I Miss China...

So this was forwarded to me by a friend currently living in China and it was written by another friend (my China "dad") who rocks. Too funny. Enjoy!

The Way Vs. "A" Way

The Travel Gods Still Hate Me…

These past few weeks have put me back on the road again, only this time I haven’t needed my passport. Sadly though, it seems that my luck has remained the same – NOT GOOD. I’m in New Hampshire now at the Democratic College Congress, and heading to Connecticut from here for Youth Venture’s annual global team meeting (do you like how I talk about entire states as if they were cities? When they’re that tiny it feels like they’re cities, because you can zip through one in a car with great ease). It was the getting to New Hampshire that was a real pain in the rear.


I was supposed to take the bus from New York City (that’s big enough to get the city subtitle) to Boston then catch a short 1-hour car ride to New Hampshire. My shoulder surgery, however, was given the green light (I’m needing to get it done before the New Year so as to avoid having my insurance deductible reset) which meant I had to get back to DC for a Monday morning intake then board a plane to Boston Monday evening (I decided to fly over taking the train or bus to save time. Hahaha).

I did all the bookings, so forth and so on and put it in the hands of the travel gods, who are apparently irritated with me. My bus back to DC from NYC took a whopping SEVEN HOURS, which is three hours more than usual. Why, might you ask? Lets ask the State of New Jersey, who thought it would be a marvelous idea to split their “expressway” into two sections, one inevitably traffic-laden and the other open as the South Africa sky.


Fast-forward 16 hours later, post-intake (everything went well and I’m going to be on lots of drugs that are going to make me really loopy and very “huh? Whuh?”). I began my trek to Boston at 2:30pm by boarding the subway at Tenleytown station. I took the subway to the Marc commuter rail to the airport shuttle to Terminal 4, checked my bag, did the security dance, and plopped down in a chair at 5:10pm, perfect timing for my 5:30pm flight. DELAYED. We were now supposed to depart at 6:51pm. At 6:56pm they announced this flight was cancelled and we were all put on other flights leaving throughout the evening. My new departure time was 7:20pm. At 7:23pm I was still sitting in the terminal, fairly certain something was wrong. Indeed, something was wrong. At 7:40pm they CANCELLED that flight too – complete hydraulics failure which controls, you know, the entire plane.

At this point people were getting very agitated and crowding the gate area, ready to claim justice. I listened as people told loved ones their plight via cell phone. “I mean (sobbing), this is just like, the worst day of my life Mom,” and “Its just always something and this is just…just (gets choked up) why me?” and “The world hates me.” Dramatic? I think yes. For whatever reason – maybe the traveling all over and then living through the Dengue – I remained largely unaffected and found the whole ordeal rather humorous. I just bought a salad, read a book, and chilled out.

We eventually left from another gate on the other side of the airport, having to go through security all over again. Our 9:30pm departure put us in Boston at 11pm, which had me at my aunt Nancy’s place by 11:45pm, a full 7 hours and 15 minutes after leaving for the airport…Now, how long does the bus take again?

New Video - Random Collection From World Tour

I put this together for another organization who wants me to potentially "host" something for them. It's bits and bobs of me "hosting" while traveling. I only left one clip out - the morning of doom in India, when I had slept for 45 minutes. Maybe in a bout of insanity you'll get lucky and I'll accidentally post it...

Getting Crushed By A Christmas Tree

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving Louis, Kira and Jenna head to Connecticut to pick out the Parks Family Christmas Tree. When I'm on town, they let me tag along, which is wonderful for a kid from California who either picked out his tree in the Home Depot parking lot while wearing flip flops or helped his Dad take it out of the box and "assemble" the pieces.

The journey begins at 7:30am with delicious Dunkin' Donuts (which, alone, is worth the trip).


From there, it's a solid hour by car, during which Kira and Jenna enjoy playing "let me show you how much I love you."


We then pick up Terry and his gang, who never buy fewer than three trees. They're big-time tree people.


Cut to more sisterly love...


Next, it's all about selecting the "perfect tree," which you then chop down (ironic, no?). Fraser Fur only, obviously. This was Erin's first time chopping.



I, on the other hand, have a lot of experience, which doesn't explain how I allowed this one to fall on top of me.



Now nearing the end of the event, we all load them on the tractor, where they are whisked away to be cleaned up and loaded.


Then it's back through beautiful Connecticut, pretty leaves, pristine sky and all...



I'm still coated with sap, which feels great! Gotta love those holiday traditions!

Thanksgiving Recap

My oh my, what a day! After waking up at 10am and lounging about/working/napping, we (The Parks Family, Great Aunt Nancy and their Thanksgiving surrogate child - me) welcomed Fox and Jean for dinner. Originally from Beijing, we had a great time chattering on in Mandarin and talking about how China has changed over the last twenty years. Then it was dessert time, which meant a solid 24 people arrived, including a wild brood of 10 kids. It was just like holidays at home - chaotic, crowded and wonderful!

Aunt Ann, Looking Divine Beating Something


Me, Creating A Brilliant Shrimp Cocktail


Kira & Jenna - Sibling LOVE


The "Kids" Pull A China Pose (I Love A Good Group Photo)


The Adults Smile (Again, I Love A Good Group Photo)



Today we went to pick out the Parks Family Christmas Tree. More on that tomorrow!

--

Kyle Taylor

Thoughts On The New Look?

Let me know if you hate it! I wanted to "mix it up!"

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Kyle Taylor

Happy Turkey Day!

Just a quick happy thanksgiving to all those US readers, and a special shoutout to all those Americans living abroad. I was in China last year at this time and I have to say, it's definitely strange to be in a foreign land on a big US holiday (though the giant American party at the Brit's house (Lianne, I love you!) definitely helped. A few pics from that festivities follow:

Me With Our "Turkey"


Lig "Loving This Whole Food Thing"


Sara and Kelly Presenting Their Papier Mache Creation


Fran Approves


Magical Food Appears!


Cultural Exchange


Cake Thief!



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