A Grasshopper's Thought

Remember my blog post "Sites Filmed in Movies and TV Shows"? In the post I talked about how liking a movie or a TV show could inspire you to visit the place where it's filmed. I found a blog post with similar idea on "Globalgrasshopper". It's called "10 Movies that'll Make You Want to Visit London".

I was attracted by this name "Globalgrasshopper"; I knew that it's not like any other travel blogs. Globalgrasshopper is run by a couple from the UK, Gray and Becky. Both Gray and Becky are obsessed with traveling and tracing their footprints with photography. Gray is a professional web and graphic designer, and also a travel photographer. And Becky enjoys writing, which made them a perfect team to run this blog. Besides them, there are other world travelers and explorers from around the world who write for Globalgrasshoppers. Such as this post, "10 Movies that'll Make You Want to Visit London", is written by Priscilla Blossom, a US travel writer.

In the post she introduced 10 old and new movies that are filmed in London. Most of them are quite well known in the world such as Mary Poppins, Notting Hill, Love Actually and Skyfall. My personal favorite of these reconmendations is Notting Hill. Regardless of the love story between an actress and a bookstore keeper, the town gives people a feeling of home, thus I want to visit there indeed. The good news is that she had included the real name of the town and also recommended a hotel to stay in. Besides that, she suggested the near-by sites that people can visit without going out of their way. Other movie locations were also introduced like this one.

I'm glad to find someone who also have a feeling about the connection between movies and traveling. Hopefully I can go on a journey like this one day! 

The Jobs that You Can Do

Will you take a job that allows you to travel all over the world? I will for sure! 

I've always wondered what job will support world traveling and today when I was on StumbleUpon, I came across an article called "45 Great Jobs You Can Do While Traveling The World And How To Get Them" and I want to share it with you guys. 45 jobs! Wow... I could only think of 3 before reading it. The jobs that are listed includes Freelance Travel Writing, Travel Blogging, Flight Attendant, Peace Corps, Interpreter, Online Poker Player, Freelance Photographer, Travel Agent, ESL Teacher and many more. My personal two favorite jobs listed are Peace Corps Volunteer and Freelance Photographer. 

The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States government. The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance; helping people outside the United States to understand American culture; and helping Americans to understand the cultures of other countries. I want to spend some time to do volunteer work at some point of my life, and it would be ideal to volunteer in a foreign country. Freelance Photographers are self employed. They first make a picture and then offer it for sale or display. 

These experiences are unique and meaningful, and I hope one of them could be achieved while having the freedom to travel. 

A Wiki Post of Haiwan Bridge

About a month ago, I came across this idea of adding information of my home town Qingdao on Wikipedia. I compared the before and after of that Wikipedia paragraph and you can click here to read it. Today I went back to the Wiki page because I was curious whether the information that I added would still be there,  and there it was!

I decided to make some more changes by adding information about the newly opened over-sea bridge in Qingdao, because it is the new record of the longest bridge over water and I'm very proud about it.

In June 30, 2011, the longest bridge over water opened in Qingdao. The bridge, Haiwan Bridge, is 26.4 miles long and connects Qingdao to an offshore island, Huangdao. It would easily cross the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana. Haiwan Bridge is supported by more than 5,000 pillars and costs about 10 billion yuan which is about 1.5 billion dollars. The bridge was designed by the Shandong Gausu Group and the construction lasted for four years. Haiwan Bridge brought much convenience to people by supporting public buses and cutting the commute between the city of Qingdao and the sprawling suburb of Huangdao by 30 minutes. At least 10,000 workers toiled in two teams around the clock to build the bridge, which was constructed from opposite ends. ^[19]

I was actually surprised that there were no updates about the bridge in Qingdao's Wikipedia page since Wikipedia is known for its fast updates. But I'm glad to be the one to add this information. Wikipedia is a medium for people to get to know something or somewhere. Although it is not creditable for citing it as a reference, it definitely increases your knowledge. So if you want to travel to somewhere, you can wiki it up for sure!

"First Times" During Spring Break

Spring break was awesome fun. It wasn't long enough though...

I enjoyed many things during Spring break, and I had some FIRST TIME experiences that made the break memorable.

I mentioned the road trip in my previous blog posts and to be honest it was awesome! I was so excited before departing and in fact everyone was. We had two cars, 8 people totally, driven down to Virginia Beach. We drove through the whole Delaware and it was interesting to see the towns and houses and how different they are from New Jersey. We made three stops on the way and I met some interesting people there. I was ordering a Softy ice cream  from McDonald's and the guy who was taking my order asked me "For here or to go?" I replied "Any difference?" He laughed and said that he had to ask that question for every order he takes and he wasn't sure if that applies for ice cream orders also. "It's my first week" he said. Small talk like this lightens up my day.

We took Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Virginia Beach. It is a bridge that connects Virginia's Eastern Shore with the Virginia mainland at Virginia Beach near Norfolk. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel showcases the mighty surge of the Atlantic Ocean, the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay, and the soaring grace of an engineering marvel. The picture on the left was taken in the tunnel. 

During the break, I went for Mini Golf for the first time in my life and I loved it! I never thought that I would enjoy golfing because it's not competitive like track or basketball. But Mini Golf is actually really relaxing and fun. 

The last "first time" is that I saw sunrise and sunset in one day. I always loved to see sunrise and sunset, and I think that they are the prettiest stage of the sun, but I've never seen them in one day. One reason is that it's hard for me to get up that early and still be awake when the sun sets, and another reason is that I've never been in a great location that I can see both clearly. In Virginia Beach, I saw the sunrise by the ocean on the east and sun set by the bay on the west.


"First Times" is memorable. I'm glad to have these first time experiences through out my break. Of course I have also caught up with my sleep and had amazing meals. Anyways, school had started and hope you all are refreshed from the break! Have a great week!

Sites Filmed in Movies and TV Shows

Have you ever visited sites where movies or TV shows that you like were shot in? There are many reasons for me to travel as I mentioned in my previous blog posts; besides my interest in learning foreign cultures, this is another one. I believe that sites of movies and TV shows that you enjoy are meaningful to visit because knowing you are at the very spot where the scene in movie has taken place can provide you with more understanding of the movie as well as to the place. I've been wanting to visit Hokkaido, Japan ever since I saw a movie called "If You Are The One". The scenery of Hokkaido compliments the love story and made the movie well-known, and at the same time tourism in Hokkaido became popular because of this movie. 

There are many combinations of sites and movies like this. There is a "Lord of the Rings" tour in New Zealand, "Harry Potter" tour in England and "Midnight in Paris" tour in France. The video below introduces the New York City sites that "Man in Black" were filmed at. 

This video is posted by On Location Tours, the largest TV and Movie tour company in the world. The company has uploaded several videos featuring Sex and the City Hotspots, Gossip Girl Sites and Soprano Sites. I live in New Jersey and I think that it's amazing to be so close to one of the most filmed cities, New York City. A day trip to NYC visiting some famous movie sites will be a perfect weekend for me!  

Photographic Memories

Photographers express themselves through photos; photography is a way to record what they see and feel during traveling. The girl in this picture is Xiaoyun Luo, a photographer as well as a world traveler.

Luo likes to travel alone and she is known for her self portraits in those travel photos. The photos were taken in many different countries such as France, Japan, Brazil, England, Greece and Spain. 

These photos look like that they were taken by others (but obviously they are not since she travels alone), because none of them are head shots like the pictures that you get from holding a phone/camera against you. Her photos highlight backgrounds of landscapes and architectures. 

She said that the pictures were taken on a tripod with self-timer. I found this to be inspiring. I don't usually carry my tripod when I go out because I thought that it's an extra weight to carry and it takes a lot of time to set up. But the pictures do turn out much nicer than asking a random person to take photos for you. 

Photography is an Art. It captures your perspectives. It freezes time and reminds me of how I felt in a particular moment. Travel is often short and goes by quick when you enjoy yourself, but I always make it a point to take a lot of pictures so that I may relive those moments over and over again!

3 Easy Ways to Experience a Different Culture

Cultures have always fascinated me. One of the main reasons to travel is to experience different cultures. My dream is to become a world traveler and document my journey with photos. I will collect those photos in an album and name it “Around the World Journal”. Maybe even publish it someday… Dreams aside, here are 3 easy ways that you can use to get your culture experience. 

1. Try their food.

Choose a culture or country that you want to know about and find out what kind of cuisine they eat. You can go to a restaurant and enjoy the cultural ambiance, or if you know a friend from that country, you can ask him/her to cook for you. This way you will be able to see the process of preparing the food. I have tried both methods to learn Indian culture. My Indian friends have taken me to an authentic Indian restaurant and they said that it was exactly like restaurants in India. It’s amazing how much you can learn about them from their food!

2. Listen to their music.

You can go with either traditional or modern music, it depends on your interest. Every country has its own music style influenced by culture. So you should definitely listen to some music if you want to learn about their culture.

3. Watch their movies.

Movies are reflections of real life. In my French Language and Culture class, my professor shows French movies every class. She shows only about 10 minutes of the movie but we can always observe so much about French culture.
 

I have one more suggestion but I didn't list it into the “3 easy ways” because it might not be that easy for some people. It is trying on their traditional clothes. Seeing what their clothes are like and actually trying them on is absolutely a wonderful experience. I was lucky to have an opportunity to try on an Indian wedding dress last year and I finally understood why my Indian friends stress so much about their 7-day wedding.

Hope these easy methods can help you learn more about the culture that you are interested in! Have a great Spring break.  

Fly Like a Kite

This morning I saw a friend’s status saying: 

"Here's where I've been when I was 5, 10, 15 and 20 years old: London, UK; London, UK; London, UK; New Jersey, US." 

Many people shared the post and traced their own footprint along with it. I thought that was very interesting because I realized that I was in three different countries at those ages. So here goes mine, 

"Qingdao, China; Grimsby, UK; Qingdao, China; New Jersey, US.” 

I’m imagining writing this down twenty years later… Hmm… just made me so excited about my future!

When I look at the first 20 years of my life, I cannot deny that my parents are great influences on me. They provided me with a home where I could feel free and secure, but they weren't afraid of letting me explore new things. They encouraged me to be courageous and curious towards new things, and they would always stand behind me so that I would feel protected when I stepped out. Although they made a lot of sacrifices for me, they have never given up pursuing their dreams. Unlike many Asian parents, making every effort to ensure the success of their children, my parents did not make me feel that I was the center of their life and thus I don’t feel the pressure to impress them with my achievements. I’m so thankful that they didn't stop pursuing their dream for me.

We moved to England when I was ten because my parents were admitted into a school there. Their friends told them that it was important for me to receive a stable education in China, but they trusted me and knew I could handle facing the new environment. I went to the UK with only a few English words. All three of us were students at that time and that encouraged me to learn and adapt to the English speaking environment. After one year, they finished their study and decided to move back. Friends and family said that they were silly. Apparently it was many people’s dream to immigrate to western countries, but it wasn't my parents’. I went back to Qingdao, my home town, and started catching up on coursework. That was the time when my Math and Science knowledge were laid solidly.

I realized that I’m like a kite flying in the sky, and no matter how high I fly they always hold my string tight in their hands. This gives me power to fly even higher in the sky because I have security of knowing they will never let go of my string.

Road Trip and Spring Break

Counting down the days guys… I can’t wait for Spring Break! This year’s Spring Break I’ll be able to fulfill my dream of going on a road trip, SO EXCITED! You have probably seen the movie Elizabethtown by Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Well I fell in love with the road trip scene in the end of the movie. It must be epic to see beautiful sceneries fly by the car window while listening to your favorite songs. Road trip can help releasing all the tensions from work, study and anything that stresses you.

This Spring break, I'm going to Virginia with seven other good friends. I've been there last Spring break and loved it so much. If you ask me what I will do there, I really don’t know the answer… Last time we just chilled and didn't do anything! It was a break from the busy school work we had, so we didn't want to be stressed with where to visit.So that was a real break for us! We stayed in a cozy beach house and cooked two meals a day. We tried to sleep as much as we want and eat as healthy as possible. During the day, we would walk to the beach, play volleyball, make sand castles and do some photo shooting. I think this kind of vacation is what I need right now, and with the road trip, it’s just going to be AWESOME!

Plus I need to see some sunshine after New Jersey’s long winter… 8 days to go guys!Hope you all have some amazing plans for Spring break. As long as it makes you relaxed, it doesn't matter what you do.