Traveling and What it Means to Me

Traveling and What it Means to Me
hadleyj09 Jan 03, 2015 09:42

Traveling In China

 

Usually I’m talking about what to do in certain situations in China, but for now, I just want to reflect on my traveling experiences in China and why I think it’s so important to travel. 

 

To start, within my now 1.5 years of living in China, I’ve had the privilege of seeing, Daqing, Harbin, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiyuan, CHONGQING, Hangzhou, Wuxi, and Xi’an. Chongqing is in caps because it’s my favorite city in China. There’s still many more great cities I need to visit because I haven’t even touched the south or much of the east coast yet. Anyways, being able to travel around China has given me a chance to see not only how people live, eat, think and play, but just the excitement of seeing a new city is amazing in itself. 

 

I’ve been able to eat so many different kinds of food from various places in China. From the world renown spicy hotpot of Chongqing, to the delicious potato dishes of Daqing in the northeastern region of China. I can’t forget the amazing seaside food of Hangzhou and Shanghai. It’s all been so good. Of course, I have to add in the delicious and numerous noodle and vinegar dishes of Taiyuan.

 

Being able to join others in their daily activities that are different from my own actually makes me feel like I have a sense of belonging. My favorite things to do in terms of games and activities in China is to play Mahjong, which I learned in Taiyuan, but is famous in Chongqing and Chengdu. It’s a tabletop game played with blocks. The rule is to get 4 triples of a set, with or without a 4 block set. Sounds a bit confusing, and it is, but it’s fun. I also love playing badminton, which is a very famous and fun activity in China. 

 

Traveling, not just in China, but in any part of the world truly allows you to really see how different and similar your life is to others. For me, I was able to see that, even though I do things a certain way back home, doing those same things, but in a Chinese-way isn’t that bad and it’s worth a try. For example, eating with Chopsticks instead of a fork. It’s sucks to think about something you could’ve done, but didn’t do because of fear, stubbornness, or just lack of adventure. In life, well in my opinion, no one should ever live their lives with “what if’s” of the past. 

 

If there’s anything more I have to say regarding traveling, or just doing anything that can be a bit scary and unpredictable is, “Do It!” Yes traveling can be scary. You may end up going to a place where you absolutely can’t find anything you like about, but it also may be the best experience of your life. You never know unless you take radical action, break out of your comfort zone and GO!!

 

The last thing I have to say is with any city I’ve traveled to, the best part about it was the people. The cool buildings, the delicious food, the weather and environment can be good and all, but it’s the people that you will always remember. A great quote from Maya Angelou is, “years from now, you may never remember what a person looked like, how they spoke, or even who they were, but you will ALWAYS remember how they made you feel.” If everything in a city crumbled to the ground, it’s not the building, or the bars, or the food your would turn to. It’s the people that you would want to be around. 

 

 Traveling is great and I hope you all will get the opportunity to travel wherever you want to go. Once that opportunity shows itself, take it, run with it, and let it show you how cool and awesome the world really is. With the right eyes, there is beauty in every part of the world. I hope you’re wearing the right glasses. 

Tags:General Teaching & Learning Travel Food Language & Culture Expat Tales Lifestyle

7 Comments

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marctyson

Hadley, you seem like a level headed guy. Lets get up. I am looking for a job in the Chongqing area; platonic I mean...don't want others to get the wrong idea :)

Apr 21, 2015 20:25 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

Good post

Mar 08, 2015 14:56 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

I love travelling

Feb 14, 2015 01:06 Report Abuse

Robk

Not a bad post, as usually you try to bring an uplifting feel. I would agree with traveling as it has simply no equal. The memory and experience to travel is probably the most exciting and worthwhile experience anyone can do besides accomplishing personal goals. In this day and age, there is no excuse to be stuck inside all the time.

Jan 14, 2015 22:37 Report Abuse

hadleyj09

Cheers to that!

Jan 15, 2015 19:21 Report Abuse

Robk

That's not true at all. Black people in my city are very warmly welcomed and the initial Chinese-distance barrier is very quick to collapse if you are polite and can speak some Chinese. At first they may look at you like this or that but that's just their defence because many of them are very insecure. It is really not that difficult to by-pass. Doesn't work all the time, but quite often.

Jan 14, 2015 22:33 Report Abuse