Say I love you in your language "VOLIM TE" in Croatian, Montenegrin

La pasaporte a Rosario, Argentina 아르헨티나 로사리오로 가는 여권 The passport to Rosario, Argentina

En mi viaje por Zagreb, Croacia, me encontré con una pareja de argentinos: Damián y Belén. En ese entonces y aún ahora, no estábamos holgados económicamente y viajábamos a pie de un lugar a otro en Zagreb. No fue problema porque estaba acostumbrado a caminar. 

Por aquellos días tenía unos fideos coreanos, kimchi, algas y unos pescaditos secos (miolchi) que me regaló un pastor coreano en Budapest y los compartí con Damián y Belén. Belén al probar por primera vez en su vida estos pescaditos me dijo que fue la comida más rara que comió en su vida. 

A ellos no les gustaba la carne de Croacia, uno porque el precio era muy caro y otro porque no hay tanta carne. me decían que en su país de origen, Argentina, existía el asado; su precio no era tan caro y había muchísima cantidad. Antes de despedirme de ellos me dieron una foto y atrás escribieron una nota y me dijeron: " Cuando llegues a Argentina esta foto será tu pasaporte para entrar al país. Si llevas este pasaporte a mi pueblo natal (Rosario), mis padres te darán asado hasta que estés satisfecho".En ese momento faltaba tanto tiempo para llegar a Argentina, es más no sé si ellos mismos pensaron que podría llegar de verdad a Rosario... Teniendo este pasaporte en mi pecho, de verdad llegué a Argentina, a Rosario y me encontré con sus padres. 

Llegué a Rosario de noche y mientras esperaba en el semáforo del tren, unos niños me robaron la tapa del termo que estaba sobre la caja azul y que usaba como vaso. Ellos tomaron la tapa y no huyeron lejos sino que cerca del barrio donde vivían, me miraban y se reían a carcajadas. Generalmente en los alrededores de las grandes ciudades de Argentina se encuentran las villas de emergencia; no todas las personas pobres son malas, pero para un extranjero viajando solo lo mejor es no acercarse a ellas. Por eso estos niño robaron mi vaso y encima se burlaban. "Un vaso es un vaso, se los dejo de regalo pensé" y continué mi camino para encontrarme con los padres de Damián. No quiero pensar en lo que podría haber pasado si hubiese querido recuperar mi vaso y entraba en la villa...En verdad no quería perder el vaso porque fue un obsequio de un amigo en mi viaje por España. 

A pesar de encontrarme con estos niños-ladrones, en mi estadía en Rosario, los padres de Damián me trataron como si fueran mis padres, al igual que su hermana Danisa, me trataron muy bien. Por supuesto comí hasta llenarme del infaltable asado argentino y también fui a un partido de fútbol de Rosario Central. Los padres de Damián tienen un pequeño supermercado, ellos me decían que a diferencia de otros, ese lugar era muy seguro...mientras cerraba uno a uno los cuatro candados de la puerta...

Esto es un paréntesis, cuando estaba en Mendoza, los mendocinos me decían que Córdoba era más peligroso que Mendoza; cuando llegué a Córdoba, los cordobeses me decían que Rosario era más peligrosa que Córdoba; cuando llegué a Rosario, los rosarinos me dijeron que ni hablar, Buenos Aires era la más peligrosa, y pensé que en Buenos Aires perdería mi vida; cuando llegué a Buenos Aires me dijeron que Brasil era muchísimo más peligrosa, que no se podía comparar...aún sigo con vida y espero seguir vivo cuando llegue a Brasil... 

Los padres de Damián y su hermana Danisa me dieron una foto antes de partir, atrás escribieron una nota y me dijeron: "este es tu pasaporte de vuelta a Rosario". 

En el video que sigue estoy con la familia a de Damián en Rosario, Argentina, comunicándome por Skype con Damián y Belén, quienes ahora viven en España. 

¡Ah! no es que haya mejorado mucho, mi español hace que mi cuerpo se retuerza. No es ni inglés ni español, pero comparado con mi español del video, ahora soy un experto!!!!

RUN! and Asado [Around the world by bike]

When I was in Croatia, I met some Argentinian friends.
They were studying there, and they were not very wealthy.
In Croatia, if you have a student card, you can take the tram for free.
When my friends didn't have student cards, they used to take the tram without tickets.
But when I met them, they had student cards, so they didn't have to worry about controllers.
But I didn't have a student card. My friend told me that,

"Kim! Don't worry about anything.
If I say RUN! We all run! OK?"

I really liked them. They didn't have to run anymore.
Because they had student cards. But they didn't want to leave me alone.
They were happy and ready to run with me. They understood everything. 
Some people may not understand me and us.

But I love them very much.

They even gave me their photo.
They told me it was my passport to Argentina.
They said if I show their photo to their parents in Argentina,
their parents will give me Asado(Barbecue).
They didn't like meats in Croatia, because it's expensive and not very tasty.
But they said Asado is very cheap and a very good meat.
I can't wait to try Asado in Argentina!
Asado is coming or I'm going to Asado!

Q10. Where did you sleep when you didn't have a place to stay ?

I do couchsurfing and warmshowers quite often.

But in small villages, people don't know what is couchsurfing.

When I don't have a place to stay,

I sleep everywhere.

1. In the forest

Sometimes sleeping outside is better than inside.

I met Brano in Bratislava by chance when I didn't have a place to stay,

He was a really nice guy,

He showed me very good place to camp in the forest.

He said that one day he watched TV show about a guy who visited Slovakia.

Nobody tried to help this guy,

Brano didn't like that,

when he saw me, he decided  to help me.

Now, I can pitch my tent with my eyes closed.

But in the beginning I didn't know how to do that.

My friends in Bratislava taught me how to pitch my tent.

The forest had the natural swimming pool.

There were many friends of Brano,

So I felt very safe, we spent very good time together.

2. Ask local people 

I don't want to sleep just on the street.

Because while I'm sleeping on the street, 

a bad guy can come to me and attack me.

Normally I ask local people if they can let me pitch my tent 

in their garden or next to the house.

It was rainy season all day all night.

So I stuck in my tent for four days.

3. In the fields

It's better if you can find a roof.

Because when you wake up in the morning, it's too hot.

4. In the desert

Under the tree is perfect.

I was bit worried about wild animals.

Fortunately nothing happened.

You need to be careful of ants.

And don't forget to have much water to drink and clean always. 

It was not in the desert,

but you can find this kind of big tent in the desert as well.

If Bedouins let you work, you can help them and stay with them.

5. In the park

In the dark, you are happy to meet people,

or you are unhappy to meet people.

It's better to have some important stuffs with you in your tent.

6. A deserted house

It looks peaceful in thee morning,

but in the night, it seems bit scary.

Be careful of ghosts.

You can also find squats.

No electricity, no water, sometimes even no toilet.

But you can go to the library later.

And of course, it's always better to be with someone than being alone.

7. Monastery

It was not my plan to sleep in the monastery.

But it was too late to go home.

I've slept in the monastery in Montenegro.

You can also try churches and mosques, I had seldom tried though.

Because basically, I don't want to disturb anyone.

Practically, I'm disturbing couchsurfers though.

8. A parking garage or storage

You need to be careful of the smell of gas.

Think about ventilation twice.

Some people want to help me,

but we need time to trust each other.

I can understand them,

they don't let me inside home,

but they allow to use their storage.

9. On the chair

Of course, it's not very comfortable,

because you can't move very much.

But if you are tired,

it doesn't really matter, you can sleep anywhere.

10. On the roof

It's very hot in summer

I prefer to sleep on the roof,

it's cooler than inside,

you can see many beautiful stars in the sky in the night. 

Of course you need to prepare something for mosquitos.

11. A caravan

My friend hosted me here in the caravan.

It's nice, but it's very hot inside in Summer.

12. On the beach

It's better to find a place where is not very crowded.

When I slept here, people used to sing and walk around me all night long.

I couldn't sleep properly.

It didn't happen here,

but one day, annoying kids came to me and threw mud into my tent.

When I went out, they were hiding somewhere.

I was not in mood to play hide-and-seek.

I tried to sleep again, but they threw mud over and over all night long.

I couldn't sleep at all, and I didn't want to fight either.

I just tired to find another place to sleep.

Sometimes, when you traveling, you always meet the same people everywhere.

when I was traveling in Croatia, I met these girls many times.

We all didn't have a place to stay.

So I decided to be their bodyguard for one night. 

Because I'm a MAN!

13. Vineyard

You can have some grapes for your breakfast or for the road.

Sorry for farmers.

14. Near the police station

15. Gas station

I used to sleep next to gas station many times.

It's safe, you can get water for cleaning.

Sometimes, you can also meet friendly guys.

I really recommend you to go to gas station when you don't have place to stay.

16. Construction sites

You need to be careful.

You may meet some bad guys or not.

17. A small shop near borders

It was rainy season in Balkans,

I spent hard time to cross the borders.

I stuck in the mountain, 

it was too dark to ride a bike,

My clothes got all wet in the rain.

I had to sleep in a small shop,

people went back home after they finished their work,

it was freezing, and I was scared a little bit,

I couldn't fall asleep at all.

On the way to Turkey from Bulgaria,

it was too much snowy.

I couldn't imagine to ride my bike,

and it was even difficult to push my bike, because it was very slippery.

It was too dark, and too much snow all day all night.

I had to sleep next to the bus station, I didn't want though.

I thought I might die, I tried to make a fire,

but it didn't work, because everything was wet.

There were no cars, no people, no villages.

I barely found a car, and it was big enough to put my bike and everything.

But he said NO! and left me in the mountain in the snow.

Unfortunately no photos with me.

If you see some photos in extreme situation with people,

I don't think the situation is really extreme.

Because if it's really extreme,

You can't even image to take your camera, take picture of yourself.

You think only about this,

Live or Die !

You can also try a bus station, fire station, school or wherever you like.

I wish you and myself, be alive anywhere always!

Anyway the conclusion is that 

There is no place like home!

Yes, you can travel by bike [around the world by bike]

I met this family on the way to Montenegro from Croatia.

They are from Germany.

In South Korea, traveling by bike is getting common,

but still it's not very popular.

Some young men try to travel by bike before or after the military services.

We don't have many holidays as Europeans have,

it's difficult to travel by bike for us.

And you can't imagine traveling by bike with your daughter or son.

Because we think it's very dangerous.

Some people may think they are crazy.

But I don't think so, and to be honest, I'm jealous of this family.

I'm dreaming  to travel by bike with my son or daughter in the future. 

I want to share good memories with my family.

And they had very very old bikes.

That's why the mother is pushing her bike on the hill.

I realized that an expensive bike or family is not a very big problem.

If you change your mind,

I met many mature couples on their bikes on the road.

More than 60 years old, sometimes 70.

They look very healthy.

Because they have young spirit!

I got inspired many times.

I can't say I'm old.

Age ain't nothing but a number.

Many people like to make many excuses.

I'm too old, I don't have a good(?) bike, I have family,

I don't have money, I don't have time.

But if you really want to travel by bike,

I want to say Just try!

From Laura, Croatia

Good afternoon! 

I am a student from South Korea. 

I am hungry. Do you have some food for me? 

Can I overnight at your place or around here? 

Thank you very much! KIM




참고로 이것은 내가 부탁해서 만든 것이 아니고,

크로아티아에서 만난 한 라우라라는 아주머니께서 만들어주신 것.

I didn't ask this to make. But a woman named Laura wrote this for me and for my trip.