Re: The asterisk

--- On Wed, 6/20/12, Rick Le Mon <straif@gmail.com> wrote:

> > I prefer to be a traveller and a visitor, not a
> "tourist".
>
> I just spent an hour (with lunch in the middle of it)
> writing the very
> same thing.  Great minds or something.

Me three!

When I'm visiting a place, I like to think what it would be like to live there. Whilst I want to see the sites, I want to be more like a local than a tourist usually is. If I'm in a place where I can cook some of my own meals, I want to buy it at the local grocery store, even if I don't understand the language very well. I want to eat where the locals eat -- not in the tourist traps. When I'm in China, I don't want to eat at McDonalds -- not even the green chile burger, with a picture that looked like snot had landed on the burger. Yuck. :)

Once, in Hong Kong on my own, I suddenly realised that I was the only non-Asian in that particular area. I kind of liked that. I was outside of the normal tourist spots -- or at least the normal Western tourist spots.

That's what I was trying to say earlier, but it obviously wasn't coming across well. I'm tired. All of my colleagues and I are ready for the summer term to end. At least I've completed my (external) exam marking. I'm glad I did it. The exam board pays me, of course, and I always learn more about ways to prepare my students by marking, but it's just tiring.

But, yes, there's a distinct difference between tourists and visitors. I want to be a visitor, and if I realise I'm acting touristy, I try to change my behaviour. :)

And, Deb, years ago, I decided that to take good pictures in weird ways that might freak out people, local or not, I realised I just had to pretend I was a professional photographer. So, if you're lying down on the road to get a shot, just act as if you're on assignment. It works for me. But then I've done crazy things to get the picture. It's fun!

Kirsten, regarding Philly, well, that experience was in the '80s. I'm sure Philly's changed over the years. Heck, it's even open on Sundays now. And they've discovered that light bulbs above 20 watts can be used in railway stations. (I swear, it was a lot darker in those stations back in the '70s. Come the '90s, I was amazed by how bright they could be. :) (And I'm not disparaging my native city; my siblings still live just barely outside of it, and my brother still works in Center City. My sister-in-law, alas, was laid off of her Center City job two years ago, but she temps in the city when she can. I also listen to WXPN on-line. Sometimes I even listen to it through headphones during free periods at work; it's still my favourite radio station in the world. :)

Ellen