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Clean Impressions of a Fat Place

27.03.2007 - 27.04.2007 sunny 0 °F
View Around the World 06-07 on TulsaTrot's travel map.

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Prelude of our final flight of our around the world trip

Greetings all and hope y'all are doing well. It has been roughly a little over a month since Nadine and I have been back in the States, and there have been a few things that jumped out at us from our home country.

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

Stepping off of the plane in Texas, two things jumped out at us as we drove to our first meal in the U.S., (*and we're not proud of this*) McDonald's, this country is clean, really clean. You don't have any trash blowing around the streets. I would go as far as to say that I feel comfortable dropping some food and not feeling like I should pick it up in 5 seconds, per the 5 second rule, but at least 7 or 8 seconds. That is how comfortable the cleanliness makes me feel.

The second item is that people here in the U.S. are big-boned, a.k.a. fat. Not everyone is, and especially not you the American reader. Not only are we Americans heavier, we are also much larger. Walking around Asia, Nadine and I felt like giants with our height, but in Texas, we felt like medium sized, thin mesquite bushes blowing in the breeze. Everyone and everything is big in Texas, but I guess you can't forget the motto: Everything's bigger in Texas.

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Contingents from Odessa, Texas; two from San Antonio; Tulsa, and Omaha

And finally my third impression, people eat fast. I am always the last one to finish, and Nadine is second to last. We're not sitting there playing with our food making miniature mashed potato castles, we're just eating at a leisurely pace. But by the time I would comment to everyone that this food is pretty darn good, and rich for that matter, after my first bite, people would be setting their forks down, pushing away from the table, letting out a burp of relief.

Who would have thought that my second snow in a year would be the day before Easter in Odessa

Nadine and I initially spent two weeks apart to spend time with our respective parents. With my folks, we dashed over to San Antonio to watch my niece's cheerleading competition. Entrance to the competition was $15 per person! Just returning from our trip, that price felt like 3 nights in a hotel in Thailand.

Fortunately and unfortunately, being that my dad has a tough time walking with a bum knee, I kindly asked the lady if they had a wheelchair he could use. Instead of paying that hefty little fee to watch our niece, Maria wheeled us, ok, just my dad, down a long corridor underneath the convention center and directly pass the entrance table to the cheerleading auditorium.

Now this is what I found really silly, we waited two hours for Morgan to perform for 3 minutes, and they wanted to charge us $15 a person. Wow. At least Morgan did well and had her favorite uncle there.

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Whose diaper fits better?

You have to look long and hard to find diapers on some kids all around the world, but you know you are in a different world when the dogs are wearing diapers.

To complete our time of leading a non-regimented, wake up when you choose life, we were going to make stops with friends and family on our way to Omaha, Nebraska. But before we left the thriving metropolis of Odessa, Texas, the local newspaper did a short article on our trip. If you notice the picture, I think they decided to photoshop Nadine's photo with that of someone else. Doesn't look anything like her.

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I guess this is for Sophie

So the end of our travels saw us visit San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Tulsa, and finally into Omaha. We currently spend our time looking for permanent jobs in Omaha, San Antonio, and Denver, but there has been one contingent pushing hard for Denver. Via a gift basket including some clothes that turned out to not be for me, but for little Sophie Christine who has scheduled a cameo appearance the beginning of August.

Hope all are well. This is our second to last entry pertaining to this trip. The final one will include a picture of our Thai souvenir when it finally arrives.

Stay classy world!

John, Nadine, Sophie Christine

Posted by TulsaTrot 02.05.2007 8:24 PM Archived in Round the World | USA

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Comments

Your first meal back to the U.S. is at McDonalds??? I've notified the staff at The Amazing Race, and you've been added to their "Never, ever, ever" list, as in that is when you'll make the show.

04.05.2007 by mateo96

Shame your blog is coming to an end. We have been avid readers and were even inspired to visit Lesotho from your blog! So thanks, Nat and Ev

10.05.2007 by Nat and Ev

Alas, it has all ended. Who will teach Vietnamese nuns English? Who will challenge motorbikes to hit him while crossing the street? Who will provide a great time-waster while I am sitting here at work? Alas .... alas....

21.05.2007 by jeremypepp

Should go to Halong Bay when you travel to Hanoi

Just south of China in the far northeast corner of Vietnam is a bay of nearly <a href="http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/photos/index.htm">2,000 islands</a>. It is in many ways the cradle of Vietnamese civilization, with an archaeological record 25,000 years old. Fishermen have lived on these islands and waters for millennia. Some villagers rarely set foot on land, spending most of their lives in boats and <a href="http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/photos/people.htm">floating homes</a>.

<a href="http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com">Halong Bay</a> is also one of the most beautiful places on earth, which is why hordes of tourists hop on <a href="http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/halong_junk_boat.htm">junk boats </a>made to look old and they cruise those islands, stopping hither and yon to explore caves and mountains. You can imagine how good the seafood is — and you’d be wrong. It’s even better. True, the life on land isn’t so pretty and the town is a bit of a pit. But you’d be hard-pressed to find better crab or shrimp or saltwater fish than what you’ll eat every day in Halong Bay.

If you get your hands on December’s issue of Gourmet, you can learn more about Halong Bay in my feature, “On the Waterfront.” I haven’t even seen it yet (it takes a while for my copy to get here, and the issues on the shelves around here are always at least two months old). If Halong City is ever on <a href="http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/halong_bay_tours.htm">your itinerary</a>, be sure to try the local seafood restaurants on the street heading uphill, around the corner from the post office. Cross the bay to the “other” <a href="http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/halong_bay_overviews.htm">Halong City</a> to check out the seafood market.

02.06.2007 by johncollin

Halong Bay Trip
Book the trip with http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com
We spent the last three days on a trip through Halong Bay and just got back to Hanoi. Halong Bay is in the North East of Vietnam and is a huge body of water with thousands of rocky islands rising out of it. We left Hanoi in the morning and caught a bus out to Halong City where we boarded a boat. For the next three days we cruised around between the islands and stopped at different places for swimming, kayaking, and cycling/hiking on the islands. It was a really relaxing time and the scenery was beautiful. We basically didn't have to do anything since we had a tour guide that organized it for us. We were on the boat with about 8 other people -- 3 ladies from Australia and a group from Malaysia. It turns out the guys from Malaysia worked for BMS and had just come from a conference. I immediately thought about the 'ABC' and tried to sell them on quality GenoLogics products. I'm pretty sure the Baller would be proud. Unfortunately they worked in sales and just couldn't grasp the value of an integrated lab and scientific data management system for systems biology research. Fools!

On the second day we went cycling around one of the islands. You know it's a mistake when all the locals are lying in the shade looking at your riding by and shaking their head. It was insanely hot/humid and I had to bow out midway through the trip. I was literally sweating buckets. I don't know how the locals always wear long pants and shirts in this heat and manage to look good. Marc and Elise cycled further into the jungle to look at an abandoned French colonial village (or something like that). In the end I was glad I didn't go along and just relaxed in the shade with some of the other people.

Tonight we're staying in Hanoi and tomorrow night we're taking the night train to Hue. That's about it for now. I've attached some pictures to this post and the others.

02.06.2007 by johncollin

Hey!
Just wanted to say that i have enjoyed tuning into your blog over the many months that you had it going. It was a good read (particularly on those long days at the office). Your obviously Odessa royalty with the news paper article! Hope all goes well with the upcomming arrival.
Regards
Daniel

11.07.2007 by dbgomes

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