A Guide to Traveling in Asia

Even though we've lived in Korea for 6 months, our trip to Taiwan last week taught me that I am woefully unprepared and unsuited for life in Asia. We're really spoiled here because we do have access to American products at the commissary and the PX and I get to enjoy my favorite foods on a daily basis. We have an APO address so it's quick and easy to have things shipped to us without paying exorbitant international shipping fees. My friends are all English-speakers who are either here with the military/government or teaching English. Basically I get to live in America but in a foreign country.

So spending a whole week in an Asian country with no access to a commissary, PX, or other white people was not fun.

At least not for me.

David had a ball.

So a few tips if you are considering a trip to Asia anytime soon. (These tips, however, will not apply if you come to Korea to visit me.)

1. Bring American food and snacks - I really enjoy Korean food. A lot. But we've found a nice restaurant near our home that we really enjoy and trust to give us tasty food everytime. You won't always be so lucky with traveling to different areas of Asia. I don't think Americans have any expectations about Korean food because not a lot of people have ever really eaten Korean food. But we've eaten a lot of Chinese food--or what we call Chinese food--but it doesn't even remotely resemble the food that is consumed in Taiwan and, I assume, mainland China. David spent two years living in Taiwan, and he grew to love this cuisine. I, on the other hand, was quite surprised to discover that I couldn't stomach a lot of it. Some of it was quite good but a lot of it was just plain weird and/or suspicious. I think I was overly cautious because David had warned me that food poisoning is a constant threat and I was reluctant to eat food at the tiny hole-in-the-wall places that David wanted to eat at (because he ate at those places on his mission). I was saved, however, by 7-11, McDonald's, and the pack of granola bars I had brought along. So if you want to be assured that you'll have some food and snacks to eat when nothing around you looks good, bring some food with you.

There are, of course, McDonald's, Pizza Huts, KFCs and Burger Kings all across Asia but you don't want to travel to an Asian country to only eat American food. I was also pleased to discover that Taiwan is far more international in the products it sells in its convenience stores. While Korea tends to only sell Korean products (and a few American/European ones at an exorbitant price), Taiwan had a whole array of snacks like Kinder eggs and Oreos. (I haven't seen Kinder products since I lived in Italy.) But you'll be thankful for a few comforts from home.

Especially when something like this shows up on your plate. (And this is not even remotely the worst thing I saw. Just the only thing I happened to take a picture of.)

2. Practice squatting - Behold the squatter toilet. I've had the good luck to mostly avoid having to use squatter toilets in Korea but squatter toilets are the rule rather than the exception in Taiwan and probably throughout most of Asia. Asians view the squatter toilet has far more hygienic than a regular toilet but I found the concept of my bare bum hanging out while I desperately tried to stay upright in a squatting position to be rather onerous. Not to mention that it's rather difficult to position yourself just so to ensure that nothing else (i.e. your pants) gets in the way.

This toilet even had this helpful drawing. But I found the bar to be far more helpful. (It was the only one like it that I ever encountered.) Now, there are regular toilets. Homes, hotel rooms, and handicapped stalls are all equipped with your standard toilet. So if I couldn't bear to bare my bum, I'd wait to use the handicapped stall. Some stalls even helpfully show what kind of toilet can be found within which was much appreciated.

3. Bring toilet paper - The majority of public restrooms do not provide toilet paper so you must bring your own if you find a dry bum to be preferable to a wet one. Most stores carry little packs. The gas stations hand them out when you fill up for some reason. I found the mini-packs of facial tissue to be quite helpful. However, if you use a squatter toilet, chances are you can't flush the toilet paper down. Most Asians throw the toilet paper into a trash can. Weird, but otherwise, the toilet paper doesn't go down.

4. And soap. - Add soap and/or Purell to that list. Public restrooms also very rarely provide soap or hand dryers/paper towels for washing your hands. They are plenty of sinks, just no way to do a good job of washing your hands.

5. Speak the language or stick to the cities - Since we haven't left Seoul, and since the majority of people here speak some English, I haven't found it very difficult to get around on my own. All the signs are written in Hangul (Korean writing) and English. Same with Taiwan. But we would have been screwed as soon as we left Taipei if David didn't speak Chinese. So either you have to be an incredibly patient person, have a translator, or stick to the cities. Otherwise, navigating through Asia can be a bit tricky. (But maybe less so if you only take public transportation. We rented a car and ended up in some far away towns way off the beaten path where they probably hardly ever saw white people if the amount of stares we received are any indication.)

While David was very sad to leave Taiwan, I couldn't want to get back to my Americanized version of Korea. It's so nice to eat normal food again. And sleep in a bed with a soft mattress. (All our hotel beds were unusually hard, probably because most Asians typically sleep on a thin mat on the floor.) I definitely enjoyed our chance to see more of Asia, and especially for David to return to the cities where he served his mission, but next time I leave Seoul, I'll be much better prepared.

Up next: the exciting recap of our week's events. I promise there will be no more pictures of toilets, just giant Buddhas and a lot--and I mean a lot-- of Buddist temples.