TAR

The Amazing Race, in its first four episodes this season, has gone to three different East Asian countries: China, Mongolia, and Vietnam. Judging by the scenery in the previews for next week, I think they're going to Thailand next.

Do you know what I notice about those four countries that would make travelling between them disorienting? They all use different methods of writing. So as soon as the racers start to be able to read the Cyrillic alphabet in Mongolia, they're sent to Vietnam, where it's the Roman alphabet, but with all sorts of accent marks and specialized pronuncications of consonants. And then once they start to figure *that* out, they're packed off to Thailand, where the Thais have their own alphabet that's not used anywhere else.

Compare this to how all other seasons have gone, where the racers start in South America or Western Europe.