My Christ...

... it's been quite a long time.

And what is crazy is that last I wrote I was going to be heading overseas to China. And I did, and it was excellent, maybe I can dig up some pictures sometime.

What's really crazy is that this entry is coming from overseas, but a DIFFERENT trip. Yes since September, I have traveled overseas, been back to the good ole' U.S. of A. and am now back overseas. Right now, this transmission is coming to you from Seoul, South Korea.

Oh wait, let me go back, I HAD intended to blog last trip, however, the Chinese government does not allow blogging from inside their country. I'm not lying, they shutdown anything with "blog" in the url. so, let me see if I can dig up a post I wrote but couldn't publish thanks to the "Great fireWALL of CHINA" (their term,, not mine, but certainly apropos.

Let's see.... *digs around the bowels of my documents folder... ah, here it is! *wipes crumbs and jelly stains, smooths out paper*

-------------------------

Thursday, September 27^th, 2007

I had totally intended to keep my blog updated as I travel around China, but I found out one very surprising fact: China doesn’t look too kindly on bloggers. No, in fact, they pretty much deny anyone from accessing the blogger website. It’s amazing, but no matter where you go in the mainland there are certain sites you can’t access. No in the countryside, and not even in Shanghai.

Talking to someone who works in the south – towards the Shenzhen area – I find out that they call it the “Great Firewall”.

Walking around some place as technically advanced as Shanghai, I mean this city was a modern wonder – it’s so easy to forget that the people aren’t exactly free. It didn’t really dawn on me until I opened up the local paper one morning and read on the front page how they were banning reality TV shows. They wouldn’t be allowed on tv during the evening without going through intense scrutiny, and during these shows, the judges could not comment on the contestants dress or be seen flirting with each other. For someone who so firmly believes in freedom of speech (even when I don’t like what is being said) this really hit home.

Sadly, when I thought about it, I realized that this type of behavior isn’t just reserved to the mainland, in fact, this maintaining of puritan beliefs is exactly what the religious far right propose to do to America. Sure, they say they’re against communism, but then they attempt to shut down any thing they see as morally questionable. It’s not a much further step to move on to not allowing people to speak their mind.

What’s really shocking is, maybe this isn’t really all that bad. I see both sides of the coin. While to me – a freedom-abusing American, it seems constricting and offensive, for many of the mainland Chinese it’s not an issue. They are used to living under these constraints, and they think that the government is looking out for them. Which, in a very strict way, they just may be.

Of course, is it really in the people’s best interest? I doubt it. The truth is that this country turns a blind eye on prostitution. I’ve been told that in the past if you get caught consorting, they would stamp your passport, but these days I really doubt they’re looking. No, it’s not about indecency, but about control. They care much less about the moral issues of pornography, and much more a social well-being… believeing in their state and their government.

In a word: repression.

Having a moral backbone is an appealing ideal, but unfortunately most governement has long since passed into corruption and it’s all about control now.

As I am writing this, it is occurring to me that if I would get caught with it, I could be thrown in jail. In the U.S. I would be joking, here I am not.

I know this is all pretty heavy, but it has weighed on my mind over a lot of this trip. Next post will be lighter in attitude, I will go over some of the highlights of the trip and post some pictures.

----------------------

There you go. I DID blog back then. End of this post, fast forward to today:

Seoul is the most western feeling city I have been to in Asia. If I ignore the foreign writing, I would think I was in New York. In fact, I found myself often being caught off guard when I realized I was NOT in the US. Though, honestly, this whole trip has been like that.

a quick evidence of my macking ability:





That's me surrounded by some very fresh-looking asian BABES. I belive that I am showing them how a cat cleans its whiskers in this photo, I had them completely captivated. In fact, soon after this image was taken, the girl in the white coat dropped to her knees and fellated me right there in the street. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.

I am making that up.

Still, they were talking to me, under the guise that they needed to ask me questions for school. Yeah, they just wanted some freaky-freak. I know this.

I need a haircut.

Ok, I have to get ready, going to jump on a high speed train (300+ MPH!!) to go to Busan, Korea. And I need to bathe and pack.

Oh, and Korea has the best looking girls of the Asian countries I have visited. Sorry, HK, Taiwan, and China, but it's just a fact of life. Better luck next time.