I Found The Trip's Special Purpose!

As near as I can tell, I’m conscious again, or as close to it as I ever am. I killed the deadly jet-lag demon with a nice 9 hour sleep. I say killed, but it’s usually easier going this way around the world than the other way. I think. Maybe it just slunk away on its own.

So, I finally figured out what the whole trip was about! It was a blatant plea from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Transportation (they’ve got the tourist bureau) that went out to the 60 members of the group, “Please! Please! Tell the whole world to visit Miniland!” Well, sad thing is that I can’t tell you where Miniland is, because it’s one of the places that would give you a decent hint in figuring out what I do here in the land of academe. In any case, they figured to invite us out for a bit of a tour and show up what’s up in Miniland. That way, when we all got home then we could spread the gospel of how wonderful the place is.

If it weren’t for the whole mild mannered secret identity thing, I probably would give you exactly the advice they would have me give you. Miniland is really more of a regional destination rather than a global one, but it’s got quite a bit to recommend it. Even though it’s marginally related to what I study, I’ve usually gone nearby, but I’ve never been there before. I know now that if I get the chance to go back, I surely will. The people I met there are truly some of the most kind and hospitable that I’ve ever met. I usually hate making generalities like that, but the only slightly negative experience I ever heard about was a street vendor that tried to get one of the group to pay a higher price for a little bracelet. For crying out loud, if that was the only problem I ever ran into when traveling, I’d be giddy. I’d also probably have a lot of expensive cheap bracelets, but that’s neither here nor there.

The scenery was gorgeous, as I hope you can tell from the one picture I put up there. Don’t worry, there will be many many more pictures. The cities were mainly sad and a bit run down, with pockets of bewildering high-tech wonders.

There’s a lot to say about this trip, so I’ll break it up a bit. I’ve got to run and get ready to go to a photo job tonight. It’s been awhile since I’ve done this kind of photo gig. I hope I remember which direction to point the camera.