Yesterday marked an epoch in my life of 16 years. It marked the day that I went to my very first high school dance. It also marked the day when I realized that I really wished things were still the same as they were in the 1950's (or the way they were in the 80's, which fits better with the theme of the dance).
I walked in to the Clark High School cafeteria, prepared for the worst (since I knew how kids "danced"), but at the same time I was excited for this new experience to add to the book I call "life." You see, I have this strange, almost irrational, fear of dances--and whenever I'm at an event that has a dance after, I tend to sit alone (or with other like-minded individuals) somewhere far away from the mob of moving bodies.
But this time I vowed I'd be different. I'd take a chance. I'd conquer my fear.
I made it on to the dance floor and I survived a few rounds of jumping around, looking like an idiot (at least, I think that's what the dance is called), but then I was done. I wanted to sit on the sidelines and watch the rest of the people make fools of themselves, but I was out.
After I realized how much I detested what we call "dancing" these days--basically, tons of body to body contact and other things that should not be allowed on school property.
I remember watching films that were set in high school and I never saw this kind of...strange dancing. I guess I always figured that a dance would have more normal stuff, like waltzing and ballroom dancing. (I'm thinking Cinderella. She certainly didn't "get down" on the prince or anything like that.)
For anybody time traveling from the 50's--or even the 80's (so basically: parents), they'd probably be surprised with what they would see at a dance.
I want to go back to the 50's--back to the time when dances meant more than 100 sweaty teenagers all jumping around together, giving each other 0 personal space. Back to the time when girls wore poodle skirts and guys wore long socks and calf length pants. Back to when they played songs that people could actually dance normally to.
Unfortunately, we can't time travel and this is how our culture is changing. I guess I'll have to learn how to dance--or at least how to ignore it.
when i was your age, we didn't do that at dances ,
oh danny boy ,
In an effort to actually talk about something travel related (turns out I'm very bad at this whole crazy "staying on one topic" thing), I'm going to talk about Scotland in today's blog entry.
Scotland is a beautiful region in the United Kingdom (just like England, Wales, and North Ireland). The country has become, to me, synonymous with the word green. When I think of Scotland I think of rolling hills, ancient stone castles, bagpipes, and of course: men in skirts.
Here are some random facts...The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh. The largest city Glasgow. Scotland has a constitutional monarchy and its current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II. (It is the same as England, since they are basically the same "country.") Traditionally, Scotland's economy has been dominated by heavy industry, specifically with ship building, as it is on an island surrounded by water on either side. There are about 5 million people living in this region of the UK.
Music is very popular in Scotland and their regional/national instrument is the Grand Highland Bagpipe. If you don't know what it is, the bagpipe is a wind instrument that basically has a bag and a pipe attached to it. Thus, the name "bagpipe."
Men in Scotland are often depicted as wearing kilts, which look like plaid skirts. It's one of the traditional clothings for males in Scotland. Women also wear kilts.
Well, now you know a bit more about Scotland, so I guess I will be taking my leave.
somewhere over the rainbow ,
When I was little I watched a beautiful girl in a checkered dress float away in a house and land in a land far away. Her name was Dorothy and this place was...Munchkin Land. [Or was it Oz? I never really understood the story very well, I guess.] I always wished that I could be as beautiful as her and that my house could also land way up high--somewhere over the rainbow.
Sometimes I wonder about the concept of "other dimensions" or "alternate universes." I mean, what if there's somebody over there in some other space-time-continuum who looks and acts just like me...but their circumstances are different? Or maybe they live during a different time than I do?
I'm not an avid sci-fi reader, but I do know a thing or two about...alternative universes. So, I think it'd be highly likely that in some other place 5 kabillion light years away, there is another Miwako--with a different (possibly better) life than the Miwako here on this earth that is not 5 kabillion light years away.
Maybe someday I'll understand what's over the rainbow. Most likely, this will never happen. And this brings me to my next point. (Wait, I had a point?!?) Life is such a weird wacky thing--it's so important and fragile, yet at the same time: not at all. We think we're this hotshot big deal thing, because we're human, but really: we're not at all.
Life is so full of uncertainties, people are so complicated, everything is so ever changing--we're scared to do stuff because we're afraid of consequences. But, really, in the grand scheme of things: how much do we matter?
Probably not a lot.
If that's the case...why does it matter what we do?
If that's the case...why does everybody work so hard trying to make life complicated?
If that's the case...why did Dorothy ever want to come back home from over the rainbow?
feed me--asian style.
Chopsticks and raw fish, rice and seaweed, sake and curry: The world of Asian cuisine is large and for the most part well known, but not well understood. Today I shall be talking about cuisine from East Asia: Korea, China, and Japan.
So, let's start with Korea, shall we? Koreans eat rice (well...duh) and use it to make flour and rice cakes called tteok as well. A famous Korean dish is kimchi--which is basically pickled vegetables, especially cabbage and raddish. To give you a mental image: it's all weird and red, it's spicy, and it has a very pugnent smell. It smells...not very pleasing to the nose. (Unless you're Korean and you practically sleep in kimchi.) Koreans also eat lots of noodles and seafood and various types of meat (including dog and beef and pork, etc.).
As for the Chinese, they'll eat almost anything it seems. Rice is, of course, very prevelent in this culture as well. Chinese people also drink tea, but then again: This is Asia, people. Chinese people eat a lot of noodles as well.
In Japan, raw fish is common. Noodles, like soba and udon and ramen are also common. Again, rice and tea are common. Sake is basically rice wine and is the common alcoholic beverage. (I've realized that I used the word "common" too many times in this paragraph.)
You should all go eat Asian food.
welcome to wisteria lane.
My sister needs to stop watching Desperate Housewives. It's as simple as that. She's been watching it every day for the past...week or so. And then of course, I make my way over to where she sits, staring at the computer screen and join with her...staring at the computer screen.
I'm almost embarrassed to say that it's true, but yes...I actually enjoy watching this really messed up show where all the characters lead really messed up lives. This is Wisteria Lane. Now, let me just say that I'd probably shoot myself if I had to live on this street. They're all crazy lunatics.
But, it makes for a good story. (I'm forgetting what my point was...I need to start having one of those. Also, this has nothing to do with travel...again! I really do kick myself for choosing that niche.)
I wonder what place is like Wisteria Lane, with no morals or values what so ever--where neighbors burn down other people's houses and neighbors kill their neighbors. Wow. When you put it that way, it sure is one jacked up show.
Is Wisteria Lane a correct summary of what America is like? Is there a place like it?
I don't know, but I guess I'll have to watch the next episode to find out.
a meshing of cultures.
So just now I was on the wonderful tool that we know as Facebook (a very addicting tool, but we'll get to that at a later date). Anyways, my friend posted a status thing that talked about Wonder Girls being on the radio station 104.3.
Now, in case you were wondering: Wonder Girls is a famous Korean pop girl band that has some songs I get tired of very easily. (Let me scan the area for crazy K-pop fans before I continue on.) Anyways, the point that I'm trying to make is that it's kind of strange for this Korean girl band to have a song playing on the radio in America. (A song that was originally in Korean and now sounds very, very Asian when sung in English.) Especially on a non-Asian pretty popular radio station like FM 104.3.
I guess this just shows how small the world really is. (Another thing Facebook is good at doing.)
I know that a few months back, a Japanese/Korean singer named BoA was playing on the FM radio station 98.9 or whatever it is.
Asian influences really surprises me. I mean, I'm Asian, but sometimes I feel the Asian take over, all the time. I mean, there are so many white people who listen to Asian music and watch Asian TV shows. (Just ask the anime-freaks.)
I'm not saying that this meshing is bad in any way. It's good to get to know and respect cultural aspects from other countries.
All I'm saying is that it's weird.
the great escape
I rarely say that life stresses me out. But, I'll say it now: Life does stress me out sometimes (believe it or not) and there are times that I wish I had a happy place to go to. And by happy place, I don't mean "John, give me some dead plants to inhale so that we can talk about world peace and ways to stop war."
No. I mean a real place in this physical place that I can go to and just be happy about life while I'm there. I know this place probably doesn't exist, since problems will always fill this world and we might be able to run, but we can't hide from reality.
Where would it be, in this world, if such a place were to exist? Maybe in Paris, the city of lights and love, of champagne and sight seeing. Or maybe in Australia, where the kangaroos run around and the Great Barrier Reef is. Or maybe still, the place is right here in Las Vegas, where sin plays its games and people can get drunk 24 hours a day.
No, that last place definitely isn't an option. But then again, is Paris or Australia or Rome or even Disneyland (the happiest place on Earth) an option?
My point (wait...there was a point?!) is that no matter where you go, life is gonna kick you hard in the butt, giving you a reality check.
I guess you can't run, you just have to deal with stuff the right way.
Don't remember exactly who this photo is credited too, but I found it ages ago at
deviantART
god bless the king.
One place that has always held a special candle in my heart that no other place (save for maybe, Japan) can illuminate as strongly as, is England. Yes, I'm talking about the used to be country that America gained its independence from that drinks too much tea and gave birth to Harry Potter. Yes. The Harry Potter. I have always been enraptured by its beauty, its size (very small), the stark contrasts between the green, rolling hill countryside and the gray, smoky cities, and its history.
The area of land that we call England has been settled by people for about 35,000 years. In 927 AD, or BCE (whichever one floats your boat), England officially became a unified state and ever since the 1400's (around the Renaissance time), it started having a pretty big impact on the rest of the world--politically, economically, culturally, and socially.
England has had a long, long, long history of kings and was very strictly a monarchy for the longest time. It wasn't until recently that England became a constitutional monarchy, so that the royal family was merely a cultural symbol head.
The largest city in England is its capital: London. Some interesting things to see in London (besides watching the rain) are the London Skyline, Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Westminster, and the Royal College of Music.
Another great thing to do (if you're a huge dork, like myself) is to go and take the Harry Potter tour. Basically what you would do is go to places like King Cross Station and where they shot some Harry Potter scenes.
Very exciting stuff, I know.
So, if you're ever in England, be sure to take lots of pictures and buy me a souvenir.
Palace of Westminster photo found at flickr.com
wishing you were here.
You might think me strange, but sometimes I get really sad thinking about countries, oceans, and all the different languages in our world. There are times when I just don't understand why there is so much that separates us from teenagers in Korea, India, Germany, or any other country. I mean, we are all people, so why can't we know one another? Or understand one another? Is the world a cruel trick that purposely creates ways for citizens of the world to misunderstand each other? Why did God make the world this way? Was this his intention?
I don't have answers to any of the questions I asked, but I do have thoughts. Lots of them.
I'm half-Japanese/half-Caucasian, meaning that my dad is a tall white and my mom is a cute little Jap. This is all fine and dandy until I think about what I'll be missing out on for a lot of my life--half of my family. I don't like to think about this, but it's inevitable when your mother's whole family lives half-way across the world.
Am I missing out on a lot? Of course I am. As cool as it is to have family living in Japan, I know that I'm missing out on the chance to get to know this whole group of people. And I mean really get to know them, not the occasional phone call and the once-in-every-three-years visit. I wonder how close we would be if it weren't for that pesky large body of water (an ocean...I think it's called), a few countries (minor setbacks), and oh yeah--the fact that we don't exactly speak the same language. Well, I mean I can speak Japanese and they can speak some English, but it's not the same.
Maybe I'm being...dramatic or something, but in my mind, the way to world peace is understanding. The way to understanding is communication. The way to communication is...well...talking.
It's true that we can't go back to a world with just the landmass of Pangea and that we have to live with the fact that the tectonic plates have pushed us apart from one another. I guess we'll just have to learn to deal.
welcome to the planet.
It must be a side effect of being in Key Club, but lately my thoughts have all centered on community service, helping others, and living by the Golden Rule of society. Well, not all of my thoughts, but most--I mean, last night I had a dream that I was laying the ground work for a new Key Club community service project.
But, all weirdness aside; let me get to the point. My point is that helping others and caring about people in faraway nations is the first step to bringing the 170 or so countries in this world a little closer together.
Now, I know that my topic is traveling and I haven't been very faithful to this topic, but I have to veer slightly away from that topic to talk about something that affects us all--every person in this world.
Caring about others is the first step to bringing peace to this world. Community service is just the next step. Volunteering for others--whether it be to walk your elderly neighbor to the store, to participate in an AIDs Run, or raising awareness about the situation in Darfur--will pay off even if you can't see the results immediately.
My goal in life is to help as many people as I can, to touch as many lives as possible. I know that I can't accomplish this on my own--I mean, God, I'm only one person.
How can I make a difference?
You might think the same thing every once in a while. The answer is very simple--by being there for your fellow citizens of the world. If everybody cared about each other and looked out for one another, can't you imagine what a better world we'd be living in?
I know what I can do.
Do you?
rolling hills & red soil.
I have never really considered myself as a "hopeless romantic," but on recent investigation, I have realized that maybe I am. For one thing--I like happily ever afters. And for another, I'm a huge fan of the movie series Anne of Green Gables. (I know, I know--I'm really weird.) I mean, I even want to read the books. Because I enjoyed these movies so much, I decided that our first travel destination will be Prince Edward Island (or PEI, as it's more commonly known).
Fasten your seat belts and get ready for...lots of boring stuff that I've written.
PEI is an island located off of Canada in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The island rolling green hills, red soil, beaches, and woods. It joined Canada in 1884 and is now connected to the large landmass that we know as Canada by a 9 mile long bridge. The cities are Charlottetown and Summertime; there are also 7 towns. It's a close-knit kind of place with a population of 138,000. There are many things to do there (especially if you are an Anne fan like myself).
Wow. I realized that I don't really like doing this research project-esque work. Oh well, that's what I get for thinking that niches like "life" and "whatever I want to write about" are too boring and run of the mill...
I would like to visit PEI because for one, it looks so beautiful (see above picture). For another, I've always been attracted to calm, peaceful places. I really like small towns as well. I don't really know why, maybe because there's that romantic quality to them. Err, yeah. Whatever.
You know, it also looks a lot like my grandparents' village in Japan. Wow, so many parallels.
I don't know about you, but I'd really like to visit this peaceful green place. (Yeah...I know, I'm the worst travel agent. But, you never know until you try...and fail. Right?)
Thanks for reading.
Image found here.
in pursuit of happiness.
Such is the case with me. I haven't been to many places, but I know about other countries because of books, TV, and friends. Ah, the beauty of communication and cultural diffusion. (Ha, my AP World History teacher last year to include "cultural diffusion" in any essay I write to get automatic brownie points.)
To put the truth, plain and simple, I'm a Vegas kid. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm one of those people who doesn't understand the harshness of the January blizzards or melting in the July humidity or even the gloom of no sunshine for a month straight in April. Maybe that's why I want to see the world so much, to feel like maybe I'll be able to understand something.
Oh, the amazing power that must go to those people who can understand the situations of people in China or Africa! I would love to have that kind of understanding--that power that helps you realize that "Hey, maybe my life isn't so bad after all. I mean, I have a house, a warm bed, a family, and no potentially fatal diseases."
My dad has this kind of understanding, because at one point in his life he had lived in Korea for three years. He understands that Americans always want more--a bigger house, a better car, a faster something. "In Korea," he says, "the average house was about the size of our dining room and maybe half of the kitchen." But, he would go on to explain about how they were happy, even if according to us, they were definitely worse off than those in lower class
This knowledge is probably the reason why my dad is so good with money and why he's not greedy or materialistic.
I want that. That clarity. That proof. That knowledge. That power.
And that's why I want to travel--real traveling, not this book/Google traveling journey that we're going to embark on together, but that'll be fun too.
(And yes, I know that this wouldn't be something you'd find in a travel book and I apologize, but we'll start that...next time.)
Ciao. ;]
[End Note: Ciao means "goodbye" in Italian, in this case at least. Sometimes it means "hello." But I'm leaving, so it's "goodbye."]
of pixie dust and travel wishes.
To speak the truth, I'm incredibly jealous of Peter Pan. I mean, not only is he young forever (though, this means that he will always act immature), but he can also fly. What we saw in the movie was Peter being able to fly all on his own, but in my opinion, he probably needed a lot of help from a certain Tinkerbell in the beginning. If you've seen the movie (or read the book), then you would know that there were times when Peter Pan ignored poor Tinkerbell and left her alone and depressed.
Dang. Peter Pan is such a jerk! (One of the negatives of not growing up is that you never grow out of your stupidity.) Does he not know how lucky he is to have his own personal pixie that's filled to the brim with pixie dust?
Pixie dust. If I had a plastic Wal-Mart bag full of that, then I would finally be able to fulfill my dream of traveling the world.
I want to visit every country, meet all the different kinds of people in the world, experience all the amazing cultures, and just see it all. (Though, there are some places that I have no desire to step foot in. Like Greenland and Antarctica. A high of -1000°F is just not my thing.)
There's just one tiny problem. Well, first off: I do not have the money for this. Second off: I do not have the time for this. Third off: even if I had money and time, my parents would not take me anywhere and probably wouldn't let me go anywhere alone either. Fourth off: this was definitely more than one tiny thing.
And that's basically the reason why I'm here, writing this blog post. I want to experience the world, honest to God I do, but for the time being, I'll just have to substitute the "real traveling" part with some "real Google-ing."
And there we have it, ladies and gents: The reason behind the madness and the blog title.
I am going to travel and I am going to learn about cultures and places and people. The only thing is that I'm going to be doing it in the comfort of my own home, sitting on this rolly chair.
Lame? Probably. There will never be anything like real traveling, no matter how advanced our technology is in the future.
Interesting? Hopefully. I'll try at least. Maybe I'll be able to compose a nice little travel guide book through this blog.
And if all else fails, at least when I actually do travel, I'll know something about something.
