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Volume CXXXII, Number 4 |
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Experiencing the unexpected
TODD JOHNSTON
COLUMNIST
It's humbling yet important to realize just how little we actually know about the world in which we live, until we have traveled. T.S. Eliot once wrote:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
What's the real allure of Southeast or East Asia? The Great Wall, the Thai temples, and it the beautiful Vietnamese landscape are all impressive, memorable and expected when traveling in Asia. However, the great thing about traveling is experiencing what is unexpected.
One of the great surprises in traveling to Beijing was that very few of the people we met spoke English. For example, ordering from a Chinese menu in Beijing is not as easy a task as you might think. A restaurant filled with Chinese characters virtually none which speak any English-except for perhaps one waitress taking English 101 at the local university-requires an American to be creative. After several unsuccessful attempts at various restaurants to order chicken and instead ending up with an entire fish, alternative measures were necessary. So we took out a piece of paper, a pencil and put our Bowdoin education to work. When we wanted chicken, we drew a chicken. If we felt for some seafood, we would draw a fish. Pork-a pig. And then there was that very good meal we tried to order a second time after unexpectedly ending up with it the first time. That was beef with green peppers-we drew a cow and a green pepper. Needless to say, drawing somewhat helped to overcome the language barrier-at least enough so we could eat!
As we ventured south to Thailand, we encountered the capital city of Bangkok-a city, which is constantly on the move. Taxis, motorcycles, buses, cars, trucks, bicycles, pedestrians and of course, the "tuk tuks," which are motorcycles that carry passengers in a small truck-bed in the back-all are moving at once, seemingly nothing could stop them. Except for one time during the day. At 6:00 p.m. every evening, traffic comes to a halt, people stop what they are doing and everyone remains still in silence and respect as the Thai national anthem plays. As it plays on carefully hidden speakers, for 30 seconds Bangkok is calm, quiet, still and everything it is not during the other 23 hours, 59 minutes and 30 seconds of the rest of the day. It's an amazing sight!
And of course, there was Vietnam. The most frequently asked question I get about Vietnam is, "How were you received as an American?" The answer I always give is, "Very well." Not only were the Vietnamese friendly toward us as American tourists, but in many ways they were outright kind. I was curious how this could be despite the history of the Vietnam War (which, by the way, they understandably call the American War). How could the reaction from the Vietnamese be so positive toward us as Americans? Was it the fact that we had money? Possibly. Was it because we were very noticeable in a crowd and, as foreigners, interesting to look at? Maybe. Was it because we were from, as many Vietnamese energetically and idealistically call, "AMERICA!". Definitely. I asked a tour guide why he thought the Vietnamese treated Americans so well despite our countries' history. All he said was that in Vietnam they have a phrase that says you should not dwell on the past but instead think of the future. A welcome response-but not necessarily what I expected to hear.
Such a realization makes one want to travel more and experience more of the unexpected. After all, sometimes you never know what you might get at a Chinese restaurant in Beijing-and that's the beauty of it!