At long last we have left behind both the Beaver State and the Hoosier State and have made our way to the land of the exotic East. We are now knee deep in having our preconceptions challenged and our senses assaulted.

Our trip didn't start with the most promising of starts as the officials at the Korean Air desk at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago didn't want to let us get on the plane with only a one way ticket. Apparently no one travels by one way ticket these days and they were afraid we were going to try and sneak into China and live as illegal immigrants. How bad do they think America is these days? However, with a little smooth talking and proof that we were rich Americans they let us in with a mumbled, "We'll let China deal with them" under their breath.

Our first flight was a tortuous 14 hours from Chicago to Seoul, South Korea. The plane was packed and my lame attempt at getting us into first class was rebuffed quickly by the gate attendants. I felt bad about not being able to charm my way in to the classy section until we realized that we were sharing coach with the boys of Hanson. Yes, that's right...they of the "Mmm Bop" fame was sitting a few rows from us. We first took notice of them at the airport when we noticed a shaggy haired youth being obnoxious with a airport worker who asked him to stop blocking a walkway. Typical Americans we thought. It wasn't until we saw all three of them together that it clicked that we were graced by the presense of greatness. Slightly diminished greatness, I guess, as they were flying the cheap seats. We later saw a commercial at the Seoul airport for the upcoming concert. I'm sad we had to miss it.

We survived the flight, but just barely. Welcome to Mooseport is the absolute worst movie ever produced and I watched the entire thing on the flight. Our next flight from Seoul to Hong Kong was relatively painless, but we were totally exhausted and I don't remember much of it.

We are now in Hong Kong. It's really difficult to explain the feel of this city. It's absolutely enormous with a skyline to rival Manhattan. Nearly every 70 story skyscraper is outfitted with elaborate lights that kick on at night and shift and swirl nonstop with a dazzling display of color and Asian over-the-top excitement. A hundred feet below the streets are crowded with endless night markets selling everything from bootleg DVDs and Calvin Klein knockoffs to live chickens and jade statues of the Buddha. Extreme wealth and abject poverty rub shoulders in this metropolis that doesn't really even begin to get going until dark.

We've hit most of the big sights already after a couple of long days of walking. We have seen the city from the top of Victoria Peak, been frightened off by a jaguar that lives in an enclosure in the Zoological Gardens, eaten bowls of noodles in a shop down a tourist-free street and bluffed our way into the splendors of the Peninsula Hotel, pretending for just a bit that we were of the wealthy elite. We'll spend our last night in Hong Kong tonight taking the Star Ferry out into the harbor to see the city from the sea. Tomorrow we will be heading to mainland China, but so far have no idea how or where exactly. We managed to convince immigration to give us a visa, but we're nervous that we may endure another grilling at the Chinese border about our lack of a plane ticket home. Hopefully, it'll be nothing that a display of American greenbacks can't cure.

I think it will take a few weeks to adjust to this new style of life. We have nowhere to be, no limitations and no agenda. It's about as different from normal American life as you can get and its hard to know what to do with such freedom. It's both frightening and exhilirating at the same time. We're still inexperienced in the ways of searching out places to stay without Lonely Planet holding our hands, we're a little timid to try the bus system and we haven't tried befriending fellow travelers so far, but I'm sure all of this will come with time.

Hong Kong is not indicative of most of the places we're going venturing to, but it is certainly an exciting beginning.

-- Shawn