Hot weather

Distance: 54miles

Temp: 95 F

It’s hot. So hot that I thought I would be evaporated.

I hate myself.
But I cannot quit yet.
I have be remain strong.

I know this trip will be rewarding.

Las Vegas

Diana: i don't think cycling is the best way to cross the USA, izaka
Why don't we just gamble?

Izaka: you're right. We'll be gambling for the next a few months.

City in a desert

At least, i don't have to go to NYC to see the Statue of Liberty.

I've seen it all.

I just go

because I started.

Death Valley

I don't know how i got here. A van stopped and an American family from Ohio rescued me in Ridgecrest.

We stopped in Death Valley. it was 120 degrees Fahrenhiet.

It was like hell. And it could have gotten a lot worse. It feels like being in a fridge, closed and uplugged.

Everybody makes mistake. Kathy married Tom, Bush is the president, Clinton married Clinton.

I think not every mistake is forgiven.

Hollywood

Meeting Mary Poppin on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mary Poppin : What a Freak you are!

izaka : What?

Mary Poppin: What's wrong with you? you carrying this big headed doll and taking pictures and all that...

Izaka: Her name is Diana. Diana Angel.

Mary Poppin: By the way, we accept tips. (I give her one dollar) oh, god. Give me two, C'mon!!You took lots of pictures.

the conversation

my friend: What is this?

Izaka: Diana Angel

LA

Lost in map.

disneyland

Izaka: Was it fun?

Diana: yes. It was fun. We should come here more often.

An Unknown Asian in LA

I arrived LA on the 13th of August 2006.

Sunny sky, warm weather. nothing happend.

I'm preparing for a trip that might cost my life.

I don't mind if the trip is not fun.

I hope I can go back to Korea with some kind of a life lesson.

"How I can die in USA"

List of ways I can die on the “My Great America” trip (that my friends told me)


- Getting shot on the road in a bad neighborhood in LA
- cheating with the ex-wife of an ex-football player/actor
- Hit by a truck
-Hit by a taxi in Chicago
-Bored to death
- AIDS
- Food poisoning
- Encounter with Big Foot
- Heat stroke
- Hunger
- DUI
- Eaten by a hungry eagle in Nevada
-Suicide.

and

.....excuted in Texas for riding bicycle in a private property.


(....it was fun until I got to realize the reality of this trip.)

List of "Things I'm taking to USA"

Here’s the list of the things I take to America:

"Lexus" (my bicycle)
- (I already disassembled it and put it in a box. I have to put it together in the airport of Los Angeles. It freaks me out when a big crowd gathers around, just like it happened in Cuba."

“Bob Yak” - bicycle trailer
Helmet
Cycle Repair Kit
Bike tent
Sleeping bag
3 T-shirts
1 short pants
3 pairs of socks
2 set of cycling clothes
Personal hygiene stuff
Bible
3 books by Mark Twain
Lonely Planet Guide book “USA”
Lomo Camera
Canon 5D
17-40mm Lens
Canon G5
2 memory cards
Blanket
Map of America (2006, Michelin)


57 lbs….


....obviously, a lot heavier than I ought to carry on my trailer.....

Farewell Concert for Izaka

The farewell concert was fun. Lots of people came to the club to see my band “Young Lions” perform.

We played some of the songs by Kim Kwang Seok, Eric Clapton, Sanulim, Jo Yong Pil.
But now I’m under huge pressure. I can't say “I’m not going”. They will ask for refund for the ticket they bought.

The M.G.A. Plan

Schedule of “My Great America”

Los Angeles -> Las Vegas -> Flagstaff -> Santa Fe -> Oklahoma City -> Tulsa -> St. Louis -> Chicago -> Detroit -> Pittsburg ->New York City.

Distance: circa. 4000miles.

Avg. Speed: 10 miles/hour. 60 miles a day

Date: 7 Aug 2006 ~ 31 Oct 2006-12-11

Start

To begin with this website.
This blog is made to show America in an non-American point of view.

USA is known as the “world police” or the “world bully”. Lots of people hate America. USA started a meaningless war in Iraq, they are building a new military installation in PyeongTaek with the cost from the South Korean Budget. In my freshman year, I joined a Anti-American activist group and went to violent demonstrations.

But everybody in my generation is influenced by America. I watch Hollywood movies, copied some of the music of American hardrock bands such as Aerosmith and Metallica.

I’ve worked in Equal Opportunity office while I did my mandatory military service in the US Army. SFC Roesh told me that one should only speak for oneself.
It’s not fair for Americans if one starts blaming them without talking to them, and being to USA.

I will ride bike from LA to NYC in Aug~Oct 2006. I’ll write about people, culture television, politics that make up the country “America” while I travel. I don’t exactly recall when I planned this trip, but I’ve decided after I was released from the military service, that I wouldn’t make judgment on America until I really saw it.

I’ve been working on this project for the last two years. I hope this blog will help people who are not Americans understand America better by providing them information on America that is not filtered by media. I hope this blog will serve as a mirror that shows how Americans are seen by a Korean student.

I wish everybody will have fun with this blog. I’ll try to have fun doing this too, but 4000 miles seem to be a very long distance.

Wish me good luck.

A cow watching "Dick & Jane"

4월 1일 만우절기념 싸인회를 마치고
한우 복장 그냥 반납하기 아까워 CGV 영화관에 입고 갔다.

"Dick & Jane"을 봤는데, 영화도 재미있었고
나도 모르게 계속 신이 났다.

표 파는 사람, 팝콘 주는 종업원도 즐거워 했다.

저 탈만 쓰면 나도 모르게 현실 밖으로 나가는 느낌이 든다.


요즘 가장 하고 싶은 것은
다시 저렇게 소 탈 쓰고 영화보러 가기다.


여러분도 한번 해보세용. 디따 잼있어용.