SHaaronGHAI

Coming to Shanghai had little to do with city and everything to do with who was here. With my returning to the states, I wanted to spend time with Aaron one last time before we hit the long haul – seven months. I came here November 7^th and have stayed for a six-week period. I am officially on my way home tomorrow.

These last few months have been the most bittersweet of my life. First, I completed my contract in Korea and had to leave my precious nuggets, but at least I had adventures in Southeast Asia to look forward to. Then when the beaches ended and I left one of my best friends, I had my boyfriend waiting on the other end. Now, I am leaving the love of my life (we’re obviously staying together for this next stage), but finally returning to my loving family and amazing friends. It seems I have started a trend of missing, that no matter where I am, now that I’ve been places, I will always miss someone or something.

Shanghai has been nice, much better than Beijing, that’s for sure. Although I appreciated Beijing for it’s sites, I hated the people – cruel, rude and deceitful. Shanghai is very modern and Western. Being the international business hub, there are soo many foreigners that they have to cater to. Thank goodness for that, because we have been eating and shopping well. That would define my time here best. Well, that, and playing housewife, which I rather enjoyed.

It has been quite routine and busy time for Aaron. He works 12 hours a day now, with basketball, so I do my best to stay busy and join him at school with any excuse – parties, etc. I’ve enjoyed watching him teach, coach and just be in his world – a good change of pace from Korea.

One weekend we were able to make it out. We flew to the beautiful region of Guilin. The first day was spent at the airport and around the “small” city. No matter how small a city pretends to be, it is still bustling with people. It is very apparent why the population is a problem here. They simply can’t keep up with the pollution and housing.

The countryside was the most phenomenal part of China that I have seen. The beautiful, little people and all their gorgeous hand-made clothing in their pine buildings set high in the mountains. That Sunday, we took a boat through the mountains, enjoyed the company we were with, took tons of pictures and had a fine lunch. In the afternoon, we wandered Yangshuo’s small Chinese alleys then were taken to a true village. Our guide gave us some neat tidbits into their lives. We took bamboo rafts down the river, got to pet water buffalo and witness their unique fishing methods.

The day following, we went far into the mountains where we watched a Long Hair show, supported their economy and hiked the rice patty fields. It was unfortunately an overcast and foggy day. We couldn’t see as much as the pictures exhibited, but could imagine the vastness of the fields upon fields. It was breathtaking.

I’m tired of writing… that should all suffice for my month’s adventures. I hope you enjoyed the year of stories. I know I enjoyed living them.

Southeast Asia

Our friends hosted a going away party for Ashley, Andrew, Rob and I on that last Saturday. After a few hours of sleep Ash and I boarded the bus to the airport. By 3am we were in the blazing humidity of Ho Chi Minh City, even at night. With nowhere to stay he took us to his friends upscale motel. The following day we hiked the entire district one for a hostel, had a little boy carry both our backpacks and snuggled up to catch up on sleep. The next two days were blackened by a desperate search for banks who would exchange our Korean won for Vietnamese Dong. They didn’t even know what the won was. After asking our hostel staff, they advised that we exchange it black market style. I hopped on the back of one of many motorbikes, came to a jewelry store, and walked to the back. Among the high-pitched voices, smoke, and hustling ladies was a man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, counting and calculating with pen and paper. In the end we got our money and enjoyed the next three days. We went to the Mekong Delta, explored the streets of “Saigon”, shopped a bit and enjoyed local pagodas and restaurants.

Our next adventure was to Bangkok, Thailand. It was just a night and day stop over, which we spent mostly in a hospital. Ashley’s face went numb on our flight, but it turned out just fine. That afternoon, we hiked a couple giant pagodas and took a boat ride around the fishing areas. We had an overnight train out that night to Vientianne, Laos. Although it was a little more complicated than that, we made it mid-afternoon to the capitol city. We chatted with our fellow English speaking train riders, found ourselves a hotel for the night and enjoyed some soccer over amazing Vietnamese food (probably my favorite of all the countries). The next morning, Ash and I took a tiny packed van to the mountainous region of Vang Vieng, Laos. It was the most gorgeous of landscapes – towering mountains over a flowing river with modest homes, kind people and children everywhere. We spent two wild days there on the river and at our “resort”. The ride back was even more treacherous than our arrival.We had exhausted four major cities in less than two weeks. We were able to spend one more full day in Bangkok. We chose to take a Tuk Tuk to all the major sights.

Once again we were on the overnight, this time to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. We met up with a couple of friends from Vientianne, had breakfast and then headed out for the day. The owner of the French restaurant (their influences are all over Southeast Asia) arranged a driver for us. He took us to Tiger Kingdom, where we laid with the giant, but gentle beasts. Then we saw the monkey show at Monkey School, where we had them in our laps, ripping our hair in nibbling food from our fingers. The most thrilling of the tours was at the snake charming show. We got to hold king cobras and pythons, even had them thrown at us. Quite thrilling! The day ended at the top of the tallest temple in Thailand. We were all templed out by this time. After a quiet dinner with a local man, we retired to bed early.

The next morning started early with a two-day trek into the mountains. Two other actual couple joined us. We rode in an open back truck up the mountains, then hiked through the villages, and into the jungle. There we waited for our next ride – the elephants. There were three of them with one baby who was terrible shy, but even more adorable. The guides even encouraged us to RIDE the elephant, as in I sat behind it’s ears on its head :D That evening we met the elephants at a waterfall where we bathed them and rode them through the water – mine tossed me off, gently and slowly of course. We were fed awesome vegetable dishes on rice, all cooked in bamboo… my favorite! In the morning, we hiked some more, five hours more. Then it was back to the “city” again.

We were blessed enough to be traveling during the Full Moon season, so everyone in Thailand celebrates with extravagant parades, lighting ceremonies, markets and parties. We participated in the first three, then got Mexican food. With a successful evening at the amazing night market, we were happy to leave the following day, feeling as though we exhausted yet another city. Our next destination was achieved via airplane.

Phuket, in the south of Thailand is every bit as beautiful as has been described. I have never seen whiter, cleaner beaches with bluer warmer water, all with a mountainous background. After weeks of backpacking and “roughing it“, we were pleased to soak in all the amenities of our resort – down to the room service and bath towels. We had breakfast there ever morning, dinner every night and only wandered when our bodies had burned from the low and hot sun.

Our beach just so happened to have the World Women’s Volleyball tournament happening on it, so as we read we got to hear the pump up music blaring from the stadium. We even watched a match. Other than that, we spent our time reading, relaxing, swimming, talking and reflecting on what an amazing three weeks it had been. The last day in Phuket, we chose to get some mani/pedi’s and massages. Now I can’t say that I have never had them done, although the many was the worst ever… it was fun to be pampered.

Finally a Finale

I haven’t written a blog entry in months, I am aware. This entry is a shot in the dark, assuming someone may still read it. My dad asked for this a month ago, well here you go!

The end of my term in Guri was a bit topsy turvy. My directors made it difficult to get a plane ticket and they asked that I move 18 days before my flight out. Regardless of all the excitement, everything turned out just fine. I bit my lip and suffered the financial loss on the ticket. The move was successful and impressive, I was just glad that the smaller apartment was only mine for a few weeks.

Aaron was able to visit my second to last week, October 1^st. The final week at school was a painful but joyous one. It was so hard to say goodbye to the kids, but they had heartfelt parties and gifts. My kindy class even sang an “I love you, Goodbye Kelsey Teacher” song. My co-teacher reports that they still ask about me. I can’t bare to look at pictures. I miss my nuggets so much.

Haircut

Over the last couple months I've been losing more and more of my hair. Who knows what the cause of this may be?! Health, most definitely. Diet, without a doubt. Unknown products, who can blame me for not being able to read Korean?!

Anyway, I had to chop it. After three years of growing out my hair for the purpose of proving that I could, I guess we can say, "Mission Accomplished". No hard feelings. Just hope it grows back in volume now :D There's a photo of the new do, if you will.

47 days...

potential traveling begins! According to Ashley and the government notice she received, she has to be out of here at on the anniversary of her arrival - September 22nd. If the rules are the same for Americans, I will have to be out of Korea by October 9th... a lot sooner than directors were hoping to let me go. They were hoping to keep me through the month of October, but I requested I be let go a little bit earlier for an extended travel time :D

If I am actually required to exit Korea by early October, that would put me in China around early November, and depending on if he will have me, I'll be in Shanghai till mid-December. Right now I am searching for classes to take, preferably CELTA over TOFEL to improve my chances of getting more global jobs. We'll see. Otherwise, I will be exploring the city, relaxing, looking for jobs online and enjoying Aaron's company when he's not at work.

As for Ash and I, we are doing a Southeast Asia tour for about three weeks, depending on our finances. We are hoping to make it to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Loas, but are considering the safety, or lack their of. Plans may have to move further south to Malaysia... either way, it's going to be an awesome chance of a lifetime! YAY!!!

So that's the future, here's the past...

Since Aaron's been gone, I've been filling my weekends with fun friend activities. We have had rooftop parties, filled with girlie wine drunks into the night, poolside visits gone wrong, trips to the Incheon beach, and touristy travels through Seoul.

Two weekends in a row, we took over Rob's roasty rooftop for a bar-be-que and our vain purposes. Both days were uncomfortably hot and required our feet to be bathed in ice water. On the second weekend, we attempted to swim at the exclusive and expensive Hamilton Hotel, only to be turned away by a Korean snob that didn't work that didn't work there (long story). Again, we turned to the roof for comfort, that and soft rock from Andrea's iPod.

We continued to soak up the sun on the days following. Ashley and her boyfrie

nd, TaeHyeun invited Mars and I to Incheon Beach (not quite sure the name of it). That was quite the site to behold. Never have a seen a tide so low grow so fast or so many humans so clothed in the heat. There is no beach that is more clothed in the WORLD than a Korean beach - we are talkin full on hoodie jackets, with hats and jean shorts. It appears they will melt if touched by the sun. I have yet to see it happen.

With no plans for the weekend and boyfriends out of town, Ash and I decided to go all touristy for the first time since I (not she) have been here. That's right, I don't think I have done more than two touristy things since being here. The day started around noon. We hit up the National Museum of Korea, Namsan Tower, Gyeongbok Palace and the 63 building. There was lots of beautiful art, temples, historical attractions and views. Atop the 63 building we were able to see the entire city of Seoul, which no matter how many times I see it, still amazes me - the amount of high rise apartments and building complexes, the cramped streets and flashing lights with a stunning mountainous backdrop. Amazing. After that, we got some ice cream and waited for a bus to take us to the jimjilbong... all the while staring at the ridiculous building giggling about inappropriate things, as we girls do :)

I guess I should explain what a jimjilbong is... picture ancient Roman baths, where men lazied around in their towels, soaking in different temperature tubs and saunas. Take that, make it coed in parts (obviously clothed), add an oxygen and igloo room, with an outdoor tub and you've pretty much got it. We got there at 8, paid 8,000 won to get in (essentially $7), tried out the four different baths, the two saunas and moved onto the coed part where we ate, sauna'ed, oxygenated and relaxed. Although we had to option to stay the night on their mats, Ash and I preferred the comfort of our beds, so left before midnight.

It's now almost noon on a Sunday and I've already uploaded my pics, updated this blog, and raided CostCo of all its cheese. Now it's time to enjoy the fruits of my labor, and by fruits, I mean mozzarella and movies :)

Sidenote: If you want to stay up to date on my daily activities, check me out on twitter, or watch the same updates on the left side of this blog. Also, there are some links to photos you may have not see yet. Enjoy!

My Seoul album

My Kids album

Camera Happy album

Jeju Island

As you may or may not know, I am awarded two weeks off in my one year stint here - one over Christmas and one at the end of July. It worked out perfectly that Aaron was going to be here during that time. Initially we hoped to go to Thailand, but tickets proved to be a little out of our range. Instead, we opted for Jeju Island, South of SoKor. Some people have compared it to Hawaii. It even had an island off of the main island - we agreed that the only thing worse than living on an island is being an island of an island, especially one named after a cow ;)

Day one started easily with a mid-afternoon flight out at a nearby airport (two hours on the bus and tube is nearby). We ended up getting to our hotel around 5, leaving us with little daylight to work with. We set our things down, determined to get a quick start on this trip. Our first stop was the most popular Cheonjiyeon Falls (sp?), which were a mere five minute walk away from us. They were beautiful, but seemed a bit weak due to the low water levels. With adventure in our blood, we wondered down a random pier, up a random road, into a random valley, and around a random walking path in hopes of seeing the falls from above. It was hardly a success. Nice try though Aaron :) We called it a night soon after.

The following day started early. We were determined to complete one of the 13 walking routes that lined the coast. At first, we followed the path religiously until we realized it merely weaved in and out of every street we had already been down the night prior. Being the smarties that we are, we skipped a bunch of the sites and headed straight for the shore. Along the way we got to see the market, a great view of the rooftops, and two more waterfalls, both which we could have practically swam in. The water was so clear and tempting, but a little too cold and a lottle to rocky! That was our greatest obstacle - no matter how tempting the water in the blistering heat, the lava rocks were ginormous and pretty intimidating with massive waves crashing on them. The bummer of the day came about six hours in... well, more like two hours, but it peaked at six. For once in my life I earned some major blisters on my "ring toes" [Mom says, "You should have taken the rings off of them." Laughter ensues.]. They were quite debilitating. We were within a five minute drive of our final destination, but I couldn't do it. Thank goodness Aaron gave in to the cab idea. The black sand beach was well worth the walkcab. It was practically deserted, our own private beach. While I took a nap and admired a random fresh spring in the middle of the beach, Aaron built a turtle, a handsome one at that :)

That evening, with my new disability, we decided to rent a scooter. It was the best decision we made! A) Aaron is a brilliant driver and a fan of the two wheel and B) We got to see so much more than we would have otherwise been able too. After signing our lives away, we scooted off - destination Cinnabon! About 15 minutes in, right before a stop light, the little trucker died. Long story short: waited for it to cool at a bus stop, pulled it into a gas station, owners were incredibly helpful and hospitable, English speaking son saved our butts and after a half hour of waiting and debating, drinking their water and eating their oranges, we were back on the trail with a new scooter (that was still a long story). The evening ended with us finding the sign for the Cinnabon, but it was just a hoax, we saw the amazing coast at night, a little village, then headed home for some comfort food.

In those two days we had knocked out most of what we had planned for the first three, so were gifted a free day. We chose to spend it at random museums, hiking Sunset Peak (not at sunset), stumbling upon a temple and lookout tower, watching the waves crash on the coast and just goofing around on the scooter. That evening, the movie Predator came on, which is strangely a highlight for me. It's a funny joke here in Guri, and I haven't seen it since I was probably six. Anywho, not important.

On Tuesday we rode out to Udo Island - two hours on the scooter and a twenty minute ferry. This is the island of the island, named after a cow that I had mentioned previously. Besides the weather (light showers all day), it was surprisingly pleasant. We rented yet, another scooter - only for two hours this time. That was all we needed to cruise around the entire thing. This was to be my first and last time driving a motorized two-wheel vehicle (that's not a promise). The stint lasted five minutes, and we were both terrified. There was only a one lane road that guided you along the coast. We saw a gorgeous lighthouse atop a towering hillside, the coast was a beautiful combination of white sand and lava rocks, and the water was as clear as day! The actual island was sweet and quaint, the spitting rain, not so much. After the "exciting" ride home, we returned the scooter, got dressed up, and went to the resort area for one nice meal. I was able to get my favorites: cheese infested french onion soup, a perfect caesar salad, and a Korean take on pecan pie.

Good thing we ate well the night prior because the calories we burned on Wednesday were record high. Mount Halla is the active volcano visible from every angle of Jeju. At the time, there were only two routes open: one was described as flat and easy, but not memorable, the other, torturous, steep, but remarkably beautiful - those probably weren't the Korean Information guys' words. We obviously had to take the impossible, impressive one. To give you an idea of its difficulty level, it was an hour hike to even get to the starting point. The scenery along the 8.7km (5.5mi) hike was indescribable and ever-changing. We started off in what looked like the depths of Quarry Hill, then moved into a misty eery version of that, but my favorite scene was the fairy like one in the picture below.

We couldn't help but dream of centaurs and unicorns :) It was that surreal! By the way, the misty appearance was caused by the clouds we were walking through. I think we probably went through about four different levels of them - amazing! After five hours of miserable hiking, in the best weather imaginable, we made it to the top. No Korean in their hiking gear, thought this white girl was going to make it - even my boyfriend doubted me. To give you an idea of how ridiculous it was, I'll post the video of my sarcastic attitude amidst my misery (does that make sense? You'll see). The top was well worth it... even every layer was worth it. There was a giant lake in the middle where you would expect to see boiling lava. Below is a photo of me looking out into the clouds before our rapid descent.

The walk down was mediocre at best, and ravaging on our ankles. Here's some math for you:

Our 8.7k climb up took five hours. The 9.6k walk down took two and a half hours...

Yeah, we were ready to be done and off that mountain!

Our return to the hotel was not a welcoming one - we didn't have the hotel for that night and had missed our flight that morning. After checking our records, I made some foolish calculations that I thought may cost us big time. Everything ended up just fine, no thanks to my anxiety. We were able to pay for one more night at the hotel and the next morning, upon arriving at the airport without flights home, they let us go on the next flight out without charge :D

Overall the trip could not have turned out any better.

Now back to school...

Here is the link for my pictures from the trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052280&id=59200874&l=5ab122553b

Enjoy!

Apologies for typos and grammatical errors - you know I hate revising :)

Partying Hardy

It's a gloomy Tuesday morning, as most mornings have been lately. Aaron is sitting to my right playing some car game on his DS. Every once in awhile he screams something like, "I just gave someone a tattoo. Awesome!" and too my left is a rain infested window. What better time to update my followers, who probably gave up on me a long time ago?! If not, thanks... I would have ;)

So over the last two and a half months, I have been partying hardy... getting out almost every weekend and a couple times a week. Considering it has been so long, I will do my best to just list in no particular order.

About a month ago I took a trip to Ocean World, the supposed biggest waterpark in Korea. We headed out after work one Friday night. Were able to drive there (second time since being here... yes, it is a treat!). Two and a half hours later we arrived at our tree themed hotel and began to entertain our hosts. Our buddy Pete got the hooks up from his Korean co-workers, so to repay them for their hospitality and discounted tickets, we had to play games and chat with them till the wee hours. The following morning, the five of us hiked to the park. It was the hottest of days, thank goodness we were spending it in the water. My tum was upset for the first two hours, but after that I was able to enjoy the ridiculous wave pool and sled rides. It was a bit too busy for my tastes - two hour lines for 45 second rides - but was just as happy resting in the sun... and that we did! We left late that night, and I crashed soon after... you know how exhausting water and sun can be.

Now all I can remember are the days in the sun I've been having. The last two adventures have involved Aaron, so we'll start there...

He arrived July 2nd, which could not have come soon enough. The month prior was torture waiting for him to come. Thankfully he was able to find cheap weekend tickets at the end of May, but it was almost just a tease. Basically, I want him around all the time, and am incredibly grateful to have him by my side even now, as we both indulge ourselves in technology.

The first weekend he was here, we had a work a party on that Friday. We had a good time with my co-workers inhaling copious amounts of meat and soju, then went out on the town with some fellow foreigners. The next day, Independence Day, I had some serious stomach problems. Weird you say?! Right. Eventually I got my stuff together and was able to participate in a "hot date night" in Myeongdong. The mission, unsuccessful, was to find Keens for the fella. Sunday morning came bright an early with a mission to get wet and wild. We headed off to Everland's Caribbean Bay, another waterpark, superior to Ocean World, as I saw it. The wave pool was subpar, but we were there early enough to hit some sweet rides, and stay late enough that we were able to relax in the wave pool. The best part about it all was being there with my best friend. Waiting for an hour in line was a pleasure... it was like we were doing what we always do - chat, joke and people watch - but with a reward at the end. That day we consumed about four sausages, floated down the lazy river twice, attempted to get massages (would have been my first), and hit up 50% of the slides. My favorites were the couple ones... yep, pretty cornball!

After weekends like that, Monday hits in a brutal and miserable way. It's as if I need another weekend to recover from my weekend. School has been alright lately. I had a rough last month, but that all ended over a week ago, the climax being my open class. We have been preparing our kindies, mine a mere five years old, for the open class. Essentially, the parents came in for an hour and watched me teach their children and show what they have learned. As scared as I was, the results came back very positive. That's all that really matters now. I won't go into the griping details. Also, it seemed the treatment was getting unfair again. The directors were watching my kindy classes on the monitors and seemed to be observing every one of my elementary classes. That's the second time I have felt insecure about my teaching. Again, all that is done now, so nothing to worry about. In other news, the directors have been listening to us...

We have recommended that more creative writing be encouraged, as with most Asian students, structure and systems are a comfort making it difficult to use their imaginations. As a result of these discussions, I get to teach a special newspaper class, involving essays and discussions or debates!

Back to the wet and wild fun. This last weekend, July 11tth and 12th, thousands of foreigners and Koreans took buses over to Boryeong, for their annual MudFestival http://www.asknow.ca/mudfest/. Check it out if you want more details. I think the pictures and video sum up our weekend pretty well. However, the website does not include the weather issues of this years fest. It put a major damper on everything. It was miserable getting muddy, because that meant a wet body on the windy coast... not pleasant. Don't you worry, that didn't stop us! Aaron and I were able to stay together, gaining and losing friends along the way, but always participating in some kind of mud battle. Good times were had, but after being freezing and wind blown, we ended up crashing around 11, waking to a crazy storm, one you would only find on the coast. Ash, Aaron and I trudged through this rain for about an hour looking for a buffet. By 8am we were successful, warm and full :) We crashed for a few more hours after that, were kicked our of our minbak by noon, so sought shelter in a friend chicken joint. The buses left at three, and thank goodness. We were happy to get home. A good weekend overall, but could have been the best had the weather not been so miserable. Oh well.

As far as partying hardy, that is about all I can gather over the last month. I'm sure I will think of more later. We had plans of going away to an island this weekend, but that has fallen through. We are having to work Saturday afternoon, but not tomorrow...

The Korean government is trying to put a limit on how much Academies like mine can charge for lessons. They are also wanting to limit the hours one can be open. How dare they try to regulate private education. I will stop my argument there. Tomorrow, Wednesday July 15th, educators are demonstrating at the government center, so we don't have classes. Of course we have to make this up on a weekend though. At least it's for a good cause, eh? Pray that the government hears their people.

I'm hoping that maybe on Sunday we can hit up Lotte World, an amusement park. I'm addicted, and I know Aaron loves that stuff. As much as I hate wishing away time, my second break of the year will be much needed and appreciated. On July 25th we are headed to Jeju Island for five days of hiking and sightseeing. WooWee I am excited. Pray also that the rainy season decides to let up for once. That would be nice.

I think that's about as much as I can type for this lazy morning. Must get ready for work. Know that even though I am not writing you, I am thinking of you. I miss my friends and family terribly, and look forward to the days of dinners and outings. I love you all!

PS I am too tired to reread or edit, so my poor writing is what you get! Soorry.