Browsing Archive: June, 2009
Posted by Megan Roney on Saturday, June 27, 2009,
Last night our local host, Vivi, surprised us with an impromptu field trip to the Confucius Temple. I was expecting a quiet, historical area for contemplation, and boy, was I surprised when our taxi dropped us in an area that looked more like a Chinese Los Vegas. Every building was light up with a neon sign, and people swarmed the streets weaving in between the men with rickshaws begging tourists to take a ride and vendors selling exotic meats shish-kabob style.
All of the light...
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Posted by Megan Roney on Friday, June 26, 2009,
Hooray I've found delicious food in China! For dinner last night, a group of us ventured to a shopping and dining area a few blocks away, and decided on a place called Hot Pot. At this restaurant, your waiter or waitress brings you a bowl of steaming broth, with floating spices, dates, and yumminess which is placed in the center of the table where there is a stove top service that heats the bowl's contents to a rolling boil. Then your party orders plates of fresh vegetables, meats and ...
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Posted by Megan Roney on Friday, June 26, 2009,
Last night in a moment of confusion, I managed to get myself locked out of the hotel room. I jumped in the elevator (which is lined with a matt displaying the day of the week in English and Mandarin, and changed everyday) and hoped the one receptionist who speaks English was on shift. She was and by the time I had ridden the elevator back up to my floor, a maintenance person was waiting at my door to let me into my room. These people have an incredible sense of efficiency.
For example...
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Posted by Megan Roney on Tuesday, June 23, 2009,
After a long day of work, we were released from quarantine to eat at the restaurants a few blocks from our hotel and to explore the several levels of Carrefour, the local supermarket. Once the wall of humidity hit us as the sliding doors to our hotel opened, we were like kids in a candy store. It's amazing what a few hours held up in a hotel can do to the spirit of a bunch of twenty-somethings. We took photos, danced, even cried a little. Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but ...
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Posted by Megan Roney on Monday, June 22, 2009,
Yesterday I had the pleasure of experiencing my first
authentic Chinese meal. When I was
younger, ev...
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Posted by Megan Roney on Monday, June 22, 2009,
My least favorite part of flying is those ten to fifteen
minutes after the plane has landed when every passenger feels it’s completely
necessary to pop up out of their seat the second the wheels touch the ground,
pull their oversized suitcase out of the overhead compartment, injuring anyone
and everyone in their wingspan, and queue up despite the fact that it will inevitably
take the crew what feels like an eternity to open the airplane door. The way I feel during this joyous time
is th...
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Posted by Megan Roney on Monday, June 22, 2009,
With the economy in shambles the amount of discount airline
e-tickets purchased online is increasing, and it’s hard to imagine taking a
trip void of some type of layover.
Now I’m not usually one to complain about these stops in Podunk, New
York or Kansas City, Missouri when I’m on my way to Orlando, Florida, after all
it’s all about the journey, not j...
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Posted by Megan Roney on Sunday, June 21, 2009,
I felt it the night before I left. That feeling I get every time I leave home for an extended period of time, that homesick longing that always creeps up on me. Senses are intensified and it suddenly becomes very, very clear how incredibly good I have it in life.
I tend to pause when entering the kitchen, crowded with family chatting and children playing and flash a dreamy smile, like I'm reenacting a scene from "It's a Wonderful Life."
The annoying squeaks from the dining room floor so...
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After a while of traveling in foreign countries, you begin to realize that it's not just your luggage that can get lost. When you don't speak the language, you loose your ability to speak. If you can't decipher the written word, you loose your ability to read. And if you can't read the signs to know where you're going, you yourself can get lost. It can be a bit overwhelming, and at times humiliating, but I'm sure even Odysseus experienced frustration on his adventurous travels. This blog is my account of my travels. Hopefully, my blunders will assure others that they are not the only ones lost in translation.
