Day 1 Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur take three. To use my frequent flyer miles I had to choose one city to fly in and out of. KL made the most sense because from there I could get a cheap flight to pretty much any destination that I would want to visit in SE Asia.

I lucked out and got a single when booking a dorm at my not-so-fancy hostel. I chose location over amenities and stayed in the same place we used when Lauren and I went to Bali last year.

Not getting out of bed until noon the next day was the best way I could think of to spend my time. My last visits to KL had wiped out most, if not all, the tourist attractions and so I focused on relaxing and finding a movie theater. I headed to a mall and wandered around waiting for my showing of New Moon to begin. During my perusing I found a bookstore and purchased some much anticipated magazines. So excited!

Because of my early flight time I chose to keep the nights activities to some facebooking and reading. Which isn't saying I missed much as this hostel was more on the weird side than social. I am about 97% sure that there was an old woman in the dorm that lived there and slept with a pile of newspapers on her side. Also, an older Caucasian man spent a good portion of his day sitting in reception and then retired to the male dorm....hmph. Not the usual crowd.

Sitting on the flight to Chengdu I am the only Caucasian person on the flight. Should be an interesting week in China.

I didn't take many pictures of my time at the mall....but here are a few from my time at the glamorous Backpacker Travelers Inn. I want to say that I will stay somewhere else next time, but let's not kid ourselves. Its cheap, convenient to the airport bus and I know where it is which is a significant bonus since after a week on the road I feel perpetually lost.


It looks a bit like a prison from the outside....


What you aren't seeing in this picture is the older Malaysian lady passed out with the Sunday paper sprawled around her....

Done in Korea!

My Chungdahm teaching career is finished. I don't think it has totally set in yet that I won't have to go back. I was way too tired from the baziollion things I had to do this week to really pay attention to the fact that I most likely won't see many of my co-workers again or any of my students. It is harder to say goodbye to the Korean staff that I have met at school. Even if it doesn't happen there is the thought that you might run into some of your fellow foreign teachers back home or look them up if you find yourself in their hometown. I will miss the girls I worked with and hope to keep in touch!

I was a bit sad that the students I had this term were going to be my last. Not that they were horrible, but I had less of a connection with them than past students sans one class. On my last Thursday I had a "snack party" where I brought in cup of Ramen and they supplied cookies and we sat around to chat and watch the simpsons. The students surprised me by decorating my classroom with christmas lights and balloons. The gesture reminded me that I will miss parts of this job and that while I doubt I will teach again I really did like some aspects of my job these past few years.


The Christmas lights that my students brought in


When I had to take these down one of them popped in my eye.


Final Class party


The last weekend was a blur. I had to get my stuff packed, thrown away and well, gone by Friday night, which was a surprise. I ended up hauling my stuff in a cab to Nates in the middle of the night on Friday. I then spent the weekend hanging with my chingu and biting my nails, wondering what the next year had in store.

A few weeks of Fall

It seems as leaving Korea has turned me back into a tourist. I have been running around Seoul with a new teacher at our school, Kelly. It seems we are a perfect match for sight seeing as I am trying to see the last bits before I take off and she hasn't seen much yet as a newbie. So far, we have tackled another palace and the biggest buddhist temple in Seoul. I have to say that the fall leaves made all the pictures I took much prettier. Oh, how I love fall in any country!

Here are a few of the pictures I have collected as my Korean tourist career comes to an end. I don't think there are many sights listed in the Lonely Planet that I have missed these last couple of years. Korea has been well covered.

First stop was the Gyeongbokgung Palace in the traditional district of Seoul. The palace was built in the late 1300s, but as many national monuments a majority of the palace complex was burnt down during the Japanese invasion. Starting in 1989 Gyeongbokgung Palace was included in an initiative to rebuild many of the important buildings destroyed by the Japanese. When I was there I guess 40% was finished and it will be completely restored in the next 20 years.


Before the palace we stopped at a tea shop and I drank this delicious chrysanthemum tea.


The main building in the Palace Complex


Beautiful fall colors.


Palace Walls


Palace Pond and Pagoda




Big Pagoda


I love these rock men.....I always think their expressions are funny


Showing Korea some love!

A few weeks later, on a rainy and windy day we headed out to Bongeunsa, a Buddhist temple across the street from a popular mall in Korea. This had to be one of the nicest temples I have seen in Korea. It is obvious that a lot of money gets donated to keep the buildings up and things in good shape. At the charity shop there were some flashy brands for sale, leading me to believe that some of the wealthier Koreans call this temple home.


I love that I got out to take some pictures during the few weeks of fall in Korea.


Huge decorated doors at the entrance of the temple.


Prayer room windows


Temple Building. There were a lot of more interesting buildings to take pictures of but they were in use and it felt disrespectful to snap pictures of people trying to pray.


Tiger toe stones for good luck


Rock Buddhas... I have seen these all over Korea.


The largest Budha in Korea....


I am going to miss these Buddhist decorations. This is the entire ceiling of an underpass.

A wee update with 46 days of Korea to go....

Coming back from Beijing was a reality check. I am really close to being done in Korea. Not that pretend close I have been coaching myself with for the last few months, but truly 46 days away! I was staying in a hostel and when meeting people I was constantly explaining to people that was I at the end of my contract in Korea and planned to travel when I was done......I am 46 days away from no job and no 3:59 rush to clock in for fear of the 4:01 tardy email. I am more excited than I can say. I am booked on a flight from Korea on Nov. 28th and after a day in Kuala Lumpur will land in Chengdu, China to as one of the blogs I read today said, "hug the shit of this panda" look here. I will then head into Vietnam and start Southeast Asia in the Northern town of Sapa, where there is a collection of ethnic minority tribes. After that I have to be in Kuala Lumpur on Mar. 1st to fly back to Korea and pick up my stuff.

I have an idea of where I want to go and what I want to see. It's all in the air and thats exciting to me right now after the monotony hat has been Korea these past few months for me. I have started telling a few of my kids that I am out of here on at the end of the term, something one of them had guessed at the sight of the calendar in my classroom having an X marking each passed day. One thing I have learned in teaching is that kids can see through the bullshit, so you might as well level with them when you can. We then spent a good twenty minutes talking about not my vacation, as one student put it my "journey"...

Beijing - The Great Wall of China

On my last full day in Beijing I signed up to take a tour of the Great Wall of China. I have a few friends that loved, loved, LOVED the tour they took with the Hostel I was staying at. The "Secret Wall" tour is a day long trek up and around the great wall to a section that isn't fully renovated, if fixed up at all. I thought it would be a bit of a challenge, but damn it was more a hike then I thought it was going to be and I am so glad I changed out of the jeans I thought about wearing.

We arrived with this small Chinese man who knew no English at all to the base of a mountain and began following him up the mountain to the wall. There were all sorts of people on the tour and it was interesting to get to talk to people as we stumbled and tripped our way up the the path (maybe that was just me). After about an hour of hiking we reached the top and the view was beautiful!

We then walked around along the wall and down to a village for lunch. At first I thought we were the only ones to use this path, but then I saw a discretely set up souvenir shop.....I guess we were one of the many in on the secret. Here are some of the bajillion pictures I took!


A little self photography on the wall


I think this picture was taken about halfway through the "up hike" during our rest.






Inside one of the watch towers.








Cool walkway at the place we had lunch. I don't know if it was really a restaurant. It seemed to be more of a family compound with a room for serving.....Idk but the food was delish and the atmosphere was pretty cool.

Beijing - Wan Fu Jing Night Market

At night we ventured to the night markets at the recommendation of one of my students who went to international school in Beijing. He told me that they had the strangest food there and it was something I must see. Sad thing is that because of the Swine Flu situation we aren't really supposed to leave the country and our way around that is to just not tell anyone we did it. So, I have to covertly tell Jon that I saw the seahorses and pig blood soup.

There were all sorts of crazy delights for sale at the market. The only thing I was willing to eat was the grape stick covered in a sugar coating. I am not much of an adventure eater, but that didn't stop me from taking pictures.....


Most of my night shots suck so I think this one passes with a little photoshoping...


My fruit man


Silk Worms


Octopus


Scorpian


Snake


Seahorses that were still moving.....


Frog legs

Beijing -Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

Last weekend I took a much needed vacation from life and ran away to Beijing to get some of my traveling must sees crossed off the list. It was a surprisingly hectic week in Korea before I took off which in hindsight could have been avoided, but I guess that is what makes it more fun, right? I had one extra day off from work because of the lunar holiday and needed it! I couldn't imagine doing the two day visit to this crazy city we considered last summer. It would have been impossible.

I was lucky enough to meet up with some fellow English teachers from Korea at the airport. We traveled into the city together and hung out for the weekend. Our first night we found our accommodations and got some dinner. I thought it was challenging in Korea to get food that is somewhat identifiable and sanitary, China, you are much, bigger challenge.

We woke up early the next day to fight the 60th Anniversary of Communism crowds that were expected around Tiananmen Square that weekend. Maybe I should have checked the holiday situation in China too, just a thought.. We were herded with about a zillion other tourists to the square. In the middle of the infamous square some of the floats from the parade were parked. I read somewhere that they locked up all the city's pigeons...you know I kept looking around for one after hearing this and didn't catch a glimpse of one all day.I wonder what happened to them?!?

From there we pushed our way through the square and into the Forbidden city. Wow, that thing is massive. I wandered around for awhile and took lots of pictures. I wish I would have caught more of the history, but it was just surreal to walk around know ing that this place had been kept secret for so long. A massive collection of exordinant buildings in the middle of a major city, then capital of a large country... wouldn't fly in most countries.


The bajillion Chinese people I got cozy with on the way to the sights


Soldiers were out in force this weekend all over the city


Soldier biking it.


The man himself, Mao, and his admirers


One of the popular parade floats in the Hall of the People


A building near the center, I prettied it up a tad.


Me in the city


I love the colors and patterns on palaces....I took about a zillion of these pics


Cool room


Roooarr.


The Forbidden City entrance

The Beginning of The End!!!

Monday marks the beginning of my seventh and final term at Chungdahm Learning! The only words that would be sweeter to type at this point would be, tomorrow is the last and final day of my final term, but that will get here. It isn't a secret that I am ready to move on. I am more surprised than anyone that I am still here at the same school with the same work situation, but it will pay for my next step. And that is what it is. I am ready to see the world and take this trip I have been putting together!

As for an update...hmmmm. There isn't much in the way of new happenings in my life. I have said some goodbyes as friends and co-workers have left, never the ones I want, but I guess that's not my choice. I am 95% sure that I am heading back to Seattle when everything is said and done. It feels like home and I love that city! So, that makes it easier to look forward to the future than to dread making decisions.....

The start of the term was a bit of a bummer. I had some really great classes last term and it is sad to think that I will not teach any of these students again. While I won't miss much about working at CDI, I think some of the kids I have taught are just adorable. I am just hoping that the classes I have for my final term are at least tolerable.

The main focus of my extra time is trying to figure out where and what I want to see on my travels. I don't have much in the way of a planned agenda and I like it! However, I do need at least a loose idea of where and how I am getting around. So far I have a ticket booked to Malaysia for November 29 and I am deciding whether to pay the ridiculous visa fee to go into China and see some pandas, or just begin in Hanoi, Vietnam. I am leaning towards the pandas. It is biggest panda reserve in the world and I have wanted to visit it since I saw it in National Geographic, but again fourteen weeks sounds like a long time right now, but will definitely fly by. Then I will end in Kuala Lumpur at the end of February and take a quick stop in Hong Kong before picking up my bags in Korea. This puts me in Minnesota in the first week of March! Wooohoooo!I will be in America for most of March before heading out to Europe. I haven't decided If I will be out to Seattle yet during that month, mostly because of money and the fact that it could take a big chunk out of my travel fund, but after two years it may be too tempting to pass up!

I miss everyone and the oddest things that you take for granted when you live in the states. So, wish me patience during my last 83 days. I am hoping it flies by and my sanity is not lost in the process!