Near-death experiences

I shouldn’t be alive. I should have died a long time ago but somehow I didn’t. I just continued to exist while letting parts of me on the way here. My body continued functioning, a witness of the lost parts, like an insect which has lost some of its legs but still which continues to crawl with the hopes that nobody will notice he’s missing some parts of him (or her). The following is a list of some of my near-death experiences, the ones I can remember. In order to protect people’s privacy, I will refer to them only using their initials. I have no idea what is anyone supposed to do with this information after reading it, but I guess you’re already here so you might as well keep reading:

1. On the roofs.The first near-death experiences I can recall are when I was 11 years old in Argentina, F. and I used to climb to the rooftops of some really tall buildings and walking on the ledges for some reason. And many times we almost fell, but sometimes we also didn’t fall and that was the first time my timeline started branching out from the times I did fall off.
2. Under the bus.I was 13, in Argentina, I was on the bus, on a stormy afternoon and about to get down. Wearing flip-flops and carrying a big backpack with heavy school books. I pressed the button to let the driver know I wanted to get off, he opened the door and I slipped down the stairs, which were wet because of the heavy rain and ended up directly under the bus’s double wheels. Luckily a woman on the bus had seen me slip and shouted to the driver to stop, which he did, saving my life and giving me the scare of a lifetime. It was the second time my timelines split, leaving my death self behind and my former self somehow incomplete.
3. Off the balcony.
   16 years old, at home, alone. Everyone in my life was a bully, Things were bad. I sat on the edge of our 8th-floor window and was about to jump and end it all when someone knocked on the door. I got down and opened the door, didn’t jump.

4. Under the gun.17 years old, Rosario, Argentina. While I was riding a bicycle with D., a guy hits him on his head, we fall off the bike and he points at us with his gun and robs us. In this timeline he didn’t shoot, so we are still alive but in a different timeline we are dead.

5. Hitchhiking.While hitchhiking alone somewhere in Germany, in the year 2007, I knew a car wanted to run me over because its driver didn’t like hitchhikers. It charged towards me and I somehow managed to jump to the side and avoid it. As it drove away, it sounded its horn maniacally in the same way people used to shoot their revolvers while riding away on their horses in the wild wild west.

6. Cliffhanger.In Pakistan, the year was 2008, with K. we were on a hiking trail along a mountain that had a missing part and for some reason we decided to try and grab our way to the other side, leaving me hanging from 1000 meters high without any equipment.

7. Bike.
   In Malaysia, 2013 maybe, with S. I was riding my motorbike on the highway and carrying about 5 liters of extra petrol because we were going to an isolated area when a car blocks my way and forces me to drive on a patch of spilled sand on the highway. I lose control, we fell off the bike, roll on the pavement, and witness the gas tank rolling next to me and a truck almost running me over. The tank didn’t explode and the truck didn’t stop to see if we were ok.

8. Blades.
   2016, somewhere in either Santa Fe province in Argentina, walking with Bong Gu by the side of the highway. A sort of tractor with some very sharp blades to mow the land of cut the grass drives full speed and passes me by just a few centimeters away from my legs. The driver didn’t even bother to warn me he was coming with his blades.

9. A close call.
   Also in Argentina, somewhere in La Pampa during the same walking trip. The night was falling and we hid behind some bushes by the side of the road. A vehicle drives by and spots us while we were searching for the perfect place. Half an hour later, when it was almost pitch dark, the car comes back and they come hunting for us with flashlights. We remain hidden and motionless, hearing them talking about what they would do to us if they found us. It was my call, I could have made a run for it when I had the chance or remain hidden and pray they don’t find us. I made the right call, and we are still alive.

10. 2017. With N. In Peru, a crazy guy was probably about to kill me but then something happened and he didn’t. Later that same year I fell off a cliff and landed on a cactus, and the next year, 2018, I was attacked by 100 bees and passed out and almost died, and this year I was almost dragged by the current in Bahia de Caraquez and pulled all my strength for a final desperation move where I ran as fast as I could against the current and somehow managed to make it back with my last breath. The End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Persona

Besides being the name of best video game franchise ever, the persona, for Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, was the social face the individual presented to the world—”a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual.”

This will be a very a very personal post, in the one I will attempt in the form of a list, to deconstruct my mind and uncover what lies beyond the surface to maybe discover who I really am. With the help of Mr. Carl Jung and information from some INTP forums, I have compiled a list of personal traits, habits and thought processes that I (maybe mistakenly) associate and identify myself with, so that then, maybe, I can understand why I wear those masks and what hides behind them. I need to learn what does it mean to be me, why am I me and what makes me me.

• I can be best friends with someone for over a decade and still not feel any kind of emotional connection because I shun emotions and feelings.
• I know a lot about many things and have a wide range of interests, that makes people connect with me in many ways but I very rarely connect with them because I understand not all people need the same things, some need to connect with others and some don’t. I don’t. Even though others try hard and convince me that I do because we are all the same, I still can’t be convinced and I believe the reason they say that is to avoid having to think about life deeply because that would imply admitting that they will die and cease to exist together with all those emotional connections they made.
• I can’t be bothered to proofread before submitting something because I don’t care about the details as long as I am able to communicate the main point. I also never read the instructions because I think we learn by doing, not by reading how to do.
• I have hundreds of websites bookmarked to read later and I know I will never get down to it because something new is always more interesting and every time I get a new computer I create new bookmarks that are then lost in space whenever I lose access to that computer or phone, and so it has been more than 14 years of it, bookmarking things and then losing access to them.
• Most of the ideas I have, never get to see the light of day because I’m too scared of failure and the projects I do start are either abandoned out of boredom when I manage to solve the tricky part or find something more interesting, or they are self-sabotaged because I am not only afraid of failure, but also of succeeding, like a dog chasing a car, he just wants to chase it but he doesn’t know what would he do if he got to catch it.
• I like something in theory but I’m disappointed by the reality of it. Because everything sounds better in my head. I want to be with you because I like the idea of being with you, but I don’t really want to be with you because that would involve an emotional commitment as well as monetary and time-wise that I can’t afford to undertake.
• I have a list of things I have to do every day and they never get done, and things keep getting added up to it until there’s no more space because the day has very few hours, and I have a list of books to read that will never  be read because they are too long and life is too short.
• I am a theorist and I know I could solve all the problems in the world, but just in theory. Because of my lifestyle, I got the chance of living and traveling in many countries and got to see how different countries solved different social, economic and environmental issues, so it would take me only a few weeks to compile a manual called “How to solve all the problems in the world” and publish it and promote it myself and I have actually already planned the whole book in my head, it will have 100 chapters because 100 is a neat round number, with chapter 1 being called for example ‘transportation’ and documenting which countries have good transportation systems, and how they do it and which ones have a terrible one and why. Chapter 2 could be called ‘housing’, 3 ‘education’, 4 ‘energy’, 5 ‘health’ and so on. But I can’t be bothered doing that because the thought of writing the book, in theory, is more appealing than the practice of writing it, so why should I do it if I can already imagine what it would be like? And also everything sounds better in my head, but when I try to put something into words disaster strikes, and another reason I don’t write it is because I somehow think things are good enough because there are no rivers of blood flowing outside my house then things are not too bad yet. And then there’s the fact that I think faster than I type, so by the time I finish a paragraph I already forgot about what the next one was supposed to be about and there is also the fact that I have a lot of confidence and no confidence at all, all at the same time, so that my confidence and lack of confidence conflict while writing something, just like they do right now.
• Small talk not only bores me but it’s actually insulting. For me it means people don’t value my time, because anyone who knows me, knows I have a full-time job as a teacher, and I’m also writing and editing every day, and I’m still running 100 instagram accounts, and doing SEO and still need to find time to meditate and read and exercise and look after my dog and there’s always a million things on my to-do list so anyone who has the need to make small talk they are actually taking away some of the precious time I have so little of, and forcing me to spend it in something I don’t enjoy and don’t get any benefit from, which is making small talk.

 

And now that the list is finished, here’s a fact: “We tend to exaggerate our good qualities and project who we want to be rather than who we are onto our answers” and now there’s another fact: “I tend to question everything and I don’t even believe a thought I think, because I suspect myself of being secretly biased towards something”. So what should I do with the above information? Take it at face value or keep digging and digging trying to come closer to the truth only to realize later that there’s no truth. I think therefore I am, and I question my thoughts because I think and I don’t trust them, because I know how fragile and malleable human minds are, including mine.

And the next point is that I believe that the reason I question myself is to feel special, to feel different, because I believe most people don’t really stop to question their thoughts or actions, they just wake up and go about their habits every day until they die. So in that sense, if I question it means I’m different, and that would be ok if I were to stop there instead of questioning the reason why I question myself. And if that wasn’t enough, I can’t avoid questioning the reason why I question questioning myself, only to find that it wasn’t so that I could feel special and different but it was so that I could try to find a meaning to it all. To my thoughts, to my life, to the universe, thinking that maybe if I keep digging deeper and deeper I will find the answers I’m looking for. Except that there are no answers, not for me and not for anyone. I have created the questions and then got puzzled because there were no answers to the questions I had invented, which were not real in the first place, because what we call reality is probably an illusion, and if it isn’t then at least my thoughts and ideas are most probably an illusion and in the remote case they aren’t they are still meaningless. The fact that they are real doesn’t guarantee they have any meaning or value, they are just thoughts and ideas, theories and conjectures, that creep in uninvited.

To go a bit deeper, and now assuming that my thoughts are somehow real, I must go on and admit that whatever I think, do and say is a consequence of what we call causality and conditioning. We are all conditioned by our environment, by our thoughts, by our upbringing, by our level of awareness, by our education, by our experiences, by the way in that we see the world, by the way we see ourselves and by some other variables. And once I start to understand how conditioning really works, I can see past this “everything’s either an illusion or meaningless” mentality and I can understand who I really am and why I am trying to understand myself. Only to realize there never was such a thing as ‘myself’ to begin with. And there never was an answer to who I am or why am I the way I am, because there never was an ‘I’ to begin with.

It’s the idea of the non-self. There is nothing inside us besides those things that are a product of causes and conditions. And that’s as far as I’m willing to go, today at least.

 

 

 

 

 

To get to know myself better

1. What are my strengths? Imaginative, resourceful, smart.
2. What are my short-term goals? Build sources of passive income.
3. Long-term goals? Find peace of mind.
4. Who matters most to me? Bong Gu.
5. What do I like to do for fun? Writing fantasy stories.
6. What new activities am I interested in or willing to try? Skydiving.
7. What am I worried about? Wasting my time.
8. If I could have one wish, it would be: To have more time, or not being aware that my time to live is limited. 
9. Where do I feel safest? On the internet.
10. What is my proudest accomplishment? Traveling on foot with my dog.
11. What is my biggest failure? I did my best.
12. Am I a night owl or an early bird? I wake up early and go to bed early.
13. What do I like about my job? What do I dislike? I am an unemployed person.
14. What does my inner critic tell me? That whatever I do it will always be second best to what I could have done.
15. What do I do to show myself self-compassion and self-care? I understand that even if I made some mistakes, I was doing the best I could based on the resources, the circumstances and the information that was available to me at the time.
16. Am I an introvert or an extrovert? Am I energized being around others or being by myself? Need to be alone to recharge.
17. What am I passionate about? Finding answers and solutions to problems.
18. What is my happiest memory? I was floating in the ocean on the coast of Kerala, India. The sky above me was clear and there was nothing or no one else in the water or the beach. Time appeared to freeze as I found myself alone in the universe.
19. What do my dreams tell me? Nothing, they’re just dreams.
20. What is my favorite book? 1Q84
21. Band? The brilliant green.
22. Food? Falafel.
23. Color? Pink
24. Animal? Ants.
25. What am I grateful for? My mind and freedom.
26. When I’m feeling down I like to: Think everything will pass, even this.
27. I know I’m stressed when I: Start walking in circles around the room in an attempt to rationalize the situation and understand it so that I can calm myself down.
28. What activity in your life lights you up with joy? Playing with dog
29. If a relationship or job makes you unhappy, do you choose to stay or leave? I don’t choose to leave, because staying was never an option.
30. How does your being here in the universe change humanity for the better? It doesn’t really.
31. How comfortable are you with your own mortality? Pretty uncomfortable.
32. What is your highest core value? Freedom.
33. To your best knowledge, how do other people perceive you? Like someone whose train has long gone and there’s no way to return. 
34. How would you like others to perceive you? Like someone who is kind and lives a simple life.
35. Who is your greatest role model? Carl Sagan.
36. Who is a person that you don’t like yet you spend time with? I live a solitary life.
37. What is something that is true for you no matter what? I will die.
38. How do you feel about your parents? They are ok.
39. How is your relationship with money? Tumultuous.
40. How do you feel about growing old someday? Scared. 
41. What role has formal education played in your life and how do you feel about it? No role, I don’t really think about it.
42. Do you believe your destiny is pre-determined or in your hands to shape however you wish? In my hands.
43. What do you believe is the meaning of your life? There is no meaning.

Excuses

List of excuse people use:For smoking and giving second-hand smoke to non-smokers:

– All my friends smoke
– I’ve been smoking since I was xxx years
– It’s my only pleasure in life / It’s my only vice
– I may stop in the future but right now I need it
– It helps me relax
– Chinese government needs my tax money
– It’s just a bad habit
– It’s my life, I do what I want

To stay in a destructive or abusive relationship:

– I am hoping he will change in the future
– He’s just having a bad day
– We’ve been through so much together
– I still love him
– He’s good to the children
– I don’t want to be alone

To not going traveling or doing what you really want to do:

– I’m too young / too old
– I don’t have enough money
– I won’t be able to find a job in another country
– I can’t speak their language
– It’s too cold / hot there
– I will miss my family / my family will miss me
– People will think I am not a productive member of society

To eat or cause some harm to the animals:

– They taste so good
– I need protein
– They are just animals
– I have been eating meat all my life
– We are omnivores, look at our teeth
– It’s the way society works

To do terrible things, such as politicians, police, soldiers, business people or corporations causing harm or inconvenience to people or the environment.

– That’s the way the world works
– That’s human nature
– I like the taste of fresh blood
– I’m just doing what I’m told
– That’s how our economy works

 

 

20 Things I wish someone had told me when I just arrived in China

1) When someone says “Hmmm…” that means they don’t agree with you but they can’t tell you because they need to avoid conflict at all cost.

2) People will compliment you on weird stuff you didn’t choose, accomplished or had anything to do with, such as your height, eye color, eyelashes length, etc.

3) There is no such a thing as a social smoker, someone who smokes when he’s with friends or at a party just for fun. Here you are either a chain smoker or you don’t smoke at all, there’s no middle point. Same goes for drinking, they won’t allow you to have just a few drinks, you either get wasted or you don’t drink at all. Your choice.

4) People will talk to you a lot, and very loudly, but they are friendly, that’s how they are used to talk.

5) If you cook something for someone and it has no chili they won’t like it and they will say “Hmmm…”

6) There is no such a thing as house parties and is taboo to invite someone to your house. Not because they are afraid of you, but because if they go to your house they won’t be spending money and here spending money or buying many things is not seen as wasteful or arrogant, it’s an attribute everyone considers positive, so if you  meet someone you can’t meet them at a park either, because it’s free, must meet them at a restaurant, cafe, or place where you will be spending money

7) Can’t share cups or bottles with someone.

8) Can’t say anything good or bad about the government or the bad things that happen in China, if you say something bad they will say “Hmmm…”  and if you say something good it will inspire distrust.

9) Can’t give your clothes to others, even if it’s new and very expensive and you just wore it once, it’s taboo.

10) “I will call the police” is not a valid threat because everyone knows police are useless and they won’t help anyone who is in trouble, they can only give you more trouble.

11) Everyone will stare at you, as if they were watching TV.

12) Saying you’re Muslim is always an effective way to explain why you don’t drink/smoke/eat meat.

13) There’s no such a thing as friendship between boys and girls and many people say they want to be your friends but what they mean to say is that they want to practice their English or take you somewhere as the token white guy.

14) The local’s idea of a fun night out can be either: going to a restaurant and to a bar afterward or going to a restaurant and to KTV after it, there’s no third option.

15) You must live outside the big cities, big cities are a mess.

16) Police can stop you on the streets and ask you for your passport, and they can shout at you and push you if you can’t speak Chinese.

17) Money and paying the bill is a very big deal, even if it’s just 20 cents people must fight for it, and the winner gets to pay, throwing money at the waitress or cashier is an acceptable way to pay first.

18) The military can pull you over if you in a bus, a car or a train, they can question you, ask for papers and they all have shotguns and assault rifles.

19) Only requirements for working in a hotel in China: Not speaking any English.
Only requirements for working as an English teacher in China: Speaking a little bit of English.
Only requirements for working for the government: Knowing someone who works there.
Only requirements for working as a policeman or in the army: Being a terrible person.
Only requirements for working in a restaurant: Using chili and MSG in every dish.

20) It’s very easy to find a job, and it’s just as easy to not get paid for it.

 

dog with red backpack

 

 

How to answer awkward questions and comments from Chinese people

Question: “Have you eaten?”

Right answer: “Yes, you?

Wrong answer: “No, not yet”

Very wrong answer: ” No, unlike the Chinese, we don’t need to eat at a specific time of the day, we can just eat when we are hungry”

Comment: ” Let’s go out to play”

Right answer: “Play? You mean hang out? Sure, let’s do it”

Wrong answer: “What do you mean by “play”?”

Very wrong answer: “Sure, what do you want to play? Football? Basketball?”

Comment: “My English is not good”

Right answer: “Don’t worry, I can understand what you say”

Wrong answer: “Try singing more English songs in KTV?”

Very wrong answer: “Well, you only learned English for like what? 15, 20 years?”

Question: “Don’t you miss your family?”

Right answer: “Yes, of course, I call them every day and I go to see them twice a year”

Wrong answer: ” I haven’t talked to them in a couple of years, I’m not sure what they’re up to”

Very wrong answer: “No”

Comment: ” Eat more! Eat more! Drink more! Drink more! Ganbei! Bottoms up!”

Right answer: “Ok, ok, thank you!”

Wrong answer: “I can’t, I’m full”

Very wrong answer: “No”

Comment: “We are friends now, ok?”

Right answer: “Yes, of course”

Wrong answer: “Means I’m in the friendzone already?”

Very wrong answer: “Oh, come on, we met like 5 minutes ago, why do you guys all have to be so needy?”

Question: “Why are you here? why aren’t you in Beijing or Shanghai?”

Right answer: “I’m going to Beijing tomorrow and to Shanghai right after that”

Wrong answer: “Here is nice, you know that’s the way life is, some people are here some people are there, we can’t all be in Beijing or Shanghai all the time”

Very wrong answer: “Why would I want to go to one of the most polluted and dirtiest cities in the world, where everyone one wants to cheat me because I look different while there are like a million nicer places to be in China”

Comment: “You can do this, you can do that, you can buy this, you can buy that, you can go here, you can go there”

Right answer: “That’s great, I’ll do it”

Wrong answer: “Ok, I’ll think about it”

Very wrong answer:  “You know in English you can’t just go around telling people what they can or can not do, they usually already know and don’t need your permission, for example there’s no need to say “you can stay in a hotel” or “you can take a taxi” because we are actually already aware of the existence of hotels and taxis, we just can’t afford them”

Question: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Right answer: “Yes”

Wrong answer: “No”

Very wrong answer: “well, hmm… how to explain… do you know what hentai is?”

 

 

People from couchsurfing 2

part 2

 

1 – Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones

11_ Percentages
1_ 5%
2_ 60%
3_ 25%
4_ 2%
5_ 5%
6_ 3%

 

12_ Couch requests timing
1_ as their means of transport are not reliable their requests are usually for the same day or a few days in advanced.

2_ they usually know when they will arrive so they will send you a request anything from a few days to a month in advanced
3_ they know exactly when will they arrive, how and where from, they will send you a request anything from a month to a year in advanced, this are very short holidays for them so it has to be well researched and planned and accommodation has to be taken care of well in advance.
4_ Any
5_ few weeks to few months in advanced
6_ few weeks in advanced

13_ Couch request quality
1_ usually copy and paste, because they have a hard time finding internet and no time to plan, often no computer, but when they have time they will surprise you with a very personal request
2_ usually copy and paste but changing the names and maybe referencing something on your profile
3_ very well written and personalized requests, and they usually want you to know they are not on Couchsurfing to save money but to meet and interact with the locals
4_ the kind that makes you think ‘what did I just read?’
5_personalized telling you about their jobs, major in uni, work experience and why are they traveling, more like a CV than a couch request, they want you to know they are decent people, not tramps.
6_same as group 2

14_ Behavior as guests
1_usually respectful and considerate, they often clean up the house, do dishes and make sure they don’t intrude or invade your personal space, on the downside they are probably hungry and smelly because they may have been a few days without a shower or warm meal, they may on occasion overstay their welcome.
2_ Usually good guests, sometimes they buy some groceries and cook a meal for you, or buy you a few beers
3_ very respectful and always make sure they are not crossing any boundaries, they bring some nice gifts or wine sometimes
4_ you’d be surprised
5_ Couchsurfing is usually a one-time thing for them so they may not seem very comfortable at times.
6_ same as  group 5

It should be noted that all the groups get along very well when they are sharing a host or at the meetings, they know they are different in many ways but are their similarities that brought them together in their paths, and they share the same Couchsurfing spirit.

15_ Numbers and gender
1_ most of the times it’s a boy alone, occasionally 2 boys or a couple
2_ boy or girl alone, couples, groups of 2+ friends
3_ man or woman alone or couples
4_ boy alone
5_ boy or girl alone
6_ same as 5

16_ Employment
1_ they’d do anything
2_ they would sometimes take some jobs if they are for a short time and doesn’t interfere with their plans too much
3_ they wouldn’t take a job unless it has been previously arranged and organized in their home country and it’s related to their field or major.
4_ again, you’d be surprised
5_ same as 3
6_ they don’t usually take jobs abroad

17_ Notes on some details and relationships between groups
1_ they sometimes would like to be more like group 4, some they try to hard and you see they are faking it and others can sometimes become 4s because of unexpected circumstances, like the loss of their passport or immigration policies. a seasoned 1 can become a 6 when it’s dragged along into something he doesn’t want to do or has done hundreds of times before. some 1s they think they are 4 but they are just 1s
2_ they would oftentimes envy 1s, dislike 3s and are somehow indifferent or unaware of other groups.  some 2s think they are 1s but they are not.
3_ they envy 2s and would like to travel like they do, they think 2s are very brave, if only they had done that when they were their age. they dislike 1s and look at them as homeless souls who have strayed away from the herd. they are often very similar to 5s in many ways but not always. some 3s think they are 2s or they would try to hang out with them, for example, they may go to the backpackers’ hotel but stay in a single room instead of a dorm, eat a good meal somewhere else and have a beer with the backpackers afterward.
4_ any relationship applies
5_ admire 1s and 2s, if only they had that freedom.
6_ they like 2s and think they belong to the same group

End of part 2 of 3

 

 

People from couchsurfing 1

We will reference groups of people using numbers from here on, group 1, group 2, etc

1 – Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones

Table of contents:

1_ Brief description
2_ Examples
3_ Nationalities
4_ Transportation
5_ Duration
6_ Budget
7_ Accommodation
8_ Age range
9_ Clothes
10_ Diet
11_ Percentages
12_ Couch requests
13_ Behavior as guests
14_ Numbers
15_ Employment
16_ Social behavior
17_ Activities
18_ Notes

1_ Description:
1_ People who travel in a difficult or very low budget, sometimes because they have very little money and sometimes for the thrill of it or because it’s more fun/interesting/challenging.ult or very low budget, sometimes because they have very little money and sometimes for the thrill of it or because it’s more fun/interesting/challenging.
2_ Young travelers who travel with an over-sized backpack, hence called backpackers
3_ Mid age travelers who enjoy a more up class and comfortable holiday
4_ “That guy”
5_ People who, either because of their environment or upbringing, feel some kind of remorse for being traveling instead of working/studying in their home country. (They will usually justify their trip with the excuse of being working on a book, doing some kind of research, working on their thesis or something their families and friends back home would approve of.)
6_ People who are traveling because of unforeseen circumstances, or are not sure why they have to travel.

2_Examples:
1_  Dimitri, who crossed Africa overland by bicycle just for the heck of it
2_ Jennifer, who took a few months off in between uni and work to backpack around Europe for a few months or doing a year-long working holiday in Australia.
3_ Tom, who has 1-week holiday a year, last week he went to Paris and this year he’s going to Bangkok.
4_ Arthur is traveling because he had a dream, in his dream someone told him he should walk barefoot along Karakoram highway with a shovel, and his metal detector looking for precious stones, or Florian who came by unicycle from the Gobi desert birdwatching along the way and he wants to show you his bird sketches (which are pretty bad).
5_ Richard went to Germany for a month to “test the waters” and see if it would be a good place for him to settle down in the future.
6_ Yaniv just finished high school and his parents said he has to take a year off and see the world before he goes off to the military service…

3_ Nationalities
1_ Mostly Russians and European
2_ Any, ok maybe not Russians.
3_ North Americans, Europeans, Middle Eastern, Indian, Australians.
4_ Europeans, especially eastern Europeans.
5_ Mostly North Americans, occasionally Japan, Korea, Singapore, HK.
6_ Mostly Israelis.

4_ Transportation
1_ Mostly hitchhiking and cycling, they may walk occasionally but it’s not natural to them, it’s more like “hey look at me, I’m walking from one country to another”
2_ Low budget airlines, buses, trains, they may hitchhike sometimes but it’s not natural for them, it’s more like “hey look at me, I’m hitchhiking, I’m so brave”
3_ Airplanes, taxis, they may use public transport occasionally but it’s not natural to them, it’s more like “hey look at me, I’m taking the bus in a foreign country, I’m so brave”
4_ Usually walking and very seldom some unusual transport like horse, skateboard, tuc-tuc, rickshaw, and sometimes they travel with their pets, somehow.
5_ Airplane, bus, train.
6_ Taxi, bus, train, flights.

5_ Duration
1_ 6 months +
2_ Anything from 1 month to 1 year.
3_ Anything from 2 days to one month
4_ 3 months +
5_ Anything from 2 weeks to 6 months.
6_ 2 months to 1 year.

6_ Budget (in USD)
1_ Anything from 0 to 2.000.
2_ Anything from 1.000 to 10.000
3_ 10.000+
4_ Could be anything, really.
5_ 3.000+
6_ 2.000+

7_ Accommodation: (as I have encountered all of them through Couchsurfing, either by hosting them, being hosted, sharing hosts or at a public gathering, it’s implicit they all use Couchsurfing in some way or another. I’m sure they are people who don’t use Couchsurfing on their travels, diplomats or something, but this article is not about them, now these are other forms of accommodation they use besides Couchsurfing.

1_ Usually tent, outdoor sleeping, knocking on people’s doors, churches, temples or some form of squatting.
2_ backpacker hotels, obviously, I know some people call them hostels or guest houses but I don’t think there’s any difference.
3_ hotels
4_ as they are usually in unusual places at unusual times they often get invited into people’s houses and sleep there, but randomness is their forte, so they could be building a shelter out of recycled materials they found laying around, or you could find them in a cave as well, or inside the rubbish bin, anywhere.
5_ hotels, backpacker hotels.
6_ backpacker hotels.

8_ Age range
1_ 18-35
2_ 18-30
3_ 30+
4_ 20+
5_18-40
6_18-25

9_ Clothes
1_ Discarded clothes, rags
2_ second-hand clothes.
3_ the north face, Columbia things
4_ either very sloppy or very well dressed
5_ better than most
6_ same as group 2

10_ Diet
1_ dumpster diving, gathering, foraging, leftovers, canned beans and spaghetti
2_ discounted/reduce things from the big supermarkets, beer, fast food
3_ restaurants
4_ squirrels
5_ restaurants, fast food
6_ same as 5

end of part 1 (out of 3)

 

 

List of countries

Oh, sorry i forgot t tell you, we don’t use fighting anymore

Why not?

I don’t know, people just stop using some words and phrases over time so that new ones can take their place.

Can I still use ftw.

I don’t think so, they wouldn’t know what you mean.

Kind of like quoting Monty Phyton?

Yeah, something like that, wait, how long have you been off the internet?

I don’t know, a few years, I remember when I was using it last time people were making fun of Justin Biever a lot, I didn’t know who he was, but his name kept popping up, so I looked up a song and it was somehow catchy ‘one less lonely girl’ do you know it?

I don’t think I do, and I don’t think they are making fun of him anymore. I think he may be an adult now.

Can I say call me maybe?

I’m not sure.

Oh yeah, I got that list you asked for the other day.

Which one?

List of countries you’ve been to.

Oh yeah.

I realized it wouldn’t be possible to check out the passports because I had to take out too many stamps over the years to make space for new ones, and threw them away. That’s how I managed to run out pages last year for the first time, and also it’d be kind of a show off to list every single country, the exact number it’s something people should keep to themselves, something private, kind of like the number of sexual partners they had.

Well, actually saying you won’t do something because you’d be showing off, sounds like an even worse way of showing off, but anyway you’ve got a point and it’s somehow interesting so keep going.

So I figured the easiest way would it be to list the countries I spent more than 6 months at or in (I’m not sure which one to use, at or in?)

Yeah, that makes sense, no one cares about a place you just spent a few weeks at (or is it in?), many people travel for a few days or weeks.

Exactly, well anyway, I figured I should make one every 10 years, it may probably also help people have some kind of chronological guide into all the previous posts, so here’s the list:

2005-buenos aires
2006-barcelona
2007-berlin
2008-india
2009- thailand-china
2010-china-japan
2011-australia-korea
2012-korea-taiwan
2013-new zealand
2014-china
2015-china-present

Nice, and now what?

Nothing I don’t know, oh wait, yes I know, now, here is the list for the next 10 years, it’s probably not going to go this way at all but if someone were to ask me to make a plan for the next 10 years from now, a plan I should stick up to no matter what, this one would be it.

2015-china
2016- travel in south america
2017-travel in central america
2018-canada
2019-italy
2020-iran
2021 travel in africa
2022-russia
2023-pacific islands
2024-japan
2025-korea

You are 30 now in 2015, so it seems like a good plan to make the list every 10 years that’s every decade of Bruno’s age.

Bruce’s age.

Right, Bruce’s age, so if you go to all those places in the next 10 years what about your dog?

That’s the reason I’m still in China because I love her too much and can’t leave her here by herself, I know if I ever leave China and have to say goodbye to her it will be the hardest thing I’d ever done.

I guess you’ll have to stay in China then.

That’s the only way.

Here’s when you point to the unfairness of Chinese political system and society, how all the countries are terrible because they don’t let you travel with your dog and China also doesn’t let you stay here forever so sooner or later you will have to say goodbye to her, you’re just postponing the inevitable.

My freedoms have been taken away a while ago by governments and their immigration policies, but I’m still better off than most people, I have a job and a salary at the end of the month, I have a nice cozy room with a bed to sleep at night, hot shower, plenty of food, people who understand me and accept me how I am and a dog who loves me unconditionally, what else could I ask for?

You could ask for internet.

I have internet.

Yes, you have a few Chinese websites that you have somehow manage how to operate but how about facebook, google, gmail, youtube, 4chan, cracked, you don’t miss them?

Of course I do, but they also took too much of my time. This holiday I climbed the mountain a few times, I went hiking, I played football with my students, I walked around the lake a few more times, I got to catch up with many people, I wrote here, I got to clean and look after all the turtles, hamsters and rabbits I have, spent time with dog I went out with my CS guests and had many beers with them and I still had some time left to play some games and read. If I had had internet I may not have done many of those things, so if I had to choose between Facebook or checking emails and my dog, I’d choose dog every single time. I know I have given up on all the people I have ever met in my life. Without gmail or facebook there’s no way to get in touch with them, but the dog’s still worth it, I’ll just meet new people in the future.

That’s actually very sweet, a side of you I hadn’t seen before and I didn’t know you had.

I didn’t know I had it either, anyway, looks like that’s it for today.

Yeah, it was fun, let’s do it more often.

Sure thing.

 

 

Living in Asia as a vegetarian 1

How to survive in south and far east asia as a vegan/vegetarian:

Japan:  Pretty tough. Fruits and veggies are crazy expensive, only affordable options are udon, katsu-udon but have to fish out some seafood from it, tempura, and foreign restaurants which cost at least twice as much as local ones. The only cheap supermarket is called “super tamade” where they sell lots of pre-cooked vegetarian options, and of course sushi, tempura, salads, at around 100 or 200 yen a tray. Hyaku-en, 100 yen shops are your best friends to find some salads, fruits, drinks, noodles and many other things. It’s pretty much same as a 7/11 but everything costs 100 yen. And as a last resource you can always throw away the inside thing of the onigiri and eat the rest.

Korea: Moderate. While eating out you have like 2 options, kimbab or bibimbab. While ordering kimbap make sure you say something like “ham bek chusaio” so they dont put ham on it. If you’re not vegan there’s always “Pizza school”, they are everywhere and you can get a huge pizza for 5.000 won. Street food is alright, there’s a fish-shaped pastry that has red beans inside and is pretty cheap, often you can find tempura and fried veggies. They have many chigae, which is like a stew or hot pot, sundobu chigae, or kimchi are good but you may have to take out some seafood from it.
Mr pizza could be the best value for money restaurant, they have salad buffet for 6.000 won, so all you can eat of salads, fruits, some cold noodles and other stuff.

China: Fairly easy. Fruits and veggies are dime a dozen and they are everywhere, options are plenty, rice and noodles with vegetables everywhere, beans, vegetable bbq at night. They use almost no dairy while cooking, so very easy for vegans.

Taiwan: Very easy. By far best vegetarian food in east Asia. Vegetarian restaurants everywhere, and most normal restaurants have at least a few vegetarian options. Great variety, affordable and extremely tasty. Even 7/11 are quite cheap and have fresh fruits and salads, noodles, vegetarian fried rice, vegetarian dumplings, fries, nuts, pastries, tofu and many other things.

Malaysia: Delicious Indian food, samosa, curries, roti, paratha, puri, chapati, many dosas, delicious Chinese vegetarian restaurants, delicious Malay food, some fried noodles, rice with veggies, lost of street food and fruits. From Penang, to Melaka, to Sabah, most dishes are delicious + juice bars + fruits everywhere.

Philippines: Probably worst food in SE Asia, there are some fruit markets and western food places, so it’s possible to kind of get by on a vegetarian diet.

Laos: Rice with veggies + fruits.

Singapore: Same as Malaysia, just more pricey.

Indonesia: Not as bad a Philippines, but local cuisine doesn’t have much to offer for vegetarians, there’s is gado gado and that’s pretty much it. You may find some Indian food in Bali if you’re lucky, but in Sumatra, Java or Borneo you’re going to eat your rice with veggies, every day + fruits 🙂

 

16 Reasons to pee in a bottle

 

When you need to go you need to go, that’s a fact, so today I bring you a list of practical excuses for those times when heading all the way to the toilet is just not an option.

 

1_ It’s too cold outside: 

Have you ever been to -45 degrees? No? Me neither. But I have a friend from Russia that has, and he told me it’s too cold out there and he just can’t be bothered to get out of bed, so he always keeps a handy plastic bottle next to his bed for when nature calls. And so should you.

2_ The bathroom is just too far: 

Do you have a very big house? No? Well, doesn’t matter, because you don’t need to live in a castle to justify peeing in a bottle, a flight of stairs will do just fine, or long hallway. Remember, if it’s not in your room it’s too far, you need the bottle.

3_ If you go then you will not be tired anymore: 

Because the act of getting up will put your whole body in motion and ready to rumble, the change of temperature between your bed and the outer world is enough to keep you up all night after you come back from the toilet and you can’t afford that because you have that big meeting at work next week, remember? Better not risking it, play it safe, use the bottle.

4 _ The bathroom floor is too cold: 

Because winter came, and you forgot to buy some slippers to wear in the bathroom and now it’s too late, winter is halfway gone already so you missed your chance to enjoy the sleepers. But don’t worry it was a mistake, it can happen to anyone, you’re only human remember? Next year you’ll get some new sleepers at the beginning of winter like it should be, this year better stick to the bottle.

5 – There are guests in the house: 

It seems your flatmate has some friends over, but you are just not feeling all that sociable today, you don’t want to introduce yourself and meet new people, and answer all their stupid questions about work or study. Not tonight, tonight you just want to pee inside a bottle and go to bed.

6_ Is not your house: 

OK, picture this, you’ve met a girl, she seems to like you for some reason, so she invited you over to meet her parents. You don’t want to make a mess in her bathroom, what if you miss the toilet bowl? You don’t want to pee all over her floor. Better wait for her mother to go to the kitchen to bake some cookies, check that there are no hidden cameras, find a dark corner, take the empty bottle you are always carrying in your backpack for an emergency like this one and do what it needs to be done for this relationship to work. Remember, your grandkids will thank you for this.

7- You are watching an interesting documentary on whale reproduction: 

Did you know that blue whales have the largest penises on Earth? When its aroused it can get as big as 12 inches in diameter and ten feet in length, you know what that means? No? Why not? Oh, yeah, you’re not from the US so you’re not familiar with the retarded imperial measurement system?
Don’t despair! What I meant was that the whale is gonna need a really really big bottle, and so will you because tonight you’re not getting off the couch.

8_ It’s too late to flush the toilet: 

Unless you come from the future (or from the past), our toilets these days make this terrible noise when you flush them and It usually wakes everyone up, and pardon the pun when I say they could get pissed-off.

9_ You are very afraid: 

It’s too dark and you have just watched and horror film, that one with the zombies and the serial killer, you don’t want to go all the way to the toilet by yourself, at night. What if you get murdered? What if you get raped? What if you get murdered AND raped? Why taking the risk? Pee in the bottle

10_ There is someone using the bathroom: 

Why they always have to go at the same time you have to go, you guys should start taking turns for it, next time you can discuss the matter thoroughly, this time though, better use the bottle

11_ The toilet is out of service

Not just out of service, I’m pretty sure I saw a plumber coming in and out, you don’t want to bother him while he’s working, you don’t want to be in his way. I know he probably doesn’t even mind, but it’s just polite to wait until he’s done, and actually, you are pretty lucky because there’ happens to be an empty plastic container right here, you can use until the honorable man finishes his work.

12_ The bathroom is haunted:

You know you’ve been hearing some weird noises lately, what are they? Ghosts? Aliens? Monster? It could be anything really. We don’t know what’s out there. What we do know is that it’s hiding in the bathroom, waiting to do something really really bad to you, better using the bottle this time.

13_ Because of a medical problem:

Have you broken your ankle and it’s too painful to walk? No? Stepped on a Lego? Maybe you felt dizzy when you stand up? Do you have asthma and don’t want to get too excited? A headache? Depression? A broken nail? Anything will do, you know what to do.

14_ You are single: 

Because you know when you get a girl she may not like this little habit of yours, so these are actually your last years of freedom, might as well enjoy them because after this you’ll probably have to get up in the middle of the dark cold night and, half asleep, hike your way to the bathroom like a wild animal. Enjoy it while it lasts, bottle.

15_ It’s too dangerous: 

The truth is there are a lot of dangerous objects on the way to the toilet. You don’t want to hit your little toe with the sharp edge of a wall or furniture. You don’t want hit your forehead with the frame of the door. You don’t want to trip, break your spine and spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair. For your safety and that of those around, we strongly recommend you peeing in the bottle.

16_ Just can’t be bothered, enough said.

 

Music

Come to think about it, most memories I have are associated with some music.


My first recollection of music was when I was 12 or 13 years old, some bands that played on some radio somewhere, Nek, El Simbolo, Los Autenticos Decadentes, Aqua, Fey, Toy Box and that was it.


Some years latter, got my hands on an old walkman, and 3 cassettes: Hayashibara Megumi, Ska-P and Blink 182, this was back in Rosario, I was maybe 16 years old. listened to them all day long.


Still back there most memories are still linked to songs or music.


At Wilson’s place there was usually Hamazaki Oyumi, Okui Masami or Too Mix playing In the background, utada if we were lucky.


While hitting the highway on alejo’s car there was always some dance music, eiffel 65, sasha, or music from DDR.


At rodrigo’s place there was cumbia, at sebastian’s there was always either 70’s disco, like earth wind and fire or some ballads, like luis miguel or alex ubago.


At belkis or my friends from missericordia there was always AFI or alejandro sanz.


If I hang out with the guys from normal 2 there was usually nightwish, cradle of filth, rhapsody or stratovarious.



There were some strange people who always listened to bjork and there were this two sisters who played nobou uematsu. and ariel always wanted to make listen to boom boom kid and fun people.


come to think about it, all my friends in argentina had very different music taste, so i got to know lots of new music from them.


After that the mp3 came in, I skipped the cds stage. One day there were some cassettes in my life and then suddenly the computers came along, which brought the mp3, rendering audio files instantly obsolete.


I remember having bought only one CD in my life, but it was probably the most important one: “terra” by larc n ciel.


By the time I was 18 years old, the mp3 brought along many good bands for me, daft punk, smash mouth, the offspring, green day, sum 41, aerosmith, bryan adams, BoA, leo garcia, el otro yo, guns and roses, bon jovi, nirvana, the beatlles, the corrs, savage garden, ricardo arjona, the doors, dire straits, estopa, u2, mozart, tchaikovsky and all the classical delights.


After that, my time in spain is remembered through lots of strange music I dont think i can describe, and while riding the bus on the way to work, there was m2m, marit larsen and hilary duff playing on my mp3 player. What was I thinking, i dont know.


When I think of my time in germany the first band that comes to mind is kings of covenience. Always playing in my room, specially on those cold winter afternoons, snow outside, opening the windows to let some fresh air come in, stretching in bed. 


I’m actually still very much in loved with Berlin, with my apartment in friedrischain, with all those worn out buildings, falling apart windows, midnight bicycle rides, flash mobs, volkskuche, the umsonsladden, kopi, kreuzberg, neukoln, patryk, jurgen, julie, mia, morris, caspar and the others, treptower park, those reggae bars with fake sand by the river, the lakes, grunau, the camps, sleeping by the shore of the lakes, snow, couchsurfing guests, hitchhiking trips, the abandoned houses, the art galleries, maoz, the 1 euro falafel, the nights playing werewolf, the morning playing firsbee, football, turkish sweets, sunday brunches, the 1 euro glass wines, graffiti walls, the boat parties, the berlin wall, alexander platz, the trams, long walks, never knowing what’s going on, and always kings of convenience playing, sometimes cafe del mar, norah jones, maybe regina spektor. 


In india I stopped listening to music, maybe it interrupted my thoughts, but I could connect with the soudns of the ocean, of the birds, of the trees, the wind, the animals.


In china I got really into korean music for some reason, I think it was just because I didnt like chinese music so much, so was looking for an alternative.


In japan, mostly thanks to the music i got to understand why i love japan, and why i hate it also. funkey monkey babies, mr children, sakamoto maya, perfume, ringo shiina, x japan,yoko kano,  ketsumeishi, those isakaya nights, those sunday afternoon concerts at osaka jo, those walks by the river, those camping nights, tempura, those small rooms, the smell of tatami beds, hot summer nights,
I always thought no one understood me like the girls from bennie k and no music would reach me as “the brillant green” did.


The most important memories i have are all linked to some emotion, which are in turn brought back to me, by listening to this bands, once again.

8 reasons why south korea is my favourite country

#1.  No cops bugging me: Sick and tired in Japan and some European countries that the cops will just stop you for no good reason on the street and ask to see an ID.

#2. No ticket controllers: No need to hide, no need to be paranoid all the time, no need to carry fake ID or run for it when you see them. Because on Seoul’s subways and buses, there are no ticket controllers.
In Seoul, you can just enjoy the ride, without having to think that the police will storm into the train to harass you. You know why people hate cops? Because 70 percent of people are just terrible under pressure! including myself of course. So even if I do have a ticket, I can’t deal with the pressure, of having those guys raiding the train in search of the people that have no tickets. Who (i think) are just normal people like you and me, except that they have no ticket, but for them, are criminal masterminds. And they have to be punished for not being able to afford a train ticket.

But.. wait a minute, we pay taxes every month, shouldn’t that pay for the trains and public transport instead of paying for people to punish you for using it?

#3. Free visa and easy visa run: You know how in most countries after a few months you have to leave the country in order to re-enter to get a new visa and sometimes they don’t let you back in, or you can do it just a finite amount of times. That’s not the case here.

#4. Free shuttle bus, concert tickets, and Korean lessons.

#5. So safe! Unless you had the chance of growing up in a 3rd world country as I did, you probably don’t know what it feels to be mugged at gunpoint, to be afraid you won’t come back home alive, getting beaten up by the police, not being able to trust anyone and always having to watch your back to make sure you’re not being followed.
Well, it’s not pleasant! So I’m very happy that in Korea people don’t have guns, it’s safe to go out at night, there’s not much crime and the police are usually young guys in their 20’s who just finished high-school and present no threat most of the time.

#6. Easily accessible: there are cheap flights and ferries to many countries (and by cheap I mean under 100 dollars)

#7. People: the kindest I’ve met, will expand on some other post, even though my Korean friends say people here are friendly only to foreigners.

#8. Pokemon! Most Korean words sound like Pokemon names. And some people look like Pokemon also. I think.

personality traits

Have you noticed how, if you speak more than 2 languages, your personality is quite different depending on the language you are using?

And you can find yourself playing a handful of different characters during the day depending on the language.

In my case, my personality will change something like this:

Spanish: even though it’s my native language I found it utterly difficult to express myself in Spanish. So my personality is usually very shy and quiet around other Spanish speakers. I think everything twice before speaking and I’m often misunderstood.
I’ve probably been neglecting it for some reason and usually feels weird, probably thanks to the awkward experiences I had in Spain where I could never fit in anywhere.

Italian: It feels comfortable, Italians feel like family, so the language makes me feel warm and I can easily open up to anyone in Italian, even just 5 minutes after meeting them. While in Spanish it would take me months to open up to someone.
That’s why Italians will usually perceive me as friendly and approachable while Spanish speakers would think I’m shy and reserved.

English: I’ve somehow managed to ignore all the political issues that being an English speaker brings forth and accepted it as the universal language for international communication.
My head and ideas are in English, I think, dream, and can express my ideas clearly without worrying about being misunderstood, that gives me confidence!
So if you met me as an English speaker (and if you’re reading this chances are you had) then you’ve met the real me.

Japanese: Always shy and respectful, listening more than I talk and being careful not to brag and keep modesty and respect as a priority to communicate with anyone in this language.
Can’t challenge anyone’s ideas, can’t open up to anyone, I just listen and agree with everything the other person says.

German: Feels good also, feels familiar, probably also thanks to the legendary times spent in Germany.

Korean: I don’t really speak much of it, and usually don’t understand what people say, but when they talk to me, I think “oh, this sounds so cute” so I’m sure they’re saying something nice to me and that makes me feel good!