For today’s post, I found the perfect example of what I am hoping to have people share for the “MyID” feature. A group of international students at Ball State University in Indiana tell about their first impressions of life in the United States. Special thanks to littleleafyuko!

Sure, you have heard of the Dubai Mall, featuring its indoor ski resort. Or the Mall of America in Minnesota, USA, with its 800 stores and indoor amusement park.

But have you ever been shopping in a building that is more than 540 years old? Which covers 64 streets (requiring 22 entrances)? And includes more than 4000 shops?

I thought not.

But indeed, despite its majestic history, this is the place of employment of more than 25,000 Turks even today. Although it has faced growing competition in recent years from the megamalls that have been built as Istanbul continues to modernize, it still attracts more than 250,000 visitors a day–closer to 400,000 on weekends–in the market for anything from clothing to jewelry to Turkish ceramics and textiles to haircuts! There really is no limit to what you may find in here–if you give yourself enough time, that is.

One of the 22 entrances into the Grand Bazaar

Inside the Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar in full buzz

Among other things, Seoul is notorious for wild nights. By day, Koreans will swear to you through and through how conservative they are. Spend a night out in places like Hongdae or Itaewon, and you know first-hand that isn’t true.

It isn’t uncommon to be in a club until the dawn, but if for some reason you’re feeling a little slow and can’t last, there is a unique alternative: jjimjilbang, or public bathhouse.

The sign you’re looking for when you need a rest

These are a kind of 24-hour spa that feature minimal luxuries: just hard floor mats to sleep or rest in a shared, gender-specific room, a locker for your possessions, and access to some public baths. For your entrance fee of anywhere from 7,000 Korean won (about $6.50) and up, you can rest for several hours or spend the night. They are commonly used by businessmen (and women) who have long commutes home and stay out late drinking after work, but occasionally serve the nightclub crowd as well.

In an otherwise 24-hour city, the subways here close around midnight, and taxis can be expensive. So if you won’t last the entire night at the club, jjimjilbang may be just the option for you, and a cultural experience to behold as well.

Spending a night in a jjimjilbang…

If you want to embarrass an American family in France, serve peas. The Americans will undoubtedly touch a few peas with their fingers to get them on the spoon, and the French will laugh hysterically. 

Nearly thirty years ago, a group of 15 or 20 visitors to a little-known Thai beach threw a little party to celebrate the beauty of the evening’s full moon. Today, anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 people flock to Haad Rin, a little beach on the island of Ko Pha Ngan, to do the same—every time there is a full moon.

With the beach already buzzing full of people and small lamps, the party officially begins at dusk, when the golden moon rises over the white sands of Haad Rin. Over the next several hours, until the sun rises again, the beach turns into an all-out dance floor, as the DJ lineup switches things up from trance, to techno, to drum-and-bass, to reggae, to pop—pretty much any and everything to keep the crowd moving. Some will take a break to eat (there are beach vendors selling all kinds of yummy foods), perhaps take a dip into the warm Gulf of Thailand, or even shoot some of the impromptu fireworks you are bound to see.

All you’ve heard about conservative Thai culture doesn’t apply here—and that’s not surprising considering that very few partygoers are actually Thai. Pretty much anything goes, although police have made an effort in recent years to curb some of the rampant drug use that the party had become known for.

But while you have to keep your wits about you—Thai drug laws are strict (or, more likely, you’ll be expected to pay a hefty bribe) and the parties are often marred with petty theft—the Full Moon party is truly something to experience, unlike anything you’ve seen before or will likely see again.

When in Ghana, always be sure to use protection. This is generally good advice no matter where you are in the world, but especially important here. Oh, wait, did you think I was referring to sex?

Viruses are prevalent here—and I’m not only talking about HIV/AIDS! It is likely you will be using an Internet café to communicate with the outside world while you are here (wifi isn’t exactly found everywhere), and hardly any public computers in Ghana use up-to-date antivirus software. So if you will for any reason have to use a flash drive with one of these computers, make sure it is equipped with an antivirus program before you arrive.

Of course, you should use the “other” kind of protection as well. While the HIV/AIDS epidemic is not as bad in Ghana as it is in other countries in Africa, including South Africa, it still infects nearly three percent of the population—perhaps even higher than that in urban areas like Accra. Condoms are readily available in pharmacies, supermarkets and even gas stations.

Conclusion: whether you intend to get up close and personal with a computer or with a person, use protection!

(image credit: Harrisburg Helpdesk)

Before 1990 or so, Seattle was a blue collar, industrial city tucked away in the Pacific Northwest. A manufacturing stronghold, it was home to one of the world’s largest aircraft makers—Boeing—and an active naval shipyard. It had a few professional sports teams, a large state university, and a lot of rain. Rain, in fact, was probably what the city was most known for.

That all started to change in 1986. It was in that year that Bill Gates decided to take his obscure computer software company public, giving it a home in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue. The next year, a man named Howard Schultz acquired a small coffee company, with just six stores in Seattle. And a year after that, two kids from the coastal town of Aberdeen, Washington—about two hours away—showed up in Seattle with their guitars and a vision.

That obscure software company, Microsoft, would end up becoming the most important name in the beginning of the digital revolution, creating three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionnaires among its employees. Seattle was now at the center of the technology world—Silicon Valley before Silicon Valley—and a city with significantly greater purchasing power as well.

What Microsoft has grown into in suburban Seattle

As for the coffee company, well, it just so happened that Schultz had visited Milano, Italy earlier that year and noticed that there was a coffee bar in just about every corner. People did not just patronize them to fill up on coffee, but rather to meet and greet with friends and colleagues—they were a part of Italy’s social fabric. He decided to try to apply this concept to his new purchase, a little company called Starbucks, and the idea of coffeehouse-as-meeting-place would storm the nation and eventually the world. Today, Starbucks has more than 20,000 stores in over 60 countries.

A look inside the first Starbucks today

And those kids—Krist Novoselic and Kurt Cobain—would create a band called Nirvana and with it, an entire counterculture. Grunge music was born, and more significantly, Seattle as the creative hub that spawned it. Seattle had had famous musicians before—think Jimi Hendrix—but he in particular spent the majority of his active years in London and elsewhere. Nirvana truly made Seattle home, and the city that had previously had a small music scene went on to produce Pearl Jam, Soundgarten and Alice in Chains among others.

Nirvana’s performances gave life to Seattle’s dormant music scene

Today, Seattle is regarded as anything but blue collar–a technology hub with an artistic, coffee house culture full of youth and creative energy. For this, it can look back on the years 1986-1988, and those few individuals that sparked the evolution from industrial port city to what it is today, and give thanks.

Seattle is moving at top speed today

Often considered Brasil’s National Dish, feijoada is a hearty dish consisting of black beans, onion, garlic and a variety of meats—most commonly pork—slow cooked into a robust stew, served with farofa and white rice. It’s certainly something to try if you want to live like a Brazilian, but make sure you’re aware of your days.

You see, whether you plan to eat at someone’s house or in a restaurant, feijoada is only available on Wednesdays and Saturdays (with the occasional Sunday offering). That’s right—restaurants actually serve dishes only on particular days with all following the same cultural norms.

I couldn’t imagine such a practice being followed in the US—when we want something, we want it now. Sure, maybe pizza places are a little busier on Friday nights, but nobody’s going to tell me they can’t serve me pizza on a Wednesday, so long as my credit card works.

It has taken some getting used to, but I finally have a grasp on what foods go with what days of the week in Brazil, some of which are listed below. And while that knowledge may have almost no practical use—what is served is what I eat anyway—at least it helps me refrain for getting my heart set on feijoada when it won’t be possible to eat.

There aren’t many countries in the world that you can define in one sentence or less. For Costa Rica, it takes just two words: Pura Vida.

Translated literally as “pure life” (well, if you overlook Spanish grammar), visitors here tend to think of the phrase as an embodiment of a laid back, surfer lifestyle. Forgive them for that, given that most visitors here only experience exactly that—a few days on the beaches, a few trips down a zip line, and a tropical hike or two.

For Costa Ricans, though, who actually live here and work here and do much more than surf and hike, the phrase signifies an overall feeling of health and happiness. Think “hakuna matata” from The Lion King, a Swahili phrase that says there’s nothing to worry about.

Said here, pura vida symbolizes tight-knit communal ties, a happiness-above-all spirit and an appreciation for blessings.

As for its origins, well, there is some debate. But prevailing wisdom says that a 1956 Mexican film called Pura Vida, directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares, started the trend. In the movie, “pura vida” is the expression of eternal optimism used by the main character, played by Antonio Espino, who seems to be a walking comedy of errors. While it was not a commonly used expression in Costa Rica then, within 10 years after the film’s release the phrase had become a national staple.

Today, “Pura Vida” can be seen on all kinds of businesses, advertisements, souvenirs and is even included in some Spanish dictionaries. And, of course, it is still widely used in conversation, with a  typical meeting of friends going something like this:

        Person A:  Todo bien? (“Everything okay?”)

        Person B:  Si, todo bien. Pura vida. (“Yes, everything’s good. Pura Vida.”)

        Person A:  Pura vida.

Now both parties are assured of each other’s well-being and commitment to the Costa Rican way of life, and can proceed to enjoy their beers.

        Both:  Salud. Pura Vida!

As with some other European nations, particularly in Scandinavia, the American tradition of small talk in passing is a source of scorn. While Americans offer phrases like “how are you?” as casual greetings, without allowing time or showing concern for an impending response, this type of communication simply doesn’t exist in Finnish culture.

A people much more renowned for listening than for talking (I think I may know a few women who would be interested in a guy with this quality), words are taken seriously here and people generally mean exactly what they say.

“Take a man by his words and a bull by its horns.”

This old Finnish proverb is still alive and well today. Finns will take seriously what you say, so be very careful about saying we “should” do this, or we “must” do that. In America, it is common for people to give a half-hearted indication of desire to meet sometime, without actually intending to follow up on it. In Finland, this practice will lose you many friends, for good reason. Think about the same next time you ask a Finnish friend how he or she is. If you don’t have time for a response, don’t ask.

They May be Introverted, but not Unfriendly

It should be noted that while Finns are very quiet in public, and will not likely speak to strangers, they are still hospitable and helpful. If you are visiting here and find yourself lost, confused, or somehow mixed up, do not hesitate to ask a local for help—you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the quality of response you are likely to receive.