Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia North Carolina
South Carolina Texas Oklahoma Louisiana
Mississippi Maryland Delaware Washington D.C.
Virginia Tennessee
Outside CONUS
Australia New Zealand
Japan China Hong Kong Macau
Singapore Malaysia Thailand Indonesia
Click on any of the above links to read my other adventures throughout the respective countries and states.
I was in China in 1989 and 1991. I have no idea why or for what purpose i was there. Grampy wanted to visit his relatives there, i suppose. Dad accompanied him there. Dragged mom and I along. I was young and didn't use my brains i suppose. I could have said NO but i went along to find out what was out there. TWICE! I'll show the pictures when i have found better looking ones.
1989
Geeky looking and starting to get fatter. Thick pink - rimmed plastic spectacles mom kinda chose for me. Now when i look at those pictures from the bygone era, i feel like thowing up and burn the pictures immediately. It was just an awful experience. Met those distant cousins. They seemed humble since they aren't affluent. Interesting thing to note though, babies and tots were dressed in bright colors with holes cut into their pants at all the strategic spots. A cut in the back for the butt, which i assumed was for the benefit of allowing the child to poop in his pants, while not getting his pants dirty. Another hole cut was in the front of the pants and you have no idea how happy those little boys run around with their packages dangling. Took a while to get used to the eyesore. Same goes for the girls. A hole cut in the back and i believe one too down at the bottom front. No one used diapers. The market was filled with folks displaying their goods on the ground, hollering and selling food. Kinda unhygenic though. Fresh meat weren't refrigerated and all were placed on the bare ground with spit all over the place. I about puked. The relatives gave grampy some gifts before he left (honey and picked vegetables). When we got to the airport, i was stopped by customs (since i had to carry the bag for him) after the bag went through that baggage scanner machine. They thought i was carrying grenades into the plane. Turns out that the "grenades" were those darn picked vegetables. They were packed so tight together that they look like a pack of grenades. Had that "grenade" sorta color too. I was finally allowed to board my plane. Least they hadn?t insist that I face the firing squad for scaring the heck outta them.
1991
Nothing much has changed, except for a few things. I'm still rounded and still geeky looking in pictures. I was a fashion disaster, wearing jeans high up way above my navel. This was still a time when i look into the photo albums and exclaim "Gosh! I can't believe i was that awful looking!" Those relatives are a little more affluent now and have become somewhat snobbish. Couldn't wait to get my ass home. It was just horrible.
Dossier
Picture Gallery
Special Someone
Army ROTC
POW / MIA
The Gulf War
Art of Social Science
Tintin
Travels
Links
Webrings