Well, week one of classes has been accomplished, and I'm still kicking, if only just. This week, I must admit, has been incredibly difficult. Not only have I had classes for the first time in over a month, but I've also been dealing with some heavy issues on a personal level. This is a powerful one-two punch. Fortunately some of that was clarified (though not resolved) by means of a bit of communication. Other factors, into which I will not online delve, have been present lately, and this is at least an opportunity to evaluate what is good and what is not, and to make decisions accordingly.
It has come to my attention lately that when I return "home"-- the concept is becoming less definite by the moment--it will no longer exist in much semblance of the one I knew a year before. My bedroom has been rearranged, some people have moved outside my immediate sphere of day-to-day bumpings into, friends are marrying, people are shifting and changing and altogether living life. I'm doing the same, though I do wonder what the ramifications of truly taking a year "off" (as if...) are. I mean, I've certainly grown and changed, I'm just realizing that this is also true of the world around me, no matter where I go.
I say all this to say one thing:
I didn't watch the Oscars this year. I don't know who won. I don't care to know, because I didn't see any of the nominated movies. I guess. I mean, I don't know who was nominated. And, yet, I'm still living a suitably enjoyable life. I've not spent ages googling the event, nor have I tracked down all the movies and watched them in a compulsively chronological order. I guess some things are more important than movies.
Here are pictures from Vietnam.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15658&l=b9426&id=573182167
T
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
I know I've been away. My computer had a minor issue, but it has been resolved by yours truly. I'm back.
I arrived safely in Beijing on Wednesday, and since then I've been registering for school, washing clothes, cleaning the apartment, registering my living here with the police, and finally, yesterday, going to class again. What a way to come home.
Classes seem manageable to me so far. I have only had two, but I have the other one today, and then I will be acquainted with all my teachers for the semester. I'm not exactly kicking and screaming against classes restarting, but I'm certainly a bit sad at the loss of my oh-so-brief classlessness. I suppose my purpose here is actually studenthood, so I should get back to it.
I will let you know if anything else comes up. I'm sure it will.
T
I arrived safely in Beijing on Wednesday, and since then I've been registering for school, washing clothes, cleaning the apartment, registering my living here with the police, and finally, yesterday, going to class again. What a way to come home.
Classes seem manageable to me so far. I have only had two, but I have the other one today, and then I will be acquainted with all my teachers for the semester. I'm not exactly kicking and screaming against classes restarting, but I'm certainly a bit sad at the loss of my oh-so-brief classlessness. I suppose my purpose here is actually studenthood, so I should get back to it.
I will let you know if anything else comes up. I'm sure it will.
T
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
They would never sell for a single dollar.
Today in Hanoi was interesting, though the whole is perhaps not congruent with its parts.
This morning I exchanged the American dollars I had left to Vietnamese Dong in order to have spending money. That was successful, and so I was left with enough money to go about business as usual for the rest of today, and to have a bit for living tomorrow. Hopefully all will be right tomorrow. The Professor's debit card is back up and running now, so we're not completely stranded, either.
While walking around among some shops in the Old Quarter today, we were stopped by a street bookseller. He was selling a travel guide for China, and it would be fairly useful as far as living in Beijing goes, so the Professor started to haggle with him while I was distracted in a store looking at musical instruments (I was unsuccessful, by the way...). He wouldn't come down properly in his price, and we pulled away. The book he had was the French translation, but he could easily have procured an English one, no trouble. At this point, as in a lot of international haggling, he started yelling prices at us down the street. He made the fatal error, though. He said one dollar. I heard this offer, and it struck me that he would actually lose money by selling me the book for a single American bill. Smelling blood, I wheeled around, and I started saying, "Ok, one dollar."
"One dollar, you said one dollar. Ok, the China book, English one, one dollar."
"Seven dollars."
"No, you said one dollar, I want it. One dollar."
The Professor chimed in, "Four dollars."
"No! He said one dollar, I want it in English for one dollar!"
The seller and his friend were standing grinning at us, and they kept saying things about seven dollars and other rubbish. They were clowning because they were caught. There is little honesty when a street pedlar has made a mistake. Then, the book seller's friend started moving, and he made as if to grab my genitals. The fun stopped.
"If you touch me, I will hit you in the face."
We turned and left.
A bit later we went into a café we both like, and the book seller saw us sitting in the window. He came up and stood outside the window, looking at us and motioning for us to buy a book. We were both incensed that he was following us. The Professor asked the waitress if someone could ask him to leave. She told us that there is really nothing the restaurant can do about someone on the sidewalk. I told her that he was harassing us, and she nodded. We changed tables, and we didn't see him again.
That was the first time I have really felt threatened in my travels. Interesting that it was on my last day out.
---------
Tonight the Professor and I had a dinner at a place called (a bit pompously) Café des Artes. The interior and the food were nice, though, and since it was in a former colony we will forgive the francophone name.
T
This morning I exchanged the American dollars I had left to Vietnamese Dong in order to have spending money. That was successful, and so I was left with enough money to go about business as usual for the rest of today, and to have a bit for living tomorrow. Hopefully all will be right tomorrow. The Professor's debit card is back up and running now, so we're not completely stranded, either.
While walking around among some shops in the Old Quarter today, we were stopped by a street bookseller. He was selling a travel guide for China, and it would be fairly useful as far as living in Beijing goes, so the Professor started to haggle with him while I was distracted in a store looking at musical instruments (I was unsuccessful, by the way...). He wouldn't come down properly in his price, and we pulled away. The book he had was the French translation, but he could easily have procured an English one, no trouble. At this point, as in a lot of international haggling, he started yelling prices at us down the street. He made the fatal error, though. He said one dollar. I heard this offer, and it struck me that he would actually lose money by selling me the book for a single American bill. Smelling blood, I wheeled around, and I started saying, "Ok, one dollar."
"One dollar, you said one dollar. Ok, the China book, English one, one dollar."
"Seven dollars."
"No, you said one dollar, I want it. One dollar."
The Professor chimed in, "Four dollars."
"No! He said one dollar, I want it in English for one dollar!"
The seller and his friend were standing grinning at us, and they kept saying things about seven dollars and other rubbish. They were clowning because they were caught. There is little honesty when a street pedlar has made a mistake. Then, the book seller's friend started moving, and he made as if to grab my genitals. The fun stopped.
"If you touch me, I will hit you in the face."
We turned and left.
A bit later we went into a café we both like, and the book seller saw us sitting in the window. He came up and stood outside the window, looking at us and motioning for us to buy a book. We were both incensed that he was following us. The Professor asked the waitress if someone could ask him to leave. She told us that there is really nothing the restaurant can do about someone on the sidewalk. I told her that he was harassing us, and she nodded. We changed tables, and we didn't see him again.
That was the first time I have really felt threatened in my travels. Interesting that it was on my last day out.
---------
Tonight the Professor and I had a dinner at a place called (a bit pompously) Café des Artes. The interior and the food were nice, though, and since it was in a former colony we will forgive the francophone name.
T
Monday, February 18, 2008
I'm in Hanoi, but plans have changed. We are unable to get train tickets to Beijing from here. They are booked. Through March. So, the disaster relief fund is now open. I had to drop $340 today for my ticket, and that amount again for the Professor's because his debit card was declined at the ATM. He'll pay me back, but ouch. That's about double what was expected for each, and it's added to some unforeseen things that we didn't realize we would be expected to pay. So, seriously, I wouldn't turn down charity. As I see it, I'm not technically broke yet. I mean, in a literal no-money-at-all sense. But I'm closer than I should be.
That said, Hanoi is cold, and the sky is grey. Home. This city is interesting, because it reminds me of China a lot, but the section we're staying in is set up like a French city with winding streets and alleyways creating a labyrinth of three or four-story clumps of cafes and shops and schools and hotels and tiny businesses. It would be beautiful in the springtime, I don't doubt. Right now it's 50 degrees out, and it's been drizzling.
I'll be back in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon. Watch out, China, I'm on my way back.
T
That said, Hanoi is cold, and the sky is grey. Home. This city is interesting, because it reminds me of China a lot, but the section we're staying in is set up like a French city with winding streets and alleyways creating a labyrinth of three or four-story clumps of cafes and shops and schools and hotels and tiny businesses. It would be beautiful in the springtime, I don't doubt. Right now it's 50 degrees out, and it's been drizzling.
I'll be back in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon. Watch out, China, I'm on my way back.
T
Saturday, February 16, 2008
We went to the War Remnant Museum. It's nice to be reminded how much a country hates your homeland once in a while. I took a few pictures of tanks and planes and bombs for you, Dad.
This afternoon, in our wandering we stumbled upon this place:
http://sozocentre.com/
I find this highly highly interesting. We'll talk about it another time. I think it's a great place, and the mission statement is a good one. They had a couple familiar quotes on banners on the walls, as well. You're probably seen them in a book with a lot of songs and poems.
Tonight I get on that delicious train. Wish me well.
T
This afternoon, in our wandering we stumbled upon this place:
http://sozocentre.com/
I find this highly highly interesting. We'll talk about it another time. I think it's a great place, and the mission statement is a good one. They had a couple familiar quotes on banners on the walls, as well. You're probably seen them in a book with a lot of songs and poems.
Tonight I get on that delicious train. Wish me well.
T
Friday, February 15, 2008
The heat is on in Saigon.
I'm in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. That, friends, is good ol' Saigon.
I have no idea what to do here, but I'm free for the next 27 hours. Go.
We might go see some stuff, but I'm just really not in the mood to see more war/evil stuff. Yesterday morning I went with the Professor and Callie to the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge just outside Phnom Penh. I have pictures, but it was really a bizarre place. There is a huge stuppa (Buddhist structure to honor the dead) there, and inside are thousands of human skulls that have been exhumed from the mass burial pits on the premises. Ten stories of rows of skulls. There are signs telling the age and gender of the skulls in each section. Many are crushed from the top-- the Angkar did not want to be wasteful of bullets, so they used hammers, hoe heads, machetes, and axes.
As we wondered around the trail that goes around the campus, we saw the sights: emptied grave pits, the tree where they lashed children, the tree where a loudspeaker was hung to mask the people-sounds. Around in the back of the perimeter kids started begging from us. This is more an issue that one might guess, because my official stance is to never give to beggars. It's harsh, but there's a whole reasoning system behind it, and underneath is the fact that if you give one kid a quarter, his 23 closest friends are going to show up. I watched it happen to the Professor. Anyway, we didn't give the kids money, but one of them had a pop-gun. He was probably 8 years old, and he had a gun at a torture sight where his people had been killed by the thousands a scant few decades ago. I asked to take his picture, and being a good Cambodia kid, he agreed to do it for a small fee. I got a couple of pictures, and we gave all 7 of the kids 500 riels, which is about 12 cents each. The kid shot me with his pretend gun. I died on the Killing Field, if only for pretend.
Today we had a very stressful morning and finally got on the bus to get from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. HCMC was the capitol when Vietnam was divided. The bus took about 6 hours, and the drive was not bad. I finished reading Steinbeck's The Pearl and I finished listening to Rob Bell's Sexgod. I also took a nap.
Tomorrow night we board a double overnight train and get spit out in Hanoi at 4:30 a.m. on Monday. In Hanoi we are looking to see something called Water Puppets. I don't know, so don't ask.
T
I have no idea what to do here, but I'm free for the next 27 hours. Go.
We might go see some stuff, but I'm just really not in the mood to see more war/evil stuff. Yesterday morning I went with the Professor and Callie to the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge just outside Phnom Penh. I have pictures, but it was really a bizarre place. There is a huge stuppa (Buddhist structure to honor the dead) there, and inside are thousands of human skulls that have been exhumed from the mass burial pits on the premises. Ten stories of rows of skulls. There are signs telling the age and gender of the skulls in each section. Many are crushed from the top-- the Angkar did not want to be wasteful of bullets, so they used hammers, hoe heads, machetes, and axes.
As we wondered around the trail that goes around the campus, we saw the sights: emptied grave pits, the tree where they lashed children, the tree where a loudspeaker was hung to mask the people-sounds. Around in the back of the perimeter kids started begging from us. This is more an issue that one might guess, because my official stance is to never give to beggars. It's harsh, but there's a whole reasoning system behind it, and underneath is the fact that if you give one kid a quarter, his 23 closest friends are going to show up. I watched it happen to the Professor. Anyway, we didn't give the kids money, but one of them had a pop-gun. He was probably 8 years old, and he had a gun at a torture sight where his people had been killed by the thousands a scant few decades ago. I asked to take his picture, and being a good Cambodia kid, he agreed to do it for a small fee. I got a couple of pictures, and we gave all 7 of the kids 500 riels, which is about 12 cents each. The kid shot me with his pretend gun. I died on the Killing Field, if only for pretend.
Today we had a very stressful morning and finally got on the bus to get from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. HCMC was the capitol when Vietnam was divided. The bus took about 6 hours, and the drive was not bad. I finished reading Steinbeck's The Pearl and I finished listening to Rob Bell's Sexgod. I also took a nap.
Tomorrow night we board a double overnight train and get spit out in Hanoi at 4:30 a.m. on Monday. In Hanoi we are looking to see something called Water Puppets. I don't know, so don't ask.
T
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Copycat
The Professor wanted to start his very own blog. Actually, his mommy told him to so she could let people read it. Anyway, I set it up for him, and you are welcome to read about my life as told by the guy who sleeps in the other bed in my room.
www.cheapthrillsandchuanrgrills.blogspot.com
T
www.cheapthrillsandchuanrgrills.blogspot.com
T
Monday, February 11, 2008
I'm still alive! That is more a miracle than hyperbole. Lately I've had about 13+9+6=28 hours on buses going around Cambodia. In total, we hit three dogs, I think. Also, I had a bit of a motorbike accident that skinned up my right arm and ankle, and left me with some respectable bruises.
I'm in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which is north, near the border with Laos, and also near the western border, that is Thailand. Last week I was near Laos and Vietnam. Today we are going around to see the ancient temples very near this city. I get to see Angkor Wat today. Also, we're going to see two other temples. One is the one with the trees growing over it. The other will be a surprise. Also, I would like to see the landmine museum here, but I'm told it's about 35km away. That's a bit of a tuk-tuk ride. And my stomach has been in better shape. I guess being on vacation in the third world will do that after a while. In China we call it la1 du4 zi. I took imodium this morning, and I'm packing Pepto tabs for the day.
I am in love with Siem Reap, by the way. This city has great restaurants and shops and is wonderful for pedestrian traffic. I'll get some pictures tonight when we go out for dinner. They have a Mexican Cafe!
I think that's all for now. Tomorrow it will be back to Phnom Penh, and then on Friday to Vietnam. Please keep playing "Where in the World is Mr. Nobody?".
Now where is that tuk-tuk driver?
T
I'm in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which is north, near the border with Laos, and also near the western border, that is Thailand. Last week I was near Laos and Vietnam. Today we are going around to see the ancient temples very near this city. I get to see Angkor Wat today. Also, we're going to see two other temples. One is the one with the trees growing over it. The other will be a surprise. Also, I would like to see the landmine museum here, but I'm told it's about 35km away. That's a bit of a tuk-tuk ride. And my stomach has been in better shape. I guess being on vacation in the third world will do that after a while. In China we call it la1 du4 zi. I took imodium this morning, and I'm packing Pepto tabs for the day.
I am in love with Siem Reap, by the way. This city has great restaurants and shops and is wonderful for pedestrian traffic. I'll get some pictures tonight when we go out for dinner. They have a Mexican Cafe!
I think that's all for now. Tomorrow it will be back to Phnom Penh, and then on Friday to Vietnam. Please keep playing "Where in the World is Mr. Nobody?".
Now where is that tuk-tuk driver?
T
Friday, February 1, 2008
I'm off to Ban Lung, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia.
It looks like no Laos for me, after all. Visas cannot be gotten here.
Yesterday I shopped in a market, and it was a good experience. Callie haggled for me and the Professor in Khmer. That, friends, makes one respect someone a million times more. Haggling in a second language. (I can do it, too, you know, but Khmer is a crazy-sounding language.)
The team seems really nice, and I am looking forward to spending time with them.
T
It looks like no Laos for me, after all. Visas cannot be gotten here.
Yesterday I shopped in a market, and it was a good experience. Callie haggled for me and the Professor in Khmer. That, friends, makes one respect someone a million times more. Haggling in a second language. (I can do it, too, you know, but Khmer is a crazy-sounding language.)
The team seems really nice, and I am looking forward to spending time with them.
T
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