Dave’s Wagon

Dave’s Wagon has never had a “unifying theme” before. It’s always been a random collection of parodies, satires, Photoshops, and complains on a wide range of topics. That “wide range” is about to get a lot less wide, if only for a few months. This September I’ll be traveling to Hangzhou, China for a semester to study abroad, and it’s safe to say that my mind (and hence, this blog) will be on China during that time.

This new change of direction may intrigue some of you while turning off others. Let me make some assurances, then, as to what this new Dave’s Wagon will not contain:

Ego-Inflating Use of Foreign Language

Of the few travel blogs I’ve visited, the following inevitably happens. A traveler’s post (from Germany, for example) will begin with something like this: “Hallo Leser, bin ich ein sehr großes deutschsprechendes douchebaggen!” The post will then continue in English with absolutely no explanation of what was just said. More likely than not, even more foreign words and phrases will be sprinkled into the post with absolutely no hint at their meaning. It’s truly a wonderfully alienating effect. There’s nothing quite like someone learning a new language so that you can make themselves less understood.

Yes, I will occasionally use Chinese words and terms when they can contribute to an entry, but I will translate them for you. More than likely I’ll simply use a definition link (example: nihao) that you can simply float your mouse over for the definition. I’ll probably use Chinese characters as well, so be sure you have Chinese text support installed if you wish to see these characters.

Long-Winded and Tedious Travel Accounts

It’s amazing how some people seem to think that every detail of their travels should be recorded in blog form. The result is a rambling, uninteresting mess that usually goes something like: “ok, so today me and Cheryl like totally walked down to the Champs Elysee and got these ~wonderful~ mocha lattes things Mmmmmmmmm! OMG they were good and then we went and saw these weird statues and like some kind of art museum and *blush* did i mention all the hot french guys that r here? anyway then we went shopping for like three hours and bought all these great designer clothes and then we couldnt find a taxi to get home so we totally had to walk all the way back with all our bags and stuff lol” And so forth.

I’ll spare you folks this kind of punishment. My narratives will be limited to the most notable events of my travels, and when it comes to describing the sights, I’ll try not to. With the convenience of digital photography these days, there’s no reason why I should be describing at length the Great Wall of China. It’s a wall, and it’s built on a scale of greatness. What more is there to describe? Instead, I’ll simply show you the Wall. As the Chinese themselves say: “A picture is worth 10,000 words”.

And those are my promises to you. If there are any other bad travel blogging habits you folks think I need to avoid, speak up now.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 @ 12:29 am on the category Announcements, China. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Dave’s Wagon has never had a “unifying theme” before. It’s always been a random collection of parodies, satires, Photoshops, and complains on a wide range of topics. That “wide range” is about to get a lot less wide, if only for a few months. This September I’ll be traveling to Hangzhou, China for a semester to study abroad, and it’s safe to say that my mind (and hence, this blog) will be on China during that time.

This new change of direction may intrigue some of you while turning off others. Let me make some assurances, then, as to what this new Dave’s Wagon will not contain:

Ego-Inflating Use of Foreign Language

Of the few travel blogs I’ve visited, the following inevitably happens. A traveler’s post (from Germany, for example) will begin with something like this: “Hallo Leser, bin ich ein sehr großes deutschsprechendes douchebaggen!” The post will then continue in English with absolutely no explanation of what was just said. More likely than not, even more foreign words and phrases will be sprinkled into the post with absolutely no hint at their meaning. It’s truly a wonderfully alienating effect. There’s nothing quite like someone learning a new language so that you can make themselves less understood.

Yes, I will occasionally use Chinese words and terms when they can contribute to an entry, but I will translate them for you. More than likely I’ll simply use a definition link (example: nihao) that you can simply float your mouse over for the definition. I’ll probably use Chinese characters as well, so be sure you have Chinese text support installed if you wish to see these characters.

Long-Winded and Tedious Travel Accounts

It’s amazing how some people seem to think that every detail of their travels should be recorded in blog form. The result is a rambling, uninteresting mess that usually goes something like: “ok, so today me and Cheryl like totally walked down to the Champs Elysee and got these ~wonderful~ mocha lattes things Mmmmmmmmm! OMG they were good and then we went and saw these weird statues and like some kind of art museum and *blush* did i mention all the hot french guys that r here? anyway then we went shopping for like three hours and bought all these great designer clothes and then we couldnt find a taxi to get home so we totally had to walk all the way back with all our bags and stuff lol” And so forth.

I’ll spare you folks this kind of punishment. My narratives will be limited to the most notable events of my travels, and when it comes to describing the sights, I’ll try not to. With the convenience of digital photography these days, there’s no reason why I should be describing at length the Great Wall of China. It’s a wall, and it’s built on a scale of greatness. What more is there to describe? Instead, I’ll simply show you the Wall. As the Chinese themselves say: “A picture is worth 10,000 words”.

And those are my promises to you. If there are any other bad travel blogging habits you folks think I need to avoid, speak up now.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 @ 12:29 am on the category Announcements, China. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.