August 2015 – Continuing On My Road

Posted on August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 by amiad1984 · 2 Comments

Tokyo – Like Visiting Another Planet

Since I started this blog, I have been wondering how I should go about writing about travel. There are many travel blogs out there, and many are very dry and dull to read. People end up writing lists of museums and opening hours, all information that people can get from travel guides and websites. And while many people might enjoy reading and writing such posts, it is not for me.

Thinking back on some of my favorite trips, I realized that one of the things I enjoy most when traveling, is seeing and experiencing new and unique people, places and things. Those are the experiences I want to share with you, my readers. And since that is the case, why not start with one of the most unique places that I have ever been, Tokyo.

I once said to a friend, that visiting Tokyo is the closest one could come to visiting another planet. In sci-fi, other planets are depicted as having a culture that is so different that it is hard for visitors to understand. Such sci-fi planets are technologically advanced, lit up and have much to be discovered. Tokyo is the same way. Japan’s long history as an Island nation, with periods of isolation, conquest and subjugation, has led to the development of a culture that is like non other.

The People

One of the most surprising things about the people of Tokyo was that they were simultaneously cold and welcoming. You might think this impossible, but not in Tokyo. Japan is a homogenous society that is traditionally, not particularly welcoming to foreigners. In fact, when you go out at night, it is not uncommon to find bars, restaurants and even some shops, that have signs that read, “Japanese only”.

At the same time, almost every interaction that I had with locals, was extremely pleasant. Most people in Tokyo do not speak English, so whenever I got lost and needed to ask directions, it was always a complicated process of using google translate, google maps and body language. You might think that most people would not want to go through this whole process to help a stranger, but I can’t remember ever being ignored or turned down when I asked a local for help. In fact, on a few separate occasions, rather than try and explain the directions, people left what they were doing and walked with me to show the way. So while foreigners might not always be the most welcomed people in Tokyo, the locals are helpful and still make sure you have a good impression of their wonderful city.

Of course no post about the unique culture and people of Tokyo would be complete without mentioning the neighbourhood known as Harajuku. Harajuku is where social norms are turned upside down and people dressed as anime characters and giant babies in diapers are common and those of us wearing “regular clothes” feel out of places. It is a uniquely Tokyo experience that is best explained through pictures.

Places

The landscape of Tokyo varies greatly from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. In Shinjuku you will find yourself surrounded by flashing lights and tall sky scrapers, while in Chiyoda and Taito you can find yourself in the lush gardens of the imperial place, or green Ueno Park.

Beautiful gardens in Ueno Park, outside the National Museum

My favorite place in Tokyo was the Meiji Shrine. This shrine was build in honour of the Emperor Meiji who enacted reforms to bring Japan into the modern world. The shrine is built according to traditional Shinto tradition, a religion unique to Japan. When I was there, I was lucky enough to witness a bride and groom preparing for a traditional Shinto wedding ceremony.

Meiji Shrine entrance — Entrance to the Meiji Shrine

The Things

There were many “things” that I loved in Japan. From the skyline covered in strobe lights, to the toilets that have more buttons than an Iphone, Tokyo is full of these peculiar “things” that make it stand out in my memory.

Really! This toilet has more buttons than a smartphone!

But one of the great loves of my life is food. Yes, I am a foodie and one of my favorite “things” to discover when traveling, is the unique cuisines of wherever I am. It is not an understatement when I claim that Tokyo is a “foodie paradise”. I tired many wonderful dishes, every one of them, full of amazing flavours and pleasant textures. Dishes that are luxuries or hard to find for people living in America, are common and accessible in Tokyo and I made sure to take full advantage of this fact. Some of my favorite dishes were…

Uni sushi: Uni (sea urchin) is normally a luxury in the west. Of all seafood products, none’s taste reminds me of the sea as much as uni.

Katsudon: Many people think of Japanese cuisine as light and mild, but not this dish. This is a breaded, fried, pork cutlet, smothered in an onion and egg sauce, served over rice. Every bite is a wonderful explosion of flavour.

Pork and Miso Ramen: This was my favorite dish. In fact, I ate it on 4 out of the 5 days that I was in Tokyo. I know that when most westerners hear “ramen”, they think of those little instant noodle packs that college students survive on. Ramen in Tokyo is something utterly different. It is a dish that consists of fresh noodles, in a thick, flavourful broth, served with perfectly cooked pork and sometimes with a seven minute egg and meatballs. It is a real “stick to your bones and warm the soul” kind of dish. A true must eat for any food lover that visits Japan. And I think most locals would agree. The place that I ate at, had a long line of people waiting to get in. Each person was let in one at a time. They were served their ramen, then spent 5 to 10 minutes loudly slurping up their noodles and then they immediately vacate their seat for the next customer in line.

Tokyo is one of a kind and a must visit location for any traveler. It is one of the few places that I have been that I have strong desire to go back again. There is no other place on the planet like it, so go with an open mind and an open stomach, and you will not be disappointed.

Posted on August 8, 2015August 8, 2015 by amiad1984 · 3 Comments

Culture Shock

One of the best parts of living in a new country, is being immersed in a different culture. By putting your self out there, talking with locals, eating with locals, etc, you can really learn about the country, yourself and humanity. I am sure that sounds like I am overstating things, but I assure you that I am not. To prove my point, I will share some examples of major cultural differences that I have experienced since moving to Vietnam, and the lessons I have learned from each of these differences.

shocked2 — Don’t be so shocked! Things are different here.

In American culture, when meeting a new person, there are certain topics that are off limits. For example, Americans would consider it taboo to ask someone about their age, or why they are single at their age. But in Vietnam, these questions will very often be the first questions asked. An American might be offended and consider these questions rude. But, if they were to understand Vietnamese culture, they would understand why these questions are asked in this situation.

In Vietnamese society, age is extremely important. In fact, the pronouns two people use in a conversation will change based on their respective ages, their age difference, and even based on the differences in age between their parents. There are formal pronouns for when ages are unknown, but they sound cold. When a Vietnamese person asks your age, it is actually a sign that they are being polite, because they want to use the proper pronouns and show the proper respect and closeness.

In my last post, I wrote about how Americans consider their careers among the most important aspect in their lives, and therefore when meeting new people, “what do you do?” is one of the first things usually asked. In Vietnam,”are you married yet?” usually takes that place. And if you are in your mid twenties, or higher and single, they will ask you “why aren’t you married yet?” Americans would find this line of questions intrusive. But, once again, a lesson in Vietnamese culture will help you understand why these questions are asked.

In Vietnamese culture, family is everything. In fact, according to traditional Vietnamese beliefs, when one does good or bad deeds, it will lead to happy or sad children, as opposed to western traditions that have the ideas of heaven and hell. When I was taught this, I asked my teacher, what if an evil doer didn’t have kids? She replied, that that person really is in hell because the idea of never having kids is unheard of in traditional society. Knowing this, you can understand that asking one, why they are still single, is on par with asking about one’s job in American culture.

It is not just what is considered rude that is different here, but also what is considered polite. In you are sitting in a cafe and would like service, in America, the customer would raise his hand and try and get the waiter’s attention. If you do that here, you will be waiting a long time. In Vietnam, if you would like your waiter’s attention, you basically call for them from across the cafe. The cafe is noisy and the waiter can’t hear you? Call louder.

When I first moved here, this was one of the hardest differences for me to get used to. I couldn’t get beyond the idea that yelling for a waiter is rude. But here it isn’t. In Vietnam, the way to call a waiter politely, is to use the correct pronoun when calling for them. Many times, I would be out with my good friend Hoang, and we would need a waiter. He would tell me to call the waiter, but I would feel too uncomfortable yelling for them. I would ask Hoang to call for them, but he would just sit there and say, “You need to learn, so if you don’t call them, no one will.” After sometime, I got over my preconceived notions of what is polite and what is impolite, and now I can call across the restaurant like a local.

The online expat forums are full of foreigners complaining and asking “why are Vietnamese so rude?” If these people took a step back and thought about the fact that they are living in another country, and tried to understand the local culture, maybe they wouldn’t be so upset all the time. Of course this is easier said than done. I still fail at this sometimes. But what I have come to learn is that “rude” and “polite” are completely subjective ideas. Therefore, our reactions to certain situations doesn’t have to be automatic. Is there really a reason to automatically be upset when someone asks your age? Social rules change from country to country, and from culture to culture. The travelers and expats of the world need to open up their minds to these differences, or be cursed to always be upset and feel perpetually insulted.

Posted on August 4, 2015 by amiad1984 · 6 Comments

My Life’s Passion

In American culture, people’s careers are an extremely important part of who they are as a person in society. People often define themselves and others by their career. When someone meets a new person, one of the first questions they will usually ask is, “What do you do?” Many Americans will spend most of their lives chasing their career goals. They dream of reaching higher positions in their company and gaining a well deserved reputation as one of the best in their fields. For many Americans, their job is their life.

Vietnamese culture is quite different. Here people tend not to define themselves by their careers. There could be a number of reasons for this difference. One such reason is that Vietnam is still 80% a rural society. Many people are born into their family business, be it a family owned food stand, or a family owned farm. Even in the city, it is extremely common to walk into local stares and find multiple generations of the same family running the shop. Of course as Vietnam develops, more and more people are getting “urban jobs” in fields of their interest. But even in such cases, people tend to see their jobs as a way to pay for their life, and less as actual an goal in their life. This is one of the difference I associate most with in Vietnamese society.

I recently was talking to someone back in the US, and they asked why I seem to not have a goal, or a passion driving my life. They asked me, “don’t you want to build a successful business like your father? Don’t you have something you want to achieve, something to drive you?” I assured them that I do have passions and goals, but that I wasn’t going to explain it to them, because I knew they wouldn’t understand. But, I will attempt to explain it now.

My passion in life is to travel. One of my goals in life is to travel to, and experience as many different places as possible. Too many people this sounds “childish” and “immature”. But I disagree. Life is to be experienced. While some might dream of one day being 70 years old and telling people how they were a CEO of a company, I dream of being 70 years old and telling people how I visited 200 countries. Some want to be able to show others the awards they won for being top of their field. I want to be able to share thousands of pictures, of hundreds of places that I have been.

Others see travel as something to do later in life, when one has finished their career and retired. I often hear, “one day, when I am retired, I want to see the world”. My response to them would be, what if tomorrow never comes? I have learned the hard way that life can suddenly come to a halt at any moment. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. So what are we waiting for?

Of course I also must live in reality. There are bills to pay and responsibilities that need to be taken care of. And of course, travel cost money. So obviously I need to work. In fact, I will start training for a new job as an English teacher in the next couple of months. Some have told me, “oh that is such a boring, and common job. So many expats here work in that field. It isn’t interesting.” But I see it differently. It is a good job, that I will be qualified to do, and it pays well. For me, my job isn’t what makes my life interesting, it is the tool to pay for the experiences that makes my life interesting.

I know there are people that will read this post and think to themselves that I am wasting my life. I understand where they are coming from, because I used to think the same way. I used to dream of a lofty career in academia, or the foreign service and couldn’t understand people with different objectives. I used to think that people that think like I currently do, were flakes. But my experiences have taken me in a different direction. And there are people that will read this post and think that I am saying one way is better than the other. That is not at all what I am saying. I strongly believe that every person should pursue their own unique path to happiness, because no two people are the same.

One goal of this blog is to share stories from my travels, and to share the happiness that travel brings me. I hope this post helps my readers understand where I am coming from, and will entice you all to keep on reading.

Writers note: I am aware that my descriptions of American and Vietnamese society are generalisations. If you are an American or Vietnamese person reading this, and you feel differently, please don’t be offended. Sometimes when writing, a writer must generalise. Thanks for being mature adults and understanding.

(What countries have I traveled to so far? Can’t wait for future posts to find out? Click this link, or the link at the bottom of this page for a complete map)

	amiad1984 on A Trip Down to the Mekong Delt…
	constancescanlon on A Trip Down to the Mekong Delt…
	A Trip Down to the M… on Learning Vietnamese
	amiad1984 on The Most Important Lesson I Ev…
	constancescanlon on The Most Important Lesson I Ev…