After spending a day in Vientiene, Laos, we boarded a plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The plane ride was uneventful for the most part, aside from our unexpected layover at tiny Pakse Airport in the south of Laos. Our first order of business in Siem Reap was to go to the Angkor ruins and buy our 3-day passes for exploration. The Angkor ruins were built between the 9th and the 13th century during the Khmer Empire. They span many, many kilometers in northern Cambodia, but there are a handful within a short distance of the city of Siem Reap that... Continue reading

When I think back on my time in Laos, it is likely that two things will pop into my mind: untouched land and bouncy bus rides on seemingly impossible mountain roads. The original plan was to take the two day slow boat from the Thailand/Laos border to Luang Prabang. Kelly's leg, however, was still bothering her, so we thought the 18 hour bus ride would be the better option. We were wrong. On this bus, I, the girl with the shortest legs on the planet, had no leg room. That said, reclining the chairs was not an option unless you... Continue reading

It is now my last full day in Thailand. Tomorrow morning I board a bus for Luang Phabang, Laos to begin my journey through more of SE Asia. Since I last wrote, I finished my volunteer service at the GRP and made a loop around Thailand for the second time. My first stop was Ayutthaya, the old capitol of Thailand, and it was a wonderful time! I went by myself in the two days between volunteering and meeting up with Catherine, my travel partner for the remainder of my Thailand adventure. Here, I rented a bicycle and rode all around... Continue reading

So it would seem that the theme of the past few days has been wild primates. Yes, the theme of the past three weeks has been primates as well, but the ones I work with every day are in cages. The ones I've seen most recently have been in national parks, swinging over my head, walking ahead of me on trails and munching on the lush vegetation that is seemingly everywhere in Thailand. I just had Sunday and Monday off. They were my first days off in 11 days and I was more than ready to get out of tiny... Continue reading

The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project is located in a small village called Bang Rong. In Phuket, there are a handful of small roads that meet at a monument (the significance of which I have yet to figure out, though I think it is a statue of two war heroines). One of these roads runs through Bang Rong. There is not much in Bang Rong aside from the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area, Bang Pae Waterfall (near the GRP's rehab center), a few restaurants, a 7-11 and a mosque. Bang Rong is a Muslim village so I have had to get used... Continue reading

I am now on the next leg of my time in Thailand. The end of my trip with my parents was a blast. We rode elephants, ox carts, bamboo rafts down a river and even went zip-lining through the canopy of the rainforest (the longest single zip-line measured almost 1km in length!) in Chiang Mai. Then we went to Phuket for a more relaxed few days of lazing on the beach, by the pool, or visiting nearby islands. On my parent's last day, we took a cab to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) near Bang Pae Waterfall and got a... Continue reading

Well hello, hello from Thailand. After not sleeping at all the night before I left and a 4 hour delay after an already 2.5 hour layover in Shanghai, I arrived in Bangkok. I took a cab to the hotel and saw my dad waiting for me on the bridge to the hotel. It was a very happy reunion. I don't remember the last time I got so many hugs from my parents in such a short amount of time. The next morning, we visited Jim Thompson's home. Thompson was an American who moved to Thailand after World War II and... Continue reading

It has been a lovely spring thus far. I have fallen into a comfortable routine at school, we've had a nice sprinkling of field trips and days off to spice up the school week monotony, and the weather has been improving with each passing day. I've continued to be a horrible blogger, so this time I'm going to say "I won't post for another month" and maybe reverse psychology will do its thing. We'll see. I think the problem (which really isn't a problem at all) is that I feel Seoul has become my home. I have my job, my... Continue reading

The weather is finally warming up in Seoul, thank goodness! I've been hearing about the 80 degree weather in the States and feeling mighty jealous. However, today is Easter Sunday and the weather should near 60, so I'll take what I can get! I always love how cities seem to change with the seasons. In spring, people come out of hibernation, the color of the scenery changes, parts of the city that were seemingly off-limits due to the cold become available for enjoyment ... and all of these things please me very much. If all goes well, my co-workers and... Continue reading

Since last I posted, I have said goodbye to my old pre-schoolers, started teaching new classes, moved into a different apartment and traveled outside of Seoul for the first time. It has been a crazy beginning to the month, and I'm happy to say that things are finally starting to get settled again. The post categories this time will be Teaching and Traveling, and I'll include a video of my new apartment later this week. Teaching It was quite sad to say goodbye to my two pre-school classes. They were great groups of kids and since I started teaching them... Continue reading

On Thursday, my little pre-schoolers will perform poems at their graduation ceremony. Here are some videos I took of them practicing in class: We're leaving today, We want to be a part of First grade, first grade. We've worked very hard, Our teachers are proud, So open up those doors to First grade, first grade. We know our alphabet and numbers too, We all can write our names And tie our shoes. So when March comes, And we're finished with play Our moms will send us to First grade, first grade. If we can make it here, We'll make it... Continue reading

I have now been in Seoul for one month. It has been a great experience thus far and I am looking forward to the rest of my time here with wide eyes and high hopes. At the same time, however, there hasn't been a whole lot to report since my last post. I've basically been living the teacher life during the days, taking Korean lessons twice a week and going out with new friends on the weekends. I will continue the format of my last entry and split this post into three categories: Learning, Teaching and Enjoying. But, before I... Continue reading

It has been a great few days since I posted last. I've done a lot of shopping, some teaching and I've taken my first Korean language lesson. I have also taken pictures and a video of my apartment which I will include later in the post for your viewing pleasure. I will divide this post into four sections: Shopping, Teaching, Apartment and Korea. Enjoy! Shopping I ended my last post after lunch in Hongdae with Liz, Alisha and Kelly. Jamie met up with us at the tail end of our meal and then went off with Liz to do some... Continue reading

Let's meet up. Let's meet now! I was introduced to my first favorite Korean song and have been singing it for over 36 hours straight. Take a listen. What do you think? Love it? I sure do! It's been quite a long time since I wrote last, so I have a lot to report. I'll start with last weekend and get to my discovery of this song by the end of the post... I took it easy on Friday night because I had a sore throat and cold (which, by the way, is still lingering). On Saturday, I arranged a... Continue reading

I finally have a home! I moved into my apartment on Thursday and couldn't be happier to have a place to call my own. I'm unpacked and, for the most part, settled in. I will post pictures of my apartment just as soon as it's decorated! I also had my first two days of teaching and, I must say, I love this job! I am teaching two first-year pre-school classes each morning and one intensive track elementary school class each afternoon (meaning they attended SLP pre-school). On Monday and Wednesday, I teach pre-school science (the kids do a science "experiment;"... Continue reading

What a full two days! On Sunday I did a lot of exploring and today I got an overwhelming number of books and information about teaching. Sensory overload for sure! I'll tell you all about it, but first I want to clear up the whole "love hotel" thing. I'm pretty sure there is nothing illegal about the "love hotel," no prostitution or anything like that. In Korean culture, people live with their parents (and sometimes grandparents) until their wedding day. So, couples come to love hotels to be intimate. The parking lots are located on street level but under the... Continue reading

Or, in English, hello! It has now been three full days since I've been in Seoul. There has been a huge learning curve, but I can't say that I've had a bad experience yet! I started my first day of shadowing teachers on Thursday. I was definitely starting to feel the jet-lag by the end of the day, but was able to stay up until 10 p.m.. I successfully slept through the night and woke up on time for shadowing again on Friday. I thought the 15 hour time difference was going to take a week to get used to,... Continue reading

I am safely in Seoul and semi-unpacked in the hotel room that will be my home for the next week. My flight left Minnesota at 7:40 a.m. on Tuesday, and I arrived in Seoul at 5:10 p.m. on Wednesday. Both legs of my trip were uneventful, thank goodness. First, I flew into San Francisco, California. From there, we flew north and west to Incheon airport just outside of Seoul. I could see some of Alaska, the Bering Sea, and Siberia from my window seat. The view was most beautiful over the Bering Sea as the sun was reflected off of... Continue reading

22 days until Christmas. 29 days until the new year. 42 days until SEOUL! Six weeks from today I will have made the journey to Seoul, South Korea. It's surreal to think that in just over a month, I will be living in a country I've never visited, starting a new job, and opening myself to experiences I can't even being to imagine at present. I'm very excited! Continue reading

22 days until Christmas. 29 days until the new year. 42 days until SEOUL! Six weeks from today I will have made the journey to Seoul, South Korea. It's surreal to think that in just over a month, I will be living in a country I've never visited, starting a new job, and opening myself to experiences I can't even being to imagine at present. I'm very excited! Continue reading