Searching For the Greater Delta

Crazy Rich Asians Is Not Just a Movie

2018-08-25T20:47:00.005-04:00

Crazy Rich Asians is not just a movie, it's the beginning of the representation we've all been waiting for.

For years I've been frustrated with Hollywood's representation of Asians - females are mysterious sex objects while males are either kung fu fighters or clowns. Sometimes, Asian characters are simply whitewashed and cast as Caucasians - such as in 21 (the MIT card counting team, read the book). Or, when they do bother to add some Asian flares to it, they either misrepresent, like in Indiana Jones, or have the actors make ridiculous sounds and pass it along as Chinese (cite basically any movie with "Chinese." Finally, in 2018, we have a mainstream movie, with an all Asian cast, speaking in three different Chinese dialects. Why is that important?

It's complicated growing up bi-cultural - it is a constant identity crisis. My mom used to tell me that when I was in elementary school, I would come home and ask her why I didn't look like my classmates. As a grown up, I still have people asking me where am I "really" from, make assumptions about me, comment about my food, and praise me on my English abilities. To Americans, I'm Asian. On the other hand, because I did spend the majority of my life living in the U.S., I also don't quite belong with the traditional Asian culture either, to them, I'm American. While it is impossible for one movie to represent all of the Asian experience, I think most Asians would be able to pick out something from the movie that feels familiar, even if it's just a Mahjong game and not just another poker table. And now, I can share that with my American friends, now, when I talk about playing Mahjong, I don't have to worry as much about a confused face and explain that Mahjong is not a title matching game. When I want to have a conversation with friends about how my views differ from the traditional culture, I now have a baseline I can go off of, "remember [part of the movie where the dude's mom is talking to his girlfriend] in Crazy Rich Asians, it is similar because..." When I want to tell my friends why calling Panda Express "Chinese food" hurts my soul, I can point to the movie and show them how much culture is wrapped into the food. I now have a medium to share my Asian experience with my American friends because it is in the mainstream media.

It's not only important for Asians to feel represented and have a voice, but it is also important for my non-Asian friends. When you are the dominate culture, it's easy to forget that this country is a melting pot and there are a lot of different cultures here at home. Diversity is important, it's what makes us better as people.When I walk in your house, I can't help but take off my shoes at the door, it's compulsory at this point and I would really appreciate it if you would not wear your shoes in my house. When there are a group of people around you speaking a different language, it's ok. Please stop making assumptions about me, because, hopefully, there are going to be an array of Asians displayed in TV and movies and you'll see that we also come in all shapes and sizes.

I really hope that if there is a young Asian child looking around their elementary school, looking for someone they look similarly too, they can point to someone on TV and say "that person looks like me."

Also, Asian food is the best.

Our "Post-Racial" World

2018-02-03T01:55:00.002-05:00

"When President Obama got elected, we entered this era that I call the 'post-racial' lie. We got a black president, it's done, we're past it. And many of us know that race is very much alive and racism is very much alive." - Jordan Peele on why he wrote Get Out.

I have never been a huge horror movie fan, but there was something about Get Out that seemed familiar and disturbing at the same time. I'm sure every minority race experiences our society differently and everyone has their own experiences, but I believe there are some shared experiences that we can all related to. And in Get Out, it was the party scene where all the old white people were trying to be friendly to a young black person. The words that were coming out of their mouths were friendly, but somehow it still made you cringe. There's this undertone that it doesn't matter who he is or what he does, he's still the token black person. All the conversations that were made circled around his race - Tiger Woods, physic, the color of his skin, his experiences as a black person etc. And I realized that that experience is all too familiar - it is what I call "well intended racism."

(I will acknowledge that a similar phenomenon is also exhibited when you bring a white person into a crowd of minorities. I've seen it when I've taken my friends and my ex back to Taiwan with me, the topic usually evolves around the color of their skins and the stereotypes that come with it. For example, when I took my, then, husband out to dinner with a bunch of high school friends in Taiwan, they thought it was appropriate to ask if our sex life was better because he's white - that was the last time I saw that crowd. Equally not not cool, newsflash - Asians can also be racist, however, Taiwan is not the country claiming to be a melting pot in a "post-racial" state, we are, so I'm focusing on what's going on here.)

I've had a coworker once asked me, after I had made a joke about being Asian, why does everything I say revolve around race? The simple answer is because a lot of my experiences revolve around my race and I've chosen humor as a coping mechanism. I've had people come up to me with a photo in the paper with a bunch of Chinese students at the law school and ask me why I wasn't in it; I've had people praise me on how good my English is; I've had people mistaken me for a different Asian person or ask if I'm related to Jeremy Lin; I've had people comment on my eating utensils (chopsticks) at the lunch table; I've had people assume that I like certain foods or make comments about my food; I've had people ask if there's a different name I go by; I've been called out at gatherings for being Asian; I've been asked if I know the other Asian person they came in contact with - I am constantly reminded by other people that I'm Asian, I might as well own it and throw it in their faces before they throw it in mind. I am aware that none of these interactions were ill intended, but they all made me twisted inside, which is why I call it "well intended racism."

Malcolm Galdwell calls it "moral licensing." His theory is that since we've had a black president, people feel like they have a "credit" of some sort that would allow them to do certain things that they wouldn't have done. The justification being "I can't be a racist, I voted for Obama" or "Race is obviously no longer an issue, we've had a black president, what more do you want?" We see similar justifications in a smaller scale as well - "I can't be a racist, my spouse is insert race" or even "I have a insert race friend." Bottom line is, having had a black president got us complacent about our race issues - we started dismissing racial concerns with the response of "we had a black president." However, we're not there yet. And to be clear, it's not the fact that we're not there yet that bothers me, it's the fact that we're pretending that we're there. If we, as a society, are aware that there's more work to be done, we can do it and make it better. If we, as a society, keep relying on the fact that we've had a black president and think that we're good, we well never get better.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I can't speak for his children, but I can say from my own experience, that is still a dream.

Happily Divorced

2016-05-09T16:52:00.001-04:00

The one thing I fear most in life is the thought of "what if."

When I was 10 years old, my family moved from the U.S. to Taiwan. To this date, that is still the most significant changed my life. Like all things in life, both good and bad came from this event. My biggest takeaway though is the importance of living life without "what if." I didn't realize, till recently, the correlation between how I make my life choices and the event that happened over 20 years ago. Because of the move, I spent the majority of my remaining childhood and teenage years wondering "what if" - what if we didn't move? Would I have had the chance to compete in the Math Olympiad? Would I actually have friends I grew up with and known my whole life? Would I be going to Penn State like everyone else? Would I feel like I belonged? Would I be able to answer the question of where I'm from? Would I be happy?

This continued to early adulthood, when it finally clicked - none of those thoughts are productive and it was over something I had control over. In fact, the only control I had was how I make my decisions in the future. Based on this new found principle, I've made some radical changes in my life that some of my family and friends have trouble understanding sometimes.

In 2001, I entered into a Geography program in Taiwan instead of a Chemistry program at a lower ranking school. Because of the program, I had the opportunity to travel and explore the island more than most native residents. I also finally made some life long friends for the first time in my life.

In 2009. I left my PhD program with a Master's degree. I liked Chemistry, but I didn't love it. I feared that once I finished my PhD, I would be stuck with Chemistry and wouldn't be able to find a job that I can be excited about. I actually wasn't 100% certain that this was the right decision until three years later, I'm back in Champaign for law school and my friends from the program were graduating with their PhDs. I was happy for them, but not a single part of me felt like I should have been right there with them.

In 2011, I left the Marines before my contract was up. I learned a lot about myself and the difference between a leader and a manager. But what I most grateful for, aside from the amazing people I met, is that they not only helped me find my passion, but also paid for it. Even though it didn't fully work out for me, I still would have joined the Marines and probably still ended up leaving when I did. What life would be like if I had finished my contract, I'm not sure and I don't care.

In 2010, I married Jeff, a Champaign townee who is significantly older than me and probably not far from the exact opposite of me. No one saw it working, but it did. He showed me what it's like to slow down and enjoy the moment. He showed me how to let things happen and not worry about what I don't have control over. He introduced me to the wonderful world of partner dancing and a group of amazing people who I never would have met otherwise. He was the salt to my pepper. He made me a little more human. I am a better person today because of our relationship. However, that relationship has run it's course. It's like a fruit that has ripened, if it isn't pulled off the vine, it will start rotting and we will become worse people if we refused to let go.

Since I've never finished anything, you can call me a quitter, and I have been called that my family members and friends who aren't really my friends anymore. But I'd rather be a happy quitter than someone who is miserable for the sole reason of not quitting. None of these decisions were easy. Big decisions run the risk of regrets either way, but they were all carefully thought out decisions that were mine. When it comes down to it, this is my life and I need to be able to live with it.

On September 4, 2010, I was happily married. On May 9, 2016, I am happily divorced.

RIP Grandma

2016-01-19T23:09:00.001-05:00

I woke up Monday morning from a text from my sister stating that our grandmother had passed, her heart had stopped early Sunday morning in Taiwan. Living 7500 miles from family, I have long accepted the fact that I will be missing most of these moments. As a precaution, I have tried to prepare myself for the fact that every time I go home, it may be the last time I get to see some of my family members. Still, I didn't think that this last time would be it.

I realize that I am writing this in a language she doesn't understand, but for some reason, I am better at describing feelings in English. Maybe because it gives it distance. Distance has also been the reason why it been hitting me in waves that she is really gone. During the day, while I'm distracted by my daily activities, it doesn't feel like anything has changed. I'm not involved in any of the funeral arraignments and calling just to chat isn't something we did. I tried calling her internationally just to chat a few times when I first moved back to the U.S., but she was worried that talking to me would be driving up my phone bills. At night, however, once there are no longer any distractions, memories surge through my brain like a data stream from a Sci-Fi movie.

My grandmother raised me from 6-18 months. Although, I don't remember any of it - I know I was bitten by their dog; I know my cousin was born shortly after; I know I learned to walk in her house, and I know my favorite childhood picture was taken on her couch. She liked to tell people that I was a quite baby and easy to care for, I'd like to think that she was right. Later on, after my sister was born, she came to stay with us for awhile. I remember a little more from then - I remember she would put Tiger Balm oil on my stomach if I was feeling bloated; I remember her comforting me after a spanking or telling my dad that it was enough; and I remember massaging her shoulders (or that could have been later).

After we moved back to Taiwan, I would always looked forward to going to grandma's and hanging out with all the cousins over summer break. Some years our parents would all coordinate and all the kids would be there at once. It would be a mad house, several of us would have to squeeze in one bed. As we got older, summers got busier and shorter, but every time I went back, she would always make sure my favorite dishes are at the table. Even after she started suffering from osteoporosis and had to walk with a cane, forcing her to give up her daily Tai Chi routine, she would still walk to the end of the alley to make sure I knew my way to her house, even though I've repeatedly assured her I won't forget how to get to her house.

In 2007, she came to Stony Brook for my graduation - that was her last trip to this continent. After my graduation, I went on a trip with her and my grandfather to Vancouver, where we went on a bus tour to Banff, San Francisco, and Seattle. Along the way, she met up with some friends, we saw Bill Gates' home, and we drove onto a glacier. She lived a full life. Not always an easy one, especially when she moved to Taiwan during the civil war in China, leaving most of her family behind and started a new family of her own from scratch. She was the strongest and savviest person I will probably ever know.

The morning of January 18, 2016, days after a successful heart valve surgery, her heart stopped in the middle of breakfast. I've been told that it wasn't a heart attack, it wasn't a complication of surgery, and it was most likely painless. I'll never forget this summer, as I'm leaving her house, she stood by the door waving as I walk towards the bus stop. Goodbye grandma, don't worry about us, we're all going to be ok, you will undoubtedly be missed.

外婆，不用擔心我們，我們都很好。

My last picture with my grandmother.

First Year of Law School

2013-05-24T16:53:00.001-04:00

I've debated back and forth whether to wait for my final grades to be posted to write this or not. I was concerned that it might effect how I feel because I didn't feel nearly as confident as I did the first semester. But then I finally decided that my first year isn't really in the pocket until the grades are posted. If the rumors were right about anything it would be that you really don't know what your grades are going to be until you get them.

Fall

Hearing all the rumors about how terrible the first year of law school was going to be, I wasn't sure what to expect. My first concern was being out of school for three years, I didn't think I remembered how to take notes anymore. Seeing all the pictures of law school classes with all the laptops out did make me feel old - I never took a class where I used a laptop to take notes. Now that I think about it, being in chemistry probably had a lot to do with that (not because I'm old or anything), hand drawing molecules and reactions is faster that trying to do it on the computer. Another concern I had was writing - I hate writing. Yes, hate is a strong word and I mean it. Although, I realized that I mostly hate writing for the sake of writing. If there is a reason for me to write, for example to get a point or an argument across, I actually don't mind it so much, especially when there is a maximum word limit, not minimum. And then there was the legendary curve and competition. I am not the competition type. I don't know what it is, at some point in my life, I just stopped caring how I compare to other people. It definitely was a concern when I was a Marine and probably one of the reasons why people seem to always be surprised when I tell them I was once a Marine. The curve is harsh, the curve means that it doesn't really matter how well you do and how much you know, your grades still depend on how other people do. I didn't like that idea and I still don't. But there is nothing I can do about the system, the most I can do is just stick with it.

Fall turned out to be a pretty nice semester - it wasn't easy, but it wasn't nearly as bad as people made it out to be. I also found out that I am no longer a procrastinator and I went to all my classes, which is something I have never done out of my 20+ years of being a student. It did baffle me for awhile, wondering where that procrastinator went, during a job interview, I claimed that it was because of my life experience (mainly being a Marine) got me more focused. Later I found out that it was just because I was getting too old to pull two all-nighters in a row so I actually couldn't afford to procrastinate anymore.

Winter

I was lucky enough to land my first legal job over the winter break in between semesters. I never had a legal job before and I had no clue what I will be doing after graduation (I still barely have a clue). I think that was one of the best decisions I made this first year. Getting some real experience in was so exciting and being able to apply that Torts class I just had a final on was amazing. The best part of winter was that I was lucking enough to hop on board for their jury trial. I got to work everything from preparation to jury selection to the actual trial. My input went into opening and closing arguments and witness questioning. I'll admit, I was riding high going into the Spring semester.

Spring

As the semester was starting up, I decided to stay with my job during throughout the semester, which definitely made the semester so much harder than the first one. But by then I was drafting memos at work before my writing class was even teaching it. Now knowing exactly how the semester went down, if I could choose again, I would still make the same choice.

The semester started out a bit rocky, with home improvements starting up, a fridge breaking down, and 60-80 pages of reading for each Constitutional Law class, it was definitely hard trying to get back into the rhythm. Although, what also made the Spring semester really hard was two people who helped me get my law career started passed away within months of each other, both were also largely unexpected. The first one was one of the partners at the firm I was working at. Even though I didn't get to know him for that long, he was the type of person who made you felt like family right away. The second one was a friend from DC who helped me with my personal statement when I was applying, I was planning on visiting him again this summer. By the time I got back up, finals were already around the corner and to be honest, I was burnt.

All in all, comparing the Spring semester and the Fall, life did really get in the way during the Spring and my grades did reflect. I was hoping that law school would be like chemistry without the chemistry and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. I survived my first year of law school while getting some real work experience in and maintaining somewhat of a life (I still danced!). If this is really the worst it's going to be - I think law school is going to be a good time.

6/26/2012 Europe Trip Day 27 - A Day of Roming

2012-07-01T12:42:00.002-04:00

Today was my last day in Rome but I wasn't flying out till much later. I was originally going to leave my stuff at the hostel for the day, but since the reception was basically non-exisiting, I thought the train station would be a better idea. Once I got that taken care of, I wasn't sure how to finish Rome in a day because everything is pretty spread out and I was pretty tired. It seemed like what made the most sense was actually the hop-on hop-off buses. So I did. I'd never done one before and had always made fun of people riding around in them. Turns out it was actually really convenient. They take you around the city and there are certain stops you can get off, wonder around, and get back on when another bus comes around. In addition, they also give you headphones for the audio guide onboard explaining what you're driving by.

My initial strategy was to stay on the bus for the first entire lap. However, it takes them forever to get around the city and I wasn't feeling very well. I got off at the Vatican to see if walking around would help, but it didn't. I was debating for awhile if I should go see a doctor or not. I wasn't sure how much it would cost me and how well their healthcare is. What helped me make up my mind was the fact that my next stop is Budapest. If anything, Italy should be better than Hungry. I grabbed a random policeman and asked were the nearest doctor is. He actually got more nervous than I was, at some point, I thought he was about ready to call an ambulance. He did end up directing me to a hospital right next to the Vatican. Finding the hospital wasn't hard, finding the emergency room and triage was, especially since I didn't know the language.

Once I got done with triage, I was sent to the waiting room. To be honest, I was pretty nervous at this point because I didn't know what to expect. Fortunately, there was a tour guide there who was escorting a high school trip from Portland and one of their students broke their leg. Not fortunate for the student, but fortunate for me that I had someone to ask. She kept assuring me that the doctors speak English and that I was at one of their best hospitals. About half and hour later, a nurse came out and called a name but no one responded. We were starting to think it was me, but nothing he pronounced was part of or close to my name. The nurse went back to check on the name and came out pointing at me. I guess it was me. I went in and there were four doctors sitting around a computer. They asked me how I pronounce my name and then a room full of "Ah~". From what I gathered, they were pronouncing my name using the Italian pronunciation of the letters.

The doctors asked me a few questions, did some tests, gave me my prescription, and sent me on my way. Apparently, Italy has the what we call "socialized healthcare," so visits are free for everyone, even me. All I had to pay for were the drugs and it was only 8 euros. Now that's affordable. Back home, even TriCare would have charged me a couple hundred for the same visit. I don't understand why it's so easy for us to think that people who can't afford healthcare don't deserve to see a doctor when they're sick. I thought we were suppose to look out for each other. Anyways, that's an whole other rant for a different time and place.

Feeling better physically and about Rome. I walked around the Vatican. I was never really planning on going in because the line is always too long and the prices are too high. I started walking in the opposite direction to St. Angelo's Castle. On my way, something caught my eye - a Taiwanese flag. A legitimate Taiwanese flag, not the watered down Chinese Taipei. Turns out is was the Taiwanese Embassy to the Vatican. I didn't even know they had one. I guess it makes sense that the Vatican would be more open to Taiwan rather than communist China. After admiring the Taiwanese flag, I made it to St. Angelo's Castle, a Roman monument, which was modified many times through out the Middle Ages and Renaissance period. On top of the castle is a statue of Archangel Michael wielding a sword celebrating the demolish of the plague.

I considered going into the castle but I wanted to make sure I finish the city first. I hopped back onto the bus. We passed by several interesting plazas and buildings. One of the most interesting on was the ruins that it is believed where Julius Cesar was stabbed. When we got to the Piazza del Popolo, I hopped off again because the fountain had really interesting fish statues next to it. I wondered around for a bit but nothing else was there. I got back onto the bus and rode around for a bit. I was starting to get really tired but I didn't have anywhere to go. I ended up just taking my nap on the bus as we went around the city.

After my nap, I grabbed a bite to eat and was ready to leave Rome on so many levels. Since my flight was so late, I didn't get to Budapest till after midnight. I took a cab to the hostel where some people were hanging out in the lobby chatting. I joined in for a bit and got a lesson from an Argentinian on Chinese and Taiwan history. I ended up schooling him instead. It was interesting to say the least.

6/25/2012 Europe Trip Day 26 - Jeff's Last Day in Europe

2012-07-01T11:34:00.000-04:00

Jeff is scheduled to fly back home later today so we packed up our stuff and dropped my stuff off at my new hostel. Once we were ready to wonder, it was obvious that the lack of traffic yesterday was not a norm. Today, there were people, cars, buses, and scooters everywhere, it was everyone for themselves. Jeff wanted to see the Fontana di Trevi first so we headed that way. Our first stop was the Piazza Della Repubblica, a fountain right by the main terminal. It was pretty neat, the statues around it seem to be telling a story, but we weren't sure what they were trying to say. We got a bit lost looking for the fountains and ended up by the Piazza del Quirinale, which is where the French president lives. We went down a hill and turned the corner, long and behold, there were tons of people. We squeezed through the crowds and there was the Fontana di Trevi. It is one of the most famous fountains in Europe, the theme of the sculpture is the sea. The center of the fountain is Triton with his chariot pulled by two sea horses, along with the characters on both sides of him, I can almost hear "Under the Sea" being played in the background.

After the fountain, Jeff also wanted to see the Piazza di Spagna, or the Spanish Steps. Jeff couldn't remember where the steps were and we couldn't find it on the map, so we ended up buying a postcard with the Steps on it and showed it around for directions. Nothing seems to be very well marked in Rome either. Eventually, we did manage to find it. There was an interesting fountain on the bottom of the steps. The steps link up the Piazza di Spagna and the Piazza Trinita dei Monti. We didn't actually go up the steps because we were running short on time and still wanted to check out the Foro Romano, the ruins next to the Colosseum. In the interest of time, we took the metro for the first time in Rome. While on the metro, we ran into some pickpockets, a guy and his two kids. Jeff actually caught the guy's hand fishing in his pocket. Luckily, neither of us had anything valuable easily accessible. Though, it was still a rather unpleasant experience.

The Colosseum was really different this time a round. Yesterday, it was calm and quite. Today, it was crazy and chaotic - it's normal state. I'm glad we had the chance to see it yesterday, it was so much nicer. We couldn't figure out how to get to the Foro Romano, rather where the entrance was. I ended up just looking at it through some gates and Jeff walked around it. Pretty soon, it was time for us to get to the airport.

After seeing Jeff off, I went back to the restaurant from yesterday for another taste of fresh pasta. I think I have to get a pasta machine now. When I got back to my hostel, my two Canadian roommates were already there and with half of bottle of vodka in them. The were pretty fun to hang out with, especially once they got increasingly drunk. The neighborhood we were in didn't seem like the best neighborhood so we just stayed in the rest of the night.

6/24/2012 Europe Trip Day 25 - Rock N Roma

2012-06-30T10:32:00.001-04:00

We got woken up pretty early this morning because of the kids again. We took out time with breakfast and packing, trying to avoid the crowds the best we could. Then we took the bus back to the city center to catch the train to the airport for Rome. I'm not sure if it was because it was a Sunday or that people were still hungover from the night before, there were barely anybody around. We got to Passieg de Gracia with a few hours to spare, so we set up shop at a McDonald's nearby and took turns walking around and resting. When it was time, we were off to Rome.

Since we were flying RyanAir, just like any other time, they flew us into the middle of nowhere, so we had to take the bus into the city. The bus ride was actually really interesting, there were random ruins and old buildings around every corner, some had these really nice statues on the rooftops. When we got to Rome, it was surprisingly calm and quiet. We figured it was also because it was Sunday. We dropped our stuff off at our hotel and went for a walk to the Colosseum. Seeing the Colosseum for the first time was a bit surreal. We walked around with the sunsetting behind us, it was really nice, if only time could stop there for a bit. Unfortunately, it didn't and pretty soon we were getting hungry.

We walked back towards the hotel to the restaurant the hotel recommended. It was a small Italian restaurant. We weren't sure about it, but it did have the England/Italy game on, so why not? I ordered a fettuccine with meat sauce and it was amazing. It was the pasta I have been looking for. I'm not sure if it was homemade or not, but it definitely was fresh. I would have ordered a second one if I weren't so full already. Once the game went into overtime, we went back to the hotel to finish the game.

6/23/2012 Europe Trip Day 24 - 50 Shades of Burn

2012-06-29T16:11:00.000-04:00

Our only plan today was to go to the beach. It was convenient that the other bus that stopped in front of the hostel ends up at the beach. We were told that is was going to be a long ride because it goes around the mountains a bit before heading down. We didn't really care, we figured we get to see more this way anyways. The route turned out to be really nice. As the bus was going through the mountains, we got some pretty nice view of the city from up top. On our way we saw a Saturday market from the bus and decided to make a pit stop. It was a big, crowed, cheap market, which is exactly what we needed because we didn't have a beach towel and Jeff needed some emergency socks. After collected all we needed, we jumped back on the bus and off to the beach.

The bus dropped us off by the Olympic Village at the end of Platja Barceloneta. We rented an Umbrella for a day, which Jeff ended up spending most of the time under. Apparently, he did end of getting burned from yesterday. The beach was so nice, it was one of the cleanest oceans I've been in and the water was really cool, perfect for a hot day. It was interesting to see all the people sunbathing as well, some people didn't seem to care that they've turned completely red. I even saw one guy only red on one side and white on the other. Also, there were a lot more topless women than yesterday, probably because it was a Saturday, but most of those women should really put their tops back on. We ended up spending the rest of the day at the beach. It was really relaxing.

Later that night after we were back at the hostel, fireworks started going off everywhere the second it turned dark. Turns out the celebrate the summer solstice like we celebrate New Years. It was just nonstop fireworks. Because of the location of our hostel, we could actually see quite a few of them from the common room. It was cool at first, but then it started to get late, they weren't kidding about nonstop. Not helping the situation, a group of French kids around the ages of 8-10 checked in. Jeff referred to them as tiny Space Invaders, which was a pretty accurate description. With the fireworks going off and the kids running and screaming, going to bed was not easy.

6/22/2012 Europe Trip Day 23 - Barcelona in a Day

2012-06-29T15:53:00.002-04:00

We weren't really sure what to start with in Barcelona because neither of us had really done any research. Luckily, one of the buses that stop in front of the hostel goes straight to the city center, so we started there. Once we got off the bus around Passeig de Gracia. We started walking towards the beach. On our way we ran into the Barcelona Cathedral, constructed through out the 13th to 15th centuries. It was very hard to miss, the gothic spikes were visible from pretty far away. It was a really impressive cathedral and I wish I could say some more about it, but all the cathedrals are starting to blend together. We tried to find a tour to stalk again but didn't have much luck finding English ones. Right next to the basilica is the Palau Reial Major, a complex of buildings that used to be the resistance of the courts of Barcelona. From what we overheard, this is were Columbus presented the "Indians" he brought back from the new world.

After grabbing a quick lunch, we continued our walk towards the beach, discovering random interesting architectures along the way. Barcelona is a really fascinating city, you can not get bored even by just walking down the streets. Once we got close to the beach, we just followed the people wearing very little and carrying towels. We ended up at the west end of the Platja Baceloneta, the side closer to the Hotel W. We took our shoes off and walked on the beach for a bit. The water is very clean and very cooling. Barcelona is very hot, but because of the cool breeze brought in by the currents, it is so much more pleasant than Venice.

I didn't have my swimsuit on me so I wasn't prepared to jump in, but Jeff couldn't resist. I know I've probably said this before, but damn, I married a white guy! I could pick Jeff out of the crowd with no problem, just look for the one reflecting all the sun. Trying not to get burned, Jeff didn't stay in the water for too long, pretty soon we were on the boardwalk checking out the rest of Platja Barceloneta. To our surprise, there were quite of few topless women swimming and tanning. We walked all the way to the other end of Platja Barceloneta, which is around the Olympic Village. From there, we took the metro to Sagrada Familia, a basilica. The Sagrada Familia, just like many other basilicas, is one of the landmarks of the city. This one was a bit different, it looked a bit like a gothic design, but not quite, the statues were more abstract than realistic. It was also under a lot of construction. Later we learned that it had been built over 200 years and is still in progress. This did explain a lot, the structure as a whole seem discombobulated because of the different styles used over the centuries. Looking back at the Ulm Munster, even though it was built over 500 years, it definitely looked like one structure, unlike the Sagrada Familia. I guess the people building the Sagrada Familia were just making it up as they go.

Since the line to get in was long and the price was too high, we just walked along the outside. While we were there we noticed a bunch of the hop-on hop-off buses and decided we should check out their stops but get there on our own. So our next destination was going to be the Torre Agbar while stopping by the Placa de Toro Monumental.

The Placa de Toro Monumental looked like a big round stadium. At first we weren't sure what the significance was but when we looked into it more, it was an actual bull fighting ring and still in use. I guess we would have figured that out if we were paying more attention to its name. It was like visiting Yankees Stadium when they don't have a home game. It looked like they do tours when the stadium is free, but there was no one there to ask so we moved on to the Torre Agbar. The Torre Agbar is a tall building with a round top seen on many tourist printouts and was one of the tourist bus stops. The closer we got to it, the more we felt like it wasn't really a tourist attraction. When we got there, went it and asked, it was just an office building, you can't even go in. We weren't very sure why the tourist buses stopped there, but we were for sure disappointed.

From there we headed to Placa de Catalunya to find the "La Rambla," somewhere the information desk at the airport suggested us to go to. The Placa de Catalunya is a really big plaza with a crap ton of pigeons. The vendors around the plaza sell bird seeds to feed the pigeons and the pigeons strut around like they own the place. It was pretty interesting to see so many pigeons in one place, but I didn't want to get any pigeon poop on me so we went to find the "La Rambla." We asked around a bit and found out that the "La Rambla" is just a big shopping street, we decided to skip it. Very disappointed and hungry, we went back to Passeig de Gracia to search for food.

As we got out of the metro, we ran into an English tour group in front of the Casa Batllo, a weird looking house designed by Gaudi. Of course, we tagged along. We only heard bits and pieces, but one interesting fact is that the roof is suppose to look like a dragon being stabbed in the back by a sword. It's a little abstract, but with some imagination, it really does look like that. The tour guide then mentioned there is a similar but bigger house there blocks down and was their next stop. We couldn't resist and followed them down there. It was a much bigger house, also designed by Gaudi. For this one, she showed some pictures of the chimneys and air ducks. She mentioned that the air ducks looked a bit like Storm Troopers and that George Lucas was in Barcelona before he shot Star Wars, implying that he got the design from the house. I don't know how true that story is, but the air ducks did look like Storm Troopers for sure.

We didn't stay for the entire tour because we were both getting really hungry. We sat down at the first decent looking tapas bar that we could find. The bar was decorated with hanging hams all over but the food was amazing. It was the best food we had in Barcelona. You can order from the bar or off the menu, it was a bit like Dim Sum. After the delicious food, we were both exhausted from the day and went back to rest at the hostel. I think it's fair to say that we got a lot done today.

6/21/2012 Europe Trip Day 22 - Tapas and Paellas

2012-06-23T17:15:00.001-04:00

We left the hostel pretty early partially because the hostel didn't have free breakfast. We went back to Piazzale de Roma to catch a bus to the airport. We thought we had plenty of time so we went into a cafe and ordered some food. As we were waiting for our food, I decided to go ahead and figure out how to get to the airport. Turns out, the bus only ran once every two hours and the next bus was in 15 minutes. Not really having any other choice, we took paid for the food and ran out the door with it. We got to the bus just to find out there was no food allowed on the bus so I had to pretty much inhale my pizza. Still not a huge fan of Venice. We did manage to get to the airport and on our way to Barcelona.

When we got to Barcelona, it took quite a bit to get to our hostel. All the hostels around the beach were sold out so we ended up on the mountain side of town. It was confusing at first, but it did work out after all. From the hostel in Venice to the hostel in Barcelona ended taking us almost 12 hours. Now thinking about it, that is a bit long. After a short break to recover from the traveling, we went out to dinner at a restaurant nearby recommended by the hostel. It was pretty nice little place, we ordered the paella, which turned out ok, the seafood was good, but the rice was undercooked. The beer was good though. After dinner we went to a park nearby with a nice night view of the city. The advantage of staying at a hidden hostel, we never would have found that spot on our own if we stayed by the beach.

Barcelona reminds me of Taipei a bit. It's hot with plenty of scooters, pine trees planted everywhere, and very nice public transportation.

6/20/2012 Europe Trip Day 21 - Floating Around Waterland

2012-06-23T16:27:00.000-04:00

Pretty early in the morning we arrived at Venice. What was interesting was our long train had been split into pieces and our cart was now the last cart. As we were walking along the other carts, we noticed that some of the carts actually came from Vienna, I think we linked up with them in Salzburg. I guess with these long distance night trains they order the carts according to destination and ship the carts to their destinations like cargo. It was kind of cool.

Venice was hot and humid. We got our Waterbus passes and headed to the hostel to drop off our stuff. Our hostel was located at a pretty nice location, it was just across the water from San Marco, the main tourist attraction. The only odd thing was for how hot it gets there, the hostel was not air conditioned, it had a heater for some reason, but no AC. Since it was too early to get into our rooms, we left our stuff in the lockers and headed to San Marco. The Piazza San Marco, also know as St. Mark's Square, it is located right in front of St. Mark's Basilica and surrounded by shops. There were also a lot of people. We decided to go to the Basilica first while it was still early and the line was still short, we were also hoping that the Basilica would also be cooler. The inside was even shinier than the National Basilica in DC. It seemed like every single tile from the marble pilers up is laced with gold. I didn't take any pictures of the inside because the sign told me not to, it was tempting though because everyone else were flashing away. We were trying to see if we could stalk another tour but since we were in a Basilica, they were using headphones and speaking softly so we couldn't really hear them that well. After the Basilica, we walked around quite a bit looking for a place with fewer tourists to rest and cool down, but we didn't have much luck. We eventually settled on sitting in front of a store that had their doors open. Pretty soon it was late enough for us to check in to the hostel so we hopped on a Waterbus. Without realizing, the Waterbus we got on was going in the wrong direction, which turned out to be a happy accident because we ended up going down the main canal and seeing the heart of the city.

Once we got back to the hostel, I had to wash all the sweat from Munich and Venice off and Jeff took a nap. I think the bed on the train was really too small for him. Refreshed, we headed out to the bus terminal, Piazzale de Roma, I don't remember why we choose to get off there, probably because we hadn't been to that part of the city yet. We started wondering around the alleys and enjoying the random surprises here and there. It is nice that there are no cars or scooters on the streets, there were even barely and bikes. You can wonder freely without the fear of being ran over. We initial did consider the possibility of doing a romantic Gondola ride but after thinking about it more 80 euros or 100 euros after 7pm was just a bit too much. Instead we just kept wondering and eventually got lost, really lost. By the time we decided to try to head to Rialto to see if we can find some good pasta there, we had no idea where we were. While we where trying to reorientate ourselves, a gentleman with his two sons approached us and offered to help. He first tried to convince me that I was looking at a map of Florence, which I insisted was Venice, I think Jeff might have fell for it a bit. He did point out the direction of Rialto but when he found out what we were really looking for, he offered to walk us to a restaurant that he knows well. So we went with him. The restaurant turned out to be right by Piazzale de Roma, where we first started out. It was a nice little place with decent food, I was hoping for handmade pasta, but other than that it was pretty good.

To walk off our dinner, we headed back to San Marco. We were told that all we have to do is follow the signs on the walls and it would get us back to San Marco. The problems is, the signs disappear after awhile and we had to keep asking people anyways. Venice is really confusing, I don't know how anyone keeps all those alleys straight. Eventually we did make it back to San Marco. It was interesting to see it again after dark. It definitely had a different feel to it. Still full of tourists, but the live bands did make it much more pleasant.

I've always wanted to go to Venice because of the uniqueness of the city. The fact that water is the main means of transportation is very special. However, after this visit, I'm not sure if I would be excited about going back. It's full of tourist, hot, smoggy, and overpriced.

6/19/2012 Europe Trip Day 20 - Recharged and Off to Munich

2012-06-23T03:17:00.004-04:00

We were going to be leaving Vogt today but we didn't want to start the second leg of our trip by rushing so we took our time. We didn't actually leave till close to noon. After saying goodbye to the gang, a bus ride, and a couple train rides later we were in Munich. Jeff has never been to Munich and I've always wanted to go back to finish what I didn't get to see last time. Unfortunately, we only had half a day so we used it to try to get Jeff up to speed.

This time around Munich was much more crowded and under construction. We started out at the Marienplatz and the Neues Rathaus, we were actually just in time for the sounding of the clock, the one where the figurines go around and tell a story about a festival and jousting knights. I tried to show Jeff as much as Munich as I can remember but it wasn't much, maybe I should have reviewed my own blog post from last time. Our next stop was St. Peter's, the church that has the offset cross. The legend is that during a thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning struck the cross and broke it off. The caregiver of the church at that time, like any good Bavarian was wasted, went outside, picked up the cross with his glass of beer still in his hand, and climbed up to the top of the church during the storm. As he was putting the cross back on, his beer glass flew to the ground but miraculously didn't shatter. Because his was so drunk, he didn't realize that he put the cross on facing the wrong direction. Since it was so lucky that he and his glass were fine, no one's ever bother to go back up there and fix it. Therefore, to this day, the cross on St. Peter's is still facing the wrong direction.

I also wanted to show Jeff the church with the cannonball still in it from World War II, but I had a hard time remembering where it was. After searching for awhile, I gave up and stopped for a bite to eat. As we got some gelato for dessert and sat under a tree, a beer tour group came up next to us so we conveniently listened in. Apparently, beer was accidentally discovered when a man, don't remember how long ago, was about to enjoy a piece of bread and his wife called him away to do something so he left his bread in a glass for the time being. Then, like any good man, he forgot about his bread, by the time he remembered, the bread had gone bad. Not wanting his wife to find out, he ate the bread and drank the beer anyways and he found a very pleasant effect. More systematic beer brewing started in Munich where monks were drinking beer to get through lent. When the Pope heard about it, he wasn't too happy and wanted to try this beer they were brewing so the monks sent him a barrel. But back in the day, by the time the beer got there it had gone bad, whatever the Pope tasted was pretty nasty, so he figured if the monks want to drink something that nasty to get through lent then let them be. So the beer brewing continued. The guide also mentioned the greatest law ever passed by mankind - the Bavarian Purity Law, was passed because brewers were starting to add shrooms to their beers to give it an extra kick. Because of the dangers posed by the shrooms, the government eventually had enough and restricted beer brewing to only three ingredients - barley, hops, and water, which is what makes Bavarian beer so good. The beer garden by the marketplace is the only one where you can potentially get beer from all six Munich breweries, Lowenbrau, Hofbrauhaus, Augustinerbrau, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, and Spaten. They have a tank underground and the six breweries take turns filling it up.

After getting a nice free introduction of Bavarian beer brewing, we went up to the English Garden to check out more beer gardens. It was actually a bit of a walk, but we did walk through a big park and got to the Chinese Tower Beer Garden. I don't really remember, but I think the beer garden that my host took me to was in the area. This one was a different one fueled by the Hofbrauhaus. We sat down for one beer but had to press on because it was starting to rain and we wanted to see if we could catch a night walking tour. Having a great experience running into the tour earlier, we decided rather than paying for the tour, we would just stalk it for the interesting parts. The first couple tours were all in German, but we did finally find an English one. We followed them around for a bit, but to be honest, it wasn't nearly as good as the free walking tours during the day. The night tours seem more interested in creating a certain vibe rather than actually introducing the history and structures. Pretty soon we were both tired so we headed back to the train station to catch our night train to Venice.

I've never been on an overnight train before. The train was really really really long, we couldn't see the end of the train as we were walking along trying to find our cart. We were in a six-bed cabin, the beds were just about the right height for me, which meant they were short for Jeff. Despite all the rolling around and noises the train makes, I was tired enough that I slept right through the night.

6/18/2012 Europe Trip Day 19 - Groceries on Bikes

2012-06-22T16:44:00.002-04:00

DevaPrasad needed to go out and get some groceries for the rest of the week so Jeff and I decided to tag along. Luckily, they had enough bikes. We rode our bikes in to the little town of Vogt. The ride wasn't too bad, there was just one big hill, hard to go up, but fun to go down. On the way, we stopped and tried communicating with some cows, we rang our bike bells and the rang their cow bells back. We got the groceries at the top of the hill and loaded up our bikes. It was a lot of food, all three bikes were fully loaded, which made going down the hill so much more interesting. Half way down the hill, my bike started shaking a bit as if I was about to fall over.

In the afternoon, Jeff and I worked on cleaning up Didi's computer. After dinner we went on our last evening walk, just as a thunderstorm was forming. We are planning on heading to Venice and continue our travels through Europe tomorrow. These past few days in the countryside has been a wonderful experience, I think we're going to try to figure out if we can go back there next summer.

6/17/2012 Europe Trip Day 18 - Just Another Easy Day

2012-06-22T16:19:00.002-04:00

My legs were still hurting a bit today from the climb the day before. I didn't want to do too much but still wanted to help out with the work that needed to be done. I started with the deforestation of some weeds and Jeff worked on sickling the grass. When I say deforestation it is not an exaggeration, it was a whole area of weeds. And yes, Jeff was using an actual sickle to cut grass. It felt like we had fell into a time warp and we were in the 1800s. As I was working on the weeds by the swamp land at the end of the hill, I started to realize that I was really doing squats. After a couple hours of squats/weeding, my legs were really burning. Thankfully, I had saved just enough energy to get back up the hill and rest. After lunch, I tried to go back to weeding but my legs really didn't like the idea. Since Jeff and Giitika needed help netting the fruit trees so the beetles couldn't get to them, I went and did that instead.

Time seems like a lost concept out here, without realizing, it was dinner time already. We ate dinner and went on our usual post dinner walk. All worries seem to just disappear. We really haven't been doing much since we've been here. I would apologize for the less exciting travel experiences that you might be expecting but it's been so relaxing that I really don't care. Don't worry though, we're leaving and moving on soon.

6/16/2012 Europe Trip Day 17 - Ulm With the Dunbar

2012-06-22T03:46:00.002-04:00

Early in the morning I took the bus down to Ravensburg to catch the train to Ulm to meet up with Dunbar and his friends, Jose and Claire. Our first stop was the Ulm Minster, the tallest cathedral in the world. Claire had been to the top of the cathedral before and didn't want to do the climb again so it was just Jose, Dunbar, and me heading to the top.

The stairs are very narrow and very spiral. They were only wide enough to fit one person, so every time there is opposite traffic coming though, both sides have to become one with the wall. The windiness of the stairs was enough to make me dizzy, it was just not stop turning in circles. We were told that there are more than 700 stairs but I don't think any of us had the energy to verify that. There are several stops along the way were you can take a break and enjoy the view. The last part of the climb was really tricky because the last platform that went around the tower is also only on person wide. As we were trying to get onto the platform, the people on the platform were also trying to get down and some people on the platform weren't ready to move yet. It took a bit of squeezing but we did finally make it to the top. The view was spectacular. I was tired and dizzy but it was worth it. It is the tallest cathedral after all. Unfortunately, we didn't really get to go all the way around because people coming of out the stairs were going in both directions and pretty soon we got stuck in the middle. The guy across from us trying to get onto the platform was getting pissed so we just turned back around and went back down the stairs. Going down was a lot easier but still really disorienting. By the time I got to the bottom, I felt like I was still spinning. After finding Claire, we went and grabbed some food and beer. It felt really good to have some meet and beer after a couple days of a vegetarian diet.

As we were enjoying our beer, a beer wagon rode past us. A beer wagon, it that is really what they're called, is a round table where people sit around and drink beer while pedaling. Hopefully the one steering is the DD. I've never actually seen one before, but I do get a chance, I would love to be on one.

Our next destination was the Schiefes Haus, a crooked house now used as a hotel. We took a nice stroll along the river and a stream and then got lost. It took us a bit of an effort to find it but we managed. The hotel did look like it was about to topple over. I wonder what it's like to actually stay in it. With that off the list, we went to look for the Einstein Monument, which supposedly marked where Einstein was born. We walked past it the first time without knowing and ended up back at the train station. The second time we did find the monument, somehow, it was a bit disappointing.

After the unsatisfying monument, we all decided it was time for a beer garden. Beer gardens are such a wonderful culture, good beer, tasty food, live music, and a lot of happy drunks, what could possibly go wrong? If only we can be as responsible, open, and enjoy beer as much as the southern Germans do, drinking would be so much more fun and less of a taboo. Before I knew it, a few hours had gone by and it was time for me to head back to Vogt already. Time flies in the presence of good company and good beer. A train and bus ride later, I was back to the peaceful countryside of Vogt.

6/15/2012 Europe Trip Day 16 - Bringing the Interweb to the Countryside

2012-06-22T03:01:00.001-04:00

We woke up pretty early in the morning because of the bright morning sun shining into our room, which I guess is the only way I won't mind waking up early. After breakfast, Jeff and I offered to help out with chores around the property but we were tasked with a more pressing issue - fix their printer and internet. We started with the printer since printer issues tend to be easier. Originally, I had thought it was a standard driver problem, a simple download and installation would do. However, the computer didn't seem to recognize the printer at all. With a bit more troubleshooting, I found that the problem was easier than I had thought, the cable was faulty. A new cable later, one problem down and one more to go.

The internet issued did turn out to be pretty annoying. For some reason, it didn't matter how many computers were connected to the router, only one would be online. I have to admit, I was partially motivated by self interest, as calm and peaceful as that place was, I still really wanted internet. Trying to fix the problem was tricky enough, we had to do it in German, a language that neither of us were that familiar with, thankfully, there was Google Translate. After struggling with it for quite awhile, trying to update the firmware, resetting the router and such, we found out that the router they were using came from their previous provider, not their current. We figured the previous provider must have locked the router somehow and it was now creating a problem with the current provider. It sounded like something to expect from Comcast, I guess Germany does that as well. We did find another router but we needed to take a break and worry about it after lunch. Getting back to the new router was a lot easier, all we had to do was reset the router and everything was smooth from there. I think fixing the internet might have been our biggest accomplishment there.

After fixing the internet, our reward was a tour through the countryside lead by DevaPrasad. The view around the area is just amazing. On one side you can see a bit of the town, Vogt, peeking through the trees, and the rest is just farm and forests. On a clear day, you can see the Alps in the background. We also learned that some of the forests around us are really tree farms, not natural forests. The difference is the trees in a tree farm are planted very orderly, from the right angle, you can see the rows pretty clearly. Since the sun was out and it was such a nice day, we were all getting a bit tired and dehydrated so we headed back to the house. The rest of the day was very peaceful and relaxing. I think it was exactly what I needed after two weeks of intense traveling.

6/14/2012 Europe Trip Day 15 - Finally, the Mid-Travel Break

2012-06-20T17:26:00.001-04:00

Since Jeff was still tired from the flight, we wanted to make sure we took our time. Before leaving for Ravensburg, we went out to grab a quick bite to eat. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, the sky was blue, and there were barely any clouds out. On our way we saw this tiny Roomba like machine mowing a lawn on its own. It was pretty cute and cool, I wish I had one, even though I don't have any grass to cut yet. After a quick breakfast, we headed off to Ravensburg and Vogt where Jeff's yogi friends lived.

When we first got to Ravensburg to met up with Dada, we weren't quite ready to move on to Vogt just yet so we wondered around Ravensburg for a few hours. Ravensburg is a small historic and well preserved town. Most of its towers and parts of its walls are still around. If you ignore all the modern advances like cars, it's not too hard to imagine what it might have been like when it was a medieval town. It was cute and had some sort of calmness to it.

Later in the afternoon when we were ready to travel again, we met up with Dada to catch the bus to Vogt and meet Didi and the rest of the gang, Devaprasad and Giitika. The bus ride to Vogt is all up hill for about 25 minutes and we were definitely in the south German countryside. There were some houses sparsely placed along the main road other than that it was lots of land and forests. Since it was getting late, was had some dinner, went on a short walk, and called it a night. The area is incredibly peaceful, we fell asleep to the mooing of cows.

6/13/2012 Europe Trip Day 14 - Reunited With Jeff

2012-06-20T16:46:00.001-04:00

I was particularly excited to wake up in the morning because I was about to pick up Jeff. I took the train to Zurich Airport and found Jeff at the international arrival. He was really tired at that point from flying from Indianapolis to O'Hare to Hearthrow with an overnight layover and finally to Zurich. We weren't sure how much he would be up for but it would be beneficial for him to walk around rather than sleep. I took him around the city center and the lake, mostly going back to the places I went with Finke on the first day. Too back it wasn't clear enough to see the Alps. Early in the afternoon Jeff was ready to get some rest and it had started raining again so we headed back to Basel.

Later that night we went out to dinner with Finke and Mark to this restaurant that served everything from Thai to Swiss to Jambalaya. The waiter even recognized Finke and Mark from a month ago. It was fun, we had this beer that came in a glass shaped a bit like a volumetric flask. To walk off our dinner, we went to see the almost over flooded Rein. It had been raining so much that even though I have nothing to compare it to, I could tell that it was flooded.

In general, today was a pretty uneventful day, mainly because Jeff was still recovering and I was ready for a mid-travel break. As fun as traveling is, somehow it is anything but relaxing.

6/12/2012 Europe Trip Day 13 - Nothing More but Rain

2012-06-18T13:06:00.002-04:00

I woke up in the morning and it was pouring possibly the biggest rain I've had since I've been in Europe. I am seriously getting tired of talking about the rain, if only it would just stop. Finke and I were both feeling pretty lazy today because of the rain and our previous travels so we took our time to get out the door. Our first stop was Freitag, a brand that makes their bags out of recycled tarp pads and bicycle tires, and most importantly, completely made in Switzerland. The concept behind it is sustainability, even the store was built from shipping containers. However, the prices were not sustainable, maybe by Swiss standards they could be. Regardless of the prices, the idea was very interesting.

After wondering around a bit more in the rain, we decided to check out the Money Museum. It would be up to the Swiss to have a Money Museum. We weren't really sure what to expect since it is only open on Tuesday and Friday afternoons plus it is located in the middle of a residential area. The ground floor of the museum was a bit lame but the lower level was pretty amazing. They had several displays of how coins used to be pressed and it looked like they still did demos on them. The best part was the free pinball machine in the middle of the room. You can play with it all you want, you might be given the stick eye by the one other person in the museum, but other than that, pinball away! The rest of the displays are mostly casino themed or coin history related. A couple interesting displays were a pair of human shaped dice and an Eron bond. We were pleasantly surprised by the tiny museum.

The next museum we hit was the Londesmuseum, a museum of Swiss history. The museum was pretty informative and had some nice displays. Everything was laid out in a path so you know exactly where to go and the order they want you to see it in. The problem was, the part that I really wanted to see, the Swiss press photo display was at the very end and since they were getting ready to close up, we were rushed through them quite a bit. I think my favorite picture was the one with a nun on a Harley. I love good pictures, I don't think people give them enough credit these days. Everyone has a nice camera now so most people just leave it to the camera to do the work. However, a good picture requires patience and/or luck, a good eye, and of course, skill - the "auto" setting can only get you so far.

After the museum, we were both feeling incredibly lazy so we went back to Basel and waiting Mark to come back. We grabbed some Mexican and a bottle of wine for dinner.

6/11/2012 Europe Trip Day 12 - It's Finke Time!

2012-06-18T12:08:00.002-04:00

Today was a really early morning, my train to Zurich was at 6:15. This time thanks to my hosts not caring what time I leave and arranging transportation for me, I got to the station with plenty of time to spare. The train ride from Paris to Zurich is about 4 hours on the high speed rail. Once I got to Zurich, I wondered around the station for Finke to get back from Italy. We met up around noon, left our stuff in the lockers without any Parisian drama, and headed up to ETH.

I've seen pictures of ETH before and always wanted to see it in person. Since it is located on a hill, it does have a really nice view of the city on the way up, but once we got off the bus, all I could smell was poop. The wind must have been blowing directly from the cow farm because it smelled like a face full of poop, worse than on Windsor at the U of I. After seeing the lab and saying hi to a few coworkers, we head back down to grab a bite and see the lake. Lake Zurich is this beautiful lake in the middle of Zurich. There is a big swan and duck population and you always see people sitting by the water feeding them. The color of the water is amazing, a greenish blue that you can see through around the more shallow parts of the lake. The ferris wheel and the Opera House is also nearby.

We then walked along the river and ran into the Fraumunster, went in for a little bit, at this point, all the churches and cathedrals are starting to blend together for me. We wondered around the city more and found a nice little hill that overlooked half of the city. As we were just starting to enjoy the view, it started raining again, of course. With some time to kill, we went back down to the city to browse some Swiss knives and watches, as well as judge the x-rated posters we see.

Pretty soon it was time to head over to Pop Quiz Night just to find out it had been cancelled because of the European Football Championships. Instead we just got Swiss dinner. I really need to start writing down what I'm eating, because whatever it was, it was pretty good. Since we were all pretty tired, we went back to Finke and Mark's place in Basel after dinner.

6/10/2012 Europe Trip Day 11 - A Day at the Louvre

2012-06-17T12:31:00.001-04:00

Anticipating that today was going to be a rainy day, I left the Louvre for today. There were to metro stops with the word "Louvre" in them, not really knowing what the difference is, I took the one with the long name. That stop took me right into the basement of the Louvre, underneath the pyramid. I got a bit lost looking for the actually entrance because of all the shops and like anywhere else in Paris, the signs weren't very helpful. Eventually, I was able to figure it out, got my ticket and headed to the ground floor with all the Greek statues. There were a lot of naked and/or broken statues. I did get to see "Venus de Milo," the famous statue of Venus with no arms, and Michelangelo's Captive. I don't really go to art museums that much, because of my poor appreciation of art, I always feel like I'm letting someone down.

After all the statues and most of the ground floor, I moved up to the first floor where all the paintings are. I should really know the names of some of the paintings I saw. One of them I definitely recognized was one of the French Revolution, it was in my middle school history textbook. It was pretty neat to see the full size painting in front of me, rather than a tiny copy in the textbook, the details of the facial expression are very impressive. It did almost feel I like I was right there, if it weren't for all the other tourists walking in front of it. And of course, there was the Mona Lisa. It wasn't too hard to find, just look for the one painting where everyone was piling on top of each other to take pictures. I was told by several people to be disappointed about its size and so I was expecting to see an 8x10 portrait. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised at how normal sized it is. I guess the moral of the story is if you ever plan on seeing the Mona Lisa, expect it to be small.

Once I made my way through the paintings, I was going to finish the rest of the museum. The problem was, parts of the museum where under construction and I couldn't find an easy way to get to the last wing. As I was going through the museum, I had noticed that it wasn't really raining like I had expected, so instead of figuring out how to get to the last wing, I went to see the outside of the museum. Of course, the second I stepped outside, it started raining. After taking some quick pictures of the outside, including the pyramid, I ducked into the metro and headed for Sainte-Chapelle.

On my way to Sainte-Chapelle, there was a string orchestra of about 10 people playing in one of the metro stations. They were pretty good, it was probably the only positive experience in the Paris metro.

Anyways, Sainte-Chapelle is on the same island as the Norte-Dame and is know for its stained glass. It is an example of a Gothic style architecture that is known for its sense of weightlessness and strong vertical emphasis. The line to get in wasn't short and it cost quite a few euros, I don't remember how much, but it was enough for me to almost walk away from the line several times. The main reason I stayed was because I felt like I had been walking away from a lot of buildings and I should at least go in and see the stain glasses. Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I think it was because it was in the middle of another restoration, it wasn't too terribly jaw dropping. Disappointed, tired, and wet, I decided I was done with Paris and went back to my hosts'.

Later that evening, Lucien and I went out to find something to eat and bring back a few French beers. It was pouring and half the stores were closed, but I being able to share my misery with someone actually made it better. We brought back kabobs and beer and talked for hours about religion, culture, school, and languages, it was amazing. It was hard to remember that he is only 19. These three guys were all awesome, as much as Paris didn't impress me, I would totally go back there just to see them again.

6/9/2012 Europe Trip Day 10 - Sunny Day Number Two, Well, Sort of

2012-06-16T17:07:00.001-04:00

I slept in a bit today, not on purpose, it's just that my hosts have really nice blinds so I had no idea what time it was. It was looking like I was going to get my second sunny day in Europe. After having some brunch with Alick, I headed out to the Arc de Triomphe. From my vague memory from middle school history, the Arc was built for Napoleon celebrating him for his victory over somebody. I guess it's a big deal to the French since it had to have been one of their few victories.

The Arc is located at this gigantic roundabout with 11 roads coming out of it. There are no traffic lights or pedestrian walkways in the roundabout to get to the Arc, you're suppose to take an underground tunnel. Of course, why would any tourist pay attention to that. The whole time, there were tourists trying to cross the extremely busy roundabout trying to dodge honking cars. It was hilarious. It reminded me of the frog game where you try to hop across the road without getting hit. I'm surprised that the whole time I was there, I didn't see any accidents or anyone get hit. After walking around the roundabout seeing the whole thing, I went over to the center through the tunnel. It appeared that you can also buy a ticket and go to the top as well, but the line was ridiculously long once again. Seriously, Paris is like Disney World, you spend more time in lines than anything else.

From the Arc de Triomphe, it was a really nice walk to the Eiffel Tower. There is a spot across the LaSeine with a nice view of the Eiffel Tower, you can't miss it, it's where everyone else is at. After managing to squeeze in there to get my pictures, I tried to walk to the tower. There were so many people there that I didn't notice the stairs that goes to the bridge and ended up going the long way around. Having gone the long way around, I actually found a Ben Franklin statue in the middle of this tiny park. I thought he looked familiar, he does have a very distinctive hair style. I guess the statue was for the time he spent in France, couldn't really tell because I can't read French.

Once I got to the Eiffel Tower, I realized that I really had to pee. For a place that gets as much traffic as the Eiffel Tower, it made no sense that there were only two toilets at two opposite corners of the tower. Not only that, the restroom would completely clean itself after every use, not just the toilet, but it would clean and dry the walls and floors. It took five minutes for each use. Paris at this point is making less and less sense to me. When I got out of the restroom, a Three Card Monte had set up right outside attracting a lot of tourists, along with the people running around asking if you speak English to sign a petition for international children like the ones I ran into in Brussels. Paris does seem like the home of scammers and cheaters.

Since the tower had only one operating elevator at the time, the lines were especially long. Even when I tried to get the tickets online, they were sold out weeks ahead of time. So I just looked around the tower and headed to the Hotel des Invaildes, which is where Napoleon was buried and is now a war museum and VA hospital. At this point it had started raining again so I decided to go back and hang out with my hosts instead. Later that night I was able to take advantage of their location and got some nice night shots of the Eiffel Tower.

I've been in Paris for a day in a half now and I'm still having trouble feeling the romantic side of Paris. It's dirty, pushy, crowded, and the subways smell like pee. Maybe the night time is more charming when you don't see most of it anymore, but so far, I don't think I would be excited about going back to Paris.

6/8/2012 Europe Trip Day 9 - C'est Quoi ce Bordel?

2012-06-15T12:25:00.003-04:00

Originally I was thinking about taking the 8:15 train from Amsterdam to Paris in the morning. But since Nezim wanted me to leave with him and he didn't want to leave that early, I got a ticket for the 9:15. I got up in the morning and was ready to go at 8:15, not so much for Nezim. By the time we got out the door it was 8:50. Even though he lives really close to the station, I was still getting really nervous. If I miss my train, the next one isn't for another two hours, and then there wouldn't be much time in Paris for me. I got to the train station at 9:05 and still had to pick up my ticket. Under the extreme circumstances, I had to cut in line. The lady helping me kept mumbling about getting there sooner and such, I really wanted to tell her it wasn't my fault, but I guess it is irrelevant. We struggled a bit because she couldn't read my reference number and couldn't find a piece of paper to writ it down. As the time was ticking, I got my ticket with 5 minutes to spare, her parting words were "RUN!" So I did, I Forrest Gump-ed my ass with all my stuff on me. Of course my train was on the last platform and my coach was the last one as well. The second I got on the train and dropped my stuff, the train started moving and I was safely off to Paris.

Three hours later I was at the Gare du Nord. It was a really big train station with very little help. I only saw two ATMs and the information desk was tuck somewhere on the lower level. Just finding the lockers took me some time. When I finally made it down to the lockers, there was a German speaking couple arguing with one of the employees in English. All I gathered was that the lockers were full and we would have to wait outside so they can close the gates. I'm not sure what happened before I got there but it seemed like they already had some sort of disagreement and the woman was obviously pissed. She insisting on waiting where she was because she believed that once they close the gates, they will never let us back in. As the argument went on, people started piling up behind me, some left when they learned that the lockers were full and the wait time was unknown. I was starting to come up with a Plan B but the argument they were having seemed really interesting, so I stayed.

It got to the point where it was going nowhere so another employee who spoke better English came out. He also tried to get us out so they can close the gate, she insisted on stay where she was because it made no difference where we waited. He then claimed that there were people before us waiting inside as well, which is why we have to step out. She didn't believe him because the first employee should have told us that if it were true and accused them for wanting a bribe to let us in. Eventually a manager came out and tried to get us to move out. She ask him about the people waiting inside and he denied it. It was just a big mess of people talking out of their asses. The manager however was successful at making her retreat for them to close the gates. Minutes after they closed the gate, they opened it up again to let us in. Turns out, there were plenty of lockers available. I have no idea what all the commotion was all about anymore.

Anyways, finally getting my stuff into the lockers, I went around the station looking for information such as a metro and bus map. When I finally found it, the line was out the door, there was only one person working the counter and one watching, or I guess he was supervising. By the time I got my maps and metro card, it had been two hours since I first arrived. Paris was not starting out well.

I wasn't really sure where to start. I didn't think I had enough time for the Louvre and didn't want to go as far as the Arc de Triomphe, and so the Notre-Dame seemed like a nice compromise. Walking along the LaSeine not knowing I was walking in the wrong direction, out of nowhere, I got a pretty good view of the Eiffel Tower. I tried getting my picture taken with it, but some tourists are really bad with the camera, half of me got cut off in one attempt. Anyways, along both sides of the LaSeine, there were little book stands selling old books, comics, drawings, and of course tourist stuff. It was pretty neat.

Finally realizing that I was walking in the wrong direction, I turned around and headed to the Notre-Dame. If I had to guess, I would say it is a gothic style cathedral with two towers. It appeared that with free admission, you can go all the way to the top. The problem was, the line was really long. Normally, I don't mind standing in lines that much, but waiting in line alone is really boring. I was hoping they would have information pamphlets available without waiting in line, but it seems like everything was inside. London seemed better about having information available for everyone who walks by. Paris on the other hand won't tell you anything until you pay or stand in line for a long time. It was a bit annoying.

All of a sudden, a sunny day became a raining one and I took it as a sign to head towards my host's place. My hosts were Alick, and his partner, Miguel, and their roommate, Lucien. They live in a tiny apartment on the hills of Paris, they actually have a really nice view. The downside is, I must have gotten off the wrong metro station, because I ended up hiking up the huge hill they live on. I was having flashbacks of hiking with the Marines back in the day. All of my three hosts turned out to be awesome people. Alick is from Taiwan, his partner is from Portugal but speaks Chinese with hardly any accent, and Lucien is half German and half French. Together they speak English, French, Portuguese, German, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Cantonese. I'm really glad this couch worked out after all.

6/7/2012 Europe Trip Day 8 - Going Dutch

2012-06-10T13:43:00.001-04:00

Another early morning and I was off to Amsterdam, but it wasn't easy. The Brussels train station is a bit of a mess, almost half the trains were late, including mine. A few minutes after my train was due, an old train approached the platform. There were no labels on the train as to where it's going but the monitor on the platform does indicate that it is the train to Amsterdam. As I was about to board the train with a really weird feeling, mostly because the train didn't look like the type to go very far. I stopped and asked the train manager who just so happened to be right next to me. Turns out, wherever it was going, it was not going to Amsterdam and I wasn't the only one who almost got on the wrong train. Pretty soon, most people who got on have figured that out and started jumping off the train, one lady barely got off in time. Finally my train was the next one to arrive and I was off to Amsterdam.

I arrived at Amsterdam around noon. Thanks to McDonald's I was able to find free Wifi to check my mail. To my surprise, one of the last minute couch requests came through and I have a couch in Paris. Looks like I'm going to Paris after all!

It was great to finally get that part of the trip settled and I can truly enjoy my one day in Amsterdam. I have to admit, even after living in Taipei for awhile, walking in Amsterdam still took some time to get used to. There were trams, bikes, people, and cars everywhere. The only ones following the rules were the trams. The people and the bikes going how ever way they want is normal, but the cars were driving on curbs and medians too!

I walked around the city center for a bit, there aren't that many big landmark buildings as there are in the other cities. I did see the Dam, which was dirty and under construction. I also swung by a little community that used to only house nuns, now they for rent to any single woman who is over 30. I wondered into their famous flower market and one of the oldest flea markets. I really liked the feeling of Amsterdam, everyone bikes, there are canals everywhere, and the people seemed friendly and relaxed. The building were also pretty different, all of them had a lift hook up on the outside of the building. I was told because the stairways were constructed to be really narrow, which made it very difficult to move in and out, so you can hook up a lift on the outside and just pull everything in from the window. I thought that was pretty awesome, I would have loved to see one in action.

Walking around the city got me curious and wanting to know more about Amsterdam, so I decided to go on a canal cruise to save time. The cruse was really interesting, it was only an hour long, but it talked about the history of Amsterdam and how the development formed different neighborhoods. It also took us by the Anne Franks house which is now a museum. I would have loved to go in if there was more time. I had completely forgotten that Holland was once a superpower like some of the other European countries. Then I remembered that at some point, they were even occupying Taiwan. However, from the looks of the city and the vibe it gives off, it definitely feels like they've moved on from that and now have their own new identity.

Later that afternoon, I met up with my host for the night, Nezim. We went back to his place to drop off my stuff and while he went to the gym, I went out searching for Dutch food. Surprisingly, there aren't that many Dutch places in Amsterdam, there are a crap ton of Argentinian along with Italian and Chinese/Japanese. I told a bit of looking to find a Dutch place. When I went in and sat down, a waiter was no where to be found. I waited for awhile and tried to see if they have internet while I was waiting, I still had to find a way to get to Paris. The place I was at turns out didn't have Wifi, but this other hole-in-the-wall place across the street did. I looked over and it was Dutch cuisine too. So I left and went over there. Yes, I made a meal decision based on Wifi.

This place was actually pretty good. I had sausage with sauerkraut mash potatoes. The Dutch name started with a "Z" and it was very long. After dinner, I met up with Nezim and his friend, had some beers, listened to some street music, and went back to finish planning my trip.