All Good Things Must Come To An End

I've been home now for about 2.5 weeks and, really, not much has happened.  I've been relaxing, spending time with some friends (the few who are still in the area) and lots of time with my family.  Mostly, I've been sitting on my deck, enjoying the fabulous summer weather, reading or going for walks-one in the morning with my mom and grandmother and another at night with just my mom.  As boring as this may sound, it's been really nice.  I've seen pictures of vacation people have uploaded onto facebook (Mychaela, Steph, Amy and Emily) and it looks fabulous and I wish I could have done more, but it would have been too much money wise and being at home chilling has been really nice after surviving a year in Korea ;-)

When I first got home I spent several days trying to get over jet-lag.  I was consistently waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning wide-awake.  Got over that. I'm still getting up early, 6 or 7, but its better.  Around the end of the first/beginning of the 2nd week was when I started freaking about finding a job.  That makes relaxing a lot harder.  But, there was no need to worry, I've got my previous job back! I'll begin training (again) starting September 12 and I'm very happy to be going back there, its a great place to work. Knowing I have a job that's going to start soon, meaning I'll have money again soon too, is allowing me to really enjoy the time I have now.  I'm sitting on my front deck writing this where the only annoyance are the mosquitoes (damn bloodsuckers!) that have taken too much of a liking to me over the last couple of weeks :-/

I've also been able to set up some volunteer activities.  Starting on the 12th I'll be teaching an ESL class to Spanish speakers at a church in the city.  This is great as it will help me keep up what teaching skills I acquired last year, learn new ones, and practice some Spanish.  It also helps me with Peace Corps.

Have I mentioned how amazing my neighbors are?  They are seriously 2 of the most thoughtful people I've ever met.  They invited me to dinner last week at their house with the director of the Delaware division of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  The director, Kathleen, has offered me a volunteer/internship opportunity there, which would be AMAZING!  This would get me around lawyers and actually allow me to get experience working in law myself.  I'm über excited!


Anyway, things are really coming together for me here.  I've been medically cleared (!) by Peace Corps, been contacted by placement for my resume (which has been sent) and am waiting for more news there, which should be a couple more weeks coming :-/  


There are definitely things I miss about Korea.  Kimchi jjige, the ease of public transportation, my students, my social life, my paycheck, and my friends, to name a few.  It was a good experience and I don't regret any of it.  I'm happy I did it, but I'm also happy to be home, at least for a little while.


It's time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life (that's so cliche, I know) and end this one.  So, this is The End.  Goodbye and good luck to those of you in Korea now.

Final Countdown

I only have 9 more days in the ROK before I hop on a plane and head home!!! This is something I'm really excited for, but also feeling kind of sad about.  I can't wait to get home and see my family.  And eat Mexican food and understand at least most of what's going on around me.  I'm ready to get back to a sense of normality.

However, there are things I'm going to miss about being in Korea.  My students, some of my co-workers, my Korean tutor, some foods, and the friends that I've made here. The amazing public transportation that makes it so easy to go pretty much anywhere in the country.  Seriously, the US needs to get some better public transport, then I might take it.  I also really enjoy having a steady paycheck. I don't enjoy the weather.  I'm so sick of the rain.  I'm terrified about not finding a job at home, not having a car, and therefore being incredibly bored.

That's not to say that I'm not bored here sometimes.  This week and next week work is painfully boring.  I'm desk warming.  I literally have nothing to do for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 2 weeks.  It's awful. I'm spending my days watching Criminal Minds online (already onto season 2) and spending hours using stubleupon. And my school is being crazy about some stuff, which is annoying me, but I'm hoping to have some of it resolved tomorrow.

Last weekend I went out with friends in Itaewon and Hongdae.  In Intaewon we went to The Bungalow, and cool bar with sand and swings that Amy, Emily, and I came across one of our first weeks here.  The next day, Saturday, I went with my friend Stephenie to the Seoul Zoo! That was pretty sweet.  And, seriously, flamingos are trippy animals.  They have crazy, twisty necks and they are a pretty awesome pink color. 

I still need to get my apartment cleaned and start packing, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to really do any of it yet.  I'm having an "open house" on Sunday to give a bunch of stuff away.  I'd rather other people have it then have to throw it away. 

Saturday, barring rain, I'm going into Seoul with Mychaela to see the Secret Garden.  I'm really trying to do what I can before I leave.  However, at some point this weekend I'm going to have to suck it up and start cleaning and packing.  Packing shouldn't be top bad.  I'm going to have to get rid of some stuff.  The washer and really hard water here have definitely taken a toll on my clothes, so not all of its going to be returning with me.

What I'm most looking forward to at home, other than seeing my family and friends, is going back to Weight Watchers and really hitting the gym.  And swimming.  I've gained a lot of weight, so now I feel pretty gross.  I want to get back on the right track.  The first week I'm home I plan to do nothing other than sleep, relax outside, work on my tan, eat fruit and veggies, and go to the gym.  And try to get over what is sure to be terrible jet-lag.

It's going to take me about 24hrs door-door to get home next weekend.  As much as I love to travel, I really hate the actual traveling part.  I should, if everything is on time, be getting into Philadelphia at 10pm Saturday night.  This probably means I won't be out of the airport until around 11:30 or 12.  The next day is going to be busy and I know all I'm going to want to do is sleep.  First, at 9, is the Weight Watchers meeting I'm determined to make it to and directly after that is a party at my aunts house with all my family for my grandmothers 85th birthday. 

I'm looking forward to it, but I know I'm going to be exhausted. Then a couple days after being home I have to go to another doctor and get more paperwork filled out for Peace Corps.  It's torture sitting here not doing anything when I need to get something done.

Anyway, I'm sitting here at work watching it rain, writing this, and watching Criminal Minds.  Later I'm meeting friends for dinner, I think at Big Bread.  Speaking of Big Bread, that's another thing I will miss here.  It's a Belgian restaurant owned and run by someone actually from Belgium, so the food is legit.  And it's delicious, especially the chicken pita.  Gah, I really can't wait to get out of here.  All this sitting and doing nothing is too boring to handle. 6 more days of it after today....

Mud Fest

A couple of weekends ago (July 16-17) was the Boryeong Mud Festival.  What is Mud Fest? A chance to play in mud! There was mud wrestling, mud slides, mud fights, and more! It was pretty awesome and probably the only time I will ever be that muddy.  It was also great for the skin, besides for the sunburn I got.

It was right on the beach, so once you were covered in mud and it had dried you could run into the water to get clean! So awesome!  I went down with Seoul Hiking Group (Warren!) with a bunch of friends and we met more there who went down separately.  We spent hours during the day just playing int he mud park.  The wrestling was the best: it was super fun and you go the muddiest.  They also had kind of mud sinks where you could go to paintbrush/splash more mud onto your body. 

 (I couldn't draw this very well in paint, so you get an actual picture:)

After playing around for several hours I went back to the pension, showered (so nice to be clean!) and dressed.  There was a BBQ out back for everyone in our group which was good, though not filling.  Afterward I went for a walk around with a friend to try to find some mud-soap.  I found, which I was unusually excited about, but later found out I had gotten the wrong kind.   What I wanted to get was the soap that was 1,000 won and came in a box.  Instead what I got was prettily shaped mud-soap for 4,000 won :-( But, oh well.  It's still nice.  Hopefully.  I haven't used any yet...

That night was spent, at least mostly, hanging out on the beach with friends and strangers.  We played some ball, drank, and really just relaxed and enjoyed being there.  It was a good time. 

I had told myself that the next day, Sunday, I would not get muddy again.  Yeah, that didn't work out.  Sunday was spent painting ourselves in mud, dancing to the live music, and swimming in the ocean.  They had like a floaty dock thing out there for people to lay on and jump off of.  That was pretty nice, but not so good for my pale skin. 

Eventually we all had showers and got back on the bus around 3pm.  It was an amazing weekend and I'm glad I went and got to spend time with friends I'll be leaving soon.  Besides, when am I going to get a chance to spend the weekend playing in mud again?

Korean Family Reunion

This past weekend I went with my co-teacher, Chi, to her family reunion in Jeollado. My friends Mychaela came as well, which I'm thankful for since she, you know, speaks fluent English.  It was a good time.  Jeollado is in the southern tip of Korea, so the bus ride down and back was long, about 4-5 hrs each way.  Chi's family had rented a bus, so we all had plenty of  quality-time together.

Unfortunately, it rained all weekend which meant more time on the bus and less time out exploring.  We stopped of at a "beach" for a little bit, but the tide was out so far we couldn't actually see the water.  There they did introductions/speeches by family branches.  Mychaela and I were our of branch and also had to give a speech. Actually, they had me giving speeches all weekend. Awkward.

Her family is amazing though.  They were so nice and welcoming, a few people spoke English so one of them pretty much adopted us.  And the kids were ADORABLE.  Seriously, so cute.  By the end of the trip we'd been able to make friends with them and were playing together on the bus ride back.

Anyway, while we were at the "beach" there were traditional snacks.  Including a traditional fish you can only get in that area. Of course we were made to try it.  It had bones, which, apparently, are meant to be chewed and swallowed.  Needless to say its not one of my favorites and I have no intention of ever eating it again.  I think this picture (which I stole from  Mycheala) says it all.

After this we went to visit their grandfather's tomb.  Tomb's in Korea probably aren't what your picturing.  They aren't like a mausoleum.  They are outside, and really just raised circles with grass growing on top.  They look like small hills, or (if you ski) moguls in grass.  So, we trekked out to the tomb in the rain, they made their bow, and we left, slightly muddier then when we arrived.

Then we had eel for dinner.  Not too bad, but still not something I need to eat again.  And, of course, there was drinking.  The drink of choice: VERY strong strawberry "wine."  While better than soju, I wouldn't classify it as wine or delicious.  Korean's really like their alcohol strong.  And I'm a girl who doesn't really like alcohol unless its in some super girls drink, like a pina colada.  So my year here has definitely upped my alcohol tolerance.

And, when there is alcohol, there is usually karaoke.  That dinner was no exception.  And I was forced to sing.  Those of you who have heard me sing no I can't, for the life of me, carry a tune.  I tried explaining this, but it did no good.  So, I did the first verse of 'Old McDonald had a farm.'  It was pathetic.  Mychaela had been pointing to me, trying to force me into it.  So I got her back.  She did a lovely (uhm) rendition of 'Oh, my darling Clementine.'  It was good times.

Then we went to the pension, which is like a youth hostel, but Korean style, meaning you sleep on the floor.  We tried putting down a ton of blankets, but it was still hard. Whoever said that sleeping on the floor is good for your back lied.  Neither of us were moving very smoothly the next morning.  Also, the pillows were stuffed with cut up straws.  That's right, by pillow was made of straws.  Oh, Korea.

It was totally worth it though.  It was a good weekend and it was great to spend time with a Korean family and really get into the culture.  I'm very grateful that I was invited along and was able to have that experience.

But, moving on.  Here's a quick countdown/timeline

1 day until Harry Potter!!!

4 days until Mud Fest

31 days (Korean time) until I head home!!!

There is sure to be more in between, but this is what's planned right now.  Getting so close!! And, lame as this is, I'm super excited to see Harry Potter with Michaela and Clara tomorrow!!! Its going to be awesome!!

Decision Made

I'm sure by now most of you who read this already know that I've been changing my mind about what to do for the next couple years, especially next year, but I have finally made a decision and I am sticking to it!

I just sent an email accepting a 1-year deferment to law school.  I've going through the Peace Corps application process and have been nominated for a position in Central/South America leaving in February 2012. I feel like this is an opportunity that I can't let pass.  If it doesn't work out for whatever reason, then law school is still an option for next year (2012).  Anyway, that's it! Very short post.  Really, nothing new here to talk about.  Although, there was an AWESOME 4th of July/Blake's going away party on the roof of my building last night.  And its FINALLY sunny! Yay! Really, now that's it.  I've started a Peace Corps blog.  The link is:

http://jenniepc.blogspot.com/

Going's On

Some things happen here that just make me stop and go 'What?'  So here are some fun(ish) stories.

I think I've talked about Christianity in Korea before, but here's a recap.  Christianity is fairly new here, especially when compared to Europe where my ancestors are from.  So when I'm approached by Koreans, on the street or when they knock on my door, who try to lecture me/convert me to Christianity I can't help but think, 'Yes, I know about Christianity.  My family is from Ireland and Italy.  I'm pretty sure they have known about it for a while now.'  So I usually just run away or shut the door.  And they go in groups where at least one person speaks English and they will, inevitably, shove that person towards me.

Now, the rainy season has started here.  A couple weeks ago I was walking back to my apartment at 10pm in the rain.  You would think that given these facts I would have been safe from the Christians who wander the streets trying to convert/educate unsuspecting pedestrians.  No.  There I was, speed walking home to avoid me totally soaked, and what happens? I get stopped by these people!

Always, they ask "Are you busy? Can we talk to you about the Bible?" And I always say that yes, I am busy.  This night I was heading back hoping to make home in time to skype with my mother.  So I them that, that I was in a hurry and needed to get home to talk to my mom.  Did this deter them? No.  They asked to come back with me to my apartment.  At this point, and this is a little sad, I literally ran away from them.  There I was, with my umbrella at 10 at night, running down the street in the rain to escape these 2 ladies who wanted to educate me about the Bible. 

And I do consider myself Christian.  But I have very strong feelings about forcing your religion on other people.  So, this is getting kind of old.  Especially since they are rather forceful and very persistent when you've made it clear that you don't want to talk to them or listen to what they have to say.

Different topic.  Koreans' believe in something called 'fan-death.'  This is the belief that during the summer if you sleep with your fan on and your windows closed you will die.  There are several theories about how this works.  Here are 2: 1) the fan sucks all the air from the room or 2) the fan acts like the fan in a convection oven and takes out all the air while also making you hot so you die from dehydration. 

I've talked to a couple of Koreans about this, including my tutor and they are all convinced it is true.  The news reports incidents of fan death and it is one of the top 3 causes of death during the summer, along with AC explosions.  Now, you might be thinking this a little illogical and no one would actually believe it.  You would be wrong.  Fan-death isn't a superstition.  It's a fact.  I've been told by several people never to sleep with my fan on and windows closed.  My thoughts when I'm told this usually run along these lines, 'Well, I always sleep with my windows closed and my fans on at home.  Sometimes multiple fans (gulp) and yet I'm still alive.'  So, this is just one of those things that I find amusing but accept as a Korean quirk.  And have learned not to talk about with Koreans. 

Ok, time to change topics again.  I'm currently rather annoyed with my school.  I'm leaving August 13th.  In September they have to give me quite a bit of money for my severance, housing deposit, flight, and last pay.  My school wants me to get an international debit card so I can withdraw this money, thousands of dollars, from an ATM when I get home.   You can only withdraw so much money from an ATM at a time and per-day.  Plus, I would be charged international fees every time I withdrew.  And I need that money in my home account as soon as possible to pay bills.  So their idea really doesn't really work for me.

I even told them I would pay the transfer fee if they wire the money.  Maybe that will help.  I emailed the GEPIK coordinator for the area so hopefully she will be of some help.  I'm tired of this type of BS and it really just makes me want to get out of here and get home.  The miserable, rainy weather also isn't helping my mood.

Good news is that my students started finals today, so I'm desk warming, which, yes, is quite boring, but at least I'm not teaching.  Summer camp is only a couple of weeks away, then I have 2 more weeks of desk warming before I leave.  I think there are things I'm really going to miss here, like how active my social life is, my students, friends, etc, but I'm ready to get on that plane home and back to normality.  And fruits. And vegetables.  Anyway, that's it for today.  Hope you enjoyed the stories and my complaining didn't bother you too much :)

How Winter is Still Killing Me

I've mentioned a few times how the winter here is AWFUL.  Well, I suffered from cold-weather induced laziness during this 3-4 month season and am now paying for it.  I've gained weight and am now way out of shape.  I was pretty happy with myself when I arrived in August, now I'm not and I can't wait to get home where I can have SALAD and other fresh fruits and vegetables.  But this is leading to the coming story.

I have, since winter ended, been going to the gym fairly regularly.  Some weeks I go almost everyday, some just one or 2 times.  Jess and I, hoping that we had gotten ourselves back into reasonably decent shape decided to try hiking Seoraksan with Warren.  Ok, Seoraksan is supposed to be one of the hardest mountains to climb in Korea and Warren, who runs the trips we go on, is crazy and a hardcore hiker.

This was the type of hike I did in the fall without too much trouble.  We left Seoul at 11:30pm on Friday and arrived at the mountain at around 2:30am Saturday.  
We started hiking with our head-lamps on at 3am. To start were the stairs.  Now, I hate stairs.  I would rather climb my way up nature then climb stairs. This was the first clue I had that this hike wasn't going to go well for me. The stairs were never ending. And they were big, like king-size steps.  Eventually, after about 30-45mins (though it felt like HOURS) of climbing stairs, we conquered them! However, by this time it had started to rain. Not just a gentle sprinkling either.  I was cold, I was wet, for whatever reason I was having trouble breathing, and it just wasn't fun. Also, I was REALLY far behind the group.  Picture: me in a bright purple poncho, wearing a head-light, hiking up this miserable mountain in the cold rain. Alone. I was not loving it.

Two others from my group had passed by me and told me that they were so far behind because one of their friends decided to turn around and head back to the bus.  Now, this sounded like a great idea to me, so I got that guys number, checked that the bus was still there, and turned around.  I called Jess to tell her what I was doing and she decided to come with me as she wasn't really enjoying herself either.  So then I stood in the rainy, dark woods and waited. And waited.  I kept picturing all the animals that could come out and kill/eat me. Thought about ghost stories and all the bad things that can happen when your alone in the woods. I managed to spook myself a little bit in the 20mins it took Jess to reach me.
 

We continued down together and eventually made it the bus where another 2 from our group were.  By that time it was around 4:30-5am, so naturally we curled up as best we could on the seats and went to sleep.  We got up a few hours later and went on an easy hike for maybe 3 or 4 hours.  It was quite nice and was only raining off-and-on. By the time we got back to the bus it was raining pretty steadily.  There was also a hot spring by the bus where we sat and soaked our feet.  That was probably the best part of the whole trip.

A while later another few people had made their way back to the bus.  Did I mention we were supposed to camp on the beach that night? Yeah.  It sounded like a lot of fun when we signed up, hiking/camping in the sunshine on the warm beach.  Not nearly as appealing in the cold rain.  So, Jess and I, along with another 4 from our group, decided to catch the bus back to Seoul that luckily stopped on the road we were on.  We made it back, caught the train back to Ilsan, and I went home and passed out. It was definitely an interesting day.


This weekend is a long weekend, memorial day or something is on Monday.  Saturday I'm planning to go to Suwon to see a fortress with Mychaela and Sunday were going to try rafting.  Fingers-crossed that it doesn't rain on me again.

Everything else is going pretty well.  I got my plane ticket home!!! August 13th!!! Can't wait! I want fruit, vegetables, real Mexican food, and to get back to a regular diet. And, of course, to see my family and friends! And watch Phillies games!!! But I will miss South Korea, my school, my students, friends, Lake Park, and, of course, kimchi-jjigae.

As of right now, I'll arrive home at around 10pm on the 13th, if everything is on time, anyway.  On the 16th I will have Law School orientation at Temple and on the 23rd classes will start.  Sometime before classes start I want to 1) go to at least 1 Phillies game and 2) possibly find somewhere in the city to live, though I can commute for a while, but there is a good chance that with no car living at home could get old fast. Plus, nothing is set yet and I tend to change my mind about what I want to do every 5 minutes, so we'll see what actually happens :-)

Random Thoughts

I don't really have anything to say; there isn't much going on here right now.  The weather has warmed up, thankfully, but now the rainy season seems to have begun.  We had an actual thunderstorm last night, which was actually pretty awesome! I haven't hear thunder since around the time I arrived.

My students have midterms this week, and I never thought I would say this, but I love exams!  My classes have been getting canceled/shortened with increasing frequency for the last 2 weeks.  It's nice to have some down time, especially since my teaching schedule this semester is a little hectic.  It's also giving me time to think about what I want to do next.

I was accepted to law school, decided on Temple, and have even put down my seat deposit for next year.  And panic has set it.  Am I ready to commit to being a student again? Am I prepared to settle down? To me, law school pretty much means the end of my freedom.  No more traveling.  It signifies the time to settle down, get a real, big-girl job, maybe get married and have kids.  I'm only 23.  I feel like I'm still too young to stop really living and settle down. Maybe this is a bad sign? That I view settling down as boring, and more or less the end of my life.  Or at least, my life as I know it.

At the same time, I'm really pretty excited to go home.  I'm really enjoying Korea right now, but I'm still counting down the days until I can go home and be back in a culture that I generally understand.  Don't get me wrong, I've definitely experience Korean culture and kind of understand it, but a lot of things just throw me off.  I have plenty of moments where I just think, "Really? Did I just see that? Did you just say that? Did that just happen?" So normalcy, at least my version of it, is appealing right now.  Not to mention getting to a gym that has equipment I can use  (the elipticals here a different and the stride it short, not meant for long legs which is unfortunate for me).

So I'm considering my options.  Going home for a bit and then doing something else. Or just going directly to law school.  Both are good options, but I'm terrified of making the wrong decision for living with the 'What ifs'  What if I had done ______? Would I have more opportunities? Doing something else could be a huge benefit to me in the long run, and an experience of a life time, but do I REALLY want to spend more time in a foreign place, being stared and pointed at? Yeah, I love to travel, see the world, and experience new cultures.  I think it's really important that we try to understand each other.  But at the same time, I've already traveled quite a bit.  Of course, there's more I want to see.  I want to see everything and I want to do what I can while I'm still young and able.

Anyway, I'm confusing myself.  I change my mind about every-other day.  Not unusual for me.  I really want a magic 8-ball for life that will tell me what it is I should do.  But making decisions is a big, sometimes terrifying, part of life.  I really feel like I have good options and whatever I do will be fine.  It's just a matter of figuring out whats best.

Alright, enough rambling. About my indecision, anyway.  Here are some of my thoughts about other foreigners in Korea. Some use their time here to grow, to think about life, and figure out what they want to do.  Being here is a a kind of break from real life. Or a temporary escape.  This is what it is and has been for me.  It given me time to really consider my options and what I want to do next.  But it's definitely not a life-long job for me.

Others, however, come to Korea, maybe in their early-to-mid-twenties and stall.  They decide to stay, maybe just for 3 years, sometimes for 20 years.  And some, not all, stay at the maturity level they were at when they arrived.  There are grown men here, in the 40s, who act like overly obnoxious 25 year-old's.  It not just 40 year-old men, either.  Women also stall.  It's really kind of sad and frustrating for those of us who have to deal with these people.  Grow up! It's not like they need to stop partying, it's more about having a mature attitude toward life and those around you.  Stop acting like my middle school students! It's probably time for them to go home, but they have grown comfortable in Korea, enjoying the (relatively) easy life they have here and don't want to return to somewhere they would be forced to act like and adult.  I might be being a little harsh, but it's true. 

But, moving on.  Korea is good. I went on a mini-hike, really more of a walk in the woods, with Jess to Bukhansan this weekend.  Saw a pretty cool, very large, Buddha and lanterns were everywhere, which was neat.  Ate a massive amount of Mexican food for Easter dinner with some friends ^-^  Because, really, what's better on Easter than Mexican? Especially when you don't have an oven to really cook with?

I've started souvenir shopping and packing up my winter stuff to ship home. I'm watching the Phillies games online (right now I'm not too happy since their loosing to the Diamond Backs. Come on! Really?!?) but I can't wait to get back and go to an actual game or even just be able to watch it on TV.


Aaaannnddd that it.  Nothing else. Sorry, this wasn't that interesting of a post, but I'm bored at work :)

A Southeast Asian Vacation!

So I promised a blog about my vacation that now happened about, oh, 3.5 months ago. I may have forgotten a few things, but I'll tell you what I do remember. Pretty much, it was totally crazy, but here goes.

Jess and I started by flying into Bangkok and arriving at our hostel sometime around midnight.  We were the only 2 girls in a room with 4 boys and it smelled AWFUL.  It was hot and the guys were sweaty, just the worst BO/dirty sox and feet smell.  But we were only there for a couple of hours.

We got up early the next morning and hopped on a bus for something like a 6 hour ride that would take us to Aranyaprathet, a town close to the Thailand/Cambodia border.  From there we took a tuk-tuk to the border and crossed into Cambodia.  It was surprisingly easy, there wasn't really any control going on, it was definitely an interesting experience. Once we were in Cambodia we got out visas and caught the last government bus to the taxi stand about an hour away.  On this bus we met a Cambodian man who worked for the bus company and who talked to us the whole way and got us a cab once we were there. One thing I learned in Southeast Asia: everyone expects to be paid/tipped for anything they do for you.  So I paid him.

Jess and I ended up sharing a taxi with 2 Canadians who were also going to Siem Reap and who were pretty interesting to talk to.  Another observation from traveling:people really like to brag and overly exaggerate the things they have done and how amazing those experiences have been. Fortunately, I can usually figure out who is full of shit since they are also, generally, really pretentious. Anyway, I'm digressing.  Back to the taxi ride.  First of all, the taxi to several hours, something 2 or 3, so we all spent some quality time together.  The woman told us about how she went to Tanzania to teach English and ended up living in the bush for several months with a tribe.  Pretty cool story, though I'm positive the awesomeness of it was exaggerated.

Still, it was interesting talking to them.  The other good thing about the ride was that we really got to see the Cambodian country side, which is quite beautiful.  There are rice paddies everywhere, its generally flat except for some random mountains so you can see really far in the distance to some great landscape.  And people in SE Asia drive like absolute maniacs.  Seeing 3 adults, a child of maybe 5, and a baby on a motorcycle is totally normal. I swear I thought we were going to die 20 times in cars/buses/tuk-tuks during this trip, but luckily we survived :-)

By the time we made to Siem Reap it was dark and we were pretty tired.  The cab dropped us off at some random place right outside of the city where we had to get a tuk-tuk who proceeded to take us to the hostel of his choice.  We did have reservations for everywhere we were traveling but for the most part those went out the window. It's much better to just get what you can there and go with the flow.  I'm sorry to be using so many cliches, but I just cant help it...

The hostel we got was actually pretty nice.  We had our own room and bathroom for only $10 a night ($5 each). So cheap. We went ad got food since we were starving and headed out to the night market.  I LOVE the markets in SE Asia.  They are somewhat outside, full of crazy stuff, and a ton of fun to look around. Unfortunately my budget was much smaller than I would have liked and I had to restrain myself.  And speaking of money, I didn't bring much with me as I'd planned to transfer money home from my Korean bank account while on vacation because I didn't get paid until then. Minor panic attack.  None of the computers in Cambodia would let me transfer money and I had to wait and got extremely luck in Vietnam when it went through. That was terrifying.

Back to the main story here.  We got up at 4 the next morning and took a tuk-tuk to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise, which was magnificent. There are pics on fb, I'm not exaggerating lol.  We spent that day touring around and seeing some really cool temples, it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. However, it was exhausting, so when we left it was nap time. The dinner. Another highlight of the trip. The food in Cambodian is some of the best I've ever had. I would actually consider going back just to eat some more of it, it's that delicious.  Especially the curry.

During all this I was also getting tan, which made me very happy as I have reached new levels of paleness here in Korea since I rarely see the sun being inside all day.  From Siem Reap we took a long (like 6 hr) and not very comfortable bus ride to Phnom Penh, the capital.  We bought the more expensive tickets (like $8) for the VIP bus. What a joke.  I would hate to see what the cheaper buses were like.  Two 50-year-old men in front of us kept fighting because one had his seat reclining and therefore the other didn't have enough leg room. Ridiculous. Funny side note: I don't know if it was this bus trip, but on one of them Jess managed to lock herself in the little, stinky, bus bathroom. Hilarious! For me, anyway :-)

We did, eventually, make it the Phnom Penh.  Now, Phnom Penh has a completely different atmosphere than Siem Reap.  For those of you who don't know, Cambodia had a genocide in the 1970's generally known by the government of the times name, Khmer Rouge.  If any of you are interested in really a good book about it, I strongly recommend "First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung.  Phnom Penh, being the capital and home to the S-21 prison and many a killing field, still has a feeling of...fright? I'm not sure what the right word is, the the feeling is different then that of Siem Reap.  Siem Reap was further removed from the genocide and has an up-beat fee to it that is quite enjoyable.

We went and toured the S-21 prison as well as the killing field.  It stuns me what people do to each other.  We should all be able to accept others for what they are rather than people killing others, their own countrymen, to attempt to create their version of a "perfect" society.  What really hit me was that many of the people living in Cambodia, especially in Phnom Penh, are living their lives intermingled with the same people who may have killed directly or contributed to the killing of their mothers, fathers, even their children.

Can you imagine being in the streets or being neighbors with someone you know was involved in the killing of your family? It's absolutely amazing the strength people have to move on and to rebuild.  It also really made me appreciate how lucky I am to have been born in a stable, developed society.  While I may have issues with America, mostly the politics, I am so grateful to know with some degree of certainty that I'm protected, its unlikely that, in my life time anyway, I am likely to be threatened in the way the Cambodian people were.

Moving on. Abrupt, I know, but I could go on for ages, so its better to move on now.  Next up was the flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),Vietnam. Thankfully, that was uneventful.  We arrived safely at the airport, had to pay for our visas for the 2nd time, because apparently paying online isn't good enough despite what we'd heard. No biggie. Vietnam was the one place we went where it was good to have hostel reservations in advance. We were in a neat little backpacker ally in a nice hostel where we once again had our own room and a nice rooftop to read on.  Pretty sweet. 

We stayed for one night before leaving for a tour of the Mekong Delta.  We took a nice little 3ish hour long boat ride down the Mekong River.  The poverty that I saw there was staggering.  How people live in the conditions that I saw is a testament to what people can cope with and overcome. For pics look on my fb. It was definitely and interesting ride.  I saw people fishing in their own little boats, bigger boats loaded down with massive amounts of coconuts and what life along the river is like.

As part of this tour we stopped at several towns and villages along the Mekong.  At one of these stops we has the opportunity to sty snake-wine.  Its a cobra (I think) that has been soaked in alcohol.  The dead snake remains in the wine jug.  I tried a small sip, because, really, when am I going to have the opportunity again? What did I learn? Snake-wine is disgusting. I know, shocker. Definitely not something I will ever feel the need to try again, but still worth it for the experience.  We also stopped at a place that was making coconut candy. It was DELICIOUS.  I bought several packs to take back to Korea for co-teachers, but they were, unfortunately, later eaten by ants.

We did some more exploring around the area, it was a 2 day trip, before heading back to HCMC.  Next we went to a war museum. Pretty interesting stuff there.  I had the chance to go into the itty bitty, teeny tiny, tunnels that the Vietnamese lived in.  However, it was while I was attempting to go through one of these little tunnels that I discovered, that yes, I am claustrophobic.  At least, underground I am.  I couldn't make it through even one tunnel.  I did not like it at all.  How people lived down there I will never know.

So we hung around HCMC for another day before hopping on another plane and heading back to Bangkok.  Again, we were in the city for just one night.  The next morning was another early one.  We got a bus that was taking us to Koh Chang, a lovely little island that took us almost a full day to get to. So worth it.  We went to a part of the island that wasn't too populated and which was popular with backpackers.  We actually stayed at a pretty nice hotel where we had a room with a view and a pool overlooking the beach. Fabulous. 

We were only planning to stay there for 1 full day, but once we were there we knew that wouldn't be long enough to we extended our stay a night.  Best idea EVER.  Our hotel also had a massage stand on the beach.  Throughout this trip we were getting hour-long massages for $5-$10.  Life doesn't get much better.

We went out into the small town which had some nice bars, met some interesting people, including some very...interesting...German carpenters.  These guys were wearing black corduroy bell-bottom pants, long sleeve shits with vests on top and top hats.  And Thailand was hot. And Humid.  It was crazy, but they were doing it for tradition sake, to that was kind of cool. 

One night our hotel threw a party on the beach.  Pretty sweet.  I won't lie, it was lame at first, but it picked up.  They had cheap buckets, so that it wasn't too surprising when we all ended up dancing our hearts out on the sand.  Crazy night. Not one that's going to be forgotten any time soon.

We went back to Bangkok after the Koh Chang, but left after just one night.  Next up was Kanchanaburi.  Here we went to the tiger temple for some tiger petting.  Sounds a lot cooler that it actually was. The tigers were all tied down and sleeping.  Still, they were cool.  We saw the bridge over the River Kwai, which was interesting.  That was followed by a war museum/cemetery and a river tour.  Best part of Kanchanaburi: elephant riding!

Yes, that's right, we got to ride elephants.  First we were on the seat thing on its back, but then we both had turns riding on its neck.  Very cool, but it does chafe the legs.  We even got to bathe the elephant. In a river.  The elephant could go completely under water, briefly, and the first time it did I didn't know what was happening and was sure I was going to fall off.  Absolutely AWESOME!

After all this it was back to Bangkok for our last night of vacation.  So what did we do? Had some street insects! We were in Thailand, it was pretty much a must.  The fried grasshopper was definitely the best and the not-fried, still juicy, scorpion was the worst. Blah. Follow this up with some street shopping and beer drinking and it was a good way to end a fabulous 2-week vacation.  Flying back to freezing cold Korea was not fun :-(

While traveling is always stressful, and this trip was no exception, it was still, overall, an amazing trip that I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go on.  It was, maybe, worth coming to Korea just for that vacation.  If anyone ever wants to go to SE Asia and needs a travel buddy, call me! I would so go again!

Winter

So, it's been a while. Like 2 months. I'm a lame blogger, I know.  But, now I have lots to talk about as a ton has happened in that time. Honestly, I can't believe its only been 2 months. There is like a weird time/space something or other that goes on in Korea.  Time seems to go really slow and really fast at the same time.  For example, I feel like I've been here forever and yet I still feel like I got off the plane a week ago.  I want time to go slowly, theres so much I want to see here still, but at the same time I want it to pass to I can head home. Bah!

Anyway, the first 2 weeks of Jan were spent teaching winter camp. Torture. Seriously, they should make prisoners at Gitmo teach middle-school Korean students English during their winter vacation in a FREEZING cold classroom.  I actually got frostbite on my little toe one day.  It was 7degrees farenheit outside and possibly colder inside. Heating is just a myth.

I had one week of second-going-on-third graders. That was the worst. They just sit there with this look on their faces thats like, "Really? You really expect me to do this?" And really, who can blame them? During the year the poor kids go to regular school from 8:30 to 3ish everyday after which they head to Hagwon (private school) until 10 or 11 at night.  Some dont even get dinner in between. Then comes vacation, the time to relax, the time all American students count down to and look forward to with glee.  Do these kids get a break? No! Their parents make them come to winter camp (granted it was only like 10-15 kids and only from 9-12) and most of them have Hagwon after. No break! Can you imagine this happening at home? I think not! There would be mass rebellion!

These lovely students that I had that first week looked positively miserable the whole time. I tried, really tried, to make it less horribe. We played games all the time, but really how fun can you have in a freezing classroom when your supposed to be on vacation? After the week was over one of the students texted her home room teacher (yes, they text teachers. some even have my number and text me) and told her how much fun she had during winter camp. That was nice to hear, espeically since I never would in a million years have guessed that.

The second week wasnt quite as bad.  It was the 1st-going-on-2nd-graders. Much cuter. Much more enthusiastic. Still freezing. But not quite as torturous. And they do some funny stuff.  We played taboo one day and one of the rounds went like this:

Clue: Made in....
Class: CHINA!!!

Loved it!

To get me through this I just kept counting down the days till my vacation, where I would be warm!

You really cant understand how blah Korean winter is. Its so cold I never wanted to leave my nice warm apartment and as a result sat around eating which, as you would expect, led to a bit of weight-gain. Now, for someone who recently lost a lot of weight and cant actually find clothes that fit in the land of the little, this is a bigger problem than it generally would be. Luckily, its getting warm, I'm once again willing to leave my apartement for the gym and hiking is starting again soon. Happy!

The other thing that I spent alllll winter doing was studying for the LSAT. WORST test ever! But somehow I managed to pull out a 164! 90th percentile!!! OMGOMGOMG so relieved! Now just to continue waiting for acceptance/rejection notice :-(

A lot of time (like a good month, at least) was spend desk warming. Imagine 2-months of incredible boredom. And cold. I soooo cant wait for warm weather to get here!

Alas, that has ended. School started full-on today. I have 5 45-min classes a day. Im exhausted. But not bored :-) And I'm getting extra vacation time for teaching over my contracted amount of hours, so yay!!! I'm hoping to save it all to head home early so I can actually make it to law school orientation/not miss the first couple days of classes.  Its all going to depend on how nice my new principal is. Fingers crossed.

Thats another thing; in Korea teachers can only stay at one school for 5 years.  As a result, my school just had 27 teachers leave along with the principal and vice-principal. Everyone seems alright, but its only been a couple of days. Hopefully everthing stays good.

OK, thats enough for this post. What have I learned? Winter in Korea=blah. Next post: VACATION!!!