Quality vs. Quantity of felt time or The Sensation of Time

I was in Nepal for a while and after one month a certain difference occured in the matter of how I perceived time. And it stayed like this - even intensified. I'm not shure why it changes so much especially in Nepal. I have been living a couple of years in different countries, but this feeling has never crept upon me more obvious than in Nepal. The strong intensity was stunning. And I'm not the only one. I believe it is part of what people find so utterly fascinating in this now troubled kingdom - apart from the awesome landscape, the friendly people, and the utterly colourful traditions in religion and culture.
I found a quote in a book I read there. It describes the feeling perfectly: Time has quality, not quantity there. While it flies here with the blink of an eye, it stands almost still over there. I still wonder why ....

".... If I were pressed to give one reason, one specific observation of why the life in Nepal seems so much more vivid than life anywhere else, I would answer with a single word: time. There is a quality to time spent in Nepal that can only be described as inhalant.
Back home in the Wild West, time whips by with the relentless and terrible purpose of a strangling vine filmed in fast motion. A week, two months, ten years snap past like amnesia, a continual barrage of workdays, appointments, dinner dates and laundromats, television shows and video cassettes, parking meters, paydays and phone calls.
You can watch it from Asia. You read the newspapers, you think about your friends back home - marching along in the parade of events - and you know it's still happening. It's happening there. On the other side. Yesterdays, todays and tomorrows are tumbling after each other like Sambo and the tiger, blending into an opaque and viscious ooze. There is no such thing as now; only a continual succession of laters, whipping their tendrils around the calendar. The clutches of the vine ...
In Nepal, the phenomenon is reversed. Time is a stick of incense that burns without being consumed. One day can seem like a week; a week, like months. Mornings stretch out and crack their spines with the yogic impassivity of house cats. Afternoons bulge with a succulent ripeness, like fat peaches. There is time enough to do everything - write a letter, eat breakfast, read the newspaper, visit a shrine or two, listen to the birds, bicycle downtown, change money, buy postcards, shop for Buddhas - and arrive home in time for lunch." [Jeff Greenwald, Shopping for Buddhas]

Tourists and Guides - Sightseeing in your own City

Do you know this phenomenon where you live in a worldwide known city, considered a tourist magnet with loads of sights to see, but you yourself - though living there for years or even decades - know less about your city or have seen less than the average tourist spending a week there?
Many Parisian have never been on the Eiffeltower, and though most Berliners have seen the Brandenburg Gate, the Teletower, the Wall, ... it is only due to the fact that they are practically unavoidable in your daily routine or if you want to go out.

One way to see a city is to get an interested friend to spend one day sightseeing per month with you. Would be also good if this friends has similar taste in art/culture.

But by far the best way is to get your friends - preferably the ones who don't live in your country - to come over to visit you. By that means you are forced to show them your city. And half of them bring guide books along so you get to read them as well and will be able to impress the next friend with your newly discovered knowledge.
If they don't have guide books you call this one friend you ought to have - you know, the one working as a tourist guide during his university time to afford his living? - and get him/her to give you a crash course.
A good part of the forced sightseeing also includes the fact that you can actually take loads of pictures in different seasons of the attractions. And you know all the good places to eat when you get hungry from walking around the city you are only used to conquer by means of faster transportation normally. Not to mention the time saving you enjoy by already knowing how to get around while trying to get into the spirits of tourism without having to memorize the Lonely Planet or the public transportation map first.
It's also a very relaxing time for you. You still get to sleep in your own bed and enjoy all the comforts of your own home, while feeling a bit like on holiday. Admittedly the touristy touch goes down a bit when you meet friends in the streets and need to tell them you don't have time to go out in the evening because you promised to show your guest the beautiful lightning on this very old building or castle during the night, but it is still very nice.

If you do this the first time, here is a short guide to learn more about your city in 15 steps:
1. Get a friend from far away to visit you.
2. Promise to show him/her/them your city.
3. When he/she tells you they will trust your judgement and will happily follow your guidance, DO NOT SHOW PANIC!
4. Instead: google your city with some crosslinks to sightseeing and sights or things to see (if you don't know any tourist sights at all - shame on you!) ;)
5. Read the site, maybe print it out for further reference.
6. If there is a lot of things to see and the site is really extensive, send the link to your friends to ask them if they have a particular wish. Appear knowledgeable!
7. Start collecting little maps some people give out for free in the streets. Maybe go to a tourist information for a city map with the sights shown.
8. Call up the above mentioned friend, go out for a drink to make it up to him/her.
9. Two days before they arrive and if you haven't managed to read anything yet: now is a good time to start worrying!
10. Last day before you have to get to the airport: READ UP anything you get on the most important sights and do not forget to figure out how to get there! Memorize the last bit especially!
11. Try to make a list/schedule of the things to see in one area so you won't need to go zigzag through the city. Some of your friends might have a good orientation sense and will note it when you walk in circles.
12. Refresh your knowledge on the transportation fees for the public transport (assuming you've got a montly/yearly ticket and usually don't worry about it at all).
13. Figure out how to get to the airport in time!
14. Greet your friends with joy and appear calm when they ask you where to go first.
15. Remember the bits which you tried to memorize yesterday and tell them when you reach the sight. It is also very nice to know some related funny stories about the place. Remember also not to stare at the object as if (or when) you see it for the first time. It's a give-away. :)

ENJOY YOUR CITY!
- otherwise you'll never know how interesting it is and how many beautiful little corners there are!

Note: Since I played city/tourist guide quite a few times over the past year, I can now happily admit to know my city better than a tourist!