Since The Canterbury Tales are primarily travelers entertaining each other with stories along their journey, what story(ies) could you share with the class on this blog that would amusing or informative? Here's an example below.
In Vienna, Austria, August 14, 1977, my brothers Luke, age 9, and John, age 17, were imitating a little B.P. (British Petroleum) man stand-up advertising sign by turning their hat bills up like the figure and posing next to it. This figure was at the entrance to a number of parking garages and was making a gesture with its thumb (like a hitchhiker's) to turn in at that point. As our family would pass these signs, the two brothers would put on a playful little act with the figure, giving the family jollies.
There was a well-dressed, dignified man following us who was most amused when he saw young Luke and the other brothers' acting. He followed us a little farther and he caught our attention when we turned the corner. When we looked over at him, he put his finger in his mouth and blew so his cheeks puffed out and his hat started to rise. He did this trick by putting his umbrella behind his back to raise his hat. He got as much amusement out of surprising us as we got from his antics.
So, my American family had a positive, impromptu interaction with an otherwise unapproachable Austrian gentleman, who, for his part, made a lasting cross-cultural exchange of goodwill.
Bonus Post: What Have You Learned While Travelling?
Feb. 4, 1999—Crossing the Great Plains in a car is much better than by horse, but it's still a tedious trip. I've wondered how the pioneers maintained their sanity. Some years ago on a road trip back to the Midwest (with those wide-open spaces that give one time to think), I passed the time change line someplace in Nebraska and began to wonder when time zones were devised. I knew from a sunset table I had for bird hunting that each degree of longitude equated to 15 minutes of sunlight. Yet a degree of longitude was 30 or 60 miles and farther than anyone travelling by covered wagon could traverse in a day.
So when did time zones become necessary? About the time that one could notice a change in the sun--actually, lack of movement--if moving west. When did people start moving fast enough to be concerned if they were experiencing the day at the same rate as others? The earliest technology that transported people that fast was the train. So I figured time zones were instituted about 1860 when there was a transcontinental railroad moving people east to west or west to east faster than the sun moved across the sky and the day time would be noticeably different from the time one got on the train to the time one got off.
23 comments:
While working in D.C., I often had the oppurtunity to go out to meals with Senator Reid and his wife. One particular afternoon, my cousin (who is Harry Reid's grandaughter) and I went to lunch with him. Afterwards, he had things he needed to get done at home so his drivers dropped him off and my cousin and I got to ride in his escalade with just his secret police and ourselves. We had the funnest time walking around DC with our own undercover cops (haha, we even got to turn on the cop lights 'accidentally' just for fun). The entire trip to DC was amazing and extremely eye-opening.
At one point, the democrats held an all night session and it was the pages duty to get senators for particular votes. Around three in the morning I was assigned to find and WAKE UP Senator Clinton and it's plauable to state that she doesn't like being woken up anymore than we do. :)--Olivia C.
In 8th grade I went to New York City and other various places for my class trip. In Times Square my friend Megan and I were walking out of Sephora, a prestigious makeup store, when some paprazzi started following us and taking pictures of us. At first we didn't think too much of it, but then they began to hide behind light posts and cars to get pictures of us. We weren't sure what to do so we looked for some of our friends and finally found them and just hid inbetween them until the paparazzi ceased to follow. It was crazy, but definitly one of the most memorable moments of the trip. To this day I am not sure who they thought we were... chrissy
Over this past summer my friend Callie and I went to Florida to stay with my aunt and uncle. One of the days my uncle drove us to the Everglades and we went on an airboat ride. That’s where you get on one of those boats with the giant fan on the back and they’re about 2 feet above the water to see the alligators in the swamps. When we got there it was super sunny and so we started the tour and about ten minutes into it, it started to rain then started to hail. We were stuck in this giant metal boat with hail and lightning and when we started going the hail pelted us because we were going in the opposite direction the hail was blowing. We were on the boat for ten minutes then got off and right when we got off it stopped raining. We were soaking wet and had welts on us from the hail.
jen
Last spring break I went on a cruise over the western Caribbean. It was just my grandma and me so we would meet up for dinner and in port.
The last port was Jamaica, the one I had heard about how pretty it was. Well I must not have gone to the same spot they did because my port was trashed and filled shady taxi drivers.
Not ten minutes off the boat and a guy tried to sell my grandma some... unique substances. I remind you he was trying to sell it to her not to me. She slapped him with her handbag the size of a medium dog, grabbed me, and stormed back to the ship. I never did find out if that guy got back up off the ground..... Jessy
One time my friend Brad and I went to New Mexico with his dad for a business meeting. On the way there, we were pulled over for speeding down a two lane highway. After going to the meeting, we returned home the same day. Near the same spot on the two lane highway we were pulled over again by the same exact patrol car. He refused to let us off the hook even though he rememebered giving us a ticket earlier that day. He simply stated, "Well there is a first for everything." I now realize cops feel no obligation to let you off on an offense no matter what the circumstance may be.
Devin P.
Last year, my mom, sister and I traveled to the Florida Keys. One night we were walking around the lagoon and it was very late. Three young unsuspecting fellows spotted the three of us and started calling to us to hang out. Due to the dark nature of the night, they could not see us clearly. Amused, I answered, and said we would meet them later, which we never did. At breakfast the next morning I was facing the entrance and my mom had her back to the door. Surprise! surprise! They walked in and came over to talk. Once they had reached the table, their shocked expressions revealed that didn't realize one of us was a mom. Needless to say, they ate on the other side of the restaurant and everytime we saw them after that, they happened to just be leaving.
-Aubry
In elementary school, my dad took my brother and I to Hawaii on vacation. On the last day we all went to the top of a volcano. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was freezing cold putting my brother in a very bad mood. My dad was trying to take pictures, how many times do you get to be in Hawaii on top of a volcano with such a great view? Not very often. Anyways, my brother wasn't enjoying it and would not allow my dad to take his picture so he turned around. My dad took a picture of his butt instead. It's one of the best pictures ever. That trip was so much fun. Lindsay
There are many life skills one can learn from traveling. The summer after eighth grade, my friend Mandy and I ventured around the world, learning many skills; one of which proved very valuable. Destined for Jakarta, Indonesia, the two of us got on a plane. Half way through the flight, the plane stopped in Tokyo. Even though we would be traveling on to Singapore in the same plane, Mandy and I had to disembark, go through security (again), and then return to our gate. Naturally, the signs were all in Japanese and two, young, American teens had no idea were to go.
Luckily, we are quite intelligent. Spotting a fellow flyer, we decided to follow him. Zigzagging in and out of crowds, we kept an eye on our subject at all times. After about fifteen minutes, we began receiving strange glances from our subject. We tried hard to avoid being discovered, but they guy we were stalking turned around and asked me a question about my shirt! Maybe he never realized we were stalking him. Now, one may ask, how were we sure that this random guy from our flight would be traveling on to Singapore with us? Well, there is a simple answer to that, eavesdropping; another valuable life skill learned while traveling alone!--Christine
Two summers ago my family and I went to Colombia to visit relatives. We found a ton of new foods there that my brother and I had never even heard of before, including plenty of seafood on the coast. Unfortunately, I got food poisoning (from a shrimp cocktail, something I could eat anytime here) and spent the night getting rid of everything I had eaten for the past few hours. That was when I learned that even things you think are safe, are not. -Monique
A few summers ago my family and I went on vacation in the mountains during hunting season. We were hiking through the woods when all of a sudden we heard a gunshot. About 100 feet away a deer dropped to the ground. We ran up to it just as the hunter arrived. My mom was furious that a hunter was shooting so close to our cabin. From then on she always made us hike with bright yellow jackets.
-Brian Krump
This summer, I went on a missions trip to Mexico with my youth group. On the first full day we were there, a group of us took three vans across the border to El Paso to get food for the orphanage we were visiting. On the way there, one of the vans broke down, and five uf us girls ended up having to push that van across the border into the United States. The border patrol were so amused that they didn't even check to make sure we were indeed citizens. From then on we always had a tow rope with us no matter where we went. ~Jenny
One time my family and I were driving back from the mountains. My dad decided he wanted to take a "scenic route" home so he drove down a small winding road, much to my dismay. Four hours later, we arrived at home. The ride shouldn't have taken as long as it did. We should have been home in about two hours. My mom, sister and I were so glad to be home. A fter that experience, my dad doesn't take anymore scenic roads because we won't let him.--Ali
During spring break of 2006 my friend Ryan and I, both of us being 15 at the time, ventured to California to Ryan's house there. Upon arriving, we were surrounded by a large black cloud of smoke, resulting from ongoing fires. We managed to get two really good days in at the beach and walking around in town until, unfortunately, we were evacuated to an elementary school. We spent our remaining four days sleeping on uncomfortable cots with annoying small children, but we met this pretty cool street racer guy, and we got to go to a rally the next evening. Not only did we not get to enjoy our vacation as much as we planned, we came home to a snowy Colorado. Lesson learned: always make sure you aren't visiting within a 10 mile radius of ongoing fires. --Jordan
About four years ago, when I was twelve, my family and I went to the island of Nantucket during the summer because it is off the coast of Cape Cod, which is where I spend my summers. When our family was there, we rented two jeeps that we could drive on some of the beaches on Nantucket. My parents let me drive one of the jeeps for a little, while although I was only twelve with no driving experience. This turned out to be a bad decision because after only a little driving, I nearly flipped the jeep. I wasn't able to make a turn tight enough, and the left side of the jeep was halfway up a large sand dune. This was a very memorable trip, and my parents learned that a twelve year old shouldn't be driving on beaches. --Sean
Just recently, like less than a month ago, I went to Nashville to visit my brother, who goes to college there. I stayed with some friends in one of the dorms. It was really late and (we had just gotten very scared by a homeless person, but that's another story), so I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Anyway, I start hearing all of this commotion and finally woke up. Turns out, something happened and our room was flooding! I mean it was bad. We didn't know how to stop it. We are moving everything out the room. It's about 1 in the morning. The two girls I'm staying with are in tears. The entire room is under more than an inch of disgusting water, and we have about 4 towels. Some girls next door gave us a roll of paper towels, so we used that. And then the R.A. comes by to yell at us because we are being too noisy. Then, a couple of the girls in the adjoining room have to practically sneak out of the dorm to get a Rug Doctor for the carpet. We finally got it to stop flooding and dried most of it up (with 4 towels, unbelieveable, I know... some serious fishes and loaves Jesus stuff going on ). So, we use the Rug Doctor and then we have to wait for that to dry at about 4 in the morning. We end up sitting in another room eating very cold Taco Bell for another hour... then we have to move everything back in the room. Finally, about 5 something I get back to bed. And have to get up in just a little bit to go to an admission meeting. This is how I learned, always be prepared for anything on vacation...especially, vacation with me. --Ashley L.
A few years ago I went on a family trip to Germany. It was fun for the most part, but by the third week there it got lame. Not knowing the language or where I was was hard to handle. One day we went to a Holocaust museum. My sister and I were just walking around looking at all the cases when these guys started saying inappropriate things to us. My sister and I were very disturbed so we were trying to lose them in the museum, but they just kept following us still saying these inappropriate things. Finally, we found our parents and the boys stopped following us once they saw we were with parents. This made the last week a little entertaining. --Shannon
When I was in 5th grade, my parents took me on a trip to Europe. Although I made many memories on that particular trip, one anecdote stands out. While on our way to the Louve one morning in Paris, my family and I encountered a mime on the side of the street. As we were about to pass him, the mime motioned for us to stop and watch him. The mime then proceeded to perform a highly entertaining act, from miming out World War II in the eyes of his countrymen to doing a funny impression of then British Prime Minister Tony Blair. After the act was complete, my family and the small crowd surrounding the mime broke out in thunderous applause. After giving the man a generous tip, my family moved on with our vacation, but that memory I made that morning in France is one I will surely never forget. --Kyle N
One time my family and I were coming back from visiting some relatives in Switzerland. Before we could return home we had to take a short flight to Frankfurt, Germany, so we could catch another flight directly back to Denver. Our plane to Frankfurt was really late getting in, so we had to sprint from one end of the airport to another to possibly catch our flight even though it was a long-shot. When we got to the terminal, the plane was gone, but we were not the only ones that were on the same flight getting in and trying to get on that flight. But to our utter amazement, the airline people offered to delay the plane and take us out on a bus to catch the flight. Once we got on the plane everyone looked really surprised, and looking back, it was an exciting cap to the end of a vacation. --Sasha
My soccer team went to a tournament in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving in 2004. While there, we played six games over a four day span. We had a great time at our hotel and walking around the city at night. W e ended up winning the tournament, and we gave up no goals in the process. Of all the soccer tournaments that I have attended up to this point in my life, that was my favorite. --Milt
When I was in France with Oceane, a girl I did a foreign exchange with over the summer, we stayed in a small town in the south called Sanary. One night Oceane and I snuck out and walked to the beach. It took us a while to get up the courage to get in the water, because it was so cold, but once we did we didn't want to get out. After swimming for a while we got out, dried off, and then had to run home because we were worried we had been gone too long. Luckily, her parents never found out! —Sarah P.
When I was in the 6th grade my family took a 6-week RVing trip to Florida, South Carolina, Chicago, and back. For the first part in Florida, we stayed at the Disney wilderness lodge campgrounds. Since the campground area was so big they gave us golf carts to drive to get to the pool and recreational house and back. You had to have a license in order to drive the golf cart. My cousins and I were all under 16 and really wanted to take the golf cart. So when our parents were making dinner we took one of the golf carts. I was driving and had no idea what I was doing. We needed to make a turn to get to the pool. I slammed on the brakes so not to miss it and the guy behind us almost hit us and then tried to pass us. I sped up because I was just going to turn at the next one. There was a car heading toward the guy trying to pass me so he had to slam on his brakes to get behind me. He was really upset. So I took the next turn--which actually was not a turn--and ended up running the cart through a fence and into a tree. It was not going very fast so luckily there was no damage. However, our parents were pretty upset. --Amanda
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