jeff yen

The best laid plans…

The whole point of this trip was to only have the loosest of plans, but even these have been changing at an ever-increasing rate.

First, I was going to spend two weeks in China. Then, I tacked on 3 months in Southeast Asia. Then I decided to split the time evenly between China and Southeast Asia. Then, I added a week in Japan. Then I eliminated the week in Japan... there were just too many complications and expenses associated with that section.

Now, more and more, I am leaning towards eliminating the Southeast Asia portion of my trip altogether, and just ducking over to Hong Kong for a few days near my visa's 60-day limit, then returning to China proper.

Being able to interact with the local people on a meaningful level in China has really been the driving force behind my travels here, both physically and mentally.

I can't imagine there will be that level of interplay between the locals and me in Southeast Asia, so aside from eating amazing food and suffering through the tremendously bad weather (currently it is 100 degrees in Bangkok, with thunderstorms -- or perhaps one continuous thunderstorm -- every day this week), I can see most of my time being spent idling with other Western backpackers, gasping in the heat and humidity while hiding from the rain.

This would probably be pretty fun too, but I can eat Thai food and be sweaty at home.

I see the occasional fratpackers (copyright trademark patent pending, muthafuckas!) here in China, hanging out exclusively with other Americans or Europeans, ignoring all the locals except the inevitable women who are magnetized by them, downing beers at the hostel before heading out to the nearest Western bar, and drinking all night before staggering back to the hostel in the wee hours.

I'm all for people traveling the way they want to, but for better or worse, from all the accounts I've had, this is the impression I have of most backpackers in Thailand and it holds no appeal for me.

I view it as just a slightly altered version of the package-tour mode of traveling; one journeys to some exotic location, only to expend tremendous amounts of effort trying to cling to the familiar comforts and excesses of home, while collecting some tokens to validate the trip. It's probably fun, it's just not for me, and certainly not what I'm seeking right now.

Anyway.

My roommates Yuuko and Keiko -- she of the jeans-removing dance -- have proven to be very pleasant company, and foodies to boot, which automatically brings them near and dear to my heart. We've engaged to have a mystery fruit party tonight -- I went to the market and bought one of everything I couldn't recognize, so this could very well be my last post ever -- and possibly dinner at Louwailou if timing permits, which appears to be increasingly unlikely as I write this.

Conversation with them is a little strange; we communicate in a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and English, with a fair amount of gestures thrown in for good measure. There's an amusing amount of translation from Chinese to English and Japanese for Keiko's benefit, and from Japanese to English and Chinese for mine.

Yuuko is devilishly hard to understand sometimes because she mumbles a bit, is almost criminally casual about eye contact with the person she's addressing, and switches seamlessly between Japanese, Japanese-accented Chinese, and very limited English. It's made for some interesting pauses as they look at me expectantly for a few moments, before I gather they've been asking me a question in one of the two languages we have in common.

I've also become acquainted with a couple others here at the hostel, two of which have become my tutors in the intricacies of a popular soap opera out of Hong Kong, of which we watched five or six episodes last night.

I should probably be embarrassed that I'm hoping they'll want to watch more tonight, but I'm not. I really want to know if Bucktooth finds out that George Crooney killed her husband, and whether Forehead successfully undermines Crooney's power grab by teaming up with Old Taiwanese Guy and Bucktooth.

I'm all on pins and needles here.

Oh, and today I saw a girl wearing a t-shirt that said... I shit you not... "Load Work Ahead." I tried to get a picture, but wasn't quick enough.

Still in Hangzhou; I board an overnight train for Wuhan tomorrow at 11pm, where I hope to get a quick transfer to Xiangfan and Wudang Shan.