If You Traveled the World...

            Concordia’s Around-the-World Semester is quite a unique experience. You get to circumnavigate the globe, visit amazing sites like the Great Wall of China or Machu Picchu, and meet people who live very different from you. Each residence, however, is a different beast. From the steppes of Mongolia to the Super 8 Happy Dragon Hotel Hostel in Beijing, each place that you live in will be quite different. Adjusting to these abnormalities in your life will be a trying experience. This is written to give you a brief idea about what you may or may not encounter when you visit each destination.

Terelj National Park, Ger Home Stay, Mongolia. $260 a day:

            The first thing that will happen when you arrive is that you will be given a horse and told to ride. With no experience, you will have to focus too much on the horse and will miss the green rolling hills that surround you. Eventually though you will arrive at a destination and hope that you can finally rest, but unfortunately you will discover that it is only a short stop for lunch. So you will clamber back on your horse, and blindly follow the leaders until suddenly they lead you into a grove where you will have to set up camp.

            You will grab two roommates and pitch a tent in the small glade with everyone else. Then, you will charge up a large hill wheezing like an asthmatic and passing real ones in order to look out over the Mongolian steppes. At the top you will discover a shamanistic altar. As the sun sets you realize that that is your light source and you should get off the mountain before it is all gone. After a dinner of rice mixed with vegetables, you will take turns with your Mongolian guides singing songs from your native lands. After witnessing a shooting star you go to bed.

            The next morning you decide to sleep instead of getting up early to gallop on horses with your friends. This means getting more sleep but missing out on an adventure. You will decide it was not that important, and pack up before breakfast. Then you get back on a horse and begin your ride back. Your guides will tell you to go faster if you desire. This will go well for a while, but eventually one of your group will get thrown from the horse. This will cause everyone else to become scared, and high speeds will be discouraged. Eventually you will reach camp and ride in feeling like an expert rider.

Super 8 New Dragon Hotel/Hostel, Beijing China. $20 per night. 8610-52190188:

            When you first arrive you will discover that you are uncertain what you are going to reside in, or even the name. One sign says Super 8 Hotel and the other says New Dragon Hostel. But soon enough you won’t care since the air conditioning feels so nice compared to the sweltering Beijing heat.

            Once in your room you will pull out only what you need and let the rest of your bag get strewn across the narrow floor. Then you will explore the building and discover a bar/restaurant/social hangout downstairs. While your bedroom resembled a hotel, this red room with masks and flags hanging everywhere is more like a hostel. After a long awaited and delicious flavor filled meal full of assorted Chinese dishes, you will return to your room and sort through the hotel amenity kit of toothbrushes and many types of soap. You will even note that the bar of soap comes from the Forbidden City Hostel, which is neither name you have seen before. Since you have everything you need you will swiftly lose interest.

            In the following days you will become more comfortable with the hotel. You will sleep later, and use more of the free services. Your roommates will also suspect that the cleaning ladies have gone through your stuff without actually cleaning your room. This will concern you considering you just read a story by Rolf Potts about his bananas being stolen by the hotel cleaning ladies. But since nothing seems to have disappeared you feel safe.

            Toward the end of your stay you will notice that the bathroom has taken on a strange odor. This will lead to the discovery that your toilet does not rid itself of anything but liquids. And since all of your friends have decided to use your bathroom instead of the squatty-potties, there is quite a load building up. Though somehow the cleaning ladies remove all of the excrement the next day, the problem persists, and you will be glad that you only have a little time left.

Nha Nghi Hoang Giall, Pho Thang, Vietnam. $23 per night. 0210 2487 015:

            When you awake from you late night nap on the bus and discover you have arrived, you will stumble out into a light drizzle to get your room assignment. As orders are being given, you realize that your sole roommate for the next week will be the only junior high boy on the trip, Matt. This will cause you some concern since your only interactions have either left you confused or concerned. You accept it though, feeling a sense of martyrdom as you trudge to your room.

            It will be as you unpack that your worst fears on the trip will be realized here: bugs. Your neighbor, Seth, will invite you to his room and point out a spot on the wall. As you peer through the dim light you will realize that he is pointing at a spider the size of your hand. You will return to your room and keep a wary eye out for anything that could cause harm. Matt will find the only spider worth note in the bathroom. Feeling a sickening feeling you will decide to leave it be, hoping that maybe it will be struck by lightning, or something of that persuasion. Unfortunately nothing of that sort happens and you have to go to bed hoping that your mosquito net will save you if it suddenly becomes rabid in the middle of the night.

            Bugs are only a small part of your problem at this point though. As you try to read and journal before going to bed Matt will insist on having a conversation, and will talk straight through your entire night. Entirely exhausted, you hope sleep assails him quickly, which it does, and you are left in peace.