While I was living in Singapore I decided to travel to the Philippines for a week. I set up base camp in the Philippine's capital city Manila. Manila is a beautiful city, but you also see that it is in of help from the many cabs and street vendors trying to scam you or worse. That being said, Manila is like any other dangerous city, if you know where your going, keep an eye out for trouble and don't where anything flashy you should be fine. I stayed for about 3 days before I made my journey to Volcano Taal.
Volcano Taal was a great experience. The scenery was unlike anything I had seen. The ground was so hot that smoke rose up through the ashy sand every time I took a step. The most interesting thing about the Volcano is it's history. I'll try to explain this as best I can. It was a large Volcano that erupted an collapsed into itself creating a large crater lake, then it formed another Volcano island within the middle of that lake, which erupted creating another crater on the island which created another lake and now it has another small island in that lake. I know that is a lot to explain so here are some pictures.
Across the sea, nearly ten thousand miles I traveled to Singapore to live and learn about one of the most interesting countries on the planet. Singapore is an Island nation, approximately 227.6 miles long, with a population of roughly 6 million. What's most fascinating is that the country itself is a large city. First thing people have asked me is, what language do they speak in Singapore? Being a former British colony, English is the most used language. But there are three more languages in Singapore. The majority of Singapore population is Chinese, after that there are Malaysians, Indians and Bangladesh. There are other ethnicities in Singapore but Chinese, Malaysian and Indian are the most dominate. That being said, English is used across the board.
In Singapore 'Gum' is really illegal. Singapore doesn't sell gum or allow it to be imported. That was one of those rumors that you'd think was just that, a rumor. But most Singaporeans don't follow most of the what some would call super strict laws. I was historical when one of my friends offered me a piece of what looked like winter fresh in the middle of a class.
Oh Canada! I recently got a chance too travel to Toronto an explore the wonders of THE MEGACITY. Upon first entering Canada I immediately realized the difference in hospitality compared to America. When asking for information at train and bus stations I wasn't met with the usual heart warming tough look quick explanation to my surprise. Needles to say, people are very friendly. That didn't change when I got to Toronto either. One of the things I enjoyed most about Toronto was the embrace of internationals. Visiting Korea, China and other cultural city town districts you get a strong sense of a welcome community.
I traveled all around the city to cool places like CN Tower and Casa loma. If your not a heights person the CN Tower is still a great place to visit, located conveniently next to the aquarium. Casa loma is very nostalgic if you've ever seen the live action X-men movie. A few scenes were filmed on location back in 2003.
In my opinion Toronto is one of the best cities in the world. The crime is low and the people are open minded. If your looking for a great place to take in sights an a slice of humble pie, Toronto should definitely be on your top 5 list cities to travel to.
This was my first trip to Detroit's annually held cosplay convention known as Youmacon, it was something out of this world!
This is the one time of the year (besides Halloween) you can dress up as your favorite character from a video game, movie, anime or even television show and not be weird! Well a bunch of adults in costumes..ehh well we need to let loose every once in a while, tricks don't always have to be for kids! So Youmacon is like Halloween, minus the candy, plus cooler costumes and two extra days! Thousands gather to show off their costumes, go to panels with celebrity speakers, watch anime, play video games, shop, eat drink and be marry! There's tons of cool things you can get into, depending on your preference.
All of the events are fun. There's literally something for everyone. However, it's not the events or the celebrity guests, or the fancy lights that make Youmacon. It's the people. The costumes are the most exciting part! I think even old Clint himself would agree, It's all about the good, bad and the ugly. How much work some participants put into the cosplay is mind blowing! Traveling across the vast wonderland known as Youma I came across many interesting people.
This summer I studied abroad in Japan through a program called JCMU. This was my first trip out side of the U.S. and also my first time riding on a plane. I can honestly say, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. It wasn't with out it's challenges though. It took a lot to find the confidence to say I'm going to this and then actually follow suit. I had lived with the thought of going for most of my life, but I could never get past the distance. Being from a close knit family, it was hard to imagine journeying so far away from home. They thought so as well. Then there was the fear of heights, I couldn't even stomach a roller coaster. After getting into college, I spent two years thinking about and listening to everything people had to say concerning travel, riding planes, money and culture differences etc. The only thing was that most of the people telling me had never attempted what I was about to do. So I made a decision, I would find out for myself.
After I made up my mind all of the fears and doubts I had turned into determination, I had to know for myself. With this new vote of confidence, I began to search for a means to travel to Japan. After a while of searching through study abroad programs at my University, I came a crossed JCMU. It was a summer long program of studying language in Japan. It was perfect for my finances and my time schedule. All that was left for me to do was to apply and head out. I hit a few snags finding a good price on plane tickets and a few other obstacles which almost prevented me from going, but my strong desire to experience Japan for myself help me to persevere.
With that, I took to the sky and began my journey to Japan. It turns out flying wasn't as bad as everyone had told me, I loved it!
Before I could get to Japan I had to change planes in South Korea. It was easier to get around the air port than I thought it would be. Everybody I ran into spoke a little bit of English, which was helpful.
It was a little strange, though I had traveled through South Korea and arrived in Japan I didn't experience the anxiety known as culture shock. It wasn't until my return to America, that I felt the effects of the culture differences. After arriving in Japan I wasn't met with a welcome wagon, I was on my own. I spoke only five sentences in Japanese, along with a few phrases I picked up from my favorite anime. I was in trouble, not really. If you understand your basic direction questions and answers you can find your way around pretty well, people in Japan are very helpful. I got directions to the city where my program was located and caught a bullet train heading that way.
By the time I got my program I was exhausted. I had been up the whole 14 hours of the flight and the small time I spent in South Korea. I was experiencing jet lag. It took some time for me to adjusted to the change in time zones. The culture part wasn't to hard you just have to do everything opposite of American culture; take your shoes of before you enter the house, separate your garbage and be polite.
The town I stayed in was a cozy little place called Hikone.
The people I met at JCMU were all amazing. Everybody had their own reasons for coming to Japan. Some were there for business, others for research, but most of us were there for language. The summer program was very intense. We studied day in and day out with out fail. It was overwhelming to say the least, from my experience. I was pushed to my limits and beyond academically. I had many sleepless nights of cramming for tests, memorizing different grammar patters and vocabulary everyday. I was met with a challenge every step of the way. I didn't overcome all of them, but I learned every time. Whether it was a short coming or a success.
These are my classmates and our language professors.
Through all of the hustle and bustle of school and the busy life in Japan, I still manged to have fun. I met a lot of new friends and we traveled to a lot of fun places.
Monkey Mountain
Kyoto
Nara
Hikone Castle
Friends and other places
Japan was everything I thought it would be and more. There were times when I had to pinch myself to see if it was real. The things that I learned and the people I met have inspired me to see more of the world. I wont ever forget what I experienced in Japan. No words can really describe what it's like to get to live out one of
your dreams. But I'll give it a try anyway, it was a blessing.
I got a chance to sit down with actor Larry Joe Campbell around the time he visited Central Michigan University this past January. We talked about college, movies, work ethic and a little about directing. Larry had strong words of advice for young aspiring actors seeking to pursue a career in show business.
"Don't do it for fame, do it for the love of it because you'll never be happy," said Larry Joe Campbell. "You'll always be disappointed if you chase the carrot, you got to do what feeds you."
