Hat shop

Every time I go into a hat shop, I have the irresistible urge to try on half of the hats, even though I don't wear hats. There was this cute little shop with Victorian clothing, patterns and accessories in Virginia City, and I just had to try these hats on. Yes, that makes me a dork - but it was fun!

p.s. Today is another interview... I hope I do well.

Montana madness

For the past week, I've been in Montana (taking the long route through eastern Oregon and southern Idaho) and it's been so much fun. I'll be posting pictures soon enough, but there were so many amazing places I went on this trip. I assume that I'll be working nonstop from now until I don't know when, so this was sort of my last fun trip without worrying about finances, rent, or really anything else, thanks to my mom.

So far, I've visited:

• Union Historical Hotel - along with the Model T's and Model A's in front
• Craters of the Moon National Monument
• Virginia City, Nevada City, and Bannack ghost towns - LOVED the picture taking opportunities
• Yellowstone National Park - we only got to go through part of the lower loop, but that includes Old Faithful and the bubbling paintpots
• Lewis & Clark Caverns
• Gates of the Mountains - where the Missouri River meets the Rocky Mountains
• Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Heritage Site
• Great Falls nightlife
  

One of the best things about visiting places with my mom is that she's super active for a American, so we can do lots of things we couldn't if she weren't so into going interesting places.

Of course, I went with my Aunt T (who is a whole two years older than me) on the last bulleted outing. I kid you not - one place we went had a large portrait of John Wayne on the wall, along with line dancers and a mechanical bull. You don't get much more Montana than that.

San Juan Island.... sans camera

Today mom and I went to San Juan Island with some friends of hers from Bellevue. It's an absolutely lovely place. I went there once before, to Friday Harbor, when I was in high school by whale watching boat. I got seasick. That wasn't so much fun. But today was wonderful. If I had been organizing the trip, I would have done things quite a bit differently, but I wasn't. For example, it's not exactly a large island. I would have preferred to rent a bike and see the island that way. Instead, we rode around in a big van. Also, we went on a short hike, and one of the ladies is rather overweight and could barely manage the 2.5mi or so. She's a lovely person, but she would probably do well to be more active. There was also a huge kayaking group, and it was such a beautiful day today, just as good as yesterday.

Unfortunately, I had only a disposable camera that I bought at the general store in Friday Harbor. Still, the place is simply so beautiful that my pictures will be good regardless of the inferiority of my equipment. There was one point, walking along the coastline, that I had to stop and just absorb the beauty all around me because it was so overwhelming. I didn't appreciate my home enough while I lived here before. I won't make that mistake again. Speaking of cameras, I believe I'm going to buy myself a new lens if I successfully get this job in Seattle. My current standard lens is fairly low quality, and I want to take better pictures. The camera body is quite good, but the lens really makes or breaks the picture, and I can see that clearly with the difference between the pictures I take with the telephoto lens and my standard, because the standard is a low quality consumer product and the telephoto is a medium quality product. I would like to get an actually good lens and see what I can do with it.

Last night, I saw '3:10 to Yuma' with M. It was wonderful!! I have always loved Westerns, it reminds me of going to visit my grandpa. We always watched the Sunday morning Western re-runs. I don't know how many reruns of Bonanza and Gunsmoke I've seen, but Marshal Dillon (played by James Arness) was my hero as a kid. (The Westerns were mainly because we weren't allowed to watch anything else but painting shows and the news, and you can only take so much Brillo-head before wanting to watch something else). Anyway, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale OWNED their parts, and Ben Foster did a fantastic job as Charlie Prince. I really, really enjoyed the performances in this movie. When I get Netflix, I'm going to order everything Christian Bale has ever done that I haven't seen yet. I am, as ever, completely blown away by his talent.

Ape Caves

Two days ago, I had the pleasure of going with my mom, her friend, and his friend and son to the Ape Caves at the foot of Mt. St. Helens. They're called the Ape Caves, not because there are any apes in this part of the world, but because the explorers who found them in 1951 were part of a local club called the 'Apes,' a somewhat less popular variation of the 'Eagles,' I would imagine.

Anyway, it was about 2.5m total crawling and walking through caves, which was at first boring - the lower cave was almost entirely walking until the very end when we got to army crawl - but got better, as the upper cave was mostly giant rock falls. I was afraid of the dark when I was a kid, but have since moved on to water, so dark enclosed spaces aren't much of a problem for me, and it was really quite fun to climb around in a cave with nothing but a tiny light clipped to my Glacier National Park visor (better souvenir than one of those resin figurines). The third picture was taken of three of us inside a lava tube created by a tree - the tree burns while the lava flows around it, but doesn't entirely burn up until the lava has cooled, at which point a tube is formed. I don't recall how long it was, but it was quite fun. At one point, I felt rather like a gopher. Anyway, if you ever need something to do on a weekend or day off, check out the Ape Caves. Much fun.

Tomorrow, we're planning on going hiking at Rainier. I haven't been there in quite awhile, and I'm really looking forward to taking some pictures with my camera. I got my Singapore pictures developed, and even if I do say so myself, some are really quite good.

there is such sweet sorrow at the parting of our ways .... not!

I leave Singapore on a jet plane in approximately 16 hours. YES!!!! There are a number of reasons this is exciting, but by far the most exciting reason of all is that I can leave this stupid maid room, maid bathroom, and worth-less-than-a-maid status with the apartment's leaser behind. Forever! I've had so much fun here with my new friends in the past week that I realized that it's not Singapore I dislike as such - although it is dreadfully boring in comparison with Vienna - it's that my living situation is SO BAD that it makes me hate everything and saps my energy to overcome the dark clouds that are constantly hovering over the condo.

One last mention of his lack of tact or any sense of humanity, and I will be glad never to mention him again. Today, the boys were fighting over chess - because neither of them can actually play, so they fight over moves, turns, and well, anything - so I started playing piano to ignore them, then their father came home and tried to break it up (good luck with that one, they are so sick of each other after two months with only each other as playmates), then turned on the TV while I was playing to distract them. He then told me that he'd rather listen to cartoons (which he hates) than listen to me play.

Okay, so I get the sentiment, he doesn't like the songs I picked, whatever. I don't care. But the least a decent human being could have done is phrased it slightly differently, but he chose to be deliberately rude, as he has done this entire time. He is NOT a decent human being, and I think it's awful of him to tell the boys he doesn't smoke, when they've SEEN him smoking, he smells like smoke, and I've found cigarette butts in my toilet. No one likes a mean, unfriendly liar.

On to a more exciting and better topic: in less than 16 hours, I'm flying out of here! I am well rid of this situation, but I do feel that I have learned a lot, and I am thankful to have made some really great friends here. As Kate Nash put it, "I won't regret those hours / cause you can grow flowers / where dirt used to be."

Night Safari and MacRitchie Reservoir

The Night Safari section of the zoo was an absolute blast. Because there are a lot of nocturnal animals that can't be seen during the day in the zoo, unless they're kept in unpleasant cages, the zoo has an entire section just for visiting at night, lit up with special lights and with a tram and guide.

My favorite piece of commentary, by far, was on a civet that looked like a half bear/half cat. "Like all civets, the bear-cat (forgot the name of it) excretes a sweet smell from its anal scent glands, somewhat similar to popcorn or bamboo."

Today was a 11km walk through the MacRitchie Reserve and Reservoir. Very beautiful, lovely in every way, quite hot, and a really long walk. About four hours, I think, but we took some breaks. I got some great photos today, although I didn't have any film last night at the Night Safari, and my digital is unfortunately not in any way capable of standing in for my Canon in the dark - or in the daylight, for that matter.

Tomorrow is my final full day in Singapore, and I am probably going to go out with J., from Birmingham, and my German friends. I'm packing tonight, and I am beyond excited to be finally leaving. Today, there were moments when I actually enjoyed being in Singapore. I think my adjustment to living in this climate and in these living conditions took a lot longer than I expected it to. But, I have clearly adapted to the rigors of the climate if I can walk 12.5km in one day (my road was closed this morning, had to walk for 1.5km in the morning to catch the bus to church). Regardless of my body's ability to acclimate, I'll be happy to come home, to the blessed, beautiful rain, and the constant gray skies. :)

let the good times roll

Last night, I went to see a live show with M. and J., my friends from Melaka. It was really fun! The drummer of the first band that we heard had a really rich voice, he was really fun to listen to. The lead singers were awesome, though - a girl and a guy. Not so much because of their voices, which were good, but not spectacular, but because they really did a good job owning the stage and involving the audience. The second band was fun, but I don't think as good. The lead singer girl was super skinny. I'd rather look like Beyonce than Nicole Richie. The funniest part was the bass player from the first band who only needed to close his eyes to look asleep. He seriously looked completely catatonic while his bandmates were all getting into the music. Absolutely hilarious!

I was working out today and reached the three minutes jogging mark no problem, wasn't even breathing hard - my hard work is finally paying off! I'm on a plan I found in a magazine, and it seems to be working well. Next week, I go up to four minutes, which I have never done before in my life, so that will be a satisfying mark to reach. I also did twenty cheerleader pushups no problem. I was feeling so proud of myself, I couldn't help but crow about it. :) And hey, if I can find the self-discipline to get myself into shape, anyone can.

This Saturday night, I'm going to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. I've heard it's really neat, and I'm looking forward to bringing my camera. I'm hoping that I can get some good shots, but I'll have to read up again on what settings and exposure times I should use. I also need to check out Little India before I go, so perhaps I can manage that tomorrow night, who knows? Unfortunately for me, the malaise and mild depression that gripped me for almost the whole time I've been here has only gone away in the last week. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is, indeed, the last week that I'm stuck here. :)

Movie Review + Germans

I went to see a movie tonight with my German tourist friends from Melaka, the Bourne Ultimatum. Much fun was had by half of us, one girl from Britain prefers romantic comedies, and one German guy decided he likes Bruce Willis better. But, I thought it was fantastic! Lots of fast chase scenes, fight scenes, jumping around, clever traps, clever ways out of traps - really, a very well done movie, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The sound editing is pretty good, too, good enough that I actually noticed how good the sound editing was.

I really like Germans. I also like Austrians. I don't like Italians. I have decided that this is because Italians are too friendly. In a bad way. I have also realized that the reputation some Germans have for being stand-offish is probably deserved, but more than likely results from the shyness a lot of Germans have about their English. They're so much fun to hang out with when they're speaking their own language. Amazing how that happens. Of course, none of my jokes work in German, but I sure am learning a lot. I have learned a lot of fantastic new German phrases, too, to add to my collection from Austria. :)

All in all, it's shaping up to be quite the nice final week here in Singapore. Not only do I have my imminent return to look forward to, I have also done some fun stuff and met some very nice people in the process. What else could one ask for?

Melaka

Dutch windmill - complete with palm trees.


I enjoyed Melaka, although it wasn't as interesting or as big as I had been led to believe by online and other sources. There was plenty of time to see everything I wanted to see in one day, so I came back on Saturday night instead of staying the night, and used Sunday for a Singapore picture taking day.

The influence of various groups of Europeans can be seen all over Melaka. There are some pictures that I took that really don't look like they're taken in Asia at all. Except for the flora, of course. The highlight of my day was going to St. Paul's church, which was really neat. It was delightfully ruined, lots of headstones, really dreary looks, with a cheerful, fun guitar player singing in Malay. Really the high point of the day, and I absolutely loved that and the Porta di Santiago, the leftovers from the Portuguese walls, saved by Sir Stamford Raffles, who really seemed to have gotten around in this part of the world. Other than that - Melaka is good for shopping, but I guess I'm just not that interested in Asian culture. My favorite parts of Melaka were the European parts.

I return home in a little over a week. It's close enough that I can just about taste it, but far enough away that I know it's going to drag. I have seen nearly everything I wanted to see (I still want to go to the Botanical Gardens and perhaps the Chinese and Japanese Gardens and take pictures - I'm told that the gardens are only of interest to botany and photography hobbyists, and I do like to take pictures - and it's free), I've done what I came to do, and I'm ready to leave. I think it would be more interesting here if I knew more people, but I don't particularly like hanging out with other Americans abroad, because they're annoying, and I haven't really been here long enough to meet many people anyway. So, I'll be glad to be back. But all in all, it was a alright for a summer job, I learned a lot, and I got to see and experience some really interesting and cool stuff. Chalk this experience up to more positives than negatives. :)

'Budget' vs. 'budget'

I am going to Melaka this weekend, and I have just booked my hostel for the night I'll be there. It cost me $5.39. No joke. It looks clean, has good reviews, and is on the studentuniverse site, so I figure it's probably a perfectly acceptable hostel. I've never had any problems with studentuniverse endorsed hostels, and in fact, when I had the opportunity to compare notes with other travelers about their hostels, the studentuniverse hostels usually were better for the same price.

When I was planning my trip, the boys' father suggested a nice hotel in Melaka that he called a 'Budget hotel.' He said, "I think you can get a room for under $50/night. Really quite reasonable." $50?? $50 is a lot of money! I will pay $50 for a good pair of shoes, or perhaps for a truly well-made piece of clothing. I might even pay $50 for a ticket (I would have shelled out $50 for Ian McKellan playing King Lear here in Singapore, but unfortunately, it was already sold out except for the $200 seats, which made it a moot point since I can't afford $200 seats at all). But, I will, under no circumstances, pay $50 for a hotel outside of the United States. Hostels are gross in the US, so I will spring for a hotel if I have to at home. But outside of the US, most backpacking hostels are perfectly acceptable, clean alternatives. And it's just sleep - my bed would probably be just as lumpy in the other hotel. I can sleep anywhere anyway.

Tomorrow, we're going back to Sentosa. We were thinking of doing the 'swimming with the dolphins' package. Then I looked on their website and realized that for 3 people, there is a Trio Package of S$425 to swim with the pink dolphins here. This is a savings of S$25 from paying for three people individually at S$150/per person. So, we're going to watch a movie instead.

Tonight at dinner, their father was talking about a new electronic Chinese language dictionary that he bought. He said the salesmen were trying to sell him the cheaper model, but he opted for the more expensive one. He said, "It was only S$100 more." I don't think I've ever said that in my life. What gets me about that sort of cavalier approach to money is that he's such a tightwad about anything the boys and I use, but it's okay to splurge when it's for his own use (seriously, he won't buy me the granola cereal I like because he thinks I should eat the cereal he buys for the boys. I hate shredded wheat).

Both of these brought me back to the question of budget, and what exactly it means in an individual context. To me, $5 is a fairly significant amount of money, but not enough to freak out over, and I've never been much for coupon cuttings. But starting at $10, I start getting antsy, and something has to be really worth it for me to shell out more than that. I will pay for good chocolate. The imported organic European dark chocolate at the grocery store costs S$6. I pay for that - Asian chocolate has the consistency of melting rubber.

But I hope that, no matter what job I get, or what happens to me in the future, I always remember how I used to laugh at a $50/night hotel being in any way 'budget.'

Countdown - and what I have learned

Today is August 11, meaning that I have 17 days until I fly home. YES!! :) I am doing this countdown thing in my head every day to keep myself sane.

What I have learned:

• I would not do well working for a year alone teaching English in Asia.
  
• I knew already that I hate hot climates, but I know now that I really, really hate hot climates
• My Chinese class has helped me immensely - I can understand "Ta shi wo baba!" on a Chinese language program. :) Of course, I haven't been practicing. I've decided on Farsi of the three difficult languages I tested out in Austria. It's the most fun, imho.
  
• I know now that - if necessary - I can function pretty much normally in a hot climate. Shorter trips to hot climates formerly induced dizzy spells and headaches.
  
• I am not cut out to be an elementary school teacher or tutor. I'm doing a good job, but it's maddening.
• There are some people that you just won't like. I have the happy circumstance of liking most people I meet (some sour on acquaintance), rarely do I truly dislike someone. Now I can add one to my list.
• I really like to be in the water. I used to be waterphobic, and now I've at least conquered that. Now to learn to swim without a board!
• I don't like washing dishes by hand. I especially don't like it when I have a dishwasher available.
• I don't like real Chinese food (honestly, pig stomach soup??).
• I do like these nifty little things called 'char siew pau' which are these spicy red pork dumplings. They are SO good. I know Central Market will carry them in the Asian section (along with the pig's stomach, pig's blood and pickled pig's feet - GROSS)
• I prefer Europe and the countryside to visit. I've never had the opportunity to be much of a city person, and I loved Vienna because it's the perfect size - 1.6 million people or so, just big enough to be big, but you can get out quickly. Singapore is too big. And clean. There's no dirt anywhere - that's just strange.
• My hair is twice its normal size in humid temperatures. I have learned not to let this bother me.

But the best thing I've learned is how important it is to really think about things when you commit to a big project. I really miss my friends and family at home, and except for two short visits, I will have been out of the United States for a year when I return. I think I'm ready to come home. For now. :)

Accompanying Pictures for KL

Here's the dude in shorts with the woman in the black tarp

Yes, that's chocolate. A chocolate dragon. TWO chocolate dragons! Awesome!

Petronas Twin Towers (now the tallest in the world, thanks to 9/11 - this was pointed out multiple times by multiple people there) and downtown Kuala Lumpur from the KL Tower

Kuala Lumpur

For the next two days, I will be in Kuala Lumpur. I figure - I'm here, I ought to go see that cool building from 'Entrapment.' :D

My hostel is supposedly quite near the Petronas Towers, and I am definitely looking forward to going up to that bridge thingy that links them. Anyway, I desperately need a vacation, even if it's only two days. I was feeling so irritable today that I actually yelled. Well, not really a yell, it was more shrill than that. I think it was a combination of feeling so bored I was miserable (I keep myself busy, but I don't have enough money to buy books, and their father hasn't gotten a library card yet - if he ever does - so I can't check out any books to keep my brain from going stir-crazy) plus the frustration of teaching long division. Today, 3-digit long division started, which is not significantly different than 2 -digit long division, but it was treated by my charges as something horribly new and difficult. They will probably do very well in school this fall, but these topics aren't usually even covered until the 4th grade (they're starting 4th grade this Fall). And, unlike some kids who did deserve to move ahead in math, these ones are better at English and drawing and imaginative sorts of things than math.

So, I'm looking forward to my two days of freedom from the hated cartoons and long division.
And I'm looking forward to going on the two tours I booked, one a city highlights tour, and the other a tour of some caves with nifty Hindu statues and stuff near Kuala Lumpur. I'm hoping to get some good pictures there. I am still more excited about going to Melacca in a couple of weeks, but Kuala Lumpur isn't anything to sneeze at. Updates will come shortly!

Fourth of July Celebration

According to the US presence in Singapore, yesterday, June 30, was the 4th of July. For those who know me, you know I don't really go in for most of the "America is so great!" stuff that most of us were fed since we were kids. Yes, I live in a reasonably nice country. Yes, I have a reasonably nice life. But somehow celebrating the fact that I have plenty and others don't is rather stupid to me. Kind of like when your mom used to say, "Clean your plate! There are starving kids in Africa!" and you'd think, "So? I'M not a starving kid in Africa, and I don't WANT to eat these vegetables!"

Anyway, I do sincerely enjoy Independence Day celebrations, especially the bad food and fireworks. I kept the bad food to a minimum - had root beer, a corn dog and corn on the cob - but the fireworks were quite nice. A little too short of a show, but nice. The best part of it was how close they were. A. kept collecting bits of the cardboard shells and I got bonked on the head with bits of firework debris on multiple occasions.

Today I went to St. Andrew's Cathedral for service, as I was under the impression that it was a Catholic church. In actuality, it's Anglican. My first clue was when half the words to the prayers were from a different translation, but what really convinced me I wasn't in a Catholic church is when the visiting speaker mentioned his wife and granddaughter. Last I checked, that wasn't allowed. Nice church, though, and a fun praise band. Next week, I'll check out the actual Catholic church, which is across from an old convent. The convent has now been turned into shops and restaurants and bars. Kind of ironic.

Today I went exploring in Singapore, as Sunday seems to be a good day for me to have off for all of us. I went to Orchard Rd, the shopping artery through the "old" part of Singapore (there's maybe two or three old buildings left, all the rest are new high rises), and bought some nice stuff. I'm most pleased with my new silk pillow covers. Very classy, very simple yet elegant design. And they were cheap! Then I spent lots of time reading a book seated in the courtyard at the Raffles hotel. It's still a hotel, but it also has a gift shop, a Tiffany's and some other stuff. The main thing I learned today is that Singapore is, by and large, a shopping tourists haven. Not much else happening here other than the nature preserves and zoo, which I also intend to visit.

Side note: I have seen MANY, MANY mixed couples with a white dude and an Asian (here meaning anywhere in Asia plus the Indian subcontinent) woman. I saw so many, in fact, that I began to wonder why I saw no white women with an Asian dude. Today, I saw one such couple, and he looked half Indian, half white. There were lots of single white women walking around, though. I have a couple hypotheses as to why this is:

• there are more male expats than female expats, so men turn to local populations of women rather than fight for the limited quantity available of "their own kind"
  
• women are more capable of being alone for long periods of time than are men and thus do not feel this need to turn to the local populations
  
• women are more racist in their choice of partner/men are more sexist in their choice of partner - I'm going for hamburger B, having heard enough comments about Western women not acting like "real" women
• women care more about scent - meaning the Asian women will probably smell fine to the Western man, but the Asian man may not smell so great to the Western woman. Here, I am referring mostly to laborers, but this was true even of nicely dressed men in Myanmar. They ALL smelled. A lot.
• I just haven't been searching in the right places

I also found it interesting that there are almost no Americans to be found on an average day in Singapore. Nearly all of the white people I've seen so far have been non-English speaking, non-language-I-know-speaking, meaning that they're more than likely Scandinavians of some variety. Apparently, I have to be satisfied with my helping of American culture and food from last night's celebration. Somehow, I'm not too sad at the prospect of not running into very many Americans for the next couple of months.

The Joy of Flying

Flight #1: 7:35am from Vienna to Frankfurt, with Air Berlin aka Niki. We got sandwiches - and not too shabby ones - for an hour long flight. Everything went well, was really professional, and the time sped by.

Flight #2: 11:20am from Frankfurt to Atlanta, with Delta on standby. Because I thought it would save me money to go on standby with an employee ticket (thanks A.!), I chose this option. Turns out that's not the best possible plan when it's spring break in the US and holy week (meaning spring break with Catholic/Lutheran overtones) in Europe. After carting my stuff all over the airport (Delta busted off the wheels on my wheely bag on the way to Austria, so I had to use one of those stupid carts - not exactly the most user friendly devices ever), got to sit and wait at the gate, only to watch the plane leave.

Flight #3: 11:35am from Frankfurt to Cincinnati with Delta standby. Because the first flight was delayed, so was the second. But, I didn't make it onto this one either. One flight left out of Europe for the day.

Flight #4: 12:05pm from Frankfurt to JFK with Delta standby. Got the last ticket available for the flight to JFK. As I arrived at my seat, I saw, to my horror, a baby in the seat next to me. Somewhere, I was sure, God was laughing at me. A lot. Thankfully, it turns out the baby was actually sitting directly behind me, not next to me. Small miracles. Time Caesar has been stuck in his little bag thus far - 7 hours.

Flight #5: 4:40pm from JFK to Seattle with Delta standby. Nice and warm in this part of the airport - mainly because there are so many people. Everyone has crowded around the gates because both flights in this area, San Francisco and Seattle, are overbooked. The gate attendant keeps asking for volunteers to wait to fly until tomorrow for 'Delta dollars.' Time Caesar has been stuck in his little bag thus far - 17 hours.

Flight #6: 7:05 from JFK to Seattle with Delta standby. My feet hurt. I was supposed to be available for economy or first class, so I had to wear nice shoes. They hurt. I bought two New York t-shirts. I figured I may as well, since I've never been to New York before. I see, not particularly surprised, that I have not been cleared for this flight either. Barring unfortunate circumstances for some other passengers, Caesar and I will have to find a hotel for the night. Time Caesar has been stuck in his little bag thus far - 21 hours.

Flight #7: 8:00am from JFK to Seattle with Delta standby. Full flight. Last night - $130 for myself and the cat, cheapest that could be found according to the hotel reservations lady. I'm just glad I didn't see any bugs in the room and things looked reasonably clean. The driver asked me which airline I was flying with in Spanish. The other passenger had to translate for me. I didn't expect to feel the same way I usually feel in Austria - not understanding what's going on around me - in my own country. Maybe I should have taken Spanish in high school. Caesar is now more unhappy than ever since he was able to experience the relative freedom of the hotel room last night, and now REALLY hates his bag.

Seatac To-Do list:

• take Caesar to the Pet Area to do his business (he didn't, too scared)
• report my lost luggage
• try to call my mom, and see if she actually came to pick me up since I hadn't been able to confirm the morning's flight

Am now at home, deeply grateful that I actually made it here. It took about 41 hours to get from my house in Vienna to my mom's house in Port Orchard. It took my mom 16 when she flew at Christmas with Northwest. AND she had a free first class ticket. Now that's what I call traveling.

Antarctica

On MSNBC.com, there's a newsteam that went to Antarctica to compile a report on ice melt and global climate change based on interviews with scientists there. They're dispatches were really quite entertaining, and of course I find it all fascinating given how great of an impact even a relatively small amount of ice melt could cause.

2005-2006 TOURISTS BY NATIONALITY
9,035
United States
4,150
United Kingdom
3,012
Germany
2,409
Australia
863
Canada
836
Netherlands
624
Switzerland
617
Japan
3,645
Others

One of the interesting questions they raise is the human affect on Antarctica, especially with the great increase in tourism. So, of course, I had to look it up. That's a LOT more people than I thought that are going to Antarctica each year.

Here's a description of what one can do on an Antarctic cruise (virtually the only way to go to Antarctica unless you're a legit scientist who works there or at the base)

"Itineraries vary, depending in part on the kind of vessel you choose. If you want to venture beyond the Antarctic Peninsula, for example, you'll probably wind up on an icebreaker. Cruises can be 1-3 weeks in length, stopping at various points of interest or bases on the peninsula, coast or islands. Activities on the various tours include viewing penguins, elephant seals and other polar animals, as well as ice walks and opportunities to visit research bases and meet the scientists who work there. Virtually every cruise offers the chance for spectacular views of icebergs and you may get to see an ice shelf or glacier calve into a new iceberg. Many icebergs are beautifully colored, showing green, blue or purple ice and crevasses where the sea water has hollowed them out or melted them into fantastic shapes."


This is a picture taken by someone who went on one of their cruises.

Here are some sample prices:
2006/2007 Sarpik Ittuk:
November 7, 17, 27:
Triple: $2995
Twin(Upper/Lower)Berths: $4495
Twin(Lower Berths): $4895
DedicatedSingle: $5995 December 7, 17, 27, January 6, 16, 26 and February 5, 15, 25:
Triple: $3995
Twin(Upper/Lower)Berths: $5495
Twin(Lower Berths): $5895
DedicatedSingle: $7495

I personally find it absolutely amazing that anyone could travel to Antarctica for a 12-day cruise for $3000 (plus excursion costs and airfare). And some people think buying a flat screen TV is better!