The Chicago Melting Pot

I'm sitting in a McDonalds Play Place, and in the handful of families around me I hear some French, some Russian, some Spanish and a little English. The guy delivering medical equipment this afternoon had a heavy Eastern European accent. I stopped in at a delicious-smelling neighborhood deli this afternoon -- just up the street from the all-Greek households we're visiting -- and bought a link of Polish sausage from a Polish Grandmother. (Having two boys in the stroller seems to invite conversation.) And it's not like the new-English speakers are just emptying wastebaskets and driving taxis here -- they're medical professionals, business owners, and the Moms and Dads next to me in the restaurant.

It's a definite benefit of travel -- a reminder of the richness of the fabric making up this amazing country of ours...

Old McDonalds

One thing about McDonalds -- you can count on consistency, from Lenexa to London to Seoul to Chicago. It's Gabriel's favorite 'date' spot -- though it's NOT because of the food! We're hanging out in a McDonalds Play Place this evening while we await word on Thea Barbara, and Gabe is meeting a series of interesting people. He just played for an hour with a 5 and a 7 year old. That started with punches and kicks, and ended with respect and friendship, and I even got to talk with their dad for a while.

The excitement may be wearing off, though. This is not a common pose in a Play Place...

Pizza Ranch

With a name like that, how could we resist?? It was time for a break according to the Clock of Mikey so we passed up Subway for Pizza Ranch. We did learn two things from the stop:

1) This place can't make pizza and is nothing like a ranch, and

2) Iowa is even whiter and pudgier than Kansas!

Well, I guess you never learn if you don't try...

On the Road Again!

The Wollen Clan is on the road today, headed off for a big circle through the middle of the US. We're hitting Chicago to visit with Parthena's aunt Barbara, then heading to Little Rock for the Grand Opening of the new Heifer International Education Building. It's 1,625 miles according to Google maps.

We started slow, but got up to speed quickly after I saw this in my rear view mirror!

Leaving Las Vegas

Homeward bound! I can't wait to see the family and sleep in my own bed!

Apparently the weather has caused a bunch of delays, so the airport is jammed. But this is Las Vegas -- so there's always some way to spend your spare time -- and cash!

That's it for this trip! Wollen Travels will go dormant for a while, until the next interesting perambulation. Until then, happy travels!

Al Gore Speaking

Al Gore is the keynote speaker this morning at CTIA. He's talking about the information revolution and the way mobile technology helps to extend and democratize it. I assume he'll get to the environment as well.

Lions!

We went to the MGM Grand last night for an event, and walking through we stumbled upon the lion habitat. They actually have lions (their logo) in the casino, and you can walk down a plexiglass hallway and see the lions right on top of you!

Concept Phones from Kyocera

Here are a couple of the fun ideas that Kyocera ia working on. One phone has a paper-thin foldable screen that can be removed from the phone and used. It stays connected to the phone wirelessly. The other phone folds up like a wallet and can be used open pr closed.

These aren't consumer-available, of course, but they generating ideas and technologies that will be used.

Fascinating presentation on Wireless health care

Incredible stuff happening when combining wearable sensors with wireless connectivity. For a preview, take a look at http://www.westwirelesshealth.org.

Las Vegas at Night

We got invited to a rooftop event at Ceasar's Palace -- what a view! Why don't people in Las Vegas do more outside??

Microsoft Mobile

Miceosoft is demo-ing Windows Mobile v.7. The theme seems to be touch screen usability and making the OS more low-end user friendly. Those are great themes, and aeem to be consistent across all the manufacturers. Apple has really set the bar for the user experience, and it's driving everbody else to play catchup!

I'm heading into a seminar on mobile social networking. Should be fun!

More cool stuff...

Here are pix of some more LG stuff in the pipeline.

The Prada phone is beautiful, and it comes with an integrated Bluetooth watch. So when you get a text message, no need to look at your phone -- you can just check your watch. Your phone rings but it's across the room? No problem -- just check your watch to see who's calling!

Or, do away with the phone altogether and just use a wristwatch phone with a Bluetooth headset.

For new materials, how about a transparent keypad??

This is all displayed to the driving beat of music mixed by this DJ. Sometimes I really like my job!

Vendor Presentation

Presentations are less glitzy this year in deference to the economy. But they still use attractive young women to attract attention. She's demo'ing a new LG device called the Arena that has a great screen and Dolby surround sound -- so you can get a great movie-watching experience -- or at least as good as can be imagined on a 3 inch screen...

It also has a 5 megapixel camera -- so no more need for multiple devices.

They've put a lot of thought into how to store and manage information in ways that the average consumer understands and likes. Interestingly, they've moved away from folder structures, or 'layers' of information, to a more flat approach where you can essentially move around on a really big table...

Cool stuff!

Wow -- fake cigarettes!

Now what do these have to do with wireless...?

I'm Tweeting!

Okay, in the spirit of CTIA, I'm going to Twitter this week. So if you'd like to "follow" me, my Twitter name is awollen. We'll see how this goes...

Small World!

Now this is crazy -- I just ran into John Sarreal, who served in the Peace Corps with Parthena 10 years ago!!

Flying over the Rockies!

Wow – I never cease to be amazed by the Rocky Mountains.  For a flatlander like me, those things are incredible.  Seeing them is a heads-up that we don’t go West nearly often enough!  Little pix like these from the aisle seat are obviously just a tiny reminder…

 

Mobile Office!

Southwest Airlines is set up for business travelers -- with greatlaptop facilities right next to beer taps. All needs are met!

Headed for Vegas!

Beware -- the Travels blog is alive again...briefly, at least. I (Andy) am headed for the CTIA tradeshow in Las Vegas for the rest of this week, and I'll use the blog to share impressions and fun experiences.

I'm excited to have a chance to see what's new! It's kind of like being a kid in a candystore when I walk around the tradeshow floor. The exhibits are the new new thing, and this year they'll include using a cellphone to remotely control stuff in your car, tracking your pets using a GPS collar with an embedded cellphone (so you can call them to come home for dinner!), and who knows what else!

Let me know if you'd like any specific pix of Las Vegas. I do have hopes that there'll be time for a little tourist-ing outside of the convention floor.

Pix soon!

Final Day

Well...my final day in Korea has arrived. Whew -- I'm tired! This has been a long two weeks with a LOT of work packed in!

I haven't been good at all about blogging this week, partly because of the work schedule and partly because of the ban on picture-taking devices inside the customer facility. That means I don't carry a camera at all, so I don't catch the to-and-from-work pictures. And since we don't do much else...

Jeff and I did have an interesting dinner on Wednesday evening. We made it to "Western Bar" while it was open, and the menu was enticing! It had a "Fried" section and a "Smoked" section and a "Quick" section, and not much else. It's notable that there was no "Salad" section. This should probably have been called "Western Man's Bar"...or perhaps, based on the beer-and-cowboys decor, "Western Frat House Bar".

The beer was cold and plentiful, and we ordered three dishes: mixed sausages with potatoes, rib sausages with potatoes, and mixed potatoes. See a theme here?

What we got was hilarious, and I so wish I'd had my camera. The mixed potatoes was a literal mountain -- about 5 inches high -- of a mixture of different types of french fries. There were scalloped ones, and mini-spiced ones. There were steak fries and tater tots. And there were even these sort of hush puppy potato things that that were kind of like a spoonful of mashed potatoes, fried. Delicious!

The mixed sausages was as expected, a plate of different kinds of sausages. The "rib sausages" turned out to be sausages...with little rib bones stuck into the ends! Awesome!


My hosts were having a work outing this afternoon, with a team lunch, an outing to the movies, and then a team dinner. I joined them for the team lunch at a "traditional Korean" restaurant. As far as I can tell, "traditional Korean" means you sit on the floor and nibble from a dozen or so mini-plates of side dishes. The food wasn't bad -- there was a pretty good dish of beef and mushrooms that I called "Korean Stroganoff". My hosts kept looking up an online dictionary in response to my queries about "what is this?", and the dictionary answers didn't help much. As often as not the foods were things I also had never eaten in English.

I must have looked kind of silly with my legs crossed under the table, because the waitress took pity on me -- she said I looked "very uncomfortable" -- and she brought me a mini-chair with no legs. MUCH better with a supportive back!


And finally...for dinner this evening I wanted something quick and easy, and I sure wouldn't have turned down a burger and fries. :-) With no McDonald's in sight, I turned to the next-best thing -- Papa John's Pizza. The take-out box was tied up with a handsome green ribbon...



...and the pizza was just what I'd expect in Lenexa, complete with the garlic butter sauce and the little packets of Tabasco. Only the package of "sweet green pickles" gave it away that I'm in Korea. That and the Cass Red beer...



I really have enjoyed the time in Korea, but I'm also super-eager to get back home and to see my family. Better have the barbecue sauce waiting!!