The fun begins...

My travels to Asia began unexpectedly.  My boss at the time peeked his head through the door to my cubicle and asked whether I had a passport.  I told him I did, to which he responded “Good.  We are having a problem in Singapore which we may need you to go check out, but it’s not for sure.  “Could you be available to go in, say, two or three days if we need you?”  “Uh, sure”, I told him without really thinking.  I knew I had no firm plans for the coming weeks.  I had also never been to Asia, never been to a non-English speaking country, and quite honestly I didn’t even know precisely where Singapore was.  I just knew it was somewhere on the other side of the planet.  “OK, thanks” he said, adding “By the way, we may need you to go to China as well.”  Two days later I was on my way to Asia for what would become the first of many trips to the far side of the globe.

I don’t recall whose idea it was that I send a daily journal during the first trip; it may have been my idea but more likely it came from my wife.  I have never been one to keep a journal. I tried once or twice in the past but quickly dropped the practice, usually within hours.  Nonetheless, during each of these trips, I have kept a daily account of whatever I encountered that I thought was interesting, unusual, fun or just downright weird.  I sent them in emails to my wife and my mother, but unbeknownst to me they began distributing my emails to seemingly everyone they knew, many of whom were strangers to me.  I began getting emails from people I don’t know telling me how much they enjoyed my stories and asking for more.  To be honest, this was kind of annoying at first, but after awhile I guess I just accepted it.  It appears many American’s have a strong interest in China, and the stories I was telling, detailing some of the customs, foods, and quirks of what I have found to be a completely fascinating culture really resonated. 

After awhile, I also found that keeping this journal forced me to find something new to write about each day.  I was frankly afraid of boring everyone who had asked me to write more, so I had to force myself to try new things that I probably would not do under different circumstances. 

What follows are some of these letters from the past.  I will add new entries as I travel more.  I hope you enjoy reading these and I welcome any suggestions to improve this blog.

-Displaced.