Trip to Asia. Warning: long and not too descriptive.

[Guest shiranui]

This ‘observation’ doesn’t exactly picture the sneezes, but is just an overview from a trip. Now afterwards I realize I had great opportunities to write down nice observations, but now it’s too late to remember them exactly. Sorry if this is too long and not so descriptive.

I recently visited Beijing (a wonderful trip BTW) and learnt that it’s very common for tourists to catch cold during their trip to Asia (another microbial flora). I’d say, at some point of the trip at least 25 percent in the group I followed for a while were sneezing, coughing and snivelling. Even the tour leader, a young slightly skinny guy with brown hair and blue eyes caught cold. He used a microphone talking to us in the tour bus, and one morning he sounded all stuffed up and occasionally switched off the microphone, blowing his nose. I think I heard him sneeze too, a stifled low sneeze.

Another time a middle aged lady with greyish short hair and beautiful dark blue eyes sat beside me (she seemed to have assigned herself to act like mother-hen to me…) and she suddenly started to sneeze. There were sneeze after wrenching sneeze, and she said apologetically that we must have encountered some kind of plant she had an allergic reaction to. The sneezes became wetter and more desperate, she tried to clean her nose blowing repeatedly into some tissues, but finally excused herself all teary eyed, and moved over to an empty seat at the back of the bus, wanting to be by herself. She couldn’t know I didn’t mind.

At the flight home it was like being in a day care centre during flu season… and probably equally contagious. I had my seat together with a group that had visited Tibet, and the older man next to me sneezed and blew his nose constantly during the 11 hours spent on the aeroplane (delay included). I sat at the isle, and on the other side next to me were a middle aged couple. The woman obviously suffering from a bad head cold, trying to sleep her misery off, sneezing a few times. Her husband occasionally sneezed loudly - they were some kind of ‘scream-sneezes’, almost making me jump in my chair. I managed to keep healthy during the entire trip… until I came home. I guess being surrounded by all that sneezing in the aeroplane, then having to spend a night at a hard bench at the airport, missing my connecting flight… finally took its toll.

I wonder what kind of observations I’ll encounter travelling around Japan this spring. I heard allergy season is pretty rough there. I never thought of writing observations before, but I guess I’ll have to give it another try then… trying to give you more exact descriptions.

Here’s a couple of links connected to the hay fever suffering in Japan btw.

http://www.asahi.com/english/lifestyle/TKY200503050134.html

http://www02.nokia.co.jp/tokyoq/weekly_upd...tutt020315.html

[Lady Tori]

Great obs, and those links were awesome! Thank you for sharing

[VoOs]

WHOA! That was some AMAZING observations, shiranui!! And those links... EEEEEEE! ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU! *buys flight tickets to Beijing*

Hehe, I'm ok now...

[Guest shiranui]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it... and I think I have more links on the topic somewhere if you liked them

WHOA! That was some AMAZING observations, shiranui!! And those links... EEEEEEE! ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU! *buys flight tickets to Beijing*

Hehe, I'm ok now...

*LOL!* I'm glad you're okay again And hey, we should go to Asia toghether next time... let's say a field trip in the study of sneezes *S*

BTW VoOs, I've started translating today... hopefully it won't take too long, depends on how much work I'll have this week.

[YoriYori]

I remember when I went on a school trip to Asia, they were warning us furiously against the high chances of getting sick! Only one of us ended up slightly ill, I didn't realize it was so common .

Thanks for the obs but I think if I was in your position I would have died of disgust of having to be so close to so many sick people in a plane *complete germophobe*.

I hope you are feeling better soon

[Sneesee]

I thought this obs was very well written and entertaining! Thanks, and I do believe long airplane rides are one of the best ways to get obs!

[Lamborghini]

I thought this obs was very well written and entertaining! Thanks, and I do believe long airplane rides are one of the best ways to get obs!

Agreed. Thanks Shiranui.

Lamborghini

[VoOs]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it... and I think I have more links on the topic somewhere if you liked them

WHOA! That was some AMAZING observations, shiranui!! And those links... EEEEEEE! ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU! *buys flight tickets to Beijing*

Hehe, I'm ok now...

*LOL!* I'm glad you're okay again And hey, we should go to Asia toghether next time... let's say a field trip in the study of sneezes *S*

BTW VoOs, I've started translating today... hopefully it won't take too long, depends on how much work I'll have this week.

Great! I'm SO looking forward to read it

[Sawyer]

Well good luck with the obs, then! You'll probably like Japan. It's fun there, and during allergy season, TONS of sneezes! It's common for Japanese people to have hayfever. But I didn't get it....

Anyway, have a nice trip! I look forward to your obs.

~Ferret