After three days in Bangsak, Thailand, all I could think was, “What the hell am I doing here?”
36 hours in transit.
3 hours of sleep.
All my blood settling in my butt during each flight.
The best thing that can be said for the trip itself is that it renewed my appreciation for the use of my legs, but not quite so much as my appreciation of beds. I am glad to say that the bed in my new bungalow works quite well, something I checked quite soon after arriving two weeks ago.

The next morning, brought with it a slew of newness which made the following two days – and two weeks come to think of it – a matter of sink or swim. Only an hour after setting my eyes on the school for the first time, I stepped into my first class. Adjectives: awkward, loud, intimidating. The same words bounced about between my ears as my total inexperience with teaching methodologies paired with the language barrier totaled an obstacle that felt nearly insurmountable. On top of my initial bewilderment, feeling overwhelmed was punctuated by a touch of loneliness and some serious jetlag. The long flight to Thailand was finished, but the trip was just getting started, and though my feet were on the ground, I was anything but grounded.

Pardon the jump in time, but skip forward to today when my toes are finally touching down. It took some time to feel that I might not be completely crazy for coming here. This feat has been greatly aided by two wonderful fellow teachers and former University of Puget Sound graduates. They yielded a wealth of support; together we share in each others small teaching victories and often much larger defeats. And slowly my ears are adjusting to the noise in a Thai classroom, and the space between my ears is catching up to the idea of teaching phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar. It has certainly been a challenge and there are plenty of hurdles yet to come, but time is soothing my culture-shock and Thai-child induced panic and I am beginning to swim more like a fish and less like a rock.

On the Bansak beach there are a number of restaurants with booths overlooking the ocean. The teachers only eat here when new volunteers arrive because they are much more expensive than most local eateries. After my fellow teachers returned to their homes, I watched as one boy collected loose change that had escaped the pockets of some patrons. It was so still while he nimbly plucked up the coins; it was the first time I felt some semblance of comfort in Thailand.

Ik heb een hysterische jetlag. Om zes uur vanmorgen werd ik stuiterend wakker. Tien uur nadat ik in bed was gaan liggen. Ik ben terug, single en stralend! Welkom ik! Het nieuwe leven is begonnen!

Sinds ik op ben heb ik drie stuks fruit gegeten, twee koppen sterke koffie gedronken en vier vijf sigaretten gerookt. De helft van mijn ongewassen zomerkledij zit nog in mijn backpack, de andere helft ligt verspreid over de keukenvloer. Tot ongenoegen van mijn moeder, bij wie ik heb besloten bij te komen. Ik heb kramp in mijn nek van de reis, keelpijn van de airco en enorme zweethanden waarvan ik de oorsprong niet kan achterhalen. Die had ik vroeger ook al, zweethanden. Vroeger, vóór mijn reis. Toen had ik trouwens ook wel eens keelpijn. Nekpijn idem dito. Al met al vertoont dit nieuwe leven vooralsnog behoorlijk wat overeenkomsten met het oude. Met het verschil dat ik ietsje bruiner en een soort van uitgerust ben. Naar verwachting zal ik die staat van zijn niet heel lang kunnen volhouden: Het échte leven -niet te verwarren met het nieuwe- wacht vol ongeduld en de zon laat zich hier voorlopig toch niet zien. Ik neem me voor om:

Rustig aan te doen

Nooit meer iets stoms te doen

Stomme dingen te doen en mezelf daar dan hartstochtelijk voor te vergeven

Minstens één keer per week een bericht te plaatsen op deze blog

Ik zeg: moet lukken. Recht zo die gaat!

Central Courtyard at Qingyang Temple, Chengdu

November 3rd

Still waking with jet lag at 4 a.m., so it is easy to follow the cliché of going to bed early at night in China, to better see temples during the day. Dawn comes late in Chengdu since it is on the same time zone as Beijing, nearly a thousand miles to the east. Once the sky is light – there being no visible sun rising, so thick is the haze – breakfast is delicious cooked vegetables, fried noodles, steamed buns and Sichuan pickles. Then walk through the park towards the Qingyang Temple. The park is busy early, some solitaries doing their tai chi, others reading a book or a newspaper, various groups exercising to music from portable speakers.

At the gateway to the temple, legless beggars scuttle their stumps about on the ground with their hands, strapped to pieces of old tire rubber, clamoring their ancient cry for pity. Hard to say that the return of this relic of the old China has been an achievement for the reform. With averted eyes, enter through the gatehouse into the first courtyard, where all is crowd and bustle. Before the red colored wooden hall on a raised foundation at the end of the courtyard, is a great bronze vessel on legs where burning incense sticks are stuck upright in the ash by the devout. There is also a large multi-layered candle rack where again the devout place burning red candles.

Devotions at Qingyang Temple

Many old women, but also trendy young ladies and well dressed men are folding their hands in prayer, grasping burning incense sticks, and bowing repeatedly with eyes closed towards the holy statues in the hall. Then one after another they kneel on cushions inside the hall before the giant seated golden deities, prostrating themselves in prayer.  This is repeated at each of several halls containing different sacred statues with similar courtyards each with its incense vessel and candle rack. In a quarter of an hour a hundred devotees repeat this ritual in front of each of four or five halls, thousands of devotees passing through in the morning.

Marxism has been no great friend of religion, long seeing it as superstition oppressing and exploiting the people, the opium of the people. But Mao wrote “We cannot abolish religion by administrative order or force people not to believe in it….The only way to settle questions of an ideological nature or controversial issues among the people is by the democratic method, the method of discussion, criticism, persuasion and education.”

Never mind whether this quote understates full official discouragement of superstitions in the past, the evidence is clear. Despite the risks, despite decrees from imperial Beijing, mothers passed on the ancient beliefs in secret so that their daughters, now aged women themselves would, after all the struggles and thought campaigns of decades ago, remember to follow the rites today. More striking still are the devotions of the men in business suits and the young ladies in short pants, leggings and high boots. Perhaps seeking luck on the next deal or perhaps they are just larking? Perhaps not.

Chinese Tourist at Qingyang

Half the crowd is indeed camera ready boisterous tourists, joking loudly with their companions,  taking snaps of a family outing or of a sweetheart,  while a few bespeckled men intensely concentrate on artful architectural studies with long lensed cameras. Not being myself here to make an outward display of reverence to the gods, it is timely to turn to the engraved wooden guide posts explaining the site to visitors in three varieties of Chinese characters and English, seeking grasp a bit the  of this temple.

Då var man i staterna igen då och åh vad fint, underbart, härligt och skönt det känns. Har precis avslutat en delikat frukost med blåbärsbagels. Innan dess var jag ute och gick en långpromenad. Helt fantastiskt var det och jag blev tårögd bara av att strosa runt på gatorna fram och tillbaka. Tog en tripp från vårt lilla hus på 24th upp till 50th.

Vill bara förtydliga att i två veckor framöver blir det lite annorlunda blogging från min sida. Har blivit halvt tvingad att jag måååste blogga om NYC. Det kommer bli lite mindre musik, lite mer storstad. Hoppas du tycker det är kul att läsa ändå Eftersom jag älskar den här stan så mycket så ska jag försöka ge lite tips på fina saker att göra. Nummer ett kommer här:

Skippar den här kronologiska ordningen och går tillbaka till gårdagen. Lite pics och filmer från resan hit. Allt gick nästan läskigt enligt planerna. Planen kom som de skulle. Vi fick vegomaten precis som vi skulle (motsatt American airlineseffekt även kallat) och precis så mycket Baileys som vi ansåg att vi behövde.

Vi anlände också till vårt Bed & Breakfast precis som vi skulle. Rummet är fint och frukosten GRYM. Att vi dessutom har trådlöst som är fungerande är ju nästan lite för bra för att vara sant. Det enda vi skulle kunna klaga på var det faktum att det var runt noll grader när vi skulle sova och fulla turister gick och sjöng New York New York i falsett när vi behövde sova bort jetlagen. Men. Eftersom att de är så söta här har vi idag fått en liten värmefläkt. Emelie kommer nu kunna sova utan tre filtar, en handduk samt vinterjacka över sig. Mys!

Allt flyter alltså på som en len Starbucks frappuchino. (Har förresten nu hittat närmaste Starbucks. 29th street. Hello everyday user that is me.) Gårdagens besök på Star-Ledger är inget undantag. Har redan hittat ett stammisställe i NJ också. Tänkte att jag redan idag ska gå in och be dom ge mig the usual, aka a small vanilla latte mmm

Men jag längtar till Starbucks. Förstås. Emelie har lovat mig ett besök idag.

En strålande dansant afton utlovas
Idag är det clubbing som gäller. Ska möta upp med den allra bästa Maria som ska bli officiell guide till NYC:s klubbliv. Hon informerade precis om att Ida Engberg spelar i afton. Strålande, strålande. Därefter blir det The Bunker. Sjukt taggade är vi. Ja fy fan vad vi ska klubba.

Ida Engberg – well hello miss techno.

Daniel Bell – hallå herr minimal.

We had a good trip, quite uneventful and the plane ride was not even that painfully long. I thought it was brutal, but I napped a little, watched a move, knitted a little, and ate. We had 2 meals (the flight was 11 hrs) and we were pretty tired when we got here, but it was all good. The airport terminal buildings are amazing — from the outisde, they look like prehistoric shelled creatures, and inside they are big, airy and just wow. Before we saw the first custons/immigration person, we had to fill in a short questionnaire on our health, which we gave to a person who quickly looked it over and then stamped it. Then we walked past the “fever cameras” which are infrared and will show if someone has a fever and lied about their health. Pretty neat — I looked back at the display screen and the people were all orange (no fevers). In fact, I was kinda hoping there would be any really bad coughers on the plane, and there weren’t any near us, anyway!
Going through customs was completely uneventful, except for waiting for the luggage which took a long time. We actually went from the international terminal building to the other terminal using a VERY fast subway, so I suspected we might wait a while for the bags. We got there very fast, especially with no fussing at customs.

Then, the ride to the friend we’re staying with. Our friend picked us up at the airport, but had decided it was just simpler to take a cab. So, we did. What fun! The guy would have been right at home in Montreal — fast, no signaling, crazy lane changes, scooting around people, just a hoot. But he was very alert, and I have no problem with fast driving when everyone’s paying attention. This was all on freeways, almost right to where we are staying. Whereas today, when we took a cab back “home,” the driver was nuts! And there were bicycles, cargo-bicycles, pedestrians everywhere, and its amazing we didn’t hit anyone. We had some fun crossing roads today too, as we walked around, but no close calls!!

W went to a Buddhist temple, the Lama temple and a Confucian temple, both pretty close together. It was nice — the buddhist one was crowded and full of golden buddha statues and other statues, and had some amazing painted ceilings and roofwork. The Confusian one was right beside the Imperial college, and both were not crowded at all, had old trees, an Imperial throne room with a moat around it, and lots of stela (or stele) which are huge stone monoliths with writing on them. There was a huge cavernous room with hundreds of them standing, like an ancient library, with writing on both sides of them, beautiful, carved characters. And they were small — like 2 cm high — and I think the tourist sign said there were something like 600,000 characters and it took 12 years to carve them all. Marble, amazing. It made sense, actually, that the Confucian temple area had lots of emphasis on knowledge or widsom, and less on symbolism or mythology.

After that, we went to the Beijing bookstore, which was quite an experience. Lots of people, me the only blonde. I mean, I only saw one other person whose hair came close to mine, and it was quite a sad bottle job. Neat. I have a huge nose! And big eyes, too! The bookstore was more like a library, not like a chapters. I found some photography books to peruse, since all the books were Chinese. Lots of people reading, but no chairs so people would sit on the floor. Security guards in the store, and walking around in the “square” outside. Security guards almost everywhere we went, actually, and bathroom attendants. I’ll talk about the bathrooms another time!

We rode the subway to get to the bookstore, which was good! A bit squishy, but no worse than riding the LRT after a concert (better because everyone was sober)! It was quite easy to find our way, even switching subway lines, but there were some interesting moments! Lots of escalators, many levels, sometimes we had to walk 5 minutes down a pedway to get to the next area. Fun, to be sure!

Well, I think I’ll leave it at that! I’ll try write again tomorrow, but we’ll see!

Note: This is 2 days late, due to internet restrictions in China. Did you know some websites are blocked? Wild.

So, it has been more than a month since arriving home from London. I have to be honest, it was an absolute nightmare at first. Coming home. Having to live under my parents’ roof after spending three years away. Jetlag – waking up at 5am every day! Serious hell.

I still have an infinite list of things I miss about Europe and London. I still desperately wish that I could get on a first plane back there. However, I guess it is time that I face up to reality and suck it up here, because I am stuck here.

And what better way than to party my sorrows away :

—

So follow us girlfriends, as we meander the ins and outs to rediscover Singapore, in what is a valiant attempt to unearth our Love, that we know is there deep down somewhere, for our lovely garden state. 

Later,
Pat

We are here safely!  We’ve actually been here for about 24 hours, but it has taken this long for my brain to gain enough strength to form rational thoughts again.

Jocelyn and me in Hartford before our trip.

Jocelyn and I left our houses at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday 28 for Bradley airport.  Donald, my brother, picked us up at the bus station in Canberra on Friday 30 at 12:30 in the afternoon.  Our internal clocks were telling us that it was 9:00 p.m. on Thursday 29, and it was at home in CT.  The total travel time door-to-door, including driving to the airport, layovers, and the 3.5 hour bus ride from Sydney to Canberra, was 35 hours.

It goes without saying that we were tired and confused when we arrived; however, the trip went really smoothly.  All of our flights were on time, making the trip from Hartford to DC and DC to LA uneventful.  For the fourteen hour flight over the Pacific, Joce had reserved the window seat and I had reserved the aisle seat in the same row, leaving the middle seat open.  We were hoping that no one would sit in that seat, giving us more space to get comfortable.

The low point was walking down the aisle looking for our seats 56 H and 56 J, and finding a 75 year old nun in 56 I.  I only wish I could describe Joce’s face, but it’s not possible to explain how upset she looked at this moment.  Joce told the nun that we were traveling together and asked if she would mind moving to the window seat, which she seemed happy to do.

But then the nun didn’t move for the next fourteen hours.  Either she popped an Ambien or she actually was dead.  She didn’t get up once to use the bathroom.  About eight hours from LA, I tried to convince Joce to poke her or make she was still breathing.  Joce refused, but luckily the nun opened her eyes around breakfast time.  I expect there will be more on this later from Jocelyn.  I will tell you though that before we got off the plane in Sydney she said that she would be praying for us during our stay in Australia.  I’m hope she does – I could use an “in” with the Big Guy.

I’m getting ahead of myself.  Right after we boarded United flight 839 and found out that we would not have an empty seat between us, we learned that it was a completely full plane.  No empty seats.  Upon discovering this, Joce looked miserable.  As the flight attendants served us dinner, I tried to think of something to make her feel better.  Really though, what good can come out of being stuck between me and a nun on a completely full plane flying over the Pacific?  It’s okay, I couldn’t come up with anything either.  Instead, I put in my headphones, took Dramamine, had a glass of wine, and watched UP.  I fell asleep.

When I woke up I tried to calculate how much time we had left on the plane by taking into account the time change.  Two hours!  I was so relieved.  The flight hadn’t been that bad.  Happy, I got up to walk to the bathroom.  While waiting in line, I spoke with a Canadian man who casually mentioned that we had been on the plane for three hours.  WHAT?  Eleven more to go?!  How had I miscalculated?  I didn’t believe him until the TV screens in the plane showed the map of our journey.  We were about two inches from California.  Australia wasn’t even on the map.

I lied.  This was my low point.

Cramped, tired, delusional.  We spent the rest of the flight trying to sleep, occasionally woken by one of two screaming Australian boys sitting across the aisle or worse their mother yelling back at them.  And the turbulence.  Not fun when you’re picturing the Pacific Ocean 30,000 feet below.

Waiting for the bus from Sydney to Canberra.

A few (a lot) of hours later we arrived in Sydney and then had a beautiful drive on the bus to Canberra.  Donald picked us up, and later gave us a tour of our new home.  Canberra is a nice city.  I think we will have fun living here.  Two things he could have prepared me for:

• Australia ONLY sells spray on deodorant,
• A six pack of beer costs $20.

Not that either of these would have changed my decision about coming to Australia.  Just saying a heads up would have been appreciated… At least my bottle of Snow’s Brewing Company Copper Rye Ale made it here without breaking in my backpack.  Two more weeks and it will be carbonated and ready to taste!

Snow's Brewing Company One Eye P.A. and Copper Rye Ale

Last night, we had a nice dinner at a neighborhood restaurant, and afterward, an even nicer sleep in a real bed.  It’s a holiday weekend here, so Donald left this morning for a long weekend at the beach.  Joce and I are going to explore Canberra for the rest of the day!

I finally saw it: the remake of the 1980s movie “Fame” and I’ve been looking forward to see the new version for quite some time. I think the original is amazing!

GOOSEBUMP ALERT!

Note to myself: never go see a movie when jetlagged!!!

I don’t know how long I slept but I think I missed quite a bit. This has never happened to me before! The movie was NOT boring so please go see it cuz it’s great, especially those who are into musical films! And for those who are not into musical films go see it as well because it’s a classic and a part of general education

remember..remember…remember…FAME!

24OCT09 22:11 Hotel Central 2, Roma, Italia

After 3 plane rides, an hour train journey, and walking about a mile, we finally arrived in Rome. Having already been here before I wasn’t super excited but just being in a different country makes me happy. J

After some a much needed shower and time to stretch my legs, my parents and I hit the town. With the help of Rick Steves’s travel guide, we set out to do two self-guided walks through town to see as much as we could of local night life.

We started with a gentle stroll from Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish Steps. Along the way we saw a Michael Jackson impersonator…SCORe!!!! We stopped at the Spanish Steps to watch all the people pass by and dine al fresco
style at “Giggi.”

1 Giggi Dinner

After a super hearty meal of pasta, veggies, breads and wine, we needed to walk it all off…so again we went! Trekking through the city we saw so many cool things and lots of gorgeous people. It is no lie that Italians got the good genes in them. They are walking, talking, sex machines. RAWR!

Anyways, back to the story, we’re walking. We passed Trevi Fountain. It was way cute to see my mom get excited about it. Each time we passed a fountain she would ask me if it was the Trevi. After I finally answered yes one time, her jaw dropped at the sheer beauty of this magnificent piece of architecture. The Fontana di trevi is huge. Actually, huge is an understatement. It engulfs you and doesn’t give you an opportunity to just walk by. You MUST stop and stare. That’s what it is there for.

2 fontana di trevi

After looking over and over again at the fountain we journeyed over to the Pantheon. Another wonderful piece of history. But my mission was food related. Right near the Pantheon is a wonderful little gellataria that actually has creamy sorbetto…O.M.G!!!! Yes, folks, I had TWO servings of chocolate sorbet…and it was totally worth the extra fat that will be placed on my hips from it. J

3gelato e sorbetto

Piazza Navona was our next stop where we purchased some cute, miniature paintings of the churches of Rome. I love miniatures.

Highlights of the Day:

Daddo: The fountain…the architecture of it was just amazing, you wonder how people could build something so beautiful during that period of time.

Mom: Just the fact of being in Rome. It’s a dream come true.

Me: Getting to watch my parents expression as they explored the streets of Rome.

Time machines exist…when you travel across the world.  Allison and I will not exist on October 29, 2009.  We leave today on October 28th and arrive on October 30th.  Weird.  I just hope I’m not missing anything good.  Wish us luck!

credits: omoshow.com + popcorn42; reup: Rai @ sj-world.net

Here is a fan shot of Sungmin in the Incheon Airport… Yes, people… It is our Sungmin.. and he seems, uhm, TIRED.

Honestly, as his Neorago performance did, this picture breaks my heart. Well, maybe I’m really not just used to seeing Sungminnie as tired as this. I’ve always seen him as a strong-willed person who has unlimited stocks of smile for everyone.

But maybe, I just have to be reminded: Sungmin is still human. He gets tired. So he needs rest. He needs breaks. And at this moment, I am pretty sure that he’s deprived of those. Too busy schedules just wouldn’t let him enjoy now, and so the result is shown above.

It’s painful for me to see Sungmin that way but one thing that eases it all is the fact that I know why he’s doing everything. It is because he loves us. He loves us so much that giving us entertainment and happiness becomes his first priority – because we are his fans. And he loves us, really.

Then I just realized… He’s in the airport when this shot was taken… Maybe it’s jetlag… Don’t you think?

Our internal body clocks are shaped by the weather as well as by the seasons, scientists have discovered.

Researchers used computers to model the workings of internal biological clocks. They found the mechanism had to be so complicated because it was able to deal with varying amounts of light from hour to hour, as well as changing seasons.

It is hoped the research, led by a team from Edinburgh University, could help tackle sleep problems caused by jet lag and shift working.

The researchers said the findings gave them a greater understanding of what drives the internal rhythms of people, animals and plants.

Environmental signals, such as hours of daylight, affect the daily rhythms which many plants use to control flowering and ripening.

The findings may also help scientists develop crops that can cope with climate change.

The study was led by the University of Edinburgh, and involved researchers from the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), and the University of Warwick.

Mr. Carl Troein, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Sciences, said:

‘By better understanding why biological clocks are so complex, we stand a better chance of controlling them.

‘Our study goes some way to explaining how and why these in-built rhythms have developed.

‘We hope it will be useful in informing treatments for sleep disorders as well as helping scientists develop crops that can survive in the long term.’

• CLIPPED FROM: ‘ Weather “shapes human body clock”‘ BBC News, 2009-10-20

Carl Troein
Millar Lab
Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences
University of Edinburgh
Mayfield Rd
Edinburgh UK
EH9 3JH
Phone: +44 131 651 3348
Email: carl.troein@ed.ac.uk, carl@thep.lu.se

Instead of chilling at home we decided to clear important things up such as:
- exchange money
- have lunch
- discuss whether some shoes were good-looking or not
- buy a nice bag
- eat (un)healthy stuff
- walk a lot
- look for umbrellas with no good results which made us all wet during the monsun rain
- spend a few hours in a dark apartment because of a temporary shutdown of the electricity (with no working air conditioner there is no working Patrik)
- sleep
- … and have dinner at Singha Beer Garden without, ironically, drinking beer.

With love,
Patrik

For some reason I feel so drained, hungry and tired after coming home from a flight this early morning. The moment I got home, I drank lots of water and some tea before going to bed. And the moment I woke up after having trouble sleeping, I gobbled up on some adobo with rice and a slice of chocolate cake. And now I’m all getting drowsy again, but not sleepy. Jetlag!

Anyway I saw this shirt, and I completely fell in love with. Of course every GG Fan wants one.

$17.95 from Zazzle.com. But of course you can get one yours here in Manila. There are lots of stores that could customized shirts. Like the T-Shirt Project.

I am fully awake now. Hit the mall and tire myself so I can go to sleep early this evening. Need to fix my body clock. Enjoy the week! Happy Mondays!

According to my Tripit profile I have travelled 166 329 KM so far in 2009.  I’m jetlagged just thinking about it.   I got back from Australia and promptly had a 24 hour bout of food poisoning which just added to the jetlag woes.  Then 7 days later I was back on a plane heading to Canada and another time zone switch.  It took a full 2 weeks to get over the time difference between Australia – UK and Canada.  Thankfully I am staying in Canada for a while and have time to find my feet, and stay away from planes (except for upcoming trip to Florida for Halloween Horror nights, but that involves no time difference or jetlag so it doesn’t count).

I was jetlagged when packing for Canada and as a consequence I bought completely inappropriate clothing to see me through the winter.  Then again, nothing in my wardrobe would really see me through a Canadian winter.  But I could at least have packed my hat, scarf and gloves – but I didn’t.  Stay tuned to see how I cope with my first Canadian winter.

Reise øst- eller vestover 

Det har betydning for graden av jet lag om man reiser øst- eller vestover. For de fleste oppleves det som verre å reise østover enn vestover, uavhengig av om det er hjem- eller utreise. Dette kan forklares ut fra hvordan døgnrytmen fungerer. 

De fleste har erfaring med å forlenge døgnet, og er vant til å legge seg senere enn vanlig. Slik blir det også ved reiser vestover. Ved reiser østover derimot taper man timer, og sengetid blir tidligere enn vanlig, noe som gjør innsovning vanskelig. 

For folk flest er den innebygde døgnrytmen (den biologiske klokken) på over 24 timer. Faktisk har man i undersøkelser funnet ut at døgnrytmen i gjennomsnitt ligger på rundt 25 timer. Det gjør at reiser vestover oppleves mindre plagsomt. Ved reise til New York (seks timers tidsforskjell) oppleves ikke tidsforskjellen på mer enn fem timer, fordi hjernens rytme er innstilt på et forlenget døgn. Ved reise tilbake til Norge vil imidlertid tidsforskjellen oppleves som sju timer. Dette er en viktig forklaring på forskjellen mellom reiser øst- og vestover. 

Spesielt for typiske B-mennesker er en reise til USA forbundet med lite jet lag. B-mennesker har en innebygd døgnrytme som kan være på over 25 timer, og kan derfor lett forlenge døgnet.

Bakgrunn

Før jernbanens tid hadde alle steder sin egen lokale tid som ofte var uavhengig av tiden i resten av landet. Folk reiste lite, men ved jernbanens introduksjon i USA, ble det vanskelig å holde styr på rutetabeller når alle stasjonene hadde forskjellig tid. Det ble derfor i 1883 vedtatt at alle steder innenfor store regionale områder i USA skulle ha felles tid, og slik ble USA (fastlandet unntatt Alaska) delt inn i fire forskjellige tidssoner som innbyrdes hadde et helt antall timer i tidsforskjell. Professor Charles Ferdinand Dowd som oppfant dette systemet tok utgangspunkt i Greenwich-observatoriet utenfor London når han definerte tidssonene, og utgangspunktet som alle de andre tidssonene regnes ut fra er da GMT – Greenwich Mean Time (senere UTC – Coordinated Universal Time). Etterhvert har de fleste land tatt i bruk tidssonesystemet.

Inndeling av tidssoner

Ideelt sett er jorden delt etter lengdegradene, slik at hver tidssone dekker 15 lengdegrader, hvor området innenfor skal ha felles tid. Bruk av dette systemet direkte, ville ført til at Bergen ville vært en time etter Oslo, og Alta ville vært en time før Oslo, dvs. fastlands-Norge ville hatt tre forskjellige tider å holde styr på. Det var mer hensiktsmessig å samle hele Norge innenfor en tidssone – den som største delen av Norge ligger i. Blant annet fordi størstedelen av Norge ligger innenfor tidssonen en time foran UTC, som ideelt strekker seg fra 7.5 til 22.5 grader øst, har vi valgt å bruke denne for hele landet. De fleste mindre land har gjort dette på samme måten, og tidssoneområdene (områder med felles normaltid) følger derfor ikke lengdegradene alle steder, men ofte nasjonale grenser istedet.

Antall tidssoner

Egentlig skulle det være 25 tidssoner, fra GMT-12 timer til GMT+12 timer, hvor datolinjen ved 180 grader øst/vest markerer skillet mellom tidssonene med GMT-12 og GMT+12. I praksis har det blitt annerledes, det finnes mange flere tidssoner enn dette. Først og fremst er en tidssone for både GMT+13 og GMT+14 i bruk av blant annet Tonga og Kiribati i Stillehavet. I tillegg er det en rekke land/øyer og delstater som ikke følger standardsonene, men i stedet bruker egne “halvsoner” som ligger 15 eller 30 minutter fra de vanlige tidssonene, dette gjelder blant annet India, deler av Australia og Nepal. Det reelle antallet tidssoner i bruk er derfor i overkant av 35. Det er dessuten slett ikke uvanlig at noen land endrer tidssoner fram og tilbake, slik at antallet endrer seg over tid.

Bakgrunn

Før jernbanens tid hadde alle steder sin egen lokale tid som ofte var uavhengig av tiden i resten av landet. Folk reiste lite, men ved jernbanens introduksjon i USA, ble det vanskelig å holde styr på rutetabeller når alle stasjonene hadde forskjellig tid. Det ble derfor i 1883 vedtatt at alle steder innenfor store regionale områder i USA skulle ha felles tid, og slik ble USA (fastlandet unntatt Alaska) delt inn i fire forskjellige tidssoner som innbyrdes hadde et helt antall timer i tidsforskjell. Professor Charles Ferdinand Dowd som oppfant dette systemet tok utgangspunkt i Greenwich-observatoriet utenfor London når han definerte tidssonene, og utgangspunktet som alle de andre tidssonene regnes ut fra er da GMT – Greenwich Mean Time (senere UTC – Coordinated Universal Time). Etterhvert har de fleste land tatt i bruk tidssonesystemet.

Inndeling av tidssoner

Ideelt sett er jorden delt etter lengdegradene, slik at hver tidssone dekker 15 lengdegrader, hvor området innenfor skal ha felles tid. Bruk av dette systemet direkte, ville ført til at Bergen ville vært en time etter Oslo, og Alta ville vært en time før Oslo, dvs. fastlands-Norge ville hatt tre forskjellige tider å holde styr på. Det var mer hensiktsmessig å samle hele Norge innenfor en tidssone – den som største delen av Norge ligger i. Blant annet fordi størstedelen av Norge ligger innenfor tidssonen en time foran UTC, som ideelt strekker seg fra 7.5 til 22.5 grader øst, har vi valgt å bruke denne for hele landet. De fleste mindre land har gjort dette på samme måten, og tidssoneområdene (områder med felles normaltid) følger derfor ikke lengdegradene alle steder, men ofte nasjonale grenser istedet.

Antall tidssoner

Egentlig skulle det være 25 tidssoner, fra GMT-12 timer til GMT+12 timer, hvor datolinjen ved 180 grader øst/vest markerer skillet mellom tidssonene med GMT-12 og GMT+12. I praksis har det blitt annerledes, det finnes mange flere tidssoner enn dette. Først og fremst er en tidssone for både GMT+13 og GMT+14 i bruk av blant annet Tonga og Kiribati i Stillehavet. I tillegg er det en rekke land/øyer og delstater som ikke følger standardsonene, men i stedet bruker egne “halvsoner” som ligger 15 eller 30 minutter fra de vanlige tidssonene, dette gjelder blant annet India, deler av Australia og Nepal. Det reelle antallet tidssoner i bruk er derfor i overkant av 35. Det er dessuten slett ikke uvanlig at noen land endrer tidssoner fram og tilbake, slik at antallet endrer seg over tid. 

Bakgrunn for tidssoner:

Før jernbanens tid hadde alle steder sin egen lokale tid som ofte var uavhengig av tiden i resten av landet. Folk reiste lite, men ved jernbanens introduksjon i USA, ble det vanskelig å holde styr på rutetabeller når alle stasjonene hadde forskjellig tid. Det ble derfor i 1883 vedtatt at alle steder innenfor store regionale områder i USA skulle ha felles tid, og slik ble USA (fastlandet unntatt Alaska) delt inn i fire forskjellige tidssoner som innbyrdes hadde et helt antall timer i tidsforskjell. Professor Charles Ferdinand Dowd som oppfant dette systemet tok utgangspunkt i Greenwich-observatoriet utenfor London når han definerte tidssonene, og utgangspunktet som alle de andre tidssonene regnes ut fra er da GMT – Greenwich Mean Time (senere UTC – Coordinated Universal Time). Etterhvert har de fleste land tatt i bruk tidssonesystemet.

Inndeling av tidssoner

Ideelt sett er jorden delt etter lengdegradene, slik at hver tidssone dekker 15 lengdegrader, hvor området innenfor skal ha felles tid. Bruk av dette systemet direkte, ville ført til at Bergen ville vært en time etter Oslo, og Alta ville vært en time før Oslo, dvs. fastlands-Norge ville hatt tre forskjellige tider å holde styr på. Det var mer hensiktsmessig å samle hele Norge innenfor en tidssone – den som største delen av Norge ligger i. Blant annet fordi størstedelen av Norge ligger innenfor tidssonen en time foran UTC, som ideelt strekker seg fra 7.5 til 22.5 grader øst, har vi valgt å bruke denne for hele landet. De fleste mindre land har gjort dette på samme måten, og tidssoneområdene (områder med felles normaltid) følger derfor ikke lengdegradene alle steder, men ofte nasjonale grenser istedet.

Antall tidssoner

Egentlig skulle det være 25 tidssoner, fra GMT-12 timer til GMT+12 timer, hvor datolinjen ved 180 grader øst/vest markerer skillet mellom tidssonene med GMT-12 og GMT+12. I praksis har det blitt annerledes, det finnes mange flere tidssoner enn dette. Først og fremst er en tidssone for både GMT+13 og GMT+14 i bruk av blant annet Tonga og Kiribati i Stillehavet. I tillegg er det en rekke land/øyer og delstater som ikke følger standardsonene, men i stedet bruker egne “halvsoner” som ligger 15 eller 30 minutter fra de vanlige tidssonene, dette gjelder blant annet India, deler av Australia og Nepal. Det reelle antallet tidssoner i bruk er derfor i overkant av 35. Det er dessuten slett ikke uvanlig at noen land endrer tidssoner fram og tilbake, slik at antallet endrer seg over tid.

Hva påvirker døgnrytmene våre?

Det er lyset og sosiale faktorer som hjelper til med å snu døgnrytmen til den gjeldende rytmen på ankomststedet. Lyset har vist seg å være av størst betydning. Lyset kan derfor benyttes til å snu døgnrytmen raskere. Lyseksponering på ’feil’ tidspunkt vil imidlertid gi forverring av jet lag, og vil kunne forlenge tiden det tar å snu døgnet. Ved reiser østover (for eksempel fra USA til Norge) vil mange få lyseksponering på ugunstige tidspunkter, noe som også kan forklare problemene ved slike reiser. Det er spesielt ugunstig å få lys på øynene tidlig om morgenen ved reiser østover.
Behandling av jet lag

Ved moderne behandling av jet lag benyttes lys og/eller melatonin. Melatonin er et hormon som finnes hjernen, og som påvirker døgnrytmen. I flere land, blant annet i USA, er dette preparatet reseptfritt, mens i Norge kan man få melatonin på såkalt registreringsfritak (legen må søke). 

Melatonin er et omdiskutert hormon. Man kjenner ikke til alle effektene, og mulige langtidsbivirkninger er ukjent. Det ser imidlertid ut til å være et trygt preparat, men på grunn av usikkerheten rundt langtidsbivirkninger bør man være forsiktig. Jeg konsentrerer meg derfor om lysbehandling, som ikke ser ut til å gi alvorlige bivirkninger. 

Generelt sett må man kunne en del om hvordan døgnrytmen reguleres før man gir seg ut på behandling av jet lag. Lysbehandling gitt på feil tidspunkt kan forverre plagene. Jeg vil her prøve å gi et eksempel på lysbehandling ved reise fra New York til Norge, det vil si seks timers tidsforskjell. 
Forutsetningen for rådene er at man har vært lenge nok i USA til at døgnrytmen fungerer på amerikansk tid, og at man står opp hver dag rundt klokken sju om morgenen. Når man ankommer Norge bør lysbehandling gis fra klokken 11. Det vil gjøre at den biologiske klokken flyttes til tidligere på dagen. I tillegg er det vesentlig at man unngår å få mye lys på øynene før klokken 11 (man bør oppholde seg innendørs eller bruke mørke solbriller). Det vil nemlig flytte døgnrytmen i motsatt retning, og dermed kunne forverre jet lag. 

Disse rådene gjelder første dag etter ankomst. Deretter justeres lysbehandlingen med rundt to timer daglig, det vil si at neste dag anbefales lysbehandling fra klokken ni. På denne måten vil tiden det tar å snu døgnet kunne reduseres betraktelig. Undersøkelser viser at korrekt lyseksponering vil kunne korrigere den biologiske klokken til en hvilken som helst fase i løpet av 1 – 3 dager. 

Behandling med lys (og eventuelt melatonin) kan bedre situasjonen til personer som sliter med jet lag. Behandlingen må imidlertid individualiseres ettersom effekten av behandlingen er så avhengig av hver enkelt persons døgnrytme. Med lysbehandling menes gjerne bruk av spesielle lyskabinetter, men utelys/dagslys er selvfølgelig minst like effektivt. Fordelen med lyskabinettene er at de kan benyttes på tider av døgnet hvor det ikke er tilstrekkelig med dagslys. 

Bakgrunn for sommertid

Før jernbanens tid hadde alle steder sin egen lokale tid som ofte var uavhengig av tiden i resten av landet. Folk reiste lite, men ved jernbanens introduksjon i USA, ble det vanskelig å holde styr på rutetabeller når alle stasjonene hadde forskjellig tid. Det ble derfor i 1883 vedtatt at alle steder innenfor store regionale områder i USA skulle ha felles tid, og slik ble USA (fastlandet unntatt Alaska) delt inn i fire forskjellige tidssoner som innbyrdes hadde et helt antall timer i tidsforskjell. Professor Charles Ferdinand Dowd som oppfant dette systemet tok utgangspunkt i Greenwich-observatoriet utenfor London når han definerte tidssonene, og utgangspunktet som alle de andre tidssonene regnes ut fra er da GMT – Greenwich Mean Time (senere UTC – Coordinated Universal Time). Etterhvert har de fleste land tatt i bruk tidssonesystemet.

Inndeling av tidssoner

Ideelt sett er jorden delt etter lengdegradene, slik at hver tidssone dekker 15 lengdegrader, hvor området innenfor skal ha felles tid. Bruk av dette systemet direkte, ville ført til at Bergen ville vært en time etter Oslo, og Alta ville vært en time før Oslo, dvs. fastlands-Norge ville hatt tre forskjellige tider å holde styr på. Det var mer hensiktsmessig å samle hele Norge innenfor en tidssone – den som største delen av Norge ligger i. Blant annet fordi størstedelen av Norge ligger innenfor tidssonen en time foran UTC, som ideelt strekker seg fra 7.5 til 22.5 grader øst, har vi valgt å bruke denne for hele landet. De fleste mindre land har gjort dette på samme måten, og tidssoneområdene (områder med felles normaltid) følger derfor ikke lengdegradene alle steder, men ofte nasjonale grenser istedet.

Antall tidssoner

Egentlig skulle det være 25 tidssoner, fra GMT-12 timer til GMT+12 timer, hvor datolinjen ved 180 grader øst/vest markerer skillet mellom tidssonene med GMT-12 og GMT+12. I praksis har det blitt annerledes, det finnes mange flere tidssoner enn dette. Først og fremst er en tidssone for både GMT+13 og GMT+14 i bruk av blant annet Tonga og Kiribati i Stillehavet. I tillegg er det en rekke land/øyer og delstater som ikke følger standardsonene, men i stedet bruker egne “halvsoner” som ligger 15 eller 30 minutter fra de vanlige tidssonene, dette gjelder blant annet India, deler av Australia og Nepal. Det reelle antallet tidssoner i bruk er derfor i overkant av 35. Det er dessuten slett ikke uvanlig at noen land endrer tidssoner fram og tilbake, slik at antallet endrer seg over tid.

Whoa! That was entirely too long without a post! I apologize!

I’m not going to go into the recap yet, though, because it’s so early in the morning. I’ll save that for another day.

However, yesterday I started classes again. And it wasn’t fun. I only have one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since my China class on Thursday nights is no more (yay!). Yet, in that one class, I have two huge editing packets, two vocab quizzes, two spellings quizzes and a midterm to do by Thursday. Awesome.

Luckily, the midterm is open book.

I’ve started on the rest of my readings and homework to catch up those two weeks I missed of real life. It really does seem like I escaped real life by going to China. I mean, I did work in China and I learned a lot. I stretched my boundaries in writing and got to explore a completely different culture to the U.S. and a completely new city to me. But, I didn’t have responsibilities hanging over my head. I didn’t have deadlines on my mind or homework or drama with friends.

I was just with 12 other people everyday, having adventures. It was great.

But, then, I get back to Columbia and it turns out I’m not disappointed or stressed. It’s nice to be back. I look forward to staying in the U.S. for the rest of this school year.

Because here, I’m doing things like this. My NCLB article FINALLY was published yesterday. I picked up a bunch of copies of the paper, and then my friend Tyler called to let me know he did too because he thought I was still in China.

It’s a long one, but I put a lot of work into it and I’m pretty proud. It’s definitely a good starting point for other articles. Which, I’ll start working on today. I’ve got some ideas that I want to start chasing down.

There’s no time for jetlag!

So, off the plane, coffee, office, full working day, champers in the Opera House bar at sunset, dinner in the apartment and bed at 10.30pm.

Besides a random half hour of painful clarity at 3.30am, I slept right through to 7.30am when the alarm went off, and was bright and breezy in the office a shade before 8.30am.

I was cooking until 12pm.

Two flat whites (an Aussie strong latte with none of the foam), and I crashed, burned, and floundered for the rest of the day. Jetlag officially sucks, am so bushed tonight I can’t swan off out an enjoy Sydney. Can barely even remember my name (Fame. should never have remade it).

Still, am not so gutted. Did I mention the view I have from the apartment…..

Luna Park and the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. Corking view from my lounge window...

Iain is looking forward to getting over the lag tomorrow. No later…

Only people not living on a prayer? Bon Jovi's hair department (apologies, tenuous link to denote my being 'half way there' to Sydney...

Travelling is so tiring.

Don’t get me wrong, I know I am just sitting on my arse for hours on end, drinking gin, sleeping and watching movies (Terminator Salvation pap (but ultra fit terminator) and The Hangover funny, but definitely a DVD movie not a see at the cinema), but jeez, talk about drained!

The lounge at Heathrow Terminal four sucked. No ice (for what felt like an eternity), pretty poor food selection, and rancid bubbles. Not a great start. However, the lounge in Bangkok (where I have a two hour stop-over), is corking.

I showered for what felt like an eternity, and am supping a nice pineapple juice to accompany my light snack-ette before boarding for Sydney.

Fingers crossed BA don’t lose my bags. Made the fatal mistake of packing all chargers (Blackberry, personal phone and laptop), into my luggage, and the juice is almost gone from all three.

Seasoned traveller indeed…

Iain’s next stop. Sydney, 7am Monday morning. Just in time for the office at 9am…

Jag har alltid drömt om att kunna säga att jag lider av det fysiologiska tillståndet jetlag. Nu kan jag det.
Efter en månad på andra sidan är jag tillbaka i Sverige. Detta efter 22 sömnlösa timmar med svullna fötter i luften.
Det har varit en jävla resa, kort och gott. Jag återkommer säkert till den, för min egen överlevnads skull i höstkylan.
Just nu lider jag av en skev inre klocka och separationsångest.
Min ekonomi är inte heller den helt stabil.
Som “tur” är kommer jag att jobba arslet av mig den närmaste månaden.
Och som tur är har jag ett par färska desert boots från Clark’s att vila blicken på när jag med nedböjt huvud vandrar genom hösten. Ingen är så mörk som jag när mörkret kommer.