The Perks of being a Solo Traveler

After my solo trip to Xiamen, plus a few various excursions around Hangzhou, I have come to some conclusions about travelling alone – both good and bad – and I have decided to share them with all of you in the form of a Pros & Cons list.

Pros:
1. Setting my own schedule: This is great because I am one of those people that hates to make decisions regarding plans – what if I choose a restaurant and the others hate it? What if I choose to go to a certain site or museum and it turns out to be really lame? While this is a skill I am currently trying to improve, traveling alone completely alleviates it. I know that my decisions will only affect one person: me. And that makes them so much easier – if I’m hungry, I eat. If I don’t feel like going to the museum, I don’t go. And I don’t’ have to feel bad or guilty about any of those decisions. **Sigh-of-Relief**

If I want to spend three hours reading in a cafe, I do it!

2. Sleeping In: This one is simple – I love sleeping late. And when I travel alone, I don’t have to worry about when the other person will/wants to get up. I just sleep until I’m fully rested, and then enjoy a fully-energized day of sightseeing. 

Beauty sleep in the middle of Wu-Mei

3. Getting Lost: During most of my travel experiences, I have been the designated “navigator” (turns out I’m good with a map, who knew?). While most of the time I am able to lead myself and my partners in the right direction, a trip is incomplete without getting a little lost at some point. Usually, this also turns out to be the point during which I feel most anxious, thinking, “We are lost and it’s my fault – what if we can’t find our way back? I am responsible for these people’s safety!” When I’m alone, I still get lost, and I still get worried, but not being responsible for others as well takes off a lot of that pressure. In fact, I've had some of my best experiences while being lost…

Case and Point: I found this delicious street food while being "lost" in Xiamen

4. Budget: Another pretty simple one – when traveling alone, you never have to worry about how your budget compares to those of your fellow travelers. If you want to spend some extra money on that fast train or a nice hotel, then go for it! If you want to spend the absolute least amount of money possible, even if that means riding questionable buses and staying in moldy hostels, no problem! 

Save money by taking a public bus instead of a taxi? Heck yeah!

5. Becoming Comfortable with Myself: This has probably been the greatest of all the benefits of traveling alone – I’ve become exceedingly more comfortable with myself as a person. No, not in a “FOREVER ALONE” sort of way, but more like I am getting to know myself a little better. I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and being more honest with myself. In doing so, I’m discovering things like what kinds of foods I prefer; what I really enjoy doing in my free time; and how far I can push myself. And all of this self-discovery is turning me into a more confident and healthy person. Can’t complain about that!

Confident enough to walk around in these puppies.
Oh yeah, these are fake Crocs alright.

Cons:

1. Pictures: Ugh. Pictures. First of all, I am a terribly unenthusiastic photographer – I almost always rely on my travel buddies to snap all the pics (which I will steal and claim later). So remembering to bust out the camera at the right moments is something I’m still working on. Secondly, I HATE taking self-pictures, aka: “selfies.” I always feel like such an idiot when I take them – not to mention vain and narcissistic. It’s strange, because it doesn't really bother me when others take selfies; it’s just something I have never been comfortable with. (Although I will admit, once I started to get past the awkwardness of it all, I did begin to see the appeal…)

Wait, you're telling me this isn't cute?!?

2. Going to the Bathroom: This one might seem a little strange, but WOW have I noticed it. What I’m talking about are those times – in the train station, out to dinner, etc. – where you gotta go, but you don’t want to drag all your junk with you. If you’re with someone, you can just leave your bags with him/her and make your free, unburdened way to the toilet. If you’re alone, it becomes a whole adventure. It begins with some internal discussion, “How badly to I really have to go? Can I hold it for another hour?” It then turns into some serious strategizing, “Alright – I just need to be able to balance my purse on top of my suitcase, whilst squatting over the toilet while still wearing my giant backpack…” And, often times, ends in anger, “WHY IS THIS STALL SO TINY? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIT ALL MY STUFF IN HERE? DID I JUST PEE ON MY FOOT?!?” But you can’t just leave your stuff out in the open waiting to be stolen, and so this has to happen sometimes. **Sigh**

Just imagine taking all this junk into one bathroom stall with you. Ha. 

3. Feeling Awkward: I have found that this one has improved over time, but during my first experiences alone, there were quite a few moments where being alone just felt weird – for example, eating at a restaurant where everyone else there was part of a large group. Or seeing a movie at the movie theater, alone. And while the pangs of awkwardness that hit me from time to time have certainly decreased, they still occur now and then and cause me to ask myself, “Do I really have to be alone right now?”  

Like when every other person on the beach is a part of a couple...

4. Being Unable to Share an Experience: During some of my recent excursions, there have been various moments where I wanted to turn to the person next to me and exclaim, “Wow – isn't that amazing?” or “Oh my goodness – did you see that?!?” or “THIS FOOD IS FREAKIN’ DELICIOUS!” When traveling alone, I try to abstain from this because 1) the person next to me is usually a stranger and 2) there's a good chance the person next to me doesn't speak much English. And sometimes, 3) there isn’t anyone next to me and talking to oneself is a generally frowned upon practice (I get stared at enough as it is). So I will admit that I really miss being able to share these experiences with someone else -  I think this one is the hardest to get past. 

When I was here, I kept wanting to yell "LOOK AT ALL THESE FLOWERS!"
"DON'T YOU LOVE THESE FLOWERS?"

All in all, I think that traveling alone can be a lot of fun and surprisingly beneficial – however, I do miss the social and convenient aspects of traveling with close friends or family, so I certainly won’t be limiting myself to solo trips in the future. I’m thinking a healthy mix of both will be a great way to keep my journeys interesting and varied. 

So for my next trip (which I just got back from) was to Beijing where I got to hang out with my awesome friend Dave and (finally!) see the Great Wall. Pictures to come (obvi.)

Xiamen: Part II

Welcome to Part II (and the finale) of my short trip to Xiamen. I'll start where I left off, on the morning of Day 2...

On Thursday, I woke up and looked out my window. And, although it was cloudy, it wasn’t raining yet, so I quickly got my stuff together for a morning on the beach. I got a few quality hours in (one of those hours spent on that self-jumping picture – see previous post) before it began to rain. For lunch, I found a vendor (along the path I ran the night before) and ordered some ramen-like noodles with vegetables and questionable meatballs (I only ate one of those).

My morning at the beach!

Where I got my lunch!

Right before it started to rain...

That afternoon, I decided to check out Xiamen University, which is a pretty famous university in China, known especially for its unique and beautiful campus. I took a bus out the the campus (which is literally right across the street from the ocean – if only I had known about this place before!) and, again, just wandered around it. And the people of China did not lie – it was a beautiful campus, even in the rain. The buildings were a unique mix of Chinese and Western architecture, the campus was scattered with little lakes and ponds, and the grounds were lush with bright green vegetation and ancient-looking trees. Seriously, if I wanted to keep teaching, I would totally apply for a job here. It was gorgeous.

Xiamen University's main gate

One of the gorgeous lakes on XiaDa's campus

For dinner, I went to a restaurant not too far from the school (again, recommended by Wood). This place, however, was a western restaurant (which Wood did not tell me – he just said, “You should go there.”) so I ordered some pasta and a “local” beer (which tasted like slightly beer-flavored water… yum). And, after a little more wandering around the city, I finally made my way back to the hostel for the night.

I'm a little ashamed of this meal...

On Friday morning, it looked a lot like Thursday, so I ran out to the beach one more time. Unfortunately, after about 20 minutes it began to rain. Hard. Like, summer downpour hard. Fortunately, I had an umbrella on me, so I strolled along the ocean anyway, enjoying the nearly empty (and also very wet) coast. When it looked like it wasn’t going to stop raining any time soon, I made my way (sadly) back to the hostel to eat lunch and get some work done (I had some essays to grade for my writing class).

Escaping the rain

For my last afternoon in Xiamen, I headed to the NanPuTo  Buddhist Temple, one of the city’s other famous tourist spots. The temple was… well… a temple. Sort of like the old churches in Europe, the temples of China all start to look the same after a while (a little harsh, I know, but true). NanPuTo temple was situated in the hills of Xiamen, full of colorful statues, the strong scent of incense  and an orange and maroon-adorned monk here and there.

Inside the temple

I actually had the chance to meet a monk, with whom I attempted to have a conversation (in Chinese… so it was a very simple conversation). He was a really friendly guy, and totally patient when I didn’t know how to say something and I had to check my dictionary. He also completely debunked  my stereotype of monk life – I always thought monks would live a simple life, with few material items and little technology. Isn’t being a Buddhist monk all about getting in touch with nature and stuff? So when my new monk friend asked to take a picture with me and pulled out his iPhone5, I was totally surprised. What?!? Monks have iPhones?!? He then proceeded to give me his business card so that I could call or e-mail him anytime… yes, I am now the proud owner of a monk’s business card. Who knew? When I told my students this story, they laughed and laughed and laughed at my ignorance. They then informed me that monks in China are actually pretty wealthy – what?! And when they aren’t spending time at the temples, they are driving luxury cars to their homes to see their wives and children!! Please tell me I am not the only one who is shocked by this…

This guy.
Full of surprises.

Anyway, after my “enlightening” experience at the temple, it was time for one last dinner in Xiamen. This time, I went to a locally famous seafood restaurant (guess who recommended it…) where I had to wait half an hour for a seat – talk about a popular place. It was crazy-full of people! When my number was finally called, I walked inside to find a menu with no pictures and no English… oh crap. However, I reminded myself that I had just waited for half-an-hour… I would not give up so easily after that. So I found a waitress and told her, “Hey! I’m alone and I can’t read the menu – what do you recommend?” She suggested three dishes (she said them in Chinese, and I honestly did not understand her, so I just nodded to each one) and placed my order. I found my seat and waited for my mystery meal… it could have been anything. Fortunately, my fuwuyuan (waitress) played it safe with some green veggies, a plate of clams and a squid, and it was not bad. Plus, it was very reasonably priced.

It finally stopped raining later that night, so I went for one last night run along the beach. After an hour of sweating (oh yeah - enjoy that visual) I made it back to the hostel for my last night of Xiamen sleep.

Pumped for some exercise!

Early Saturday morning, the sun peeking through my windows, I woke up to birds chirping and clear sky. A SUNNY, GORGEOUS, BLUE SKY. Isn't that just how it goes - the day I have to leave is the day it finally stops raining. I did run out to the beach one last time (I couldn't miss that clear sky over the ocean) for about an hour. And, finally (and sadly) I packed up my things, said thank you to Wood for the lovely stay, and found my way to the train station.

Seriously! Can you believe this?!?

And look at that... an empty beach. Gorgeous!

Do I hafta go?

I am so glad I took this trip though - and I know that if I have the time (and money) this summer, I will totally go back to this place. I also learned a lot about traveling alone, which is a topic that deserves its own blog post. So, come back tomorrow for the pros and cons of goin' solo!

Until then, ZaiJian!

Xiamen: Part I

Well, so much for being on a blogging roll… they never last, do they? However, I haven’t forgotten my new year’s goal to be a better blogger, so I figured, “Better late than never!” So here is a recap of my really rainy awesome time on the coastal city/island of Xiamen.

P.S. This is going to be a long one. Sorry/You’re welcome.

It started out with a seven-hour train ride from Hangzhou (in northern Zhejiang Province) to Xiamen (in southern Fujian Province – see a map if you’re still confused.) I spent the train ride eating snacks and reading books on my kindle. It was lovely. And, of course, six-and-a-half hours into the train ride, I find out that the Chinese girl sitting next to me speaks excellent English – OF COURSE. So we had a pleasant conversation for thirty minutes before our train arrived (she was visiting Xiamen too!) and I somewhat wished I had known she spoke English so well earlier… alas, at least we were able to enjoy a little bit of conversation.

My Gear

Then I caught a taxi from the train station in Xiamen to my Bed & Breakfast Hostel (I actually called the hostel and gave the phone to my taxi driver so that the hostel-owner could give him directions, in case you were wondering). After a 20-minute drive, we pull up to this gated community (What…?) and the driver said, “Ok. We’re here.” So I got my bags and stood outside the gate (feeling really confused, obviously) until a young Chinese man called out, “Hey! Are you here for the hostel?” Phew! So it turns out, Koala’s Home (the name of the hostel) is located inside this gated community (otherwise full of what I presume to be incredibly rich Chinese people). The Chinese guy introduced himself as “Wood” (no kidding) and led me to the hostel. As I may have mentioned in my last post, it was the most adorable, cleanest and probably best hostel I have ever been to. Ever.

You can find Koala's Home on Hostelworld.com

Look at this room - it's so dang cute!

So once I got all checked in, I decided I should probably find some dinner (it was about 8 o’clock at this point). Wood directed me to a different part of the city (via public bus) where he told me I should try some “Taiwanese” food because Taiwan is right across the ocean from Xiamen – again, consult a map if confused. So I caught the bus to the area (supposedly full of Taiwanese food) and I walked around the food stalls for about 20 minutes until I realized… I have no idea what constitutes Taiwanese food. So I finally gave up and just walked to a stall with a nice-looking server and asked him what was good. He hooked me up with a fancy rice dish that I actually recognized! Why? Because it was Korean food (bibimbop, to be precise). So, my first attempt at finding Taiwanese food was a failure, but the bibimbop was delicious, so I did not complain.

Also, this street was called "Cow Parade Park."
It was full of cow statues.

Bibimbop! Also known as "ShiGuo BanFan" in Chinese

I then returned to my hostel, unpacked all my stuff and went to sleep. I woke up the next day (Wednesday)  to the sun – yeah! Little did I know, it would be pretty much the only time I saw it. I decided this day would be the perfect one to check out Gulang Island (the one with no motor vehicles). So, I took a public bus to the ferry terminal and then took the ferry (about a 10-minute ride) across the water to the island. Once I got to the island, I realized I had no idea what to do there (didn't plan that far…). So I found a map, and found the beach (because isn't that what this trip is all about?!)

Riding the ferry to Gulangyu

To get to the beach, I had to wander through the twisty little streets of the island, and it was a gorgeous walk. Flowers were in full bloom – all the alleys were so green and colorful! Fruit vendors were on every corner, selling giant mangoes and dragon fruits, plus a few fruits I’d never seen before. All the people on the island were so relaxed – girls wearing long, flowing skirts and big woven hats; guys wearing shorts and shades. It was wonderful. In fact, the only slightly disappointing part of the island was the noise – no, there weren't any cars, so no sounds of honking or engines, but there were a lot of people, and these people were loud. But once I found the beach, I got over that pretty quickly.

I have no idea what either of these fruits are...

 There were also buckets of live sea creatures on every street... ew.

The beach was really cool – scattered across the sand were these giant (and totally climbable) rock formations. I made my way to the less-populated end to find my own piece of rock. Once I got there, I pulled out my lunch (PB&J, crackers and some fresh fruit – yeah!) and had my own picnic by the sea. And on my rock, I couldn't hear anything but the crashing of the waves. And it was exactly what I needed wanted.

Gettin' artsy on ya

Nothing makes me happier...

After a few hours at the beach, I made my way back to the ferry terminal. Along the way, I let myself get lost among the winding alleys. I noticed a lot of the buildings looked a lot like European manors rather than traditional Chinese houses. It turns out, Gulang island was a big settlement for foreigners back in the day, and the influence of that culture is really noticeable in the architecture. Wandering through the streets reminded me of the times I've been to Europe, walking through the various Old Towns of Estonia or the Czech Republic.

Love. It.

At around five o’clock that evening, the rain finally set in. That night, I went back to the Taiwanese food street for dinner, and, again, failed to get Taiwanese food. This time, I had a gyro-like sandwich, which is typical food from Northwestern China. Again, it was delish, so no complaints about the lack of Taiwanese food. Then I spent some time at a nearby café, drinking coffee, reading my kindle and being a total travel hipster. When I finally made my way back to the hostel, it had stopped raining (yay!) so I decided to jog along the beach for some exercise. I asked Wood if it was safe to run along the beach at night, and after informing me that “running so late is bad for your health,” he reluctantly told me that, yes, it would be safe.

So good!

I walked across the street from the gated community to the paved-path that ran alongside the coast. Fortunately, it was well-lit, so I felt comfortable jogging/walking along it alone. I ran/walked for about an hour and then returned to the hostel for a shower and sleep, feeling happy that day one in Xiamen was such a success.

My feelings for Xiamen after Day 1

Come back tomorrow for Part II of my trip to Xiamen! (It'll be another long one - woo!)

Awkward Photo Shoot

Ni Hao, everyone!

And greetings from Xiamen! I'm about to embark on night three of my vacation here in Fujian province and so far, I have had a lovely time. This is probably the second city in China I've been to where I think to myself, "Man - if I ever were to live in China again, I could totally see myself here." (Nanjing is the other city, half just because of that amazing burger). What's more impressive about Xiamen is that I already love it, and the weather has been mostly terrible (rain, rain and a side of more rain). Imagine what it must be like when it's nice out?!? It's probably a good thing the weather hasn't been the best, otherwise I don't know if I could make myself return to work...

Anyway, this morning I did manage to get a few beach hours in before the rain really started (yay!). And while I was at the beach, I had a lot of fun taking self-timed pictures using my tripod. The most entertaining (and also most frustrating) part of my photo shoot was my attempt at a "jumping" shot using the self-timer... talk about a near-impossible feat. After countless attempts at getting the timing just right, I did finally manage to get an airborne shot (woo!), but my favorite part of the shoot ended up being the pictures of me failing... miserably. And that, my friends, is what I want to share with you today: my awkward attempting-to-jump-at-the-right-time-but-not-quite-getting-it-right pictures from today's shoot. Enjoy.

Ok, technically I'm airborne in this one... but only by about an inch



No, I'm not trying to poop...

This is me attempting to calculate the pattern of the self-timer light...
and also displaying my lovely triple chin

What? Jumping? No, I'm just dancing... "I throw my hands up in the air sometimes..."

Ermahgerd!

Come at me, bro.

Bah! I give up.

Just Kidding!
Never give up; Never surrender!

 

There were quite a few other failures, but some of them I couldn't include due to the fact that my underwear was exposed (including my first successful jump-shot - talk about frustration). However, I think that all these ridiculous-looking pictures were totally worth it - I had so much fun!

 

Because I had to include at least one non-dufus picture on here ;)

 

Tomorrow will be my last full day here - I think I'll head to one of the local temples at some point, but, more importantly, I plan to seize whatever rain-free moments I get and relax on the beach once more.  

 

I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of April like I am! ZaiJian!

A Day in the Life

One of the topics my students ask about most is American university life – What’s it like? How’s it different from China? Are there similarities? etc. I always try to answers these types of questions to the best of my ability; I use my words to paint a picture of a typical American college or university. Unfortunately, I don’t think my students are always convinced by my answers and explanations.

So, while I was home over Spring Festival/Winter Break, an idea struck me: If I can’t successfully explain American college life to my students, what if I could show them?

And so the “Day in the Life” video production began. For those of you who may not know, my fabulous younger sister, Sammy, is a college student herself at Appalachian State University. Not only that, she is also a sophomore who studies English – just like all of my students! Coincidence? Definitely. But, a coincidence I decided to take full advantage of.

So, when I went to visit Sammy at school for a long weekend, I brought along my flip camcorder and followed her around, recording her daily comings and goings. I taped her getting ready, going to classes, eating meals and everything in between. Then, I edited the video, added some voice-over and music and Voila! “A Day in the Life of Sammy” was complete.

I showed this video to all of my classes on the first day of this semester so that they might finally get a real feel for the life of an American university student. Then I told my students that they could come up with a list of questions for Sammy (about anything) and I would get her answers and show them to the class. I thought this would make the whole experience even more interesting for them, as well as a little more personal. And so, I collected their queries and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of questions.

So, two nights ago when I finally got around to interviewing Sammy, she asked me, “Oh my gosh, Liv – have you typed these questions out? I want to remember these forever.” Which, as you can probably tell, is what led to this blog post – because I think you’ll find these questions just as entertaining as we did.

Most Popular Questions:
- Why do you want to be an English teacher? What are the requirements for becoming an English teacher?
- What’s your career plan? Will you teach abroad/in China like Olivia?
- Do you have a boyfriend? If not, please describe your ideal boyfriend/dream man.
- What do you do during your vacations? Do you have a part-time job?
- Do you pay for your own education or do you use loans?

Most Difficult Questions:
- What percentage of your monthly allowance do you spend on entertainment?
- What’s the most popular dressing style at your university?
- When did your parents allow you to have your first boyfriend? How many have you had since then?
- Do you think your college classes are actually useful?
- What do you do if you have a friend who you don’t really like, but you have to get along with?
- What will you do if you can’t graduate from college in four years?
- How would you compare American university life to Chinese university life?

Our Favorite Questions:
- How do you organize an exciting party?
- What kind of parties do you go to? What do you do at these parties?
- Would you ever date a Chinese guy?
- What do you do if you meet a boy you like? Will you take action?
- Will you get married as soon as you graduate from college?
- Do they have balls? If yes, how often do they hold them? And what do they do?**
- Can you describe your ideal brother-in-law in detail?

And, probably my favorite of all the questions was actually a sort of survey from a group of girls. This is what it said:
1. Do you have a crush on the guy in your creative writing class? Yes or No
2. If yes, have you ever taken action? Yes or No
3. What is your ideal boyfriend/describe your real boyfriend.
4. What were your actions and what was the result?
5. American girls are well-known for bravery. Come on! Go for it!
Yours, Conservative Chinese Girls

You can't deny it - it's adorable!

Needless to say, Sammy and I had a great Skype date reading through and answering all these questions. Also, I’m in the process of attempting to put up the “Day in the Life” video on YouTube. If this ever happens, I will certainly post it here (with Sammy’s permission, of course).
In other news, after 7 hours on a train (a pretty nice one, actually!) I made it to my destination of Xiamen where I am now writing from my lovely hostel room. It’s a little rainy, but the temperature is nice and I can smell the ocean already! Tomorrow I’ll begin exploring and adventuring, but before that, I need some serious beauty sleep.

The first of many awkward selfies - this one's in the train station

Also, the cutest (and probably cleanest) hostel room I've ever seen

Goodnight, y’all!