Amy On Traveling

Amy T. is one of my longest, closest friends. I’ve known her for more than 10 years, starting with our younger days at Princeton Chinese Language School teaching Chinese Knotting and trying to learn Chinese. She’s been one of the busiest people I’ve known, always off doing amazing things – getting involved in this program, applying to this school, making plans with friends to visit this place, etc.  She just finished this great roadtrip across the country where she and her friend Pin recorded their scavenger hunt as they drove from NJ to CA to drop Amy off at Stanford where she is starting an engineering Ph.D. yep, she’s incredibly smart, well-traveled, laid-back, totally fun, and i get to call her ‘friend’.

considering my incessant wanderlust, i was inspired by this recent NYTimes article Q&A With Beth Whitman, a Woman’s Perspective on Solo Travel to ask amy about her traveling experiences. this is the first in a new series i’m starting of interviewing friends on a topic they have expertise on or at least a lot of experience in. I’m still working on finding an appropriate program to record skype conversations, somehow the one i was using didn’t fully record, and also deleted itself after the trial 30 days was over. so, against all journalistic integrity, parts of this are paraphrased. BUT without further ado: Amy on Traveling.

Why did you choose this type of program for your next travels? [Amy's headed to Romania for a Habitat for Humanity trip]

I’ve wanted to go to Eastern Europe for awhile. Plus my friend, Nancy, brought up the idea of a service trip. I’ve heard Romania is beautiful, this just seemed like a great opportunity.

Is it better to be a tourist, a student, or a worker?

I prefer a combination of all three. i like having some structure, and it’s safer to travel as a group.  I liked being a student abroad because it made everyday things like late-night food runs, or figuring out a library system seem like new.

Any advice for travelers, especially women traveling alone?

I really don’t like traveling alone. Even if it’s 2 girls, it doesn’t feel safe. its better in a group, guys will look out for you. it’s sad but that helps a lot.

Why do you keep traveling? Any life or world lessons learned?

Ease into traveling, its much easier to travel somewhere where you know the language. So if that’s English, seriously, go with England first. Without sounding corny, I keep traveling because you really can learn so much from new and different people and cultures.

What other places are next on your list?

I’m trying to see more of the US, I think we forget there are some great places right in our own country. I’ve also wanted to go to Italy for a long time. I love Italian food, great art and architecture.

Zoey: Lost and Found

sent:

Washington Post: Search Underway for Missing Police Dog Zoey, followed by Missing Pr. George’s Police Dog Zoey Is Found

reasoning:

Aww Zoey! yeah it’s ironic that zoey was a search & rescue dog, and when she slipped out of her collar and ran away, Prince George police had to conduct their very own “search and rescue” for her. if alanis morrisette’s “ironic” really had lyrics with such straight irony, zoey’s story would make for a good line. i wonder what she was doing those 6 days she was ‘on the run’ -  working on her continued escape plan, foraging for berries and small squirrels to eat? perhaps she was ‘missing’ for so long b/c she is a search & rescue dog, so she knows how not to be found. maybe she felt trapped and did not want to escape from the police life -> where is PETA when you need them to take on a good kidnapping case?  or perhaps Zoey wasn’t thinking any of this at all b/c she’s just a dog, a wild animal. my friend AHH once had her beloved dog, Razor, slip out of his collar and run away, she recounts the time as being absolutely scary. luckily and happily, Razor and Zoey are back safe. onward to more days of sniffing and running around.

immigration in the new administration

recipient:

IdentitySecure/ PO Box 5561/ Binghamton, NY 13902-9920

sent:

Orange County Register article by Dena Bunis, Washington Bureau Chief – Under Obama, immigration reform may have to wait

reasoning:

i’m going to try and be more diligent about this ’series’ i’ve decided to do. i guess my deadline is january 20th, when obama takes office and the news will be actually what he is doing, and not just predictions of what he will be doing. while the issue of immigration is often seen as being overshadowed by the financial crisis, and the talks about healthcare reform, there is not a dearth of articles talking about immigration not being discussed in the news. working at The Migration Policy Institute also helps.

“I’m not particularly impressed with raids on plants that grab a handful of undocumented workers and send them home, leaving the company in the position where it can just hire the next batch.” Obama said in a 2007 interview with the Des Moines Register.

2008: washington didn’t cross the delaware

recipient:

Hartford Life Insurance Companies/ 6820 Wedgwood Rd N/ Maple Grove, MN 55311-9910

sent:

Philadelphia News: Winds Prevent Washington from crossing Delaware

reasoning:

in both of their holiday messages, President Bush and President Obama recalled back 200 something years ago when the patriots were losing the war, and General Washington led his troops across the Delaware River on Christmas night, surprised the Hessians and turned the war back into our favor. without that act, America may not even exist today, Obama said “they faced impossible odds” and Bush said “Washington’s legacy lives on our troops serving in Iraq, etc”. throw in some more about fighting for freedom, protecting American ideals, an act of courage – during this political/economic/military climate, washington crossing the delaware seems to be one of the most patriotic things you can do for your country. even before it was a country.

i live in washington crossing, pa. the decision to cross the delaware at night and surprise the hessians was so pivotal and important, it has a ‘town’ named after it. there’s debate about whether it’s ‘washington crossing’, or ‘washington’s crossing’ – it takes up more ink when filling out paperwork. but every christmas around noon, revolutionary war reenactors gather in period garb, along with wooden rowboats. general washington does a grand speech, there are drums and horns, and his men step into the boat and they row the 50 feet across the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. EXCEPT many years they do not make it across, due to snow, windy wind conditions, bitter cold, ice in the water – a number of reasons. and while it’s usually meant in good spirits, hecklers from the crowd will yell “did george washington not cross b/c it was too cold?!?”, “not crossing the river is not what won the revolutionary war!”, “without crossing, america wouldn’t exist!”. haha, it’s the only source of drama this town gets. last year, they barely crossed. the year before that they tried to cross, but got caught in a wind current and the river patrol had to catch their boats. and this year, even with bush and obama drawing attention to the event, they did not cross but walked over the bridge, instead. at least they tried. it could be argued that’s pretty american, in itself. or not american at all.

remembering those forgotten

recipient:

Glamour/ PO Box 37690/ Boone, IA 50037-2690

sent:

Foreign-Born Veterans of the US Armed Forces MPI FactSheet, coauthored by Iris Ho (!) and Aaron Terrazas

reasoning:

an often-forgotten holiday (veterans’ day), and perhaps an even more forgotten group (immigrant veterans), this factsheet demonstrates the long-standing history of immigrant involvement in the military (they are highly recruited, especially during wartime).  the emphasis here is on immigrant veterans, those who have served in the last major wars of the 20th century. the numbers are basic, of where they are from, what war they served in, and where they currently live. while we were unable to get more specific information – data about current income, occupation, citizenship status, etc. with this FactSheet published and out on the web, hopefully another organization will be able to build on it and draw conclusions about the immigrant veterans demographic. whether or not we support a war, it’s hard not to support the soldiers, especially those who aren’t natives of the country they are fighting for – that sort of loyalty, and willingness to (literally) die for – commands a certain level of admiration and respect.