I’ll be traveling with a group of 50 Korean people again. The last time I did this I swore, “never again” but a sweet deal and soem vacation time later, here I am again. Since we depart for China this weekend, we went down the list of things we need to travel in another country. Here is what we are bringing, and why:

  • Chinese cash: If we do any tipping or shopping, we need a foreign currency to be ripped off without knowing.
  • Passport with visas: We need to alert the country that potential suckers are on the way.
  • Tissues: We were told by people that there is no toilet paper provided anywhere. Toilets also have no doors. (*)
  • Shampoo, soap, toothpaste, basically anything you need to be slightly sanitary: Not provided by hotels. (*)
  • Aspirin/Ear plugs (one set): For the Chinese opera we will attend. Chinese music gives me headaches.
  • A book: For the long waits on the bus while we are taken to jade expos, duty free shops, and tourist traps.
  • Seaweed Laver/Kimchi: We are bringing Korean side dishes.

(*) Unconfirmed reports by other teachers we know.

While I complained about Korean people bringing Korean food with them when they traveled in Thailand, now I am participating in the same exercise. It wasn’t my idea either, it was actually recommended to us by a foreign teacher at my wife’s school, and shown as proof we needed to prepare for China in far more ways than I expected.
The foreign teacher said that since Chinese food tends to be very oily. It’s fried in that wonderful heart clogging substance known as lard. As a precautionary measure, she suggested that people should bring kimchi to help their system deal with this influx of cholesterol. Also, sensitive eaters that confront Chinese food they have a problem with can always go back to eating kimchi and seaweed as a sort of safety net food. Korean people tend to cling on kimchi as a sort of cruch, claiming they have evolved a special, extremely sensitive diet, or any other excuse that let’s them not have to try new foods while traveling. I through caution to the wind in Thailand and ended up eating some “rat shit peppers” that points to the wisdom of dining on the things you know while in another country.
The ultimate irony would be if the kimchi we brought with us from Korea happened to be imported parasitic Chinese kimchi. I’m going to try all the food presented to me fairly, but I might have a little kimchi on the side if things demand it. But, I won’t be happy about it.