David Grajal

In the last months I have met a lot of adventurous people that consider hitchhiking a transportation medium. Honestly, I had never consider hitchhike anywhere before. In mainland Spain it’s not popular at all. But now I’m living in central Europe where hitchhiking is popular, safe and even encouraged by the government. Besides, I’m reading “Round Ireland with a fridge” which is about a guy that decides to hitchhike around the country with a big domestic appliance for fun. I was in the correct mindset and I wanted to give it a try: I was going to hitchhike somewhere just for the sake of doing it.

First of all I needed a place to go. My objective was to reach Salzburg in France, around 300km away from Würzburg. Hitchhiking in 2009  it’s a lot easier than 20 years ago because the technology make it easy for everybody. There are lots of pages on the Internet describing tips and tricks, what to do to get lifts, how to dress and the correct spots in each city to get lifts. I spend a couple of days researching all of this documentation. I also researched the best hitchhike route which meant going to Strasbourg via Stuttgart. I even prepared at home the sign I was going to use. Here it is.

Amateur hitchhiker sign

So I went to the best spot in Würzburg, the big gas station on the A3 highway. Once there I asked a couple what was the correct direction to go to Stuttgart. I was in the incorrect side so I needed to cross the highway.  20 minutes later I reached the correct big gas station. It looked perfect, with a huge rest area with lots people and a constant flow of cars entering the station.

So I started asking the people with a big smile in my face. The people smile me back happily but all of them rejected me. It was a huge failure. No one seemed to go to Stuttgart, all the people in the station was heading to Frankfurt. Once I finished asking all the people in the rest area one guy told me he was coming from Stuttgatt so I should be asking the people on the other side of the highway.

That was the reason! I went back to the gas station at the other side of the highway and I started asking the people with renovated energies. The reaction was the same, all the people was smiling me back but all of them were going to Munich. After some minutes a girl came to me and told me she was coming from Stuttgart so I should be on the other side of the highway.

I was screwed. There was not consensus! People were coming from Stuttgart from both directions!

It was a bad spot to get a ride to Stuttgart. I decided to change the plan. In the first station everybody seemed to go to Frankfurt so I decided to go to Frankfurt instead of Stuttgart and then figure out how to go to Strasbourg from Frankfurt. I went back to the first gas station and I prepared a new sign.

Semi-pro hitchhiker sign

There are important improvements over the first sign. It was difficult for the people to read the coloured bubble letters even at 2 meters of distance so I decided to draw clear black lines in this new version.

I was convinced that finding a ride to Frankfurt was going to be easy as cake this time. I started asking the people on the station, with a huge smile in my face. Most of the people give me back a smile but all of them rejected me. Some of them told me “Frankfurt? No, I’m heading to Stuttgart” so I answered “Stuttgart is fine also” while showing the original sign. This people were screw. This is a tip, if you don’t want to take a hitchhiker don’t say you are going to other place because the hitchhiker CAN also want to go there and you will feel really stupid telling him “NO” anyway.

After 20 minutes asking people I decided to change my strategy.  I decided to be more emotional on the banner. I looked like a perfect hitchhiker and I was convinced I only needed to let the people feel sorry for me. The best way I could think was to let them think I was travelling in Europe and my home was far, far away. I drew a new sign.

Hitchhiker sign

Don’t ask my why did I draw the flower, maybe to give the impression I am a peaceful guy and I was not going to slaughter anybody. I turned around and I start people again.  The third guy I asked gave me a lift. It took 15 seconds.

I founded the key. I was a hitchhiker!

The guy was actually heading to Belgium so I told him to drop me in Cologne instead of Frankfurt . I love it, I was changing the plans on the fly. I was not going to Strasbourg after all, my destiny was guiding me to Cologne. Once we got close to Cologne the guy drop me in a Gas Station. This was a novice error. Yes, I was in Cologne, but very far from downtown. No problem, we are in 2009 and I had technology support. I used Google Mapson my cell to locate a train station at walking distance. 20 minutes later I was in Cologne, in front of the biggest German cathedral. Wohoooo!

Forbidden city

Forbidden city

Beijing is built around the Forbidden City so the palace is the heart of the city. The Forbidden city looks small in a map until you look at the scale. It’s huge, as big as a small town by itself. It was the place where Chinese emperors lived their entire life because they were not allowed to leave the palace. The day we chose to visit the forbidden city was the same day chosen to do the same by half a million Chinese people. The internal tourism on this country is starting to wake up!

I didn’t really liked it because it was more of the same thing. Korea has a huge Chinese influence and the architecture, colors and paintings of the Forbidden City look exactly the same as temples and imperial palaces in Korea. I guess I’m saturated of Chinese architecture as much as of European palaces and temples! Overwhelmed by the huge amount of Chinese tourists and bored of the unexciting buildings, we rushed through the city and went to eat an (amazing) Peking duck.

Summer Palace

Lama Temple

The summer palace was a better experience because it was not crowded and it is plain beautiful. The Forbidden City is full of buildings that look all the same, but the Summer Palace is like a huge park. It has an enormous lake with a small island you can reach via a bridge.

Lama Temple

Lama Temple

Lama Temple is the biggest Tibetan temple out of Tibet and one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world. The building and the artworks of the temple combine Chinese and Tibetan styles.

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is the biggest religious temple on Asia and completely different to other Chinese temples. Chinese urbanism and architecture is based on the square form but this temple is circular and it vaguely resemble the circular peaks of russian churches. It’s located in a grand park with surprisingly green grass. The most interesting highlight of this spot apart of the circular temple were the old locals who where chilling out and hunging around the park, spending their time playing cards, dancing and singing.

Here is the topic that it’s dividing more the spanish society than the national elections we had last week. Our candidate for Eurovision song contest 2008. El Chiqui Chiqui. The Chiqui Chiqui is a extreme freak song produced and promoted from the Buenafuente tv show. Rodolfo Chiquilicuatre is a fiction character played by a comedian and the song was designed in a couple of days by the show’s scriptwritters. At the beginning it was only a joke, only a way to make fun of the eurovision contest. Today, all the people is dancing the Chiqui Chiqui.

How it sounds? The rhythm is reggaeton with funny stupid dance steps, the lyric is crazy. Here is the videoclip of the original version (english dubbed). The lyric Rodolfo will sing in the competition it’s cleaner but it’s also longer with new english verses.

Chiqui Chiqui song is a huge success probably because it was promoted and backed by a entire national channel but also because it has been seriously pushed through internet marketing up to the point of become a social phenommenom. Chiqui Chiqui is our best example of viral marketing. I’ve seen yoda dancing Chiki Chiki, a secondlife version, the teletubbies, all the simpson’s characters, counter-strike terrorists, michael jackson, hundreds of freaks, a CSI character, a WOW giant, bush, stevie of family guy and tens of other fan created versions.

How it is possible this song is representing us? A couple of months ago it was determined that this year our national representative was going to be elected through internet polls using a special myspace site. Tons of videoclips were uploaded, some of them of traditional or pop songs and music but mayority of them were home made and were totally freak.

The Chiqui Chiqui was almost always liderating the poll and recently has finally won the competition. But menwhile was necessary to accept thousands of bad critics, the rejection of the hardcore traditional eurovision journalists and the modification of the rules to make it lose votes.

Our society is splitted. There are people how loves Chiqui Chiqui because as we are going to lose anyway, at least we can enjoy a funny moment and make some laughts. But there is also the people how understand the competition as a very serious european simbol where each country present the best it can and they disagree with the freak show it’s becoming.

In the last years the eastern new republics started to present freak people. This year there is our Spanish Chiqui Chiqui but there is also a puppet turkey representing Ireland.

I love Chiqui Chiqui. And I’m not the only one, look at the TOP poll at the official fan website.

If Chiqui Chiqui wins the competition Spain will collapse. Seriously.

I love the following parody of US education and international politics

Seen in Franchu’s blog

Nation Of Andorra Not In Africa, Shocked U.S. State Dept. Reports

(Fixed video on 16.01.2010)