The Official Tour Tee
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thanks to Grandma!
Life at 5
10 years ago
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
My Ugh/Aha Moment in Spain
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
(Posted by Julia)
When we first arrived in Spain, I found a Rick Steve's Spain guide in one of the apartments we rented. There was an entire section in the book describing how people in Spain felt about Americans. Some of the adjectives used were naive, rude, parochial, selfish, etc. I thought for sure the book was not talking about us, but the other Americans. We actually did encounter said Americans at dinner one evening. The ladies next to our table were loud, rude and insulting to the waiter. Our dinner group felt quite ashamed to be clustered with them.
I also found that whenever people ask us where we're from, there is noticeable disappointment and/or a period of silence after we tell them "los estados unidos." I generally chalk it up to our last administration or tourists like those ladies at dinner.
Then a few things happened that made me realize that I was unknowingly contributing to the ugly American image. The first thing that happened was when I tried to go to a pharmacy to buy baby shampoo. At this pharmacy, the items were behind sliding glass doors on the shelves. I was used to shopping in US drugstores where you can take things off the shelf and inspect the items before purchase. So I slid the glass door open and carefully reached in for the bottle of shampoo. It was quite a crowded shelf and I did this several times to see the different brands. Then out of nowhere, this lady at the counter started to yell at me in Spanish. I only understood a few words but the sentiment was clear - you can't just touch anything you want and you have no right without asking first. Then another sales lady rushed over to help me select what I was already holding in my hand.
The other instances occurred at markets where I was buying some fruit. At one market the lady simply told me "no touching" so I put the fruit back immediately. The sales girl then selected the fruits for me and packed it up. When I got home, I found a moldy container of figs because I never inspected the package at the store. Then today at another market, the sales lady simply took the avocado from my hand, put it back on the stand and told me to ask for help. I then simply pointed to the exact same avocado I picked out and had it bagged by the sales person.
These instances made me very angry and I sat down to write this entry in order to vent my frustration. Then I realized something that was so obvious but that managed to escape my parochial mind. Both the store clerks and I were acting based on our respective cultural norms, and not based on some negative intent. I was angry because I felt personally slighted, but in hindsight, it probably wasn't the case. They thought I was being rude and entitled by not respecting their rules, but I never meant to. If I understood that this was the way business was done, I would have behaved very differently.
As a tourist, a person has very little time to understand the cultural norms and may walk away feeling very frustrated with the system. But over time as you learn about the culture, you begin to develop respect and understanding for each other's way of life. I know this, but I am only beginning to understand this. With all the packing and unpacking that we have been doing on this trip in addition to raising a rambunctious one year old, I rarely have time to step back and let it all sink in. Since Jackson won't remember a thing from this trip, I will encourage him and any future children to travel the world just as James had encouraged me to do so. This is truly a once in a life time experience and I am so glad to be here.
“Go, see the world. You will never regret it.” (The Namesake)
When we first arrived in Spain, I found a Rick Steve's Spain guide in one of the apartments we rented. There was an entire section in the book describing how people in Spain felt about Americans. Some of the adjectives used were naive, rude, parochial, selfish, etc. I thought for sure the book was not talking about us, but the other Americans. We actually did encounter said Americans at dinner one evening. The ladies next to our table were loud, rude and insulting to the waiter. Our dinner group felt quite ashamed to be clustered with them.
I also found that whenever people ask us where we're from, there is noticeable disappointment and/or a period of silence after we tell them "los estados unidos." I generally chalk it up to our last administration or tourists like those ladies at dinner.
Then a few things happened that made me realize that I was unknowingly contributing to the ugly American image. The first thing that happened was when I tried to go to a pharmacy to buy baby shampoo. At this pharmacy, the items were behind sliding glass doors on the shelves. I was used to shopping in US drugstores where you can take things off the shelf and inspect the items before purchase. So I slid the glass door open and carefully reached in for the bottle of shampoo. It was quite a crowded shelf and I did this several times to see the different brands. Then out of nowhere, this lady at the counter started to yell at me in Spanish. I only understood a few words but the sentiment was clear - you can't just touch anything you want and you have no right without asking first. Then another sales lady rushed over to help me select what I was already holding in my hand.
The other instances occurred at markets where I was buying some fruit. At one market the lady simply told me "no touching" so I put the fruit back immediately. The sales girl then selected the fruits for me and packed it up. When I got home, I found a moldy container of figs because I never inspected the package at the store. Then today at another market, the sales lady simply took the avocado from my hand, put it back on the stand and told me to ask for help. I then simply pointed to the exact same avocado I picked out and had it bagged by the sales person.
These instances made me very angry and I sat down to write this entry in order to vent my frustration. Then I realized something that was so obvious but that managed to escape my parochial mind. Both the store clerks and I were acting based on our respective cultural norms, and not based on some negative intent. I was angry because I felt personally slighted, but in hindsight, it probably wasn't the case. They thought I was being rude and entitled by not respecting their rules, but I never meant to. If I understood that this was the way business was done, I would have behaved very differently.
As a tourist, a person has very little time to understand the cultural norms and may walk away feeling very frustrated with the system. But over time as you learn about the culture, you begin to develop respect and understanding for each other's way of life. I know this, but I am only beginning to understand this. With all the packing and unpacking that we have been doing on this trip in addition to raising a rambunctious one year old, I rarely have time to step back and let it all sink in. Since Jackson won't remember a thing from this trip, I will encourage him and any future children to travel the world just as James had encouraged me to do so. This is truly a once in a life time experience and I am so glad to be here.
“Go, see the world. You will never regret it.” (The Namesake)
Change in Itinerary
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
We decided to shorten our time in Singapore and skip Hong Kong in order to catch the cherry blossoms in Japan. Our updated itinerary now includes a visit to Tokyo and Kyoto.
More on Singapore later...
More on Singapore later...
Australia and Travel Gear
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Although New York was the beginning of our trip, given that we had family and tons of friends in NY, Australia has really been the mental beginning. So far so good. The weather here has been a bit spotty, with a mixture of rain and sunshine that seems to switch at a moment's notice. That has made venturing out with Jackson a bit more difficult. It'd be very tempting to just stay inside the apartment anytime we thought it MIGHT rain, but I figure the only way we'll deal with it is by forcing ourselves a bit and dealing with the consequences later.
We are living in an area called Potts Point, which is not too far from the Central Business District. It is right next to Kings Cross, which is a seedier part of town that I remember well because all the hostels and rowdy clubs/bars are located there. The apartment we rented is in a modern high rise called the ikon. As far as we can tell, about 90% of the building is young, gay, male, and yuppy. It's quite a change from the massive Soho loft that our friend S lent us in NY, but it is comfortable. Jackson misses the swing and the view of women strolling out of the H&M across the street though ;)
A few people have asked me what kind of stuff we are carrying on the trip, so I thought I'd post about it.
The first rule of travel, as far as I am concerned, is that if you even ask yourself whether you should bring something, the answer is already No. Otherwise, all the little things add up and make your bags too heavy. Here are some of the things that DID make the cut:
This thing is awesome. It is ultra-lightweight, folds into a suitcase shaped bag that is easy to check in, and assembles/disassembles in about a minute.
This camera is also awesome. With the 20mm lens, it is small (still bigger than most point and shoots, but significantly smaller than a digital SLR), but the image quality is much better than point and shoots. It is basically a perfect compromise between size/portability and picture quality. If you've noticed an improvement in the quality of photos on our blog starting sometime mid-New York, now you know why ;)
Another popular camera on the quality:size ratio is the Leica D-Lux series, which Ev and Sara use. I think we opted for the GF-1 because it has a built in flash, but really I think you can't go wrong with either.
The other nifty thing about it is it has good depth of field, which I've never had before in a point and shoot.. so you can take nice, artistic shots where the background is blurry, like this:
This stroller is perfect for travel. Maclaren makes an even lighter one called the Maclaren Volo, the main difference being that the seat does not recline at all. It was a tossup between the two, but in the end I figured a few extra pounds was worth it if it made a difference to the likelihood of the baby crying versus comfortably falling asleep. The stroller quickly folds up and can be slung over your shoulder.
Before switching to the Ergo Baby Carrier, we used the Baby Bjorn. The Ergo is a bit harder to get the baby into, and when putting the baby in front, is more easily done with two people (because clipping the cross strap across your own back requires some serious flexibility that I lack). On the other hand, the ergo carrier is a LOT more comfortable, and you can put the baby on your back too whereas the Baby Bjorn carrier we had only allowed for putting the baby in front. The other difference is that in the baby bjorn carrier, the baby's feet dangle straight down whereas on the ergo, the knees typically bend. This makes a big difference when sitting down, because on the baby bjorn, Jackson's feet would touch my lap, which started him on some sort of instinctive kicking motion. Not pleasant for daddy. With the ergo carrier, things are much better for everyone. Plus if it's good enough for julia robert's kid, it's good enough for our's.
...and we're off!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Julia had the idea of buying a Travelocity gnome outfit for Jackson and taking pictures of him in it at iconic locations during our trip.. so here's the first shot in the series:
Although we tried to pack light, including heavier clothes for New York definitely made things bulkier. So bulky in fact that we had to pay an extra $50 in overweight luggage fees. Here's a pic of what the sherpas are carrying:
Julia's efficient packing is what enabled us to make the bag too heavy:
The flight to NY was great. This was Jackson's third trip so far, the first two being Hawaii and San Diego. Being older, he did not sleep quite as much as he did on the Hawaii flight, but luckily he did not cry or otherwise make a nuisance of himself (at least we think so, you'd really have to ask other passengers for confirmation). He did squeal a little bit here and there, but generally he just slept on mommy or hung around quietly.
Although we tried to pack light, including heavier clothes for New York definitely made things bulkier. So bulky in fact that we had to pay an extra $50 in overweight luggage fees. Here's a pic of what the sherpas are carrying:
Julia's efficient packing is what enabled us to make the bag too heavy:
The flight to NY was great. This was Jackson's third trip so far, the first two being Hawaii and San Diego. Being older, he did not sleep quite as much as he did on the Hawaii flight, but luckily he did not cry or otherwise make a nuisance of himself (at least we think so, you'd really have to ask other passengers for confirmation). He did squeal a little bit here and there, but generally he just slept on mommy or hung around quietly.
Tickets are booked!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I somehow managed to convince Julia not to go back to her job post-maternity leave and instead plan a year long trip living in various cities around the world.
The thinking is that it'll be hard to do this sort of thing as Jackson and any future kids get older, and hey, you only live once.. and life is short... and any other cliched rationalization we can think of :)
The places we are visiting are a little bit more tame than we would have preferred, but we had to incorporate the fact that we will be traveling with a baby! Here is our current itinerary:
NY: Oct 1 - Nov 27
Sydney: Nov 29 - Jan 22
New Zealand: Jan 22 - Feb 13
Singapore: Feb 13 - April 8
Hong Kong: April 8 - April 11
Taipei and Penghu: April 11 - April 21
Shanghai: April 21 - May 15
Barcelona: May 15 - June 26
TBD: June 26 - July 13
Amsterdam: July 13 - Sept 7
TBD: Sept 7 - ?
The schedule is subject to change, especially for the European portion.. subject to weather, how we are feeling, and any wild swings in the the Euro-Dollar exchange rate! The around the world ticket that we bought actually starts on the Sydney leg, so we can technically extend our trip until November 26 I think.
We are hoping that friends show up and visit, so do not disappoint us! Some friends we expect to see more now that we are joining their jet-set lifestyles.. You know who you are!! :P
We're gonna post updates of the trip at http://world.jhong.org
*Elephant in Youtube video for demonstrative purposes only. We are not actually going anywhere with elephants, unfortunately.