Author: isaac

Wrong Way, Go Back.

Sentiment

Wrong Wang Go Back

Wrong Way, Go back is a signpost that always hides behind another one. I can see it anywhere in Melbourne, even on campus. Sometimes I think this warning is quite funny, if there are other signs to tell people what is the right way, how can people drive into the wrong way? But I saw a car, today, really came to the wrong way, then the driver saw the sign, stopped, and went back. Suddenly I kind of understood why this signpost should exist, even though it’s clear what is right, often people tend to go to the wrong way for any reasons. Till they are reminded again, they won’t be back to the right way.

What a simple theory, I never think about it before. However, people cannot always see this kind of reminding. In reality, facing different kinds of choices, it’s difficult to make any decisions. Then if the first step were wrong, sadly there would be no such kind of signposts to expect as on the road. Undoubtedly many people just keep going and never give up, and they never know they are wrong.

Long long time ago, I discussed this question with someone, which types of questions do you prefer in the exams, multi-choice or questions? The answer was unanimous: multi-choice is the nightmare in any exam, though it will never miss any exam.

Well, luckily we can correct, like we can correct the exam answers, like the two sons story in Bible, we can always review ourselves and make a wise progress. There is nothing wrong to persist, just sometimes we need change.

Why do People Travel?

Travel

First of all, I don’t mean those who travel with five star hotel and business class flight, I don’t mean those who travel for business and spend a weekend in another city either, I mean those backpackers who travelled weeks and months far from their homes.

During each trip I’ll meet new people and hear different stories, though in most cases I’ll never meet them again. Before each trip I normally read Lonely Planet and plan the route carefully, and I am always happy to do something excessive than the recommendation, for a long time I think it is the only pleasure of travelling, till recently something changed my mind. I remembered when I was in Sydney I asked one mate what’s your plan today, he said I haven’t worked out. Also in Sydney I asked another mate what city are you heading to, he said I don’t know. Last night in Gold Coast I met a Canadian mate, he said he might buy a ticket to Canada tomorrow but he was not sure. After I introduced some good places in China, he said he might go to China but he was not sure either. This afternoon when I was back, guess what, his luggage was still in the room. I think this “not sure” is really a travel style rather than a simple unsure answer, it’s a pleasure which I have never thought before, full of unknowns, full of adventures, full of interests, I am just wondering if this is the reason that most of the backpackers enjoy the travelling by themselves.

Well, too much thinking, really not suitable in Queensland. Now I’m sitting on the table in my room, in front of me is the Fisherman’s Wharf, a big yacht club, some birds are flying freely in the sky, a lady is lying near the sea and enjoying the afternoon sunshine, and I am playing my iPad. Tomorrow is my last day in Gold Coast and I will finish my holidays in Australia and go back to China soon, now I’m kind of depressed, because I won’t be here any longer, I will have to be back to my daily life, this feeling is quite normal before the end of each travelling, but this time, plus one more regret, I never had the happiness of an unplanned travel.

But anyway I still enjoyed this trip, I climbed the harbour bridge, finished the most famous hiking way in Sydney, enjoyed the theme parks in Gold Coast and learned to surf, fair enough for a 8 days’ after exam travelling. Hope all the mates I met enjoyed their trips too, though different kinds of pleasures.

Which Country has the Slowest Post Delivery?

Postcard

This month is my unlucky month of postcrossing, most of my cards were sent to Russia and China, which means they can only arrive after maybe 30 days. I have to wait till next month to get my new send-to addresses.

As a new postcard crosser, I have only sent cards to less then 50 countries. From my stats, I found different countries have extreme different delivery speed, some countries are very fast, some are not. My record shows my slowest list of travel time:

Brazil 36 days
Belarus 36 days
Russia 35 days
Estonia 33 days
China 28 days
Costa Rica 24 days

These countries are active but very slow, this reminds me a funny story. In China there is a post service called post via Surface, once I sent a card to the States using this service, 2 months later I was told the card didn’t arrive. Then I sent a air mail replacement, after 10 days, it arrived. Another 1 month later, the sent-by-surface mail finally arrived.

Different from normal mails, there is no sender’s name and address on the postcard. If it can’t be sent to the right person, it won’t be returned, in this case, it’s a lost card. There are so many lost cards in China but never since I was in Melbourne, but what will happen this month?

Anyway, hope this month pass soon.