Hey all,
First off, thanks to all of you who have been reading my blog and commenting along the way. It's been real nice to know that folks are enjoying my stories and pictures (or living vicariously through me, as some people have said). I'm finally back in the States, resting up and getting ready for the semester ahead.
I leave you with two links... The first is a photo album of the whole 5 weeks (mostly Australia with a few pics of Korea). The second is a collection of photos that I took while in Korea... See, the Korean people are an passionate, intelligent and wonderful community of people. Also, the written English language is beautiful in its complexity and composition.
...However... For some reason, when you put the two together, you oftentimes get some, uh... interesting results. Please enjoy my documentation of some of the more humorous samples of "Konglish" or "Engrish." :)
Australia and Korea Photo Album
Funny English Phrases in Korea
later!
-e
Friday, August 04, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Pitstop: Tokyo -- Part II: Observations
So my efforts to find something else to do in the international terminal have failed. Thus, I am back at the same internet kiosk.
Like I said in my previous post, I unfortunately don't have the time to get out and explore the city and country. But, I have had some time to explore the people and culture of Japan... as they exist in this airport. So, here are some observations I've made since getting to this wonderful country/city/airport:
- Japanese service people are polite. Super polite. Not necessarily warm and friendly, like people in Sydney. But just uber, super polite. Polite enough to give this New Yorker a minor case of the jibblies.
- You can get sashimi/sushi everywhere here. Word.
- Everybody speaks three languages. Or maybe that's just the moving sidewalk telling Japanese, English and Korean speakers that the end of the walkway is fast approaching. Okay, fine. The moving sidewalk speaks three languages.
- Actually, it's safe to say that at least the people making the announcements over the PA can speak roughly three languages. They always start with the one they're most comfortable with. Then the second most comfortable. Then by the third language, you can tell that they're thinking "Sigh... well, I guess I gotta say this shit in THIS fucking language too..."
- Something tells me perhaps I shouldn't have gotten raw fish for lunch. In an airport. In the middle of summer.
- ...The restrooms here are quite clean.
- The restrooms here also have automated soap dispensers! Awesome.
- The restrooms also have temperature readings on the facuet. I think if we had this in America, people would scald or freeze themselves to death all the time.
- Nothing makes you feel more worldly than carrying four different countries' currencies on your person (AUS, USD, Korean won and Japanese yen).
- Though, when you get back home, nothing is quite as annoying as having to deal with coins from three countries that you can't change back into USD.
And lastly:
- Dammit, sumo wrestlers are just funny.
Alright... Hopefully something interesting will happen to keep me occupied for the next hour. I'll be posting some great pictures from Korea when I get home, so check back in a couple of days!
-e
Like I said in my previous post, I unfortunately don't have the time to get out and explore the city and country. But, I have had some time to explore the people and culture of Japan... as they exist in this airport. So, here are some observations I've made since getting to this wonderful country/city/airport:
- Japanese service people are polite. Super polite. Not necessarily warm and friendly, like people in Sydney. But just uber, super polite. Polite enough to give this New Yorker a minor case of the jibblies.
- You can get sashimi/sushi everywhere here. Word.
- Everybody speaks three languages. Or maybe that's just the moving sidewalk telling Japanese, English and Korean speakers that the end of the walkway is fast approaching. Okay, fine. The moving sidewalk speaks three languages.
- Actually, it's safe to say that at least the people making the announcements over the PA can speak roughly three languages. They always start with the one they're most comfortable with. Then the second most comfortable. Then by the third language, you can tell that they're thinking "Sigh... well, I guess I gotta say this shit in THIS fucking language too..."
- Something tells me perhaps I shouldn't have gotten raw fish for lunch. In an airport. In the middle of summer.
- ...The restrooms here are quite clean.
- The restrooms here also have automated soap dispensers! Awesome.
- The restrooms also have temperature readings on the facuet. I think if we had this in America, people would scald or freeze themselves to death all the time.
- Nothing makes you feel more worldly than carrying four different countries' currencies on your person (AUS, USD, Korean won and Japanese yen).
- Though, when you get back home, nothing is quite as annoying as having to deal with coins from three countries that you can't change back into USD.
And lastly:
- Dammit, sumo wrestlers are just funny.
Alright... Hopefully something interesting will happen to keep me occupied for the next hour. I'll be posting some great pictures from Korea when I get home, so check back in a couple of days!
-e
Pit Stop: Tokyo
I don't know if anyone is checking this blog anymore, but for those of you that are, I am currently sitting in the Tokyo airport, killing time during my four hour layover here. It's been 20 years since I lived in Japan... It's too bad I don't get to check out the city while I'm here. I'd be interested to see how things have changed. Although, to be honest, I don't really remember a whole lot about Japan, outside of our apartment, my school, and the Famous Amos cookies down the street. Oh, and KFC. I remember that too. But something tells me the Colonel hasn't changed much since 1986.
Alrighty... Time's almost up at this internet kiosk. I may be back, depending on how bored I get!
-e
Alrighty... Time's almost up at this internet kiosk. I may be back, depending on how bored I get!
-e
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