Token For Every Adventure
Ah, traveling. To me, it’s probably one of the toughest “jobs”. It’s a blessing to see the world, but it can be hell if you run into trouble in strange places. On every trip, I always felt a little stressed that something bad might happen and pondered till I’m bald about how to handle these preemptive problems. Still, I can never get enough of it.
From what I’ve experienced, I personally enjoy solo travel and study trips because they give me more freedom. I admit these types of traveling can be more tiresome since you have to do everything on your own, nevertheless, they are much more meaningful and inspiring than going on tours. Trips like these always made me want a little token so that in the future I could heave a long sigh recalling these memories while sipping my tea.
Well, for a while, I struggled a lot to shape what this token should be. I considered fridge magnets, miniatures of famous landmarks to postcards, but felt that they are too… conventional and ordinary for me. Then one day, when I was reorganizing my bookshelves, I realized book should be that token. Why? Well, in short, the reason is:
Language + Literature = Book (Tada!)
To be honest, I felt quite embarrassed for wasting a rather long time to realize such an obvious thing. Even before considering tokens of any kind, visiting a bookshop is already on my to-do list for every trip. You can tell a lot about a country just from a bookstore, not to mention a work of literature. A good book written by literary giants of a country can closely reflect its culture while the language use is certainly at the finest. In other words, the essence of a nation along with the beauty of its language is condensed inside a book.
I was quite nostalgic when I wrote this post. I missed my trips. I’m certain that when I revisit (if I ever could) these lovely places, the feeling would be different. I wanted to jot down the best of every journey I had so far. I owed many things to these experiences. The rest of this post is going to be very self-centered, by the way. Beware of the boredom. You are advised.
England 2015
Back then, I didn’t know how to properly plan the trip so I mostly stuck to my fellow classmates on excursions around London and other areas. But on one Sunday morning, I got bored and stayed at the flat instead of joining them to see the Tower Bridge. I wandered around and eventually got to the supermarket and bought some food. On the way back, I ran into this random place and got hold of this one.
It’s indeed not much of a good choice for relaxation but I’m glad I bought it. That night, I prepared a little supper for myself and enjoyed it in my little room. At the time, I struggled a lot with social interaction. I was awkward and too shy to communicate well. It took a toll on me for the past several days to blend in so I really needed a quiet moment alone. This little one will always remind me of that time, a very enjoyable moment I had for myself.
Japan 2018
At the time, I hadn’t earned much trust from my family and the school to travel alone, so I still had to stick with my companion. Luckily, we agreed to travel separately on one day. I planed to visit many bookstores near Ueno station. But, unfortunately, I caught stomach flu and had to stay indoors for 2 days.
I slept most of the time (occasionally got up to vomit though) and had this crazy dream. I forgot what the dream was the moment I got up but I could still remember the feelings I’d experienced, which were like those in Murakami Haruki’s books. In other words, it was like being “high on sadness”. I had a sudden urge to read his books but I brought along none and couldn’t go beyond the perimeter of the bed, so I listened to Norwegian Wood by The Beatles to ease the thirst. The song and the recollections of the book somehow vividly depicted the Japan I’d witnessed with my own eyes: lonely and dreamy.
I didn’t get to bring any token back from that trip but I already decided on one, which was a book written by Murakami Haruki. On my way back from the trip to America, I transited 2 hours at Narita Airport. I roamed around the bookstore there and brought home this little one.
“I’m on a pilgrimage to find my own color, too. Although not derailed like Tazaki, my life so far doesn’t head towards anywhere… Derailed…What funny words used for a guy that works for a railway company”, I thought to myself.
USA 2018
At the time, I hadn’t had the concept of token yet. Though, during my stay in San Angelo, I bought a little miniature of an armadillo to remind me of the study trip. But as expected, it lacks the ability to convey the experience I had there. Even now when I look at it, it’s hard for me to recall any specific memories.
I said goodbye to San Angelo after 3 weeks of pleasure and happiness for the sunny Los Angeles. I was well-instructed so as to “survive” in LA on my own. I strictly followed the plan to avoid trouble, but of course, troubles sprawled out and ate a large proportion of my brain. I learned a great deal by handling them, which lay a solid foundation for upcoming trips.
Before that time, I hadn’t visited any art museums yet, so I was dumbstruck when I visited Getty Center. Oh, the arts… why so aesthetic, elevated, and ethereal? How can we live on, if there was no such thing? I have never felt as fulfilled as when I stood in awe among all the artworks.
As you can tell, I absolutely loved my stay there. Other places I’ve visited in LA also left the same profound impact on me. One of those places is an old bookstore in a Korean town. I bought so many good books that my little brain scream in excitement. I didn’t consider them as tokens at the time but rather food for the brain. If I had to pick one to represent this trip then it must be “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley.
Chapter 16, in which the conversation between John and Mond took place, made me wonder a lot about what I’d experienced. “Happiness is never grand”. Mond’s argument does possess considerable power, subtlety, and a great element of the truth. I cannot help agree with him but my choice is in accordance with John. If we had to trade art, love, passion for such “social stability”, I would rather suffer to death. It certainly is one of the most well-written novels. A novice writer like myself can hardly convey her understanding and feelings towards this book. But I’m quite sure that I can read this book again and again without being bored. And whenever I read it, it would remind me of my exciting adventure to the USA.
France 2019
On my trip to the USA, I bought the English version of “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. It’s actually the first book I chose to read for my reading challenge in 2018. Since this book was recommended to my sister by a reliable source, I was quite eager to read it. Undoubtedly, it took me on a roller coaster of emotion. At first, I was dispirited because the first part of the novel was quite slow. However, I came to realize that the indifferent tone and laid-back speed of the story were intentional in order to build up the character and (probably) to let the reader get blasted by the two last pages of the book as well.
There are many notable things about France but whenever I thought of it, I visualize the view from Meursault’s balcony. Albert to me is a fine artist. His words touched me deeply. I came to realize so many things through his works. On my Paris trip, I bought another book by dear Albert and determined to read it. Yes, dear friends, my journey to conquer French has begun. I don’t expect to be competent but I do want to enjoy one of my favorite authors’ writing in its original form.
Malta 2019
I really enjoyed my stay in Malta. This small island country has a lot to offer, from its landscape, architecture to its cuisine and language.
From what I know, Maltese is a Semitic language, which means its overall structure and grammar are similar to those of Arabic. However, Maltese vocabulary is mostly derived from Italian, Sicilian, English and even French, making it an exceptional descendant of Arabic. I got interested in the language, so I was determined to check it out. On my visit to Valetta, I went to a bookstore. I didn’t know any Maltese authors so I asked the shopkeeper for a recommendation. This little one is her personal favorite because it’s funny and easy to read. I look forward to reading it although it will definitely need a lot of time.
Spain 2019
To me, Spain and its language seem a little distant. Spain certainly has many famous artists and authors but I hadn’t had any close contact with this nation yet. Therefore, I had no precedent vision or expectation of the country, which left room for fresh amazement.
Its architecture is definitely something else. Along with that, its art museums are really nice and worth visiting. On my last day in Barcelona, I visited Laie — a bookstore near my hostel and spent almost 2 hours there. After looking around for some time, this was the only Spanish title whose meaning I was certain of.
This book is quite famous in Vietnam. From the title, I think you guys know which book it is. Máquez was a Colombian writer, so there certainly will have differences in the language use, compared to Spanish from its origin. However, because I was too proud of being able to understand the title without any precedent knowledge of Spanish, I bought the book without further ado.
I believed that once you grasp hold of a language, your brain can help discern other languages of the same group. I used to self-study Italian for a while. Since both are members of the Romantic languages, they do share some vocabulary, although with notable phonological changes and a number of similar grammatical forms. For instance, the title translated word by word into Italian is “Cento anni di solitudine” (the actual Italian title: Cent’anni di solitudine).
After my long stay in Spain, I did come to enjoy the sound of Spanish. If ever possible, I want to revisit Barcelona and converse in Spanish (even a little only) with the nice staff of Barcelona Central Garden Hostel.
Before ending, I just want to say: Find yourself a token, my dear friends. Find something you like or stand for what you like and bring them home from every journey. If you did, I’m eager to know what it is and the stories behind them.
