How to be a good tourist

Let this be a testimony to how random I actually am. I could be thinking of science, or the football game I'm going to on Saturday, or the library I'm in...but no. After browsing a couple of photos, I've decided to write a blogpost on how to be (or at least look like) a good tourist. Anyway...

So whenever I've gone to foreign countries as a non-child, I have made a conscious attempt to not look like a tourist. That's what we should do, right? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. But sometimes I have seen these "how not to look like a tourist" things go a tiny bit too far.

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Looking-Like-an-American-Tourist

It appears that in order to not look like an American, you can't pull your socks up too high, or wear athletic shoes, or wear certain accessories or colors since the locals aren't wearing them. What is this, a case of high school hierarchy?

Granted, some countries do require certain forms of dress, and I am not advocating breaking the law, or bashing other countries' ways of dress because they aren't our own. But I am advocating being our own selves for goodness' sake.

The thing is, even if you try as hard as you can to not dress up like a tourist, if you're going to another country to sightsee or go on a tour, you are a tourist! And if you're like me, you've probably been careful to try not to dress like a tourist not just because of stealing issues, but because you don't want to impose your American-ness on other people. Not wanting to impose on people is all well and good, but I don't think it's good to try sooooo hard to separate yourself from your own nationality, especially if you're only staying in the country for a week or something like that.

Granted, I do think that WikiHow article is good in some respects. So here are my own comments and advice.

How to straight up give yourself away as a tourist:

1. Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, white socks and gym shoes, with a fanny pack and a baseball cap.
2. (at least in France) Tank top that says "I <3 (something)", booty shorts, and flip flops.
3. Fanny packs in general.
4. Crocs.
5. Being really loud.
6. Insulting the local culture. (Golden Rule people!)
7. Being really loud in English in a country where English isn't normally spoken.
8. Not accepting the table manners and stuff like that.
9. Having a giant map out. This often can't be helped, though it can be avoided if you have a smartphone with a map.
10. Having a camera around your neck.

Stuff you should do if you are a tourist:

1. (if not in an English speaking country) Learn some of the local language.
2. Hit up some books or Internet resources about the culture/history/politics of the country you're going to. Again, I'm not advocating looking down on other countries and cultures--far from it! I'm just warning against trying too hard to fit in. In relation to that...
3. Try to dress like the locals, but again, don't try too hard!
4. Before you go to a foreign country, try and look up some cultural norms--for example, things about personal space, or chewing gum in public, or eating on the street, or (especially in Asia) cutlery norms and table manners.
5. Keep your money and valuables in a place where not everyone can see it and/or take it easily. I'd advise in the pockets or bags.
6. Use local currency. (Isn't this a given? Someone please enlighten me.)
7. Don't be mean to people who give you dirty looks and stuff.
8. Have fun and embrace the local culture!

Random post over!

I'M ALIVE!

It just dawned on me that it's November, and I'm going home for Thanksgiving in only twenty days. I've survived nearly three months of college!

I definitely remember being at home during a particularly lazy summer and wondering several times if I would end up imploding in college. Well, I haven't been doing everything perfectly, but I can think of a lot of ways that it could be much worse. So praise the Lord. I'm happy.

I guess I'll share a couple things I've learned:

1. You are probably not going to have everything in college life settled in the first two to three months. Patience is a virtue, and you're going to have to be happy while not necessarily knowing what's going to come next or who's going to end up being your best friend or any of that.

2. A lot of people have a lot of opinions and while it's not good to shun other people because of their opinions, it's also not a good idea to try and take everyone's opinion and make it your own. Sometimes it is really good to just respectfully disagree and go on your own merry way.

3. Don't take everything so seriously. Make sure that you make time in your schedule for something that just straight-up makes you happy.

4. (I kind of learned this in high school, but this was consolidated in college.) Most of the really good classes are going to inundate you with work. A lot of the classes with really engaging professors will also be coupled with lots of work.

5. You are probably going to walk by some pretty weird things. I was walking back from the library with my roommate during the night and we were witnesses to a group of people on really weird bikes--I saw a penny-farthing bike, and a neon bike and other weird things. They were playing pump up music. And it was pretty long past midnight. Which brings me to another thing...

6. Especially if you end up in a college like mine, don't be surprised if you find yourself walking back from a library in the wee hours of the morning more than once. Which brings me to another thing...

7. Pitch-blackness is okay. Rain is okay. But when you combine them it's actually kind of depressing.

8. Buy vitamins and put them in your dorm. They're expensive but they help when colds are spreading.

9. Just because you've started to live by yourself and have some adult responsibilities now, doesn't mean that you're an adult just yet. This is a good thing--be happy while you're young! Don't let the workload or anything else get you down--these are the last years of semi-childhood that you have. Be happy!

10. You are probably going to miss your parents at some point (unless they were really horrible to you while you were at home). That's why a lot of people stay close!

I might add more advice tidbits, but more likely I'll have to go through more college in order to find those. For now I hope this helps someone...