So by now you probably know that I’m fairly well connected to the online world. Twitter and Facebook are useful tools and they’ve helped me out a lot while traveling. But at the same time, there’s a bit of taunting going on.
Every now and then something shows up repeatedly in Twitter and I don’t particularly know what it is or why I need to know about it. If it sticks around long enough, I may figure it out. Or look it up.
Like this Inception movie that everyone is talking about. I had no idea of its existence until I saw a handful of tweets about it. A little unclear on what it was or why I should know about it, I put the question to Facebook. And got a handful of responses.
Yes, I could have looked it up myself. Yes, I may have eventually read about it in the news. But this way was more fun. As much news as I may read or current events that I pay attention to, there are some things which I just can’t possibly come across. Movies are probably one of those. Except you can bet just about anything that on the 17th, 18th or 19th of November this year, I’ll be in one of those countries waiting in line at a movie theater.
Looking for a place to stay? I use 
haha thanks Kristen!
Oops–Disqus wasn't on. There I am!
Atta boy! I knew I liked you, Adam–and not just because you've been to my hometown for the 'Roo =)
Alexis,
Did you ever end up seeing PA? It was really good!
I had that problem when I was studying abroad! All my friends posted about was Paranormal Activity and how it's the scariest movie! Being a scary-movie buff, I was completely jealous that I wasn't there to see it in theaters with everyone else!
Yeah, I didn't pick up too much Arabic. But I'll try and work on it while in Israel (that and Hebrew). Linguistically confused is a good place to be in!
Only the pleasantries, and I started understanding some of what people were asking me (usually, where are you from). It's definitely a language I'm keen to learn when I get home though! That, Mandarin, and a continuation of my French studies…am going to be very busy (and very linguistically confused!!)
I love going to the cinema while I'm travelling, too! It's a lot more fun than watching movies on my laptop.
We went to see Eclipse (the third Twilight movie) in Amman, Jordan and it was hilarious! The cinema was mostly full of students from the private American school, including loads of expat's children – nearly all girls, who squealed, screamed and cried throughout the whole thing. If only I could have read the Arabic subtitles – some of the dialogue was impossible to hear!!
Megan… that's a good story! Twilight in Jordan…. Did you learn much Arabic while in the region?
I'm with you, without Facebook I wouldn't know about any current events.
Yeah, I do fine with current news events, but not so much on pop culture. Facebook's useful like that.
Once in a while, we get tired of seeing the sites and we look for a movie theater. We love it – going and seeing American movies in English with subtitles in a different language is a total trip. In India, the locals totally get into the movies and whoop and holler about everything — it is truly hilarious. We watched Iron Man 2 in Japan and, the funniest part, was that none of the Japanese laughed at the jokes we laughed at which makes me wonder whether the subtitling wasn't good or if they just didn't get the jokes because they were snarky Americanisms.
Thanks for sharing Akila! I can't wait to get to India myself.
Hahah. Something must be better than nothing, right?
Glad to hear it!!
This happened to us too… While traveling in Italy in college, we stumbled across an American movie house showing english movies- we were so excited we bought tickets for the next showing… unfortunately that movie was “america sweethearts” starring Julia Roberts and John Cusack. awful!
Complete with a wand, broken glasses and a cape ;-)
Shannon!!
But will you be in costume?!
That's so true, Earl! All this pop culture stuff rarely changes lives. But it's still nice to feel like you're a part of something.
I'm not sure how I'll feel when I come back and have been so far out of the loop for so long. Hard to say at this point.
I love going to the movies too, Mike. But it's funny I had hardly thought of them up until all this hype about Inception. I think going to cinemas can be a fun way to travel, though, because they you get to see how locals really live. Most travelers aren't there to go to the movies, so it's almost entirely a local experience. In my opinion.
Jeremy,
YESSSSS! Let's do it.
Thanks Cheri! I think I might try and catch the movie while I'm here in Tel Aviv. It's been so long since I've been to a theater.
That's awesome, Joel!
I'll try and find the movie playing somewhere. It's been ages since I've been to a theater so it'd be a fun night out.
haha Nick. You must be too easily distracted :)
Dustin, I'm a bit of a film aficionado as well but I've managed to let it slip while traveling. I think Bangkok will be my best bet for seeing movies while I'm in SEA. Hopefully it's cheap!
I will also be standing in line somewhere in the world that weekend in November :-)
Well, I was just back in the US for two months and now I'm in Mexico and I too have not heard of Inception. But I actually love it when I have no idea what other people are talking about because I've spent too much time overseas…rarely, do I ever miss out on something that would have had a major effect on my life!
As I gear up for my first RTW trip, I've thought a lot about how much I'll miss seeing movies. I'm sure once I'm traveling that will change, but I love going to the movies.
I'll meet up with you and go see Harry Potter in S.E. Asia.
I was thinking a similar thought about that. Not even just movies. When you come home everything is so different. Even just being gone a month was a huge change. No news, no movies, no music… its so weird.
All I know is I have to see Harry Potter and the new Pirates movie if its out in time. I've read posts about seeing english movies abroad and the theaters sound nicer than our own.
Saw Inception over the weekend. A nice exercise for the mind. Nolan has been a favorite director of mine ever since Memento, and I've been waiting for a film like this. I dig his contemporary take on film noir, whether or not that's intentional. (He does the newer Batman stuff, but that's a whole different thing…)
Cheers,
Cheri
Just saw it yesterday in Paris. Considering an early scene was filmed blocks from where I was at that moment, it was doubly cool.
You should definitely see it! I really enjoyed it, though the hype is a bit over the top.
I don't have a clue either and I'm not even traveling yet.
Film nerd here. Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors. No joke, I'm choosing my next destination (Bangkok) partly because there will be a movie theatre showing this there.