More Holiday Greetings

It’s a rainy day in Pitsidia. We thought it only rained here for an hour or so (quick storm, then sun) so during our walk today we ducked into a chapel as it started to rain. The chapel is situated on a cliff and the view was gorgeous, although it was damp and cold as we waited. An hour and a half later (despite our prayers) it was still raining, so we walked home in it. It was still lovely, and the walking kept us warm. Next time, though, we’re bringing the ponchos.

So is life in Pitsida. We’ve been going for bike rides and walks through valleys and olive fields. The weather is mostly good – when the sun is out, it’s warm. At night, or in the shade, it’s cold, and in our apartment , it’s cold and damp (built for the many months of summer heat, I suppose.) As I mentioned last time, no internet or TV here, but that means I will (or at least should) update the blog more often. Also, I’ve got lots of movies and tv shows to watch (Andrew, I got all three seasons of “Dexter” before leaving Berlin – haven’t seen it yet…hope it’s good!)

Speaking of Andrew, I can’t believe I neglected to include in the blog my family’s visit to Berlin on the momentous occasion of the Obama victory. It was great fun to explore Berlin with Lou, Josh and Andrew, and then spend all night in a bar waiting for the election results (which came at about 5AM, our time.) I think Josh posted a video on Facebook – I’ll try to put it on my profile page.

Back to Crete. In addition to walking and biking around, we’ve been out around town a couple of times and had a nice BBQ dinner in the garden. On the 25th, we’re going to a local pub (run by a German/Polish couple) for Xmas dinner. We’ve been promised a duck dinner, and Matthias is just hoping they make enough (he can easily eat half a duck!) Apparently, it’s very quiet here now; the tourists are gone and many of the long-term residents have fled for the winter. But there’s still a small community about, and a few local bars and restaurants open. Enough for us, anyway…especially since Matthias has put us on a much-needed diet. Fortunately, greek salad drenched with olive oil is on the “diet”, so I can’t complain… Speaking of which, I was just writing this to kill time until it’s time to eat….which is….NOW.

Seasons Greetings

Season’s greetings from Crete! We (somewhat sadly) left Berlin nearly a week ago, waking up on our departure day to the news that Athens was under siege! We didn’t have any trouble, although we saw lots of burned out buildings and broken windows in Athens and Iraklion. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

My German language course came to an end on November 17th, the same day Matthias came back. I was sad to say goodbye to the people I befriended in the class, but I was excited to see Matthias. We met at the airport that night. Of course, the weather just turned COLD, and poor Matthias nearly froze on the way home. A few days later, Jennifer and Brenda came to visit. It was so nice to see them and we had a great time – eating, drinking and sightseeing. We even got an early taste of some of the Christmas markets in Berlin.

As the CELTA teacher training started to wind down, we all started to look forward to completing the course. It was a tough three months, but definitely worth it (in my opinion) and I’m going to miss my classmates and teachers. I really liked teaching – at least in that controlled environment – and hope I get to do it (for a living) sometime soon. So, although I was sorry to see the class come to an end, and to say goodbye to all my new friends, I couldn’t complain about our next destination.

Crete is really beautiful, and it’s so nice to have our bikes here. It wasn’t too bad taking the bike on the plane either, although it would have been really hard if I had to do it myself. When we got on the Metro in Athens, the conductor told us that bikes weren’t allowed, but we could ride with the bike if we took the front wheel off (??) Then he told us to “be careful” in Athens because of the riots (not sure how we were supposed to “be careful”) but luckily our hotel was right by the train station and all was quiet. Actually, the hotel was brilliantly located, and we enjoyed the next (sunny) morning walking around downtown Athens. Getting the bike on the Metro to the ferry terminal was another drama – because it was so crowded – but no one told us we couldn’t go…

The overnight ferry ride was nice and comfy (we were able to stretch out on three seats with our sleeping bags) but when we got to Iraklion we were worried that the bus driver wouldn’t let us put the bike on the bus. That would have meant that Matthias would have had to ride 60km over the mountain – in the pouring rain, no less – to the village of Pitsidia. But, fortunately, the bus driver was amenable. And, when we changed buses in Mires, we saw our new landlady – who let us into our apartment as soon as we arrived. The apartment is basic, but cute, and has a nice garden – it will be fine for the winter. Unfortunately – no internet (in the whole town as far as I can see.) but we’ll go at least twice a week to the internet café to maintain contact.

And, finally, the bike riding here is really nice. Though I was wrong to think that riding to class everyday in Berlin was keeping me in shape. I guess I forgot about something they call hills. That’s what makes the scenery so beautiful, I guess. We’ve been to the beach and to nearby villages, so far. And we’ve also met some nice (and interesting) folks here. Hopefully, I’ll have more adventures to report on soon.

Here's a link to a few photos. More to come (hopefully) soon. http://picasaweb.google.es/jrosenyc/December2008#

Fall Classic

Before an entire calendar month goes by without an entry, I’ll add one. It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, it’s just that….well, I don’t really know what it is!

Actually, things are going pretty damn great. Berlin is fab – Matt and Dean came to visit in September, followed by my parents, and then Matthias’ cousin (once removed.) And Matthias seems to be enjoying Greece – keeping it warm for me! He’s coming back here on November 17^th, staying for three weeks, and then we’re both flying there (with my bike in tow) on December 7^th – one day after my ESL teacher training ends. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Classes are going well. The German class (photo) is good, but unfortunately I don’t get enough practice speaking German outside of class, especially given that my ESL teacher training class is totally in English (of course.) Unless you count watching reruns of Roseanne and The Simpsons in German. As of the 17^th of November, I’ll have taken 300 hours of German (half of the government-subsidized 600 hours I’m entitled to) and I suppose my German has improved. We’ll see – the test will be if Matthias has the patience to converse with me in German….only then will I be good enough!

The ESL teacher training is HARD, but really good. The people are great, and I think I’m really learning a lot. I just had my “mid-point tutorial” and found out that I’m doing quite well, meaning if I keep trying to improve, I could “pass with a higher grade” (the better news is that if I just go through the motions, I’ll still pass!) And better still: I already had my first teaching “job”. Someone heard through the Berlin grapevine that I was taking this course and asked me to give a few hours of private lessons to a friend’s mother. My first bit of employment in almost three years! But who’s counting….

I’ve met lots of interesting people here as well, but that will have to wait for another entry (if there ever is one) since I’ve also had so many fun visitors! It was so great to see Matt and Dean. Even though they still haven’t sent me their photos (hiss!) I can report that the trip was a success – they saw lots of art, we drank a respectable amount of beer, and Matt tried some German food that would make even my father grimace. (I’m warning you, Matt – if you don’t send me some useable photos, I’m going to post the one of you eating the pig leg!) It was a great visit.

And, on the day that Matt and Dean left, my parents arrived. As an alternative to a hotel, we shared a charming, arty apartment (photo) in Friedrichshain (old East Berlin), which turned out to be a great idea since I didn’t have to worry about making time to see them (I could always meet them at home after my classes.) They did lots of sightseeing, we all did lots of eating, and I got to practice my ESL lessons on them (they’re pretty good at English, I must admit.) And, Matthias’ parents came to visit – twice! It was a great visit, and despite our ever-growing political differences, we’re still getting along quite well (and still talking on the phone almost every other day.)

So, this was the middle of October, and Berlin was enjoying a lovely stretch of great weather (which has just ended, by the way!) After my parents left (on the 11^th of October) I moved into my new apartment in another great part of town (Neuköln, for those who might know it) and had a short visit from Matthias’ cousin Sina, who just turned 18. I was nervous about the visit, since I didn’t know her that well, but we had a really nice time (at least I did) going to museums (thanks Matt for the tip on the Berlinische Gallerie – it was great!), walking in the historic district, and going out to hear live music.

Wow, I’m tired just writing about this! And now the election on Tuesday – and yet more visitors! Cousin Andrew is coming on Sunday, followed by Josh and Uncle Lou on Tuesday. There’s an all-night event here on the 4^th that I’m going to try to drag them to (hell, look out for us on CNN international!) And hopefully on Thursday I’ll be able to hold up my head in my various classes!

So, Jen - have I tempted you to get out and get those tickets?

Still Going

I understand some people are still checking in from time to time, so I suppose the least I can do is update this thing, even though I'm afraid I don't have all that much (interesting) to say. But hey, I'm in BERLIN, which is pretty cool in itself. And Matthias is on his way to GREECE - also cool, but deserves an explanation.

After Matthias quit that awful job in (that boring town of) Steinfeld, I pushed for moving to Berlin, where I could enroll immediately in German classes and at the same time get certified to teach English. What I/we didn't know was that Berlin has the highest unemployment rate in Germany, so Matthias' chance of finding a (decent) job, or even something meaningful to do, was slim to none. Add that to the fact that due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, we ended up in a tiny, crappy studio apartment for August and September. So, after much discussion, we decided that since winter in Greece didn't seem like a bad idea, he would go early and (among other things) find a good place for us to set up house. He didn't plan on leaving so soon, but he found someone who was driving there and who could take him and his bike. It's only been a few days, I haven't heard from him yet, and I already miss him (of course.)

As for me, I'm busy with German classes and English Teacher Training. The German class is quite fun. I go three hours per day, Monday through Friday. The students are from all over, which makes it interesting. No doubt about it, German grammar is incredibly difficult, but since I'm not required to take a test or anything, I don't get too stressed out over it.

The English (ESL/EFL) teacher training class is quite another story. It's intense, and I'm only taking it part-time over three months (many people do it in one month!) After the first week, we already have some pretty tough assignments, and I have to teach my first lesson on the 23rd (gulp!) But the people are great, and I find it quite interesting. And of course it's good to be busy so I don't have a lot of time to miss my husband.

Speaking of busy - the visits I was hoping for are starting to materialize! Matt and Dean are coming next week, followed by my parents, and then a quick visit from Josh, Andrew and Lou in November. Though I don't have a lot of time, or space to accommodate more than one person at a time (though as of October I will have a much better studio), I hope others will consider a visit. Unless, of course, a visit to Greece sounds more appealing! But don't make plans too far in advance - with us, one never knows..... The only sure thing is that I'll be here until the beginning of December, when I hope to get my CELTA ESL teaching certificate.

Bis bald!

Obamarama

Ready for this one? We are now in BERLIN! Long story short - Matthias left his job in Steinfeld and we decided to try our luck in the big city, where I would be able to speed up my efforts to learn German, and also hopefully take a course to become an English teacher - something I can do wherever we end up. Anyway, it's great to be in big city, where there are things to do, places to see, and, yes, yummy food to eat (more than a few people have commented about how I tend to focus on the food everywhere we visit. That, and how much things cost...which we'll get to later in the program.)

So, not that anyone needs to hear anything more about Barack Obama's visit to Berlin, but I was there, so I've got to add my voice to the coverage. When I arrived, I tried to think of another candidate's speech that drew so much attendance (and then I was ashamed to realize that this was the first speech that I've ever attended.) First, could it be the fact that THEY SERVE BEER and food? There was somewhat of a festive mood before the start of the speech, but I have to admit, once it began, everyone (a huge percentage of whom seemed to be American - or at least Canadian judging by the accents) stood up and payed attention. No one seemed to drink too much - including me...I only had a Radler (the name literally means "bike rider" and is a beer/lemonade mix presumably designed to make you feel like you're having a beer, but keeping you sober enough to ride your bike.) Which brings me to the second draw: I could ride my bike there! Anyway, as I'm sure everyone has heard, the event went off quite well, Senator Obama was well received (not a protester to be seen), and the press here can't seem to get over it. I've heard (from The Daily Show, of course) that the press at home can't get over it either. Click here for more photos from the event.

So, that was my excitement for the week. Now it's back to the business of finding an apartment and getting ready for classes. We had found an apartment through October, but it fell through, so we settled for a two-week rental while we look for something else. Apartments are extremely reasonably priced here - generally around $400 Euros per month for a one bedroom. Our trouble is we need to find something furnished for a fixed period (since we still don't really know what we're doing!) But so far, Berlin is great. And we're looking forward to visitors - hopefully we'll be able to find a place big enough for them!

Shrugging off the old hangups

From finding new uses for the national flag to taking shots at the national mascot, I'm getting a real kick (to use a Euro 2008 pun) out of some of the differences between here and the US. Right now, the flags are out in force in Germany, not for any political reasons, but because the German national team has made it to the semi finals of the Euro 2008 Football (Soccer) championship. For those of you not following (anyone reading this, I suppose) Germany will face Turkey this Wednesday, 25 June - quite a big deal here as Germany has the largest Turkish population outside of Turkey - and the winner will play in the final match next Sunday. It's fun to see the flags, team apparel and paraphernalia all around. And I like how they can get away with doing things with the flag that might get us in trouble back in the States - like wearing it in a way that resembles a diaper, or using it to keep the rain off.

And speaking of national symbols, the Germans also have the Eagle, but I would say it's a funny looking eagle (Matthias once told me it was a chicken...he actually thought it was!) But again, no hangups about "honoring" it - as part of the local festivals they shoot at it and try to knock an apple out of it's claws (click on the photo to see the bullet holes.) Not sure what the winner gets - probably lots of beer. The local festivals are fun, adding some excitement to our rural life.

I've noticed a few differences during physician visits, as well. Not to get too much into my visit to the gynecologist, but in keeping with the theme of hang-ups (or lack thereof) there seems to be less of a need to "cover up" here. At the GYN office, they didn't give me a robe, or even a paper blanket, to cover myself after I took off my clothes (from the waist down.) I'll remember to wear a longer shirt next time.. The experience reminded me of the time Matthias had to convince his father that he couldn't change from his shorts to his bathing suit on the beach in Florida - they don't think twice about it here.

And on a less provocative subject, I was shocked when I was asked to come back to my primary care doctor just two days after my initial visit to discuss blood test results - should I wonder if he even bothered to send the blood out to be tested?

Also in the health care arena, perhaps the biggest difference is in the paperwork. Once again, I didn't believe Matthias when he said you don't fill out forms at the Doctor's office, especially given Germany's reputation for bureaucracy. But it's true: I didn't fill out a single form! And, in retrospect, the Doctor didn't take much of a history on me either. While he did ask about current ailments and family history, he didn't even ask me if I smoke (and I could have said NO!!)

So, that's it for the German medical review, except that it's good to be insured. I wanted to wrap things up with a hearty "Go Deutschland" in German to show some support for the national team, but there doesn't seem to be a German equivalent for that. I even checked an online German Language forum (after not believing Matthias when he told me as much), where I was informed that the closest thing is "Deutschland" (clap, clap, clap), or perhaps a song quote. Maybe I'll have to change allegiance -at least I can say "Viva España!"

Happy Birthday, Dad

So, what do you get a man who has everything? How about a dedicated Blog entry (could go down as lamest birthday gesture ever! Although he did just ask for a Blog update, so who am I to deny a birthday wish?) Now that we both have Yahoo Messenger, we keep in touch virtually everyday, so I can just as easily give you an update on Dad's life as mine. So....

Mom and Dad (Shirley and Richard to you) came back to Highland Falls from their home in Florida in the beginning of May, stopping in Maryland for a couple of days to visit with the Davidsburgs. They opened the pool and are beginning to enjoy the nice weather in the NY area. Next week, they are going to Atlantic City for a few days (of course they got a great deal on a hotel, which includes tickets to a show.) After that, Lou and Laurene are coming to visit for a couple of weeks, and they are all going to NYC to take a "Jewish eating tour." What's not to love about that??

As for the actual birthday today, they are going to New Jersey to have lunch with relatives Mark and Emily, and then a quiet dinner at home. See, I pay attention!

As for Matthias and me...not much new to report. He's been working and I've been studying, but we've found some time to explore the area. More on that another time, though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Where in the World?

Hello! We are back by popular demand. Well, I did get two requests to update the blog (even if one was from my parents) so I guess that's as popular as we'll get. Yes, the last blog entry was back in January as we were preparing to fly back from Asia to the US, marking more or less the end our world travels. My excuse for not writing in so many months? I was waiting until we figured out what we were going to do. The answer? We're still not quite sure.


As for an update, we traveled back to the US - first to NY where we visted friends and family, and then to Florida. Actually, Matthias' parents met us in NY and we drove down to Florida, stopping in Maryland (to visit family and take a quick look at DC); Savannah, Georgia; and the Kennedy Space Center. We then spent quite a while in Florida with my parents, while we tried to figure out what to do next.

Long story short - we decided in the end to move to Germany, where Matthias could get a job and I could work on learning German and getting EU residency. We landed in Steinfeld, a town in Northwestern Germany not too far from the

Dutch border. Our immediate plans are to save some money, learn German (so I can work, too), and come up with a new plan! Matthias' job isn't great, but it seems like a decent way to get back into the job market here. And, perhaps more importantly, we now have health insurance, which we can continue (at a pathetically reasonable cost - that is to most Americans) no matter what happens with the job. We were also able to find a nice, furnished apartment here, quite close to Matthias' work. The photo is of Matthias on our lovely terrace - we're looking forward to some fun BBQing this summer. Unfortunately, though, I can't find a formal German language class that starts before September, but with internet access, I've been able to take some online courses and download some really good audio lessons. Oh, and of course there are oodles of bike trails around here - yippee!



So, now that we're not really traveling anymore, I wasn't sure whether or how to keep up the blog. But I've decided to share some of my impressions about living in Germany. Things are a bit different here - take, for example, a typical resume. It is common for Germans to put their photo on it. And not only that....they include information such as date of birth, nationality and marital status! Can you imagine how that would go over in the US, where you're not even allowed to ask if someone's married, not to mention how old they are!? Of course, that's not to say that we don't get information about someone from, say, their names (e.g., Ping Xio, or Luis Vasquez) or their graduation dates (c'mon, I know everyone has looked at this...) but it's just a bit more overt here. I think just about everything is, but I'll save that for a later entry.

Possible upcoming topics:

• TV tax - yes, a tax on every TV you own - my parents would go broke!
• Recycling - you need a degree just to figure it out!
• Health insurance - I'll let you know how it is once I go to the doctor
• Gas prices - you think you have something to complain about!!??

Well, that's all for now. Except here's our new contact information:

Matthias and Judy Rose
Weuert 15
49439 Steinfeld
Deutschland



+49 175 322 1243



So, for any of our friends who are now planning to get married in California - there's no excuse for not sending an invitation (anyway, I've had the same email address for 20 years!) Till next time.

Monkey Business

This is definitely one of my favorite photos from the trip. It was taken while we were hiking in the Cameron Highlands and I dared Matthias to do the Tarzan act. I tried it, too, but with less success, and fortunately there’s no photo evidence. We are in the Malaysian town of Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands, where the weather is cool and there are a number of nice hiking trails. Otherwise, the town itself is rather boring, and we’re about ready to head off to Kuala Lumpur, where we will spend the last few days before taking off for the US.

More pictures of our jungle treks have been uploaded to the Malaysia album.

Baby, It’s HOT Outside

Well, actually, it’s not that hot anymore as we’re in the highlands, in a real backpacker lodge (read: dump) with wifi internet (finally!) but more on that later.

After leaving Thailand, we spent nearly a week in the city of Georgetown on the island of Penang off the west coast of Malaysia. After spending one night in a cheap and disgusting guesthouse, we upgraded to a comfortable budget hotel, with everything we needed (a/c, clean bathroom) for still under $20 per night. And, the food in Georgetown didn’t disappoint (me, at least). With a Malay, Indian, and Chinese population, and tons of street stalls and food courts, there were plenty of delicious options, and I tried all I could. Matthias liked the Chinese selections – stir-fried veggies and noodle soups – while I went gaga over the roti, samosas, and curries. I’m not sure why spicy food and hot weather seem to go so well together, but I guess since you’re sweating anyway…

Georgetown was a nice city, but also had good transit links to nearby beaches and parks. We loved the Penang National Park, where we hiked along the coast through the rainforest and saw some cool wildlife, including varans (big lizards), monkeys and an eagle. Matthias got into trouble with one of the monkeys who didn’t seem to want to let us pass (bared his teeth and semi-charged at Matthias – not that I saw much of this as I was running away!) But my hero grabbed a big stick and made a lot of noise to shoo the aggressor away, and then dragged me reluctantly along the path. Fortunately, this was on our way out of the park; otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have gone much further! We also went up to Penang Hill (800 meters) where it was a bit cooler, and to the Botanical Garden where we were able to find some shady spots. Georgetown and environs were really very nice, but would have been nicer if it wasn’t so damn hot and humid. It was like being in NYC on one of those torturously hot weeks in August, but admittedly, it did get cooler at night (unlike in NY.)

Today we left Georgetown for Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands, about 1,500 meters above sea level. It is MUCH cooler here (lovely!) and there are supposed to be some great hiking trails through the jungle. There are also tea plantations and strawberry farms aplenty. Should be enough to fill the week before we have to be in Kuala Lumpur. Now that I’ve updated the blog and uploaded photos (new Malaysia album and more added to the Thailand album, including beach photos, Stu) we can concentrate on finding a nicer hotel – with or without wifi.

Potti Mouth

I guess I’ve always had a dirty mind; in my adolescent years (which have never quite ended) we used to get a kick out of substituting dirty words wherever something sounded similar. So, I'm still having fun with the names of towns here in Southern Thailand. I mean, I gotta love Phuket, or at least what the American pronunciation of it would be. Then again, they say Poo-get, which at least is still a little dirty-sounding to me. And the heat is making me feel crabby in Krabi – where I’m just a ferry ride away from the beautiful island of Pi Pi (spelled Phi Phi, but pronounced “pee pee”.) I’m in potty mouth heaven! But how could I expect less of a country whose capital is Bangkok!

So I’ve been giggling my way through Thailand, but we did have a seriously lovely stop in a town called Bang Saphan where we stayed three nights in a bungalow about 10 minutes walk from the beach. Despite it being the middle of the new year holiday week, the beach was almost deserted, and we enjoyed long walks, swimming, and hanging out at the small restaurant by the water.

Then we headed to Phuket, because (besides loving the name) we had heard so much about it. But I’m afraid we should have said forget Phuket (or phucket!) – it was much to hot and crowded to enjoy (especially since we didn’t have our own transportation to enable us to escape the mainstream beaches.) Really, it was like Jones Beach or Seaside Heights during July – wall to wall chaise lounges (all full) and no shade to be had. So, after bouts of being crabby to each other, we moved on to Krabi for a nice surprise. It’s still hot here, but the town is mellow and nice, and the beaches are nice and calm, with plenty of nearby trees for shade.

And now we have almost outstayed our welcome in Thailand. Our tourist visa ends the day after tomorrow, so we are heading to Malaysia. Hopefully, we’ll find some nice places to see there. But if not, as Matthias says, we can always come back to Thailand. Our first stop in Malaysia is going to be the island of Penang, which we hear has some great food. Not that we need any more of that…

Happy New Year

Happy 2008! We welcomed in the new year in Bangkok and we will be here until the 3rd of January, when we will head south to Bang Saphan, our first beach destination. Bangkok has been pretty mellow since we’ve been here – it seems that most partiers have already headed to the beach.

We had a great couple of days in the northern part of the country. On cousin Mark’s recommendation we went to Chiang Dao, just north of Chiang Mai, and it was beautiful. Much cooler, beautiful scenery (we rented bikes) and a brush with the local folks from the surrounding hills (known to tourists as the hill tribes) who came down to the big Tuesday market (yes, Christmas was just another Tuesday here.) My only regret is that we didn’t leave ourselves enough time to travel to other towns in Northern Thailand, let alone stay in Chiang Dao a little longer.

On the way to Bangkok we stopped in Sukhothai, where we spent a couple of days riding bikes around the ruins of the former capital of the Thai empire. I may have mentioned this before, but by now we have become really lazy travelers. We’ve seen so many old cities, temples and royal residences that I barely even read about the ones we are visiting anymore. And besides, we enjoyed riding our bicycles past the fields and rice paddies as much (or more) than visiting the ruins. Plus, Matthias gets incredibly impatient when I stop to photograph yet another pile of rocks.

That’s all for this installment – hopefully the beach will provide additional inspiration for future blogs!

Merry Election Eve

Hello from Thailand, where it is the eve of elections (overshadowing any reference to Christmas) and the selling of alcohol is forbidden (no, that’s not the only reason I’m in the hotel room updating the blog.) We’ve come a long way since Siem Reap. First, we did visit the temples of Angkor by bicycle, which was really great. The temple ruins were really beautiful, made even more pretty by the lush landscape. I thought it was going to be more crowded than it turned out to be, so I was pleasantly surprised by that as well. Pictures of Angkor are in their own online album (link to the left) because there were so many – and I only uploaded about half of the ones I took.


I have also added more pictures to the Cambodia album to include our boat trip to Battambang. The river ride was quite scenic, but it was long and kind of hot (an open air boat – but stuffy inside and too sunny up top.) But it was really cool (meaning, great) to see the landscape, the fishing villages and the people along the way. Battambang in itself wasn’t all that great, but we did find a nice hotel and took a fun cooking class. Now Matthias can make Amok – Cambodian curry with coconut milk – if he can find the ingredients.

The bus trip to Bangkok took a whopping 10 hours, and included a 2-hour border stop (we missed the first connection to Bangkok so we had to wait for another bus.) But the bus was pretty empty and traveled fast, so I didn’t have to endure the loud techno music and videos of sexy dancers playing on the bus TV for too long. We stayed in a very cheap and basic place in Bangkok, in the backpacker district of Banglamphu. Although they gave us a much better room after we complained about the bedbugs, we realized that our days of cheap and luxurious sleeps are over. It is high season here, so we are paying more for less.

That aside, Thailand is great. We spent some nice days exploring Bangkok – wandering around the various districts on foot and by boat, and enjoying cheap eats in the markets and street stalls. Actually, I’ve eaten more shumai (pork dumplings) here than in China, and the Pad Thai and curry dishes have not disappointed. Indeed, it's not only the food that's hot – we almost decided to skip the trip to the northern part of Thailand and head straight to the beaches to cool off, but I really wanted to see the north, and the fact that the beaches are REALLY crowded (and expensive) during the xmas/new year holiday helped us make our decision. So we have come to Chiang Mai in the north (where it is still hot) and we are going back to Bangkok for New Years via the ancient capital of Sukhothai. And in the meantime, we are looking into whether we can venture out to the countryside for a few days. Chiang Mai, though more laid back than Bangkok, is quite a metropolis – trying to escape the city on bicycle turned out to be more difficult and stressful than it was worth due to the traffic. But our hotel is comfy, air-conditioned, and quiet – with internet access, so I can keep up-to-date on the Thai national election results. And of course update the blog.

Sick Day

Matthias can finally feel vindicated as he has been saying for over a month now that air conditioning would make me sick, and now I have a sore throat. Of course, I think it’s the dust here, or something I picked up from someone somewhere, but we can blame the air conditioning when it makes him feel better – as long as I don’t have to give up air conditioning.

So, here I am in our (air conditioned) hotel room taking a sick day. I don’t feel too awful, but I thought I would rest up a day so it (hopefully) won’t get worse. We were going to ride our bikes to the temples of Angkor today, which are supposed to be spectacular and, considering the $20 admission fee and the distance we have to ride to, from and between the temples, I didn’t want to risk being sick and not enjoying the experience.

We left Sihanoukville a couple of days ago and stopped for two nights in Phnom Penh so we could visit the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Prison, used for torture and execution during the Khmer Rouge era. The Prison, which used to be a school, had some disturbing and moving exhibits, including photos of the prisoners, some of their stories, and the torture they endured. The killing fields, where prisoners were taken to be executed, was incredibly disturbing as you could see peoples bones poking out of the earth by the mass graves. The central monument contains hundreds of skulls that were found during the excavation. I saw on CNN recently that the former Khmer Rouge officials are currently (and finally) on trial here, but it doesn’t seem that the people here are much interested (or actually believe that any justice will be done.) I heard this from an ex-pat, I feel funny asking locals what they think as I’m imagine it’s a super-sensitive subject.

We left Phnom Penh by bus and have been in Siem Reap (Gateway to Angkor) for two nights. Yesterday, we rented bikes from our guesthouse and rode around the town and through the nearby villages. It’s hot here, but not as oppressive as Phnom Penh (because it’s not a big city, I guess.) But we really miss the beach, and are beginning to see why many people up and leave their lives in the Western world for the easy life here (don’t worry, mom, I’m NOT about to do it – although Matthias is truly tempted by the ability to live well on very little. But I’m not.)

Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to see the temples and then we’ll be off by boat to Battanbang - a riverside town that I’m not sure is worth a visit, but the boat ride there is supposed to be nice. From there we’ll head into Thailand – a paradise by many accounts. But for now I’ll just drag myself to an internet café (being in a guesthouse with no Internet access – and no in-room TV for that matter, but plenty of DVDs to borrow!) do a quick upload of this and some photos and get back into bed – or maybe the hammock on the communal balcony. Oh, decisions!

Shore Leave

Hello from paradise! We are now on the southern coast of Cambodia, in a town called Sihanoukville. Cambodia is great, just as people along the way said it would be. People are super-friendly, the food is fantastic, and of course (Matthias’ favorite point) it’s cheap. We spent two nights in the capital city of Phnom Penh and then left for Sihanoukville by the sea.

We have been here for four days enjoying sun, sand, and good food. We rent bicycles everyday and ride to the quiet beach on the other side of town – a bit of a challenge as it is quite hilly here, but it makes me feel like I deserve all the fish with coconut curry (called amok) I’ve been eating. The area in which we are staying is pretty lively at night, but thankfully our hotel room is quiet.

Matthias and I were both quite surprised upon our arrival here to see lots of young American men around. We had no idea that Southern Cambodia was a tourist destination for Americans (in fact, I couldn’t imagine that many Americans could even locate Cambodia on a map – not sure if I could have before this trip.) I was also taken aback when I saw the hotel manager ask a young Black American to pay for his room in advance in the middle of the day (we never pay until check out) thinking RACISM! But later we got the full story.

It turned out that there is a US Marine aircraft carrier in the harbor, and the Marines aboard are taking shore leave here. We learned this later in the evening when we saw scores of Marines in the local bars (many with Cambodian girls fawning all over them) including a few hanging out in our hotel bar (thankfully, without the girls.) We also found out that they went back to the ship each night to sleep – so the young Marine mentioned above must have rented the room by the hour, which made a bit more sense. According to the locals, this is the first time a US ship has visited the area – hopefully, they will leave a decent impression.

After two more nights here we are going back to Phnom Penh. I thought we had to pass through there to move on, but it turns out that’s not the case. But, we still have to go back to visit the Killing Fields, which we haven’t seen yet. Then, we’ll take the bus to Siem Reap to see the Temples of Angkor.

We have just reached the halfway point of our Asian journey – our flight to the US will leave Kuala Lumpur on January 30th. That gives us two months for Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia. Now that the weather is fine, we plan to slow down a bit, spending more time in some of the laid-back places.

Goodnight Saigon

I see that I’ve been terrible about keeping up the blog. We have come all the way through Vietnam and this is our last night in Ho Chi Minh City. I guess it’s been all those rooms with cable TV… Actually, I’m picking this up the next day, as I watched a movie on HBO last night (Lucky Number Slevin) instead of writing this.

We traveled south from Hanoi (first back to Hanoi from Cat Ba island) on the “open tourist bus”, which, for 28 bucks (US), provided us with transportation to Ho Chi Minh City, with stops at all the tourist towns on the way. We just had to confirm our seats the day before we wanted to leave for the next town. The $28 also bought us sleeper tickets on the overnight bus from Hanoi to Hue, our first stop. It was pretty comfortable (see photo.) Hue was a nice town – historic as the center of one of the country’s most powerful dynasties (see photos of remains of palace complex) and as a site of heavy fighting during the American War (which is known to Americans as the Vietnam War) being near the former North/South border and DMZ. Not being war buffs, we didn’t visit the DMZ.

Our next stop was Hoi An, which is a beautiful village with narrow streets and well-preserved architecture. Unfortunately, the rainy season was extended this year and the town was subject to heavy flooding. It also rained the whole time we were there, putting a damper (or “dampness”) on our visit. We never did venture out the 5km to the beach – the weather didn’t make it seem worthwhile.

Our next bus trip was an overnighter (and we were too cheap to shell out the extra $10 each for a sleeper bus) and hellish trip to Nha Trang – a beachside resort town. Again, the rainy weather didn’t allow us to enjoy the beach, but we did enjoy walking through the town during the breaks of good weather. After two nights in Nha Trang we were off to Dalat, a touristy village in the mountains north of HCMC – about 1500 meters high. The weather was nice and cool, and the bus ride was incredibly scenic, but we weren’t thrilled with the town.

As for HCMC (Saigon), we were a little concerned that the city would be totally overwhelming (like Hanoi) with the screeching traffic, and high-pressure sales pitches. Well, we both liked it better than Hanoi – perhaps because we were used to the traffic and the hawking by then, but we also had a nice hotel in a good location, and the weather began to improve. We visited the Ho Chi Minh museum to learn a bit about the man’s life and legacy (he’s an icon here) and the War Remnants museum, which documented the atrocities of the American/Vietnam war. Chilling, especially as I kept thinking we (America) didn’t learn a damn thing from the experience.

And now we are in Cambodia, having taken the bus directly from HCMC to Phnom Penh. We didn’t get here until late afternoon (yet another case of a 6-hour bus ride taking more than 8 hours) but so far it looks nice. Fortunately, though, the movie on HBO tonight (the Ice Harvest) isn’t al that compelling, so I was able to write this….
Will try to provide more frequent updates in the future.

XXXXL – Living Large

Yes, that was the size on the tag of the bathing suit I bought in Cat Ba, Vietnam. And, it is one of those grandma editions – with the skirt and all (though I have to say I love how it hides my “trouble spots”.) Actually, I think I’m about as large as they come here, which is sobering, but on the other hand, my feet actually touch the floor when I sit in most chairs, so I’ve got the right height, at least.

Even more sobering, though, is the fact I am “living larger” than just about everyone here. While I don’t think anyone is starving here (seems to be plenty of food to go around), these people work HARD! Looking out our hotel window on Sunday morning (okay, over the fabulous balcony) at 6AM, people were all over the place. They seem to work from before dawn to after dusk, 7 days per week! And for not much, I might add. As I’ve been complaining that people haven’t stopped trying to sell us stuff since we’ve been here, I had to take pause today when a cycle/rickshaw driver was following us around trying to get us to take a 1-hour tour with him….for ONE DOLLAR. We weren’t in the mood to do it, but Jeez, part of me feels like I should have given him the damn dollar anyway.

So, as I enjoy 40 cent beers and delicious 10 cent spring rolls (really yummy!), and complain about the lousy performance of the US Dollar, I need to remind myself that I am only able to do this because others have way less than I do. And when the bedbugs to bite, and the people in the street annoy us with constant hawking of t-shirts and tours, I’ll try to keep all this in mind.

Hello?! Hello! Hello!!

That’s all we’ve heard from everyone here - all the way from Shanghai. It usually means - Stop, I have something to sell you. "Hello, Bambo raft?" "Hello, Moto ride?" "Hello, bicycle?" Or it’s from a bunch of kids trying to get us to say it back (kind reminds me of when I was a kid and we would pass a truck on the highway and try to get him to sound the horn….) But I have to say, it’s getting annoying! But enough complaining - life is actually pretty great.

We spent nearly a week in Yangshuo, where we rented bicycles and rode through the countryside. It was simply gorgeous! And it was nice to stay somewhere for a while. After that, we had a nice voyage to Vietnam - a five-hour bus ride to Nanning, where we stayed overnight and bought tickets for the next day to Hanoi. Another six-hour bus ride (with stunning scenery) and we were in Hanoi, where the hard sell was on! Probably the most stressful city I’ve been to (yet.) Everyone wants to sell you something, and the first price is most definitely not wha
t you want to pay. Just walking down the street is an adventure - with all the bicycles and motorbikes going every which way, leaning on their horns to try to persuade others to get out of the way. Our hotel in Hanoi wasn’t much of a haven, as the owner kept trying to sell us (overpriced) tours at every turn (free breakfast was included, but I think it was just so he could use the time to pressure us into going on a tour!) Oh, and I haven’t mentioned the BED BUGS yet. I’m pretty sure I got all these bites on my arms from the hotel in Hanoi…I just hope they haven’t hitched a ride with us by crawling into our bags…I guess time will tell.

After just two nights in Hanoi, we high-tailed it to Halong Bay and Cat Ba island. The easiest way to get here (and anywhere in Vietnam, it seems) was to book a half tour. Most people come here on three-day, two night excursions, but Matthias really hates that sort of thing, so we just booked the trip here (traveling with the tour group on the minibus from Hanoi, the "junk" boat to the island, and a night in a hotel. We switched hotels the next day, finding a great place with private balcony overlooking the bay for just $8 per night! We rented Kayaks yesterday (see photos), and we plan to go to the beach today. And the weather has been great (so far) so all in all, Vietnam is good.

In two days we’re heading back to Hanoi and then down the coast - first stop is Hue. Will update again in a week or so.

Puppy Chow

I thought it was a myth that the Chinese eat dog, but now that I've seen it, I've gotta believe it. We haven't eaten any (at least that we know of - I believe it's a "delicacy" so I can't see dog meat showing up in any of the cheap food we eat.) We have seen them in the market - Matthias even took a gruesome photo but I didn't post it (didn't want to offend anyone - and in light of recent events concerning Michael Vick, I don't want to take any chances!)

We are now in the city of Yangshuo in southern China, which has (besides dog on the menus) plenty of dreamlike scenery and loads of tourists, but first how we got here…

After Xian, we did get first-class seats to Shanghai. Actually, the whole train was first-class – it was a high-speed intercity train (top speed about 230 km per hour) and we had cushy reclining seats with foot rests. A far cry from the hard-seat class mentioned previously. Even the waiting room was a pleasure… Shanghai was fun. Our hotel was great and though it was not right in the center, we were happy about that after we went downtown and had to constantly fight off the people trying to sell us stuff (and Matthias still hasn’t forgiven me for directing us to a touristy restaurant where we had to pay about $3.50 for mediocre dumplings. The HORROR!) But we did get to go to Citibank for a fee-free cash withdrawal which should be our last in China. Additionally, the markets and restaurants near our hotel were pretty cool (so I had my fill of really good dumplings – for about 50 cents per dozen.) And we were able to get first class (sleeper) train tickets for our 24-hour journey to Yangshuo on the date we wanted.

Even luckier was that no one came to fill the other two beds in our train compartment, so the train ride south to Guilin was pretty comfortable. From Guilin, we had to take a two-hour bus ride to Yangshuo, and of course someone immediately tried (and partially succeeded) to rip us off as we left the train station. The guy led us to the bus and charged us 20 Yuan (about 3 bucks) for the ticket (which I still believe cost only 10 Yuan.) And then when he gave me the change, he shorted me another 20 Yuan, but I was able to catch up with him and demand the rest. So, feeling semi-victorious, and semi-ripped-off, we arrived in Yangshuo.

Yangshuo is situated in a river valley between incredible limestone hills that seem to jut up out of nowhere. The mystic scenery seems to be right out of a kung-fu film. I can’t really describe it, so you’ll have to see the pictures (or Google it to get even more photos and info.) Of course, because it is so beautiful, it is über-touristy and the town is overrun with tourist restaurants and hotels, but that is also why we got a great deal on a place here. We have been here for two days and will stay about a week before catching the bus toward Vietnam. While there are a few photos of Yangshuo on the web album linked to the left, I’ll give the full report after we’ve spent more time here. Until then…

Chinese Red Light

I've been wondering where the term "Chinese Red Light" came from, especially after noticing that not only do the Chinese not get out of their cars at red lights, but they rarely even stop! Yes, crossing the street, or riding in taxis and buses is pretty adventurous here!

We took an overnight train from Beijing to Pingyao, which turned out to be quite an uncomfortable experience - they didn't have any sleepers available, so we ended up sitting all night (12 hours) in tight quarters. Fortunately, the people we sat with were pretty small. It was a "real" Chinese experience I guess (as Matthias' mother points out), but I'm holding out for sleepers on the next overnight trip!

Pingyao was gorgeous (pictures on http://picasaweb.google.es/jrosenyc/BeyondBeijing) As the guidebook points out, it has a "movie set quality" and is extremely touristy. But it is one of the only wallled cities in China that is well-preserved - pretty much the way it used to be centuries ago - with scores of traditional dwellings and courtyards and without modern development. A mixed blessing, as the town was too poverty-stricken over the past 100 years to develop, but the residents now benefit from growing tourism. We spent two days here, walking around one day and biking the other. It was great.

We took the bus from Pingyao to Xi'an, which ended up taking 8 hours instead of the normal 6 hours due to construction .Matthias was happy, though, as the detour sent us through small mountain villages- infinitely more interesting than scenes from the expressway.

In Xi’an we enjoyed walking through the Muslim Quarter, which had lots of street food and merchandise on offer. We also went to see the Terra Cotta Army – touted as the eighth wonder of the world (probably because it was discovered only after the other seven were already chosen….) It was pretty impressive – an army of over 6000 life-size soldiers (no two alike) created in 200 BC. But we agreed that it wasn’t necessarily something we needed to see in person. Unlike the great wall (or the grand canyon for that matter) it’s not that much more impressive to see in person than to see in a film or book. Still, we enjoyed our visit to Xi’an.

Our train ride to Kaifeng was a different story, however. Since it was a day trip (about 8 hours) we decided we could handle what they call “hard seat” class again, but it was simply awful. The train was packed, and although our seats were numbered sequentially, they were in different rows so we didn’t even get to sit together. Was a pretty rough eight hours, but we made it to Kaifeng just in time to check in to our hotel and catch the impressive night market in action. Kaifeng is located on the “silk route” between Xi’an and Shanghai, served as capital under a few old dynasties, and is a veritable market town. We walked the streets all day, checking out the fruits, vegetables, meats and wares for sale. And at night, they set up an additional market in the main square (fortunately, right by our hotel) with what seemed like hundreds of foods stalls. I had some pretty good dumplings with my beer, while Matthias sampled the bugs on a stick (see photo!)

We are now in Zhengzhou, which we only came to because our train to Shanghai leaves early tomorrow morning from here. We are traveling (I believe) “soft seat” class – which should mean comfortable seats and no overcrowding….we’ll see. Zhengzhou is a pretty big city by most standards (except China’s I guess) with 2 million inhabitants. We didn’t see much here (the temple where kung fu supposedly originated is nearby, but we didn’t go) but we did have a fabulous dinner at a Peking Duck restaurant. We were truly delighted, especially since both of our parents were disappointed with the Peking Duck they had when they were in Beijing, as the food was as good or better than the Peking Duck in the famous NYC restaurant, the service was great, and the bill came to a whopping $12. Fun to splurge now and then.

Banned in Beijing!

It was a great surprise to reach our budget hotel in Beijing and find a DSL line in the room to get on the Internet! So, I updated the blog with the last entry, uploaded photos and then tried to look at what I had done, but I couldn’t access the completed blog. Not sure if it’s just this connection, or whether we are just not permitted to view blogs here (tried some other blogspot sites, but couldn’t view them either.) Anyway, doesn’t matter…just another excuse not to go back and fix typos…

We arrived in Beijing three days ago. The Mongolian train from Ulan Bator was truly first class, and had a lot more tourists on it than our train from Moscow. Scenery was awesome, and though the border crossing took a long time, all went well.

I’ve got a really great first impression of China. Beijing is quite nice – our hotel is better than I expected (for the $25 per night we are paying!) and people are super-friendly, even when they don’t speak English – or at least I think they are being friendly… Our hotel is a bit out of the central tourist district, but this bodes well with us, as we like this area better, and we are close to the subway and still walking distance (45 min) to Tienemen square (I know that’s misspelled, but I’m too lazy to look it up now.) As the pictures (which have been added to the latest album by now) show, we have visited the famous square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. Poor Matthias, he just hates going to these tourist sites – with their hefty entrance fees – but is afraid of getting back and having to face people who ask: “so, how was the great wall?” if he doesn’t go. As for me, I enjoyed seeing the sights, almost as much as walking around the different neighborhoods.

We have been eating well, also. Matthias is still thrilled with the prices. Our eating strategy includes street food when available, and then going into restaurants where others are eating, so we can just point to the food that looks good. Of course, that can be a problem when Matthias wants to eat supper at 5:45 and no one else is eating yet! But we have managed.

Tomorrow, we are taking a night train to Pingyao – a town I read about in the Lonely Planet guide, about half way to Xian. Unfortunately, sleeper carriages weren’t available, so we will be in the crowded seat section for the night (a far cry from our first class transSiberian experience, I think. But hopefully we’ll have a decent ride and be able to book more comfortable accommodation for our onward journeys. At least the hotel/hostel accommodations throughout China look like they’ll be both nice and affordable. That definitely helps!

Will post this and the photos soon (Internet in the room doesn’t seem to be working tonight.)

Crossing over

Hello from Asia! I’m writing this in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, but will probably post it from China. We have had a nice first two weeks of our latest adventure – mainly getting here. We left Germany on 29 September – taking the train to the port town of Rostock, where we spent the evening before getting the ferry to Helsinki and Tallinn at midnight. Matthias was sick with a bad cold, so that put a damper on things (at least for him), but the ferry ride was nice. Unfortunately, we had unwittingly booked the connection from Helsinki to Tallinn too close to actually get out of the port and see the city, but since we arrived there at 6am, it was raining, and Matthias was feeling poorly, it probably wouldn’t have been great sightseeing anyway (but since I did get off the ship, Finland gets added to the list, right Jen?)

We arrived in Tallinn around noon and found our cushy hotel near the train station and old town. The weather cooperated somewhat and we were able to walk around the old town checking out the sights. Lovely city!

The next day, our train for Moscow left at 5PM, so we had time to walk out of town to a nice park and back through the old town. We only booked seats on the overnight train to Moscow, which was probably a mistake, but the time passed quickly enough and we made it without too much hassle (or too much sleep!) Our hotel was outside of town, but the metro in Moscow is pretty good, so we found it easily enough (once I figured out how to recognize station names in Cyrillic letters!) Actually, I was once again amazed at the metro in Moscow…not just because the stations are beautiful, but because of the HUGE crowds it handles. We had to go to the train station the next day at rush hour and we were literally carried along with the sea of people. (I would have taken a picture, but I was afraid of being pick-pocketed!) I mean, if/when we have these swarms and bottle-necks in NYC, people get crazy – but I think the people of Moscow are used to it. No pushing or shoving, just marching along with a sense of “what can one do?” And I think it’s like that every day. I would kill myself!

But after the crowds, some rain, and confusion trying to locate the station and train, we grabbed some delicious fast food and got on our train – into our first class compartment. YAY! Okay, first class just means that there are two beds, but it was exciting nonetheless. We were on the train for four days and five nights to Ulan Bator. The scenery was pretty awesome – especially nice because it was fall and the leaves were changing. Not that it was the most spectacular that I’ve seen, but it was also fun to go to the dining car and meet fellow travelers (not as many as I expected, though) and to get off at the stations and buy food on the platforms. We reached Lake Baikal on the third day – also lovely, but by that time we were ready to get off. Just had to get through 6 hours at the Russian/Mongolian border crossing and the next morning we were there.

Ulan Bator is an interesting city – what I believe to be a cross between a Russian and Chinese city (but I haven’t yet seen a Chinese city, so I don’t know yet.) We stayed here for four days, but didn’t take a trip to the countryside (a cross between Matthias’ cheapness and my laziness – maybe we’ll be sorry some day, but the weather seems a bit cold for camel riding or sleeping in a felt tent with fellow backpackers.) But we have enjoyed our time here, eating cheap food and seeing the sights, including the huge market, selling everything from chicken (live and butchered) to fashion boots. Always a highlight for Matthias, we are looking forward to more markets across Asia. So, I’ve got to get to bed as our train for Beijing, which crosses the Gobi desert and Great Wall, leaves at 8AM.

New links to photos on the left!