local culture - Lili on the Loose

28 04, 2014

Travel Missteps: A Smashing Good Time

By Lili|April 28th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2003, all inclusive, birthday, cake, Central America, Holiday in Rivera Maya, local culture, Mexico, Rivera Maya, Sister Cities|0 Comments

Some travelers are against “All-Inclusives” since the best part of going to a foreign country is to experience the local culture first hand and that’s nearly impossible to do behind the secluded walls of the resort. But even in this type of setting, sometimes you are surprised and can experience the local culture in unexpected ways. At least, that is how we now look at my mother’s birthday while staying in an All Inclusive resort in Rivera Maya, Mexico in 2003. A relaxing beach in Mexico. It was a relaxing trip. Full of hanging out at the beach,

17 03, 2014

Travel Missteps: Left Over Right

By Lili|March 17th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2004, 7/11, Asia, exchange program, Japan, kimono, left, local culture, naked, prank, right, shopping, silk, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, souvenir, spirits, Tokyo, translation, yukata|0 Comments

In 2004, I was spending a few weeks in Japan as a cultural ambassador with my town's Sister Cities delegation of two chaperones and 9 other students. Beyond experiencing the sites of Tokyo for a few days, we all wanted to get some souvenir shopping done before we headed to the smaller, non-touristy town which was our sister city. I had read in a guide book that a store in Tokyo called "Oriental Bazaar" had a great selection of many typical Japanese souvenirs at cheaper prices. So I guided the group there. It was perfect, they had so many great

4 02, 2013

Travel Missteps: Not Lost on Translation

By Lili|February 4th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2004, Asia, cabins, camping, Chino, exchange program, ghost story, horror story, Japan, Japanese, language, local culture, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, slang, Tokyo, translation, Yen|0 Comments

I am in the center of the photo next to Chris and in the front left we have my host sister. In the summer of 2004 I participated in a student exchange through the Sister Cities program to Chino, Japan. I was the first person in 13 years of this exchange to speak some Japanese. This was great for me as I could talk to my host family and strangers and absorb more of the culture. For example, on our first day in Tokyo we went to a "one yen/one coin" store where everything was just 1 yen. We

24 12, 2012

Travel Missteps: A Grave Christmas Tree Mistake

By Lili|December 24th, 2012|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2011, Bavaria, Christmas, Christmas in Germany 2011, Christmas Tree, Europe, Germany, graveyard, Home Alone, local culture, Movie, Munich, Odeonsplatz, ornament, traditions, U-Bahn|0 Comments

A decorated Christmas Tree in Munich. A little large for what I was looking for. My little sister had been teaching in Kenya, so the family decided to meet "halfway" in Germany for Christmas 2011. I felt like Kevin McCallister in the "Home Alone" movies, worried we wouldn't have a real Christmas tree. So I had researched ahead of time where to get a little Christmas tree and Odeonsplatz in Munich was recommended on a ex-pat forum. The key issue with this plan is we were staying two U-Bahn stops away from Odeonsplatz, which would make for an interesting subway ride if