goodness. Setsuko was confused the first time she tried them because, as she put it, "it melted in my mouth!"

-I'm fairly sure I could fill a small bathtub with the sweat I've lost in the past two days.

-Speaking of sweat, theres a bottled water company here called Pocari Sweat. Seriously? Who is going to buy bottled water with the word Sweat scrawled on the side of it? Not this guy. No sir.

-I make a good pillow, apparently. On the train ride to Tokyo today a girl fell asleep on my shoulder. I was really unsure what to do. Push her off? Let it ride? I chose the latter. Probably would have had a different response had she been less attractive. ; )

-Heard from a few different places that Japan was expensive. I would like to change that. TOKYO is expensive. Kamakura was much more reasonable. I kid you not, a Goodwill shirt that says "Ohio State" on it that we would pay $2 for in the US sells for $45 here. I kid you not. Saw it with my own two eyes. Part of it is fashion, though.

Alright, skipping off to bed now. Well, more like rolling across the floor onto my mat. No worries tonight though, Yasuke has AC! Party time!

Until I arrive in Korea...

The Sun Shines Bright on My Old Japanese Home?

A couple notes before I hit the sack-

So I brought a couple picture books about Kentucky to give to my hosts and I presented it to Tomoko tonight. We flipped through the book together. She was most impressed with the picture of the original KFC, I think. Anyway, I forget how it came up, but she starts humming, out of the blue, My Old Kentucky Home. She called it the "Kentucky song". My eyes got big. How in the world does she know this song? As it turns out, every Japanese child learns this song when learning English! How 'bout them apples?! If you would have told me, I wouldn't have believed it, but the proof is in the tune!

I did a good job of making myself look like a foreigner tonight while riding the bus to the train station to meet Tomoko. I pushed the call button to let the driver know I wanted off near the station. Turns out, the station is the last stop and everyone unloads at that point. So my pushing the button was meaningless. The man in the seat in front of me turned around to see the idiot who pushed the button. He didn't seem surprised by what he saw.

Alright, off to bed. More adventures tomorrow. Hopefully I can spend the majority of the day in and near an AC.

Until next time...

Who needs to actually cook the fish?

Let me first start by saying that if the rest of my trip goes as well as it has in Japan, well, then I will be very happy...

Tomoko has proved to be a Grade A host. I can only hope that my future hosts will be as gracious as she has been. As I told you before, the promised to take me to an "old style" Japanese sake bar. So I met her at the train station after work and we went to this little hole-in-the-wall place no bigger than my living room. Behind the counter, a little old lady and a younger lady were working. I say working, but in all actuality, we proved to be their only customers of the evening. True to bar style, we sat side by side at the counter. Tomoko hollered something in Japanese and the lady brought us over two Asahi beers and a plate of soy beans. I won`t bore you with a play by play of the evening, but suffice it to say that we enjoyed conversation and I enjoyed trying new foods (raw squid, tofu and rice balls). Fear not, I have lots of pictures.


A short digression- what, exactly, is the etiquette when CouchSurfing? Tomoko has offered her home to me, offered me advice, actually acted as a tour guide and been an interpreter. So what do I owe her? Certainly paying for meals together is a logical response, but how much is too much? We`ve eaten two meals, both around $40 each. I`ve paid for both. I feel it is only right. Expensive? Sure, but what`s a friend in a foreign country worth? Anyway, I`m firmly in the camp of paying for meals with my host. Sure, it will add up, but really what they have and will give is, to me, invaluable.

So I began today with breakfast and small talk with Tomoko about weather in the US and Japan. We then ventured to Enoshima Island where there is a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji in the distance. Only today it was too hazy to actually see the mountain. Color me disappointed. We went to into a cave on the island which, to say the least, was fairly lame. It`s sure no Mammoth Cave. I tried to explain to Tomoko the vast superiority of Mammoth Cave, but I`m not sure it hit home.

Then came lunch. Oh, what a lunch it was!

I believe that when Henry Ford invented the conveyor belt he didn`t have raw fish in mind. Tomoko and I went to a sushi restaurant where you belly up to the bar and start snatching plates of raw fish and scarfing it down. To be quite honest, I`m not too impressed with sushi. It`s alright, but not my favorite. Several questionable plates of "food" were put in front of me and, being the good traveler that I am, ate them. I mean, these things still had eyeballs. Some things I found palatable, such as tuna (which really tasted just like tuna salad). One plate passed in front of my face was a strange shade of red. It almost looked like beef. Tomoko said "this is whale". I shot her a look. Whale? Surely this is lost in translation. Apparently not. Free Willy was apparently captured and sliced into lunch. Somehow I feel eating whale wouldn`t fly in the States.

All things considered, Japan has really gotten my trip off on the right foot. This is definitely a place in which I would consider returning.

Bits and Pieces

-ATMs here will only dispense the equivalent of $100 US minimum. What if I want $50? Tough luck. To make matters worse, it won't (there's that apostrophe key!!) break the bills up either. Meaning that it just gives you one bill. Could you imagine a US ATM only giving out $100 bills?

-It is so freaking humid here. Not super hot, just uncomfortably humid.

-I went to the beach today. I was sorely disappointed. Japan has been, as far as I have seen, immaculately clean. Why, then, is the beach disgusting? A very crowded beach, but loads of trash in the water. I wouldn't swim in there if you paid me. I did, however, get my feet wet.

-Something I've discovered quickly is that I should study before I act. I spend a couple extra minutes watching how everyone else does things before I follow suit. It really helps. Probably kept me from looking like a fool a couple times. Why, then, did I decide after watching everyone in flip flops on the beach to take off mine? Until I got near the water, I scalded my feet pretty well. The sand was blazing hot. They still hurt. Way to go, Patrick. Way to go.

-While waiting for Tomoko at the train station, I took it upon myself to check out a shoe store. I saw they had New Balances, but some really weird styles that must only be available in Japan. They did have Zips though. I guess they can't sell them here, either. I thought I might try a pair on, but no joke, the biggest size they had was a 10.5. Strangely, all they had were wide widths, too. We routinely sell 15s at my store. Sometimes even a size 20. I'd like to show these folks those shoes. "Aw, these a shoes for a Mista Godzirra?"

-No one wears sunglasses here. Why is that?

-I am sweating as I sit at the computer.

So tomorrow I will leave here and meet another CSer in Tokyo. She will show me around for the afternoon and then I will meet yet another CSer for dinner. I will then stay at his apartment for the night. Then Monday I will leave for Seoul!

Until next time...

Indiana Barker and the Temple of Money Washers

Just a quick post as I try to save up some energy before dinner...

I started hoofing it to the Daibutsu earlier this morning (for the record, Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Kentucky). The Daibutsu is also known as the Giant Buddha.

Tomoko (my host) gave me a list of cool sites around the area to see (she had to work). Most consisted of Buddhist Temples and shrines. All were unique. Some things they all share in common. I learned the rituals quickly. Before entering a shrine or temple, there are troughs of water with little pails you must cleanse yourself with before you enter the grounds. Just pour some over the hands, wash out your mouth and you`re set.

The most interesting temple was one in which scores of Japanese folk were washing their money. Literally putting all their bills and coins in a wicker bowl and using a ladel to pour water over it. I`m not sure the reasoning behind it all, but suffice it to say it gives new meaning to the phrase "money laundering".

A nice little food trick I`ve learned from my travels is to bypass the restaurants and head straight to the 7/11s. Yes, while all the tourists were paying 20 bucks for a couple fish heads and some rice, Patrick was sitting on the steps of a shrine chowing down on a fried fish sandwich, some weird bacon sandwich, Japanese Pringles and a Coke. All for about $7. The only problem was that I believe I probably shouldn`t have been eating my cheap lunch on the steps of the shrine while worshipers were gathering. Oops.

Another round of observations:

-This is a really clean country, but where are all the trash cans? Seriously, I can`t find any. There is no trash strewn about on the streets, but no trash cans either. What gives? I had to search 30 minutes before finding (what I believe to be) a trash can to throw away my aforementioned lunch.

-Along the same lines, why don`t they use soap here? Undoubtedly they shower and use soap, but in the bathrooms all there is is water. But seeing as how the Japanese have the longest life expectancy in the world, I won`t ask questions.

-Do children go to school? There are children all over the place here and they look like they`re in transit to school i.e. uniforms, back packs, sack lunches, but they always seem to be in transit.

-One day into the trip and the picture count sits at 100. Looks like I`ll be buying another SD card.

-Someone got it right when they called Japan the "Land of the Rising Sun". Starting rearing its head at about 400am. No joke.

Tomoko promised me we`re going to a Sake bar tonight for dinner. That should be interesting. I`ll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

Until next time...

Kamakura, Japan

Forgive me while I try to organize this blog...

So I`ve arrived in Japan and, after much debate, decided to start blogging about this whole `around the world` experience. I struggle with my confidence as a writer and thusly will probably be bringing you this blog as anecdotes and random thoughts I have while seeing all corners of this earth. I just don`t believe I have a knack for story telling (my friends will tell you I`m a horrible story teller).

Anyway, after a 645am flight to Chicago, a 5 hour layover, a 13 hour flight to Tokyo, a two hour train ride and a 2 hour wait for my host, I`m here! I`m staying with a couchsurfer (http://www.couchsurfing.com/) in Kamakura, Japan, which is a beach town about 45 minutes south of Tokyo. I chose this place because it seems a little quieter than the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, plus theyve got a huge Buddha statue. My bed is a futon, there is no AC and the flat is tiny, but all is well. Tomoko (my host) has been wonderful thusfar. Her English is a little shaky, but good enough that we can communicate fairly easily.

I will set out in a few minutes to explore Kamakura. Tomoko tried explaining the bus route to get there, but I think that I`ll just use a map and hoof it. That seems like it will provide less confusion (or maybe more, who knows).

So to close this first blog entry (let`s hope I don`t get lazy and slack on more), let me share with you some random observations of Japan:

-I arrived and am instantly the tallest guy in town. Also the fattest. Ok, so I don`t really think I`m the tallest, but of the thousands of people I have seen today, probably top 3. No doubt.

-How much do electricty bills run around here? Everything is neon and flashing. It`s CT`s worst nightmare.

-Obviously a different culture here, but what stands out is that people will go out of their way to help you. If you`re in NYC and look lost, you better ask for directions because no one is stopping to help. Here, I looked lost for a minute and had 2 people come up to me and ask if they could help.

-You know my first dinner story had to be a good one. So I`m in the train station and decide I want a bite to eat. Only I can`t read/recognize any food available. I end up point to a few a la carte items at a little snack place and hope for the best. I take my purchases and go down to the platform to wait on my train. This is where it gets interesting. I put my backpack down and start rifling through the bags. Enclosed are chopsticks, a wet nap, 2 packets of secret sauce, what can only be described as a Japanese mystery meat corndog and two crab cake-looking things.
I start to open the packets of sauce but realize I have to have scissors. Really? You`re in a train station and you have to have scissors to open it? I did the best I could do and punctured a hole in the side of it with a pen. I then start squeezing the sauce onto the crab cakey thing. Only a little comes out. I squeeze harder. (Keep in mind I`m a giant white face in the middle of a bunch of Asian ones and a train platform with two backpacks and a bad haircut.) Of course you know what happens with I squeeze harder. Yup, it shoots a chunk across the platform and lands right next to a girls shoe. She looks at me, looks down, frowns and keeps walking. Score one for the diplomat-in-training!

The meal didnt turn out too poorly. I do think, however, that I ate at the Japanese version of Long John`s.

Until next time...