Final Thoughts on China..A little belated
Well, I've finally found time to finish up my thoughts on China - here they are, in complete confusical order....confusical - I like that word.
traveling through China made me realize how poor China really is; even in the major cities or countryside villages that we traveled through, there are homeless people everywhere. Coming from Korea, where there are about half a dozen homeless people in the entire country, this was somewhat startling. In Korea, if you see someone begging, you know things are dire; but in China, it appeared that on every corner, or park bench, homeless people were fighting over their turf, making sure that no other homeless person took their share of foreigners walking through.
Don't travel through China with travelers checks; while this may seem like a foolish idea because pickpocketers are everywhere (so the tourbooks claim) there is only one national bank, the Bank of China, that will cash them. It doesn't matter where you go, if you're city doesn't have a Bank of China (which I've heard is the case in some smaller cities) then you're screwed. However, if you carry a credit card, you can use it just like a regular debit card, and when the charges that the Bank of China levels on you for cashing the checks, you come out even. I vote for credit card.
Don't travel through China in the summer. Plain and simple. With their heat, and lack of tree cover, its awful. Yes, the summer is hot, which for some people might be enjoyable. This heat however is not including the humidity, which makes it something short of ridiculous.
I realized that while traveling through China, going solo, or with only one other person, is clearly the best option. People approached me because they knew I was just randomly by myself (which in China, is a rare occurrence). So if you want to go, go by yourself. And contrary to what I may have written two weeks ago, you can do China in one week if you just use Shanghai for one full day, and not the two days I spent there. And don't forget to take the Maglev train.
Lastly, I found that while I was tiring of my time in China near the end, I was finding myself looking forward to being back in Korea, where I felt more at home than in the crowded China mainland. As I was sitting in my airplane seat, I realized that the reason I was looking forward to going back to Korea is because I really feel like this is my home. (I hope my Mom isn't reading this) Korea is slowly feeling more and more like home because I'm putting in the effort to not think of home. While that may sound rude to some, I've accepted my frustrations with my school as typical, and out of my realm of understanding. And while I may come back and change my mind on this, I really have started to see myself staying around in Korea for one more year. Previously, my plan was to work in Korea for a year, go home, see family and friends, and then go off to another country, possibly in Europe. After thinking it over, I've realize that I don't want to go through all of the two months of learning that I had to go through when I came to Korea, and if I could stay here, then I could enjoy even more of the country, and still get to travel the world, at least around South Asia. We'll see what God has in store for me. What's clearly helped has been me finding a church that I'm really feeling comfortable with (minus the one hour travel time, one way -which, by the way, makes Sarnia feel like a dream) and that I'm trying to get involved with.
So that's sorta my post-China trip in a nutshell.
Sorry for the long stories - I hope that some of you found it informative, if not comical, or englightning.
****for those of you who might have forgotten the website with pictures, here's the link, plus the password needed to access the pictures****
http://photobucket.com/albums/v739/acanuckinkorea - password: southkorea
cheers all
traveling through China made me realize how poor China really is; even in the major cities or countryside villages that we traveled through, there are homeless people everywhere. Coming from Korea, where there are about half a dozen homeless people in the entire country, this was somewhat startling. In Korea, if you see someone begging, you know things are dire; but in China, it appeared that on every corner, or park bench, homeless people were fighting over their turf, making sure that no other homeless person took their share of foreigners walking through.
Don't travel through China with travelers checks; while this may seem like a foolish idea because pickpocketers are everywhere (so the tourbooks claim) there is only one national bank, the Bank of China, that will cash them. It doesn't matter where you go, if you're city doesn't have a Bank of China (which I've heard is the case in some smaller cities) then you're screwed. However, if you carry a credit card, you can use it just like a regular debit card, and when the charges that the Bank of China levels on you for cashing the checks, you come out even. I vote for credit card.
Don't travel through China in the summer. Plain and simple. With their heat, and lack of tree cover, its awful. Yes, the summer is hot, which for some people might be enjoyable. This heat however is not including the humidity, which makes it something short of ridiculous.
I realized that while traveling through China, going solo, or with only one other person, is clearly the best option. People approached me because they knew I was just randomly by myself (which in China, is a rare occurrence). So if you want to go, go by yourself. And contrary to what I may have written two weeks ago, you can do China in one week if you just use Shanghai for one full day, and not the two days I spent there. And don't forget to take the Maglev train.
Lastly, I found that while I was tiring of my time in China near the end, I was finding myself looking forward to being back in Korea, where I felt more at home than in the crowded China mainland. As I was sitting in my airplane seat, I realized that the reason I was looking forward to going back to Korea is because I really feel like this is my home. (I hope my Mom isn't reading this) Korea is slowly feeling more and more like home because I'm putting in the effort to not think of home. While that may sound rude to some, I've accepted my frustrations with my school as typical, and out of my realm of understanding. And while I may come back and change my mind on this, I really have started to see myself staying around in Korea for one more year. Previously, my plan was to work in Korea for a year, go home, see family and friends, and then go off to another country, possibly in Europe. After thinking it over, I've realize that I don't want to go through all of the two months of learning that I had to go through when I came to Korea, and if I could stay here, then I could enjoy even more of the country, and still get to travel the world, at least around South Asia. We'll see what God has in store for me. What's clearly helped has been me finding a church that I'm really feeling comfortable with (minus the one hour travel time, one way -which, by the way, makes Sarnia feel like a dream) and that I'm trying to get involved with.
So that's sorta my post-China trip in a nutshell.
Sorry for the long stories - I hope that some of you found it informative, if not comical, or englightning.
****for those of you who might have forgotten the website with pictures, here's the link, plus the password needed to access the pictures****
http://photobucket.com/albums/v739/acanuckinkorea - password: southkorea
cheers all