Beijing

3 Months ago--- Wednesday, August 24th

Arriving in Beijing airport I was conscious that I needed to push to make the mandatory pre-tour briefing at the tour company's HQ in Beijing.

Knowing full well it was a rip-off, I allowed myself to be whisked away by the aggressive taxi driver who was targeting suckers ^H^H^H.... er... westerners. He pushed my bag and me to the front of the line for the elevator, knocking elderly Chinese people out of the way all the while in the process. Once in the elevator he proceeded to fondle my arm hair and the 5 o'clock shadow on my face, giving me the thumbs up on my ability to grow hair. "good job". He went to diddle my arm hair a 2nd time and I stopped him. "That's enough, we're good."

This trip was already getting bizarre.

I made the briefing with a few minutes to spare. The briefing was informative and entertaining. The primary purpose seemed to be to review a list of do's and don'ts... Mostly don'ts.

DON'T bring your phone,
DON'T bring your laptop,
DON'T bring magazines
DON'T wear clothing with American Flags on them
DO bring your iPod.
DO bring your camera (unless it's is a GPS camera)
etc.

I introduced myself to most of the other people on our bus. Seemed like a great group. I was relieved that none of the people with the exceptionally stupid questions at the briefing would be on our bus.

STUPID Questioner: "Is a phone actually a phone if I don't use it to make calls?"
A: "It's still a phone, don't bring it"

SQ: "Can I bring an iPod touch?"
A: "Is it a phone?"
SQ: "No"
A: "Then, as previously stated, yes you can bring your iPods"


As we left the briefing the skies suddenly opened up and drenched us. Taxis were hard to come by. After drying out back at the hotel several of us met for an amazing duck dinner at Da Dong. Most everyone call it an early night.

I'm going to North Korea

3 Months ago--- Tuesday, August 23rd

Holy crap, I can't believe I'm doing this! I'm flying to Beijing on my way North Korea to play the first Extreme Frisbee Tournament in DPRK history. I just got back from a wonderful and relaxing vacation in Turks and Caicos, narrowly escaping the wrath of Hurricane Irene. I didn't even get to go home and now after a few hours of sleep and I'm back on another plane, this time headed for Beijing where I'll travel to the most reclusive backwards country in the world, with a bunch of people I don't really know.

Ok, wait, let me back up a little further....

A few months back I got an invite from Neil Strauss, amazing all around guy, and best selling author who just happens to have written some of my favorite books (The Dirt,The Game, Emergency, Everyone Loves You When You're Dead ) A friend of his had been organizing the trip for quite some time and they were opening up for a few others to join. I'm not going to pretend Neil and I are bff's. I mainly emailed with his assistant and furiously googled to find out if this trip was actually LEGAL.... POSSIBLE.... SANE.. (Answers: Yes, Yes, and Probably Not.)

Then I read all the North Korean tour posts on tripadvisor.com, but with skepticism. I was convinced some, or even most of the posts were intended to be ironic, or were just blatant lies. Wait a minute, the hotel has a rotating restaurant? And A bowling alley? And 2 Karaoke bars? And micro-brew? And a golf course? This can't possibly be true, these reviewers are messing with my head. (It turns out, it was all true, and the hotel was even stranger than reported.)

Ok, anyway, so far this trip is do-able. Hmm. I looked to my schedule for an excuse to decline... no luck, it actually fit, just barely, between two other trips I had.

I guess I'm going to North Korea!