Hey all! So, I'd like to talk about places, cities, countries you have visited. For me, I lived in Puerto Rico for most of my childhood- living in an island has its pros- for instance, we were 5 minutes from the beach and well, there were many many beaches- very crystal clear, lots of marine habitats, palm trees, and the sweet cool ocean breeze. There's a lot I have not explore there like caves, jungles, mountains, hidden rivers and cascades but I hope to in upcoming years. I did enjoy the festivities- seems like every day there was a festival somewhere in the island so that was very nice. The first place I visited was Ocala, Florida and I really liked it- that was back in 2003 I then came back with the rest of my family in 2005 to live here and well here I am. The cultural change, language, norms was so much different. Schools are 100x more strict than the public community school that I had attended in the island so it took time but, I really liked the diversity here- so many cultures and so much to learn. I love that stores are open much later, economy is more stable, job opportunities are more abundant, water parks, state parks, and culture. I also visited Allentown Pennsylvania and that was very green- so much nature and the houses are so close to each other in downtown- there trains give a lot of industrial look to the downtown area- I liked it but, didn't get to experience more of it. And New York for a day which was a very hot summer and I got terrible allergies, beautiful city, so full of life and so much to do but, pollution is terrible I could not breathe.

What places have you visited?
What did you like? Didn't like?
If you visited other countries - how was the culture different? 

I couldn't write a book because I'm not a talented wordsmith but I've been a few places. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan and my family felt travel and experiences were more important than material possessions. We didn't have a lot of stuff but money was spent going to various states and cities around the United States when I was a kid. We went to the east coast, like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. We went to Florida and Georgia one year. We went to Toronto and Montreal a few times. We've been to Chicago a dozen times or more. We even had a big trip where we went straight west, from Michigan to Washington state, went to Seattle, travelled down the coast to Oregon, California, and back through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and so on.

I was in the Marines for six years but I spent those years in not so fun places. I was stationed for a while in Beaufort, South Carolina and I loved that culture the most. No one was in a hurry to get anywhere and they enjoyed family and food. That's important to me.

I also lived in Hawaii for a while with my wife. She believes the same things I do so we traveled instead of buying stuff. We went to Japan several times to visit her home since she's Japanese. We went to Australia and New Zealand, and we were close to going to the Philippines but that didn't work out.

I liked all the places I went to because I found the charm and I appreciated the local cultures for what they were. I'm open minded so I always tried local food, did local things, and experienced their lifestyles as much as a tourist can. I realize no matter what I do, I look like a tourist so I didn't worry about it and tried to immerse myself as much as possible.

I could go on endlessly about Japanese culture and it's interesting but I won't eat up a thread to do that. Maybe another day.

Well the most know I would say for me is Nigeria really. I have traveled to other places, but this was when I was young and I wouldn't really remember most of it sadly. Nigeria is a nice country, but its not somewhere I would live sadly because of how things run. Like for instance for their electricity it is powered up by generators. And often or sometimes there are power cuts that happen, here is the funny part you can never know when it happens. So....think if you are baking something or are a baker what would happen? You can't like microwave your food like rewarm it. Once food is made there is no leftovers. What I don't like is how I am hearing churches in the middle of the night. I don't mind like how churches are, but the ones in Nigeria are really annoying like in a street there is 5 or 6 of them close. Another thing when one church starts off late and night and finishes? Another starts up again at 2 or 3am and they don't finish till like 5 or 6am in the morning....I remember I couldn't sleep well when I went there. Its one of the things I really dislike. The culture in Nigeria is really different as I know since my mother, and family members taught me about that. Our food how the government runs and other stuff as well. '-'

I've been to a total of five countries, and travelled within my own country to several cities.

Even within my own country, the contrast in cultures is incredible. The different lifestyles they follow compared to my region, the climatic conditions, the gastronomy... Feels like travelling to another country that speaks a slight or sometimes heavy variant of your language without actually crossing any frontiers. I did like the places I went to, they felt like home but with an added charm and beauty I cannot find in a city I've lived for nearly 25 years.

Outside of my country, I've been once to Portugal and Switzerland, twice to the UK, four times to Germany and countless but always brief stays in France (it's our neighbor country, even closer to us than Madrid). Portugal was kind of so-so, but could be because I wasn't hyped to go there since I've never been interested in that country. Switzerland was a brief stay as well, just to attend a very important event held there every year, and since we stayed in the "French side" it felt like France.

The UK is very interesting. Their culture, way of living and everything is totally different. It's always been a pleasure to go there, so it's one of the first choices of destination if we want to organize a travel. Germany is even better, but until I learn their language I'll stick with the UK so I can communicate with the environment. About France, it's kind of an interesting country, but their lifestyle is so different that is very hard for us to adapt, even more so than the rest of countries I've mentioned.

If you'd knew how the Netherlands would look like, i could tell it easier. Oh well... Here i go:

I am born in Zaanstad, somewhere at the North-West of the Netherlands. Then, for private reasons, my mom and i had to move away and went to Leeuwarden, a city which was a bit to the East. Again, we had to move out and went to the South-West of the Netherlands: Delft. Then we went to another spot in Delft, then were going a couple of kilometers North, to Den Haag. Finally, we went to Oss, a place at the South of the Netherlands. And now i'm for some sort of therapy in Nijmegen, which is in an East-sided province.

That's 6 cities.

Ghostbear1111 :  
Wow, Japan... I like that country. But your traveling story overall sounds great! Looking at it shortly, i would think you were traveling a lot over the world.

(Sorry, i had to say that)

I've been in Miami for most of my life but I've also been to Georgia a bunch of times and I've also been to New York once. I go to Georgia almost every year to visit my father and father's side of the family who lives up there, and I went to New York on vacation two years ago, albeit I was really sick during that trip.

Ghostbear1111
Sounds like have traveled quite a bit! That’s awesome. I
actually want to be that way. I don’t find the idea of owning a home as
appealing as owning an RV or camper. Ideally, I would love to be able to work
from my computer and just travel all across the US. Then, go to different areas
of the world like Tokyo, Hawaii, Germany, France, Slovakia, and Australia. I
think Alaska would be a big chance and adventure but, I do not do well with a
60 degree weather so I may just die instantly over there. I think that when you
are young, you should travel all you can and not settle and then as you get
older then, begin to settle down and create a home. Those experiences are going
to mean more in the long run than having a big home and feeling like you’ve
been stuck. I like the sound of South Carolina- it would be nice to see people
relax for a change- it’s actually one thing I hate about New York-everyone is
in a rush and no one even stops to say hi or take in the city at all. You went
to a few of the places I want to visit! I like the Japanese culture, my
co-worker went to do a mission there for several years- so different to our
culture. I find it quite interesting how Chinese and Japanese can be able to
communicate via writing but, not verbally – their alphabet is similar but,
their pronunciations have many differences making it a bit challenging. That’s
exactly what I like to do- if you go to a new place experience all the local-
why go to a McDonald’s or franchise chain? I don’t particularly like the people
that travel and do not even make an effort to learn some of the language they
just simply say- I am from the US everybody should learn English. I hate that
mentality. I wouldn’t mind hearing more about your experiences! Actually it’s the
reason why I made this threat; I want to learn new things about other cultures
and get my feet out the door already and go see them for myself. Thank you for sharing!
Any future trips?



Eniitan
I’ve heard of the hardships in places like Nigeria and in a
way I feel bad because I know it makes their way of life harder. Yeah I see how
it would not be an ideal place for a baker. It reminds me of my previous place-
the electricity and water would go off anytime and I would be using the oven or
taking a shower- I had to leave lol. I grew up with a church a house down from
us and the bells would ring very early in the morning- there’s no ignoring that
lol. But, I’ve never heard of churches meeting that late O.0’ that would
certainly keep you up all night. That would drive me a bit nuts. Have you gone
back to Nigeria since then? What were their meals like if you remember?



EX
PalenI know what you mean- there are areas in my home
town that are more of Spanish Conquistador culture like the city of San Juan,
other areas are more African like Loíza and the dance is a variation of the
negro dance, and then there areas more natural and free similar to the Taino
indian culture.How is Switzerland like??
I would like to visit there- I’ve heard that it has amazing view of nature, people
are more agricultural, and the houses look like cottages- is that correct? How
did you like the German culture? I cannot for the love of me understand the
language and cannot do the back of the throat sound. I hear that the UK is more
liberal in their way of life- did you go over to Ireland while there? How is
the French lifestyle? I am intrigued by the European countries and would love
to visit- hopefully I get to keep my plans of going next year- I am not sure
what country to travel to first as I heard England may be cheaper to fly to and
then drive to Germany as opposed to flying directly to Germany either way I
would want to visit and see as much of everything as possible. Do you have any
adventurous or special memory of those travels?



MarioLucarioFan64
I looked up Netherlands to see the cities you mentioned-
that’s quite a change! I mean my mother she was a bit indecisive so we have
moved about 27-30 times but, it was within the same city from one house to the
other from one street or zip code to another. I can’t of wish it was like yours
lol that would have been 27ish cities – could have venture the island at that
point lol. I think change is good- do you? You’re so close to all the European
countries that I would like to see. How is your culture? What are things you
guys celebrate? Favorite food? I can’t
even begin to pronounce many of your cities. My boyfriend and I are thinking of
flying to England to meet with someone we play online with and meet him and
from there all drive together to Germany and stop at Belgium, Netherlands which
I just realized we will be driving by, and then Germany. That would be cool
considering that in about 14 hours we get to see all these countries. Hope it
all works out because I will take tons of pictures and make a nice threat here!Ideally, I want to take a bit of a detour and
check out London, France , Amsterdam, and Switzerland – might need quite a bit
more for gas lol. I looked at some Google images of Zaanstad, Netherlands- it
brought up a lot of architecture- vivid colors and many triangular shaped
buildings, there was like a town that was divided by a river with a bridge from
one side of the town to the other- that’s really pretty, many wind mills too-
Molen De Kat- looks gorgeous and huge. Looks very pretty and interesting.



Minuano
I have never been to Miami- and I am but I am 5 hours from
it- face slap. I do a lot of meeting bookings all over Miami but, have not
actually gone ‘.I do hear that the
traffic is a nightmare but, there’s a lot of Spanish culture influence there. I
just want to go since it is very much alive there – more to do than Ocala for
sure. To see the beaches, and experience some Spanish food! I send my boss
there every months for meetings and we have another one on September. When he
comes back he has nothing but negative things to say about that area- although
I do know my experience would be much different since I am Hispanic and do
enjoy diversity. How do you like it? How are the beaches like?

I really enjoyed the Abuani convention I went to last week. In short, Abunai is a convention that's about Japan and its culture & entertainment. There is a dealer room where people can buy Japanese stuff, video rooms where Japanese animation can be seen, and the game room, which I spent most of my time. Unfortunately, besides one Stepmania setup, all the games were on consoles, and there were no arcade cabinets unlike Animecon, which I also went to this year. Personally, I think Abunai was better during the earlier years. The first time I went there, they had a Beatmania IIDX setup, and an arcade cabinet with MAME installed on it. Unfortunately, after 2 years, both haven't been in the game room since, and I miss them now. Overall, I think Abunai is beginning to lose its charm on my side of things, which are games. If they arranged a cabinet or two, I'd gladly enjoy it more.

jlove92 : My wife and I are travelers. That's what we do. We don't own much but we have a lot of pictures.

It's interesting to go to other places and experience things like McDonald's. I love the world's interpretation of what that food should be. I lived in Honolulu, Hawaii, and we would go watch (American) football games at Aloha Stadium when University of Hawai'i played other teams. It is still technically the United States but they served saimin, which is a hot noodle dish, and tea at the games. You never see tea at American sports stadiums or arenas. You see noodles on the west coast in a few places but the Hawai'ian stadium was geared for a heavy Japanese and Pan-Pacific population.

And in Japan, McDonald's isn't the McDonald's from the United States. I won't go into details but if you look at what they have on their menus, you'd be baffled. And look up Japanese Kit-Kat flavors while you're at it.

The interesting thing is the level of responsibility in Japan. Tokyo, for example, is a massive city with 100,000s people walking around every day. But there is almost no trash anywhere. There aren't even dumpsters or trash cans around. I don't know how their culture does it but they're extremely clean. They also have onsen, little natural hot spring baths available all over the place. Most are male/female split but some are co-ed. You go in, take a shower, and sit in a hot tub nude with random strangers. It's completely acceptable. But they frown on topless or nude beaches as a general rule because it's inappropriate.

It's the little things like that that really spice up an adventure. It's fun to view the culture from the outside and go there after doing some studying and learning. It helps when you're married to a local.

TouchMaster97 I had never heard of Abunai! Before but, I just Googled it. Wow that’s in the Netherlands! Nice. So they basically promote the Japanese culture throughout the Netherlands and Europe- I can only imagine how much anime would be involved. I loved their art and crafts so I am guessing it’s quite nice to see. Some really cool costumes I see. I am sorry to hear that, I recently went to Destiny Con (last week) and yeah only PlayStation consoles were available- I’d expect Xbox One as well but, they actually did have some arcade games the line was terrible so I didn’t get to play but they had Pac-Man, Mario Kart which I thought was awesome I didn’t know they had the very last Mario Kart in an arcade set up it costs a few $1,000s but man it would be nice to own it and of course Street Fighter and other old relics. I think old games should continue to be available in all type of Cons it’s just the history behind it- we all love classics. I can see why that would be a little disappointing.



Ghostbear1111Nice! That’s what I am trying to do; just travel and
experience the world. It’s funny you mention McDonald’s because I have a few
threads here on how different they are in other countries- salmon, fish,
delivery and chicken is offered in some places. I think for me food is a great
experience- it is so different, I lived in PR and experience that food and then
coming here, I’ve opted to learn different recipes online from other cultures,
I’ve tried Colombian, Venezuelan, and Ecuadorian food and the difference is so
great. That’s crazy I’d never imagine tea available either lol. I used to watch
Dog The Bounty Hunter a lot and I felt in love with what they showed of Hawaii;
though the food is very different than what I am used to but, they have such a
peaceful way of living or at least that’s what I’ve seeing portrait on tv- I’d

like to visit. I used to go to a Mormon church and a lot of the missionaries
would end up moving to Hawaii and I just heard some great stories about it! What
the heck? Maccha Milk, soybean, chocobanana lol, what is French salt? Lol,
College tater, RED BEAN PASTE…Apple Vinegar.. you should make a thread about
this oh geez, I guess Kit Kat is really trying to please every taste- I must
say some of the other flavors, I would not mind trying.. Really? I must say I
did not think of Tokyo being so clean, there’s this thought that they cause a
lot of pollution so to read this is quite interesting. I am glad they are that
way I wish we were too- seriously, there’s so much trash on the side of the
roads and everywhere here. The natural hot springs sounds AMAZING though it
would take some getting used to being naked with strangers lol. I guess because
in beaches you tend to stand up more? That’s something I had no idea about so
it’s nice to read it! I agree all of these little cultural and social
activities including the food is really the best experience. It does help
knowing a local! I think they can show you places that most tourist guides can’t
and can also help you experience the culture more. I am glad to read your
experiences hope you have more!

I live in Finland and always have, and I've visited a few European countries. I can't say which country was the best since there are always pros and cons in every trip. Let's say that the most culture shock I had was when I was 16 and we had a school trip to London. I had never visited a city so big so during the second day I had a huge panic attack. For the first time in my life I felt so small and alone, but fortunately that feeling passed and I learnt to love London. We had lots of free time despite it being a school trip and the 16-year-old me was absolutely dazzled by the world that had just expanded from my relatively small hometown to something HUGE like London.
I've also been to Lyon, France when I was 17 and I lived with a French family for a week. I didn't learn much French because they were so excited to speak English but I enjoyed the trip nevertheless. The old town was absolutely beautiful, I have so many pictures from there. It was also in December so I got to enjoy their annual Light Festival (Something lumiere...). Later on the girl from that family came to Finland and lived with my family for a week. It must have been a real culture shock to her because 1. It was middle of winter, it was freezing cold and we had lots of snow 2. The food is quite different and 3. Our families were different. Different meaning the roles our parents had in taking care of the households were quite different. Plus, you take your shoes off whenever you come inside in Finland. The French family was laughing so hard when I had trouble wearing my shoes inside their house... :'-)
The last time I traveled was to Frankfurt in Germany. Yet another large city and I got lots of wonderful pictures. Too bad that the week I spent there I was sick for half of it. So I was really in quite a hurry to see the city during the last days. What I really enjoyed was the German café/restaurant culture. There were so many different kinds and I ate so well during that week. I was also introduced to "Radler", beer mixed with bitter lemon, and I fell in love with it!
I'd love to travel more but unfortunately I haven't had the time or money. My next goal is to visit Estonia. I've never been there before and it's pretty silly since it's so cheap to travel there and it's so close by as well. And I heard they have really cheap cakes and sweets so I'm definitely looking forward to that!

sillysoul : Welp I never got this notification But, I am glad I happened to look back at this thread and saw your post.


It all sounds so interesting and exciting!! London- I am fascinated by it mostly from these old werewolves and vampire movies centered in that city. I think it is gorgeous and I can't wait to visit it. though I am sure I'll feel the same way you did since I can't say I've been in a big city much outside of a day in New York. Did you see the Big Ben?? I think their architecture is sublime. I love Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance Architecture which is so powerful in Europe I am overly excited to see it in person.


Any major cultural differences that stood out to you the most in London?


Annual Light Festival must have been awesome- The Lumière Festival it looks amazing- I did a search on it and this is my favorite picture. I love lights and festivals so this would be a great experience.



I didn't know that you take your shoes off in Finland, I always though it was something done in only some Asian Countries so that's cool to know. Is there a reason why the shoes cannot be worn inside?

Germany is on my list to see - I hear that drinking age is 16 with parent consent and 17 without it. I have never tried German food- could you describe your favorite? Radler- my boyfriend is from Germany and he has introduced me to their beers but, I can't say I've tried that one so I'll be sure to ask his dad about it when I see him- they buy beer and food from Germany. I'll probably try some in Thanksgiving.

That's awesome - I wish money was not such an inconvenience otherwise I'd be traveling all these places too. Estonia has cheap cakes? Sign me up ;-P

jlove92 : No worries! It took me some time to reply as well.

Yes I did see the Big Ben, but it was mainly on the first day. On the first day we had an Amazing Race type of competition which included getting to know the city layout and transportation system. I kind of regret going so young because at the time all I could care about was shopping and hanging out at Oxford Street. But I did fall in love with Covent Garden which was a bit different from the other shopping streets. It had this amazing market sales where you could find so many things, from awesome postcards to small items you don't necessarily need... but when you seem them you just got to have them, if you know what I mean. That was also where I tasted frozen yogurt for the first time and I was mind blown. At the time we didn't have such a thing in Finland.

The major differences in culture I noticed is definitely politeness. On a few occasions I forgot to say please while ordering something and out of those occasions both the cashiers got really upset. I didn't mean to offend them, that would be the last thing on my mind but somehow it's just not something we say that often in my native language and I completely forgot. It's not that we Finns are necessarily rude, we just show our politeness in small gestures instead of saying please, for instance.

Other thing I noticed is the sense of humor! The few British people I've got to have a conversation with have a really teasing sense of humor, I don't know if that's common but in the beginning I had a hard time trying to decide whether they were making fun of me or not. Actually I think sense of humor is something that's pretty unique in every culture. For instance I have two Russian friends and sometimes I can't be sure to what extent they can handle "our" humor, and vice versa.

I tried to do some research on why we take our shoes off inside, but couldn't find a single answer. And I think it's a pretty new phenomenon. I think most of all it's because of the weather conditions. We're lucky if we can enjoy one week of proper summer every year and the rest is just rain, mud or snow. So taking our shoes off helps to keep the house floors even a bit tidier and of course less time needs to be spent cleaning :-)

One thing I missed about going to Germany was German food! We ate in restaurants every single evening and I don't think I got to experience proper German food. I hope you get to try some on Thanksgiving!

I already have a new travel plan. The two Russian friends I mentioned earlier, they want to take me to their hometown in Russia. The only problem for me is the money, even though it's going to be way cheaper than flying to some popular European destination for instance. But I'll wait until I've graduated and gotten a job. It was kind of funny but sad at the same time when I asked her how much money I should bring with me in case we traveled there. It depends which part of Russia you visit but it's pretty cheap in their village located in Karelia. I asked her if 300€ is enough for a week and she started laughing that it's how much a Russian teacher makes in a month. My friend was a chemistry teacher back when she lived in Russia and she could barely live on her own. Once again some differences between cultures to ponder on.

sillysoul : I could read all day about your experiences- so insightful and it's the kind of thing I'd like to learn about- the little experiences that you have with the natives- I think that's one of the most unique things about a culture, the way they interact with people.

I would love to see the Big Ben; I think it's gorgeous and the architecture to me is impressive. How is the transportation system like? 
Uuh frozen yogurt- added to my bucket list! 

Mannerisms are perhaps one of the things that fascinate me the most- it seems every culture is so diverse in that aspect. I could use a polite town for a change any time. I can't recall the last time I heard someone say please in Florida lol.

British humor lol I've heard you got to have some really tough skin to endure it. Ahh, you've got me on this one. I have met people from mostly the Caribbean, Latin America, and Philippines and humor seemed to be quite the same (sarcastic, some times a little perverted) but, nevertheless you knew a joke when you heard one. Not with Germans, they are so straight forward that I just wait until they break out in a loud laugh to then, laugh just to be sure lol. You're either been criticized or it's a joke- the laugh let's you know. I am trying to get used to it, they are by far the most straight forward people I've met and sometimes I wonder if I'm too soft or they are too harsh lol.  But, I love them nevertheless, I am learning quite a bit from them and developing a very tough skin at this point XD

That makes sense, I was not aware of the weather conditions.  I have a basket by my front door and I try to take my shoes whenever it rains since I have a dirt road so makes total sense. 

Glad to hear you say the German food tastes good because I've been a little worried lol. I've done some research and on tv the only thing shown for German food mostly was a  blood soup, bull testicles and the like so I was very very worried about this dinner coming up :-P

That sounds so fun. I think I get my desire to travel from my mother, she was friends with communists and ended up meeting Fidel Castro in Cuba in the late 60's early 70's and spent many years in Russia having fertility treatments after meeting some lady in Puerto Rico which is ballsy because I know I wouldn't follow a stranger to their hometown that far and not know the language lol. But it worked out clearly she was able to have children... 7 to be exact LOL. She spent her time in Moscow and she didn't experience much of Russia as she was afraid to get lost or hurt being there all alone but, I love hearing her speak a few Russian words- sounds so firm and like a general lol. I'd admit Russian certainly intimidate me, they are so strong willed and for the most part the female Russians I met where really tall and built- yeah I was not messing with them.

Wow that's insane! Hey you could  be a millionaire over there just save up a lot lol 
Feel free to share more I'd love to hear more about your experiences and I hope you get to fulfill that travel!

jlove92 : Once you get the hang of it it's quite easy to get around in London. I only went by bus a few times, on occasions when we needed to leave the city central area. For instance Portobello Road is another famous market place that we visited. They had so many awesome, unique clothes on sale there that I might've gone a bit crazy at the time... And they had stalls selling anime-related stuff! I bought a Death Note shirt and I was so proud of it then, haha. But the most important manner of transportation is the underground. Here's a map of it if you're curious.
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf
I remember using the red line, the Central line a lot. Our first hostel was in Piccadilly Circus (if you remember seeing pictures of a square with a huge advertisement screen), so it took us only one stop to get from there to the Central line with the Bakerloo line. We only have an underground in Helsinki and it's basically a straight line that splits in two, so the London underground map looked really scary in the beginning. But you will get the hang of it in a day, I assure you.

Oh and if you're a friend of nice architecture I recommend the St Paul's Cathedral. It was really beautiful but since I didn't find any photos of it in my albums I think they didn't allow photographing inside. What's special about it is that you can climb all the way to the top which consists of 528 steps. I remember a classmate of mine was wearing high heels like always during the day we visited the cathedral and she kept saying "I'm fine" with a very pained expression on her face. But climbing it was definitely worth it, you can see the whole city from the top of the structure!

I think that every country has their special, scary foods they're really proud of in secret. For instance my favorite Finnish food is pea soup with mustard and to many foreigners it looks disgusting. But really it's the best comfort food I've tasted. What about in the United States? I know that the US has a huge variety of different cultures so it may be difficult to pick one dish, but I'd be interested to hear more.

Wow your mother has had a very exciting and adventurous life! I've only heard about travel stories from friends since no one in my immediate family has ever traveled, so I think I'm the most experienced one. Oh, I did forget about my dad though. He had never traveled in his 50 years of life, when he got promoted at work and now he goes on work trips nearly every year. He's been to Italy three times and in China twice. Some of the stories he told me were really funny. For instance the time they went to China they had Chinese rice wine for every dinner. I've tasted it and it's absolutely terrible, I can't think of a liquor more terrible to be honest. So one night they got tired of drinking it all the time so with poor English, they asked the waiter for some whiskey. But no matter how well they tried to explain what they wanted they got rice wine every time. "No, whiskey is brown, we want brown alcohol!" So in the end the waiter got tired of arguing with them so he poured soy sauce in the transparent rice wine. "Here's your whiskey!" I laughed so hard when I heard the story for the first time!

Me and my friend actually had a conversation on Russian women yesterday. When she lived in Russia the standard for everybody was to wear full make up, high heels, have a nice hairdo and flashy clothes. She's not sure where the custom comes from, but the pressure on Russian women is really high. She's lived in Finland for six years now and when she goes back to Russia, other women look down on her because she enjoys wearing jeans and flat shoes. They don't understand why she doesn't dress up anymore and they think that the Finnish mentality has ruined her, like she isn't Russian anymore. It's really quite sad... The appearance pressures put on women in the western world are ridiculous, but in Russia it seems to be on a whole different level.

You too! I've never been to the United States so any stories from your country would be nice to hear about as well.

I've been...uh...

Des Moines Iowa was pretty neat. The people were nice and friendly. A stark contrast to where I live. Everywhere was nice and clean, and the scenery was gorgeous. Such a shame that I won't be able to go back there anytime in the foreseeable future.

Oh, twice I went to Alabama. That place was great. Although the landscape was pretty similar to my own. Just every place you go to has sweet tea. Sadly I won't ever be going back there in any years to come.

Being poor sucks. And TV bums me out because of all the wonderful places they show, and how I will never be able to go to any of them.

I've never had the chance to travel. I lived in Nashville, Tennessee from birth to the age of 14 and moved to my current location, where I've resided for the last 6 years. I haven't even had the chance to see much of the rest of the state and I've only been outside the state once when I went with my parents to Chicago to see my great grandmother before she died. I don't really count that because I was only 6 weeks old. Except for the things I read, pictures I see and people I talk to online, I live in a very small world.

I've been to soo many places that I can't remember most of them.