Turning back a few pages: CHINA CHAPTER

Although it seems over whelming to back track experiences from over a year ago, I am going to take a stab at it. I figure one day I will be thankful that I took the time to write down anything, even if an entire year has since past from the actual event. September 2010 Danielle and I visited the land of live scorpions on a stick and sketchy taxi drivers. Beijing, China. Danielle and I attended the same high school; she arrived in Mokpo 2 months after me and 4 months before Emma. We instantly grew close but once we survived China together we knew we were bonded for life.

Like the over paranoid Miami girls we are, we read and researched every detail about China. We read you should only get in Taxi's that start a meter, take a business card from your hotel (so you can always find your way back), say no to people offering to drink tea with you, and bargain like you have never bargained before at the markets that sell everything except babies (at least we don't think they do). We arrived in China and instantly knew... we were no longer in Kansas.

As soon as we stepped onto the subway we were harassed by two strange men that instantly put us on high alert. When we came out of the subway we stepped out into the rain with suitcases that were clearly way too big for 5 nights. We searched for a Taxi but it immediately became clear to us that it wasn't going to happen. So we walked. In the rain. With giant rolling suitcases. And we found our little hotel/motel down a traditional Chinese alley otherwise known as a "Hutong". Maybe this sounds a little scary but let me reiterate the extensive research done before crossing into the communist land of China. I studied the subways, circled our stops, printed walking directions and read every traveling tip available... these girls were not going down in China.

So after arriving in our Beijing motel, we took one look at each other and smiled because the first battle had been won. We slept for several hours and then we started on foot once again. This time we were heading to the "Wangfujing Market".. my handy book recommended such a place. I should pause and give a whole hearted recommendation for my favorite travel book/guide... "Eyewitness Travel (Insert place you are going here)". Upon arriving at the market, we were immediately aware that we were in fact in China. As I mentioned before, live scorpions on a stick, starfish on a stick, seahorses.... It wasn't all repulsive though, Danielle and I shared this peanut butter crumble stuff that is forever dubbed "Peanut butter delight". After an eventful day we celebrated American style at "Outback Steakhouse".

The next day it was time to hit the ground running. Having previously heard the food in China was disgusting, I didn't have high hopes for our first meal. A piece of advice when traveling in Asia and you don't know what to eat, find dumplings and noodles. And that's exactly what we did, more than once I might add. We found the food in Beijing delicious, Peking duck and dumplings were really as traditional as we got though.

We headed straight to the "Forbidden City" which we found mildly interesting but definitely not the highlight of the trip. In the days to follow we visited the Summer Palace which was more impressive, a Kung Fu show, the Lama Temple, and of course The Great Wall. The Great Wall was massive, mind blowing, beautiful, and really hard to climb. Pictures can really be deceiving, those steps are hyperventilating steep. My traveling advice to future visitors of China, don't book a tour to the wall!! The site is quite a bit removed from the actual city of Beijing so typically people join a tour for transportation purposes. But you will land yourself being toted around to different factories such as Jade, Silk, and Tea. You will spend double the time at these "added in stops" then the actual wall. If possible, hire a taxi to the wall and skip the nonsense.

All good vacations have a good party. After dealing with the hustle and bustle of rude cab drivers, unhelpful locals, and general fear.. we needed a place to meditate. Well some people meditate, some people sing, others drink Baileys on ice :) This is precisely what we did in "Hou Hai", more than once. One bar after the other with live music, delicious food, and a lake view. This was our sanity, our reward for survival. Although I will say my handy dandy book recommended a restaurant in another "hot spot" of Beijing called Sanlitun.

My book described a restaurant built into a tree, and the instructions were similar to this... turn right after the corner, walk 5 minutes and make a right at one of the 20 alleys, then left behind a chain fence. And there you will find amazing pizza at a restaurant that has been uniquely designed. The mission to find this local hang out was no simple task. But after enlisting the cab drivers help, and asking every person who could seemingly speak English... we found the brick oven pizza place around the corner, down an alley, behind a fence, built around a tree that dangled branches into the seating area. Lesson in travel, never give up. Find those highly recommended local restaurants, in the end... this restaurant was one of the best experiences. We were just so proud of ourselves for finding it I think.

Markets that sell fake things require Advil, a backbone, and deep breaths. We went to the "Pearl Market" on our last day. It's a five story building of complete chaos but respectfully the better looking replicas of brand names you will ever see. I had sellers grabbing my arms, and I even experienced the immense hatred when you don't buy anything. One lady actually told me she hated me. Shame, I really had intended a life long friendship with her. If an item was quoted at $120, you literally didn't pay more then $30. That's where the backbone came into play, you really had to fight the good fight if you wanted anything. This was really hard for us because it was our last day in China and we were completely over it.

Stepping on to the plane and hearing the Korean woman talk on the loud speaker was a bigger relief then we could have imagined. We were going home. To a safe place, where guns are illegal, drugs are non existent, and people are helpful and kind. Korea :)

I Have Failed!

Like most that vow to continue a blog and share their travels, I have failed! I constantly walk around and think of what I would say in my blog. However, I always feel like it's too late. I have been in South Korea for 15 months; so much has transpired since I last blogged. It appears the last entry was August of last year... yikes!!

In an attempt to salvage my blog gone wrong, I am going to jump in feet first and just start here. I have been to China, the Philippines, and Japan!! I extended my contract 6 months, switched schools, moved into a new apartment and most importantly have had the extreme pleasure of welcoming my best friend Emma into South Korea. It is safe to say this is the single most life changing decision I have ever made in my life. College is cool, you should definitely go, but travel... travel changes who you are, what goals you have, and how you see the world.

So, here it goes, yet another vow to properly depict what this experience means to me via blog. I can and will in fact document my amazing experience in South Korea in the upcoming 3 months I have left. I am asking for your forgiveness in terms of grammar, possible spelling mistakes and any other ridiculous error I make while blogging. This is because, any opportunity I get, I am just going to write. No fancy stuff.

Recently I worked on a project called “A Day in My Korean Shoes”. Basically I carried my camera around with the hopes of capturing all the key moments of my daily life. Above are a few photos from school. Emma and I work together and we live next door to one another in the same apartment building. I also added a picture of my schedule. As you can see there are several abbreviations such as POL , SCI, LIB. We work in an “English camp”, the classes are all themed, POL (police station), SCI (science), LIB (library). The classrooms are cool and it’s an interesting way for the kids to learn English. We also have classes such as hotel, hospital, karaoke, indoor park, cooking… I really like the schedule from this particular week. Not because I had a day off but because my classes are all different. Generally we have the same classroom for a 2 week rotation. After 2 weeks of teaching hospital class 6 times a day, CPR becomes mind numbing to teach.

In the morning, you can see my fantastic coworkers stand outside ever so enthusiastically to greet the students. The students stroll in wearing their “outdoor” shoes, only to pull out an additional pair of shoes from their backpacks. They immediately switch to “indoor” shoes to avoid dragging in dirt with their street shoes. All schools are like this, all kids wear slippers inside. That’s different. And of course you can see a picture of one of my classes and the little monsters I teach day in and day out.

This is certainly a good start to turn around my epic fail as a blogger. Let’s see if I can keep it up.