Slavko Comes to America!!

Slavko is a great friend that we met in Prague.  Originally from Macedonia, he had moved to Prague for university and then took a TEFL class and became an English teacher- he worked at the same school as Jason.  He was a member of our close group of friends in Prague and we shared all too many great stories and funny moments with him around.

Back in October we got word that Slavko was coming to Texas- El Paso/Juarez more specifically- for Christmas.  I know, Juarez and El Paso??  To travel halfway around the world to go to one of the most dangerous and least desirable places on earth!  I tried to warn Slavko of this, but he was going to visit a friend and was convinced it would be fine.

In the end, it was, of course.  He stayed there for the holidays and then made a weekend trip to visit Brandon, Sarah, Jason and I in Austin.  It was so much fun to see our old friend and relive some of our favorite memories from the good ol' days.  We greeted Slavko at the airport wearing t-shirts designed by Brandon, special for his arrival.

We all wore our t-shirts out on the town that night and got plenty of good laughs and great photos.  What a fun night of catching up it was!  We spent the rest of the weekend showing Slavko as many Texas sites as we could- everything from BBQ to walking around Town Lake and 2-steppin' at a real country bar.

It was a great visit, but I couldn't help but to think how strange it might have been for Slavko.  Slavko still lives in Prague and has a good job (much better than when we were all English teachers...).  But still, the disconnect from life in Prague and life in the States is unreal.  When we all lived there, we had small (but nice) apartments and owned basically just what we could fit in our backpacks and took public transportation everywhere.  Now, both Jason & I and Brandon & Sarah have bought big houses and have two cars with tons of stuff.  How different can life be??  Whenever I think about how much stuff I have now it makes me want to take a step back and simplify my life.  While I do enjoy being able to buy a new shirt without having to wonder how I will take it back home, I miss the lack of materialism I had while living abroad.  Anyway, I just realized how strange it would probably seem to an outsider... especially since we all were in the same boat just a short time ago.

Ahhh... the simplicity.

Sopris in the Supermarket.

Spotted: Mount Sopris* plastered across the walls of the fish section of the German superstore grocer, Kaufland, right here in Prague.

*one of the most beautiful mountains ever, which happens to be located in Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado, the valley I am from.

The Backpacking Kitty Cat

The coolest cat ever!

I wonder if I could get Miko to do this.... :)

Happy Birthday Sehyun

Sehyun's 5th Birthday party at my school in Korea.

The Vienna Weekend

Me at the Schonbrunn Palace

So a couple weeks ago now, we had a nice 4 day weekend which we decided to spend in the beautiful city of Vienna. Here's the great thing about living in Europe: access to many amazing cities just a short bus/train/plane ride away. We took an overnight bus to Vienna on Thursday night and arrived bright and early at 5:00 AM. Well, it was early but I don't think we were feeling so bright at that time of day after little sleep on the bus...

So after checking into our hotel at 5am and taking a 2 hour nap on the couch in the lobby, it was time to set out to see the city at 7am on a Friday. During our 3 days in the city, we saw some beautiful and amazing sites. I have to admit that I didn't actually know that much about Vienna before visiting. I really didn't know what to expect from the city. But I was certainly impressed. The best word I can think of to describe the city is: grandiose. There are amazing palaces, beautiful government buildings and ancient cathedrals galore and everything is big and impressive. And it’s a city of music! Obviously so many great composers have come out of Austria (Beethoven, Straus and Hayden to name a few….) and that history is still very present in the city today.

We spent our time in Vienna walking around taking in as much of the city as we could. We were on the go basically non-stop from morning till night during our full 3 days there. We saw too much for me to remember or even tell you about. But some of the highlights include:

St. Peter’s Church

Taking in a classical concert with an orchestra, opera singers and ballet dancers

The amazing gardens of the Schonbrunn Palace

The Great Hall of the National Library

The copula in the State Hall

And to me, the very best was our first night spent wandering around the city. Outside of a beautiful government building we found a great circus that had set up some semi-permanent attractions. I really wanted to see the circus (it looked so inviting!) but we decided against it… maybe if they would have had elephants it would have been a different story. :)

But anyway, the circus had a great tent with lively music set up right outside a beautiful white building with a great clock tower. And outside of the tent there were stalls set up selling ethnic food from all different regions of the world (although they had hamburgers as the food from Mexico. Hmmm, not really what I would call Mexican food). We dined on some great Indian food and got to do some good people watching.

After dinner we wandered on to see some more of the city at night. We stopped into a church in the center of town, which was hauntingly still and silent. There were just a few other people sitting in the pews in the dark candlelit room, listening to the recorded chats playing from the alter. If you know me you know that I am not a very religious person, but this experience was moving even for me. It was so peaceful and seemed like such a wonderful refuge, it had a perfect atmosphere and I could feel the spirituality in the room.

Leaving the church, we wandered through the streets and happened upon a lone violin player, filling the quiet streets with his music. We stopped and listened to him play a few songs. I couldn’t imagine anything better. After that, a nice glass of wine sitting outside a café was the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Karls Church

The Wonderful Summer

Ahhhh.... summertime. It has been a great one. I was so happy I had the opportunity to be at home in Colorado this summer, not working and just enjoying life. And that's just what I did.

With Macey and Amy in Minneapolis

Somehow I have managed to stay completely busy this summer and haven't even been able to do all that I wanted to. But, I did get to do some pretty great things. I've made my way to 3 states so far this summer and will head to 2 more before taking off for Prague. I visited Jason down in Dallas and my friends Macey and Amy up in Minneapolis (it was my first time in Minnesota, great!). My dad and I flew his plane for a quick two day trip to LA, where we hung out in the city, visited with my cousin Adam and picked up my suitcase that has been sitting at his house for the last 9 months!! We also had a great scenic flight around the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and The Vegas. (Oh, and we stopped for fuel in Utah on the way there and Arizona on the way back, so I guess that's two more states I've been to this summer if you want to get technical about it.....) And before heading to Prague, I will spend about 5 days in the New York - New Jersey area, visiting friends and family. Jason will meet up with me there and we will take off to Prague (with a day stop in Brussels first) from Jersey. Phew!

Dad and I self-picing on the flight to California at 15,000 ft

We also had a lot of great company visiting this summer. Two of my mom's cousins and their kids came by Colorado for a long weekend during a road trip from California. Jason visited for a couple of weeks, and right after he left, Alicia, my roommate from Barcelona, and her boyfriend, Jimmy, came out for a few days. And of course a few of my great friends from around Colorado came up a couple times to visit. I was so happy to see all of them and had so much fun doing great things around Glenwood with them all. I did so much great hiking and biking this summer once the weather actually got warm enough. And I even faced my fears and went rafting for the first time in about 10 years (Thanks for being a great guide, David!). I went to every Summer of Jazz concert, which was always the highlight of my week. I got to do a little gardening with my mom and loved picking and eating all the fresh fruits and veggies. I made it up to Denver to visit friends a few times and got to go to two great Rockies games with my aunt and uncle.

Jason and I hiking up beautiful Savage Lake

With my parents and cousins up Hanging Lake

Really, what more could I ask for? It's been wonderful. Oh, and one of the best things has been the adorable new cat my family has acquired. My mom and I randomly decided to adopt a cat who was being transferred from one animal shelter to another. He's a very sweet and playful cat, and I'm really going to miss him when I leave!

Sweet baby Miko, the newest addition to the family

Just 3 more days left in Glenwood. It's definitely bittersweet. Better get packing......

Back in the USA

I've been back home for a little over 2 weeks now and it has been wonderful. Our travels were amazing and I wasn't ready for the trip to be over in the end, but there's definetly something to be said for sleeping in your own bed. I've loved so much relaxing in my parents' beautiful house, eating the delicious food my mom makes and having my own space in a clean and comfortable room. Oh yeah, it's been nice spending time with my family and friends, too. Actually, it's been really great. I didn't realize just how much I had missed my parents until I finally saw them again. I've been doing so much since i've been home, I didn't even have time to finish unpacking my suitcases until a couple days ago. And here I thought I might not have enough to do and get bored! Colorado spring (the weather is not quite acting like summer yet) is beautiful and I love being outside hiking, biking, doing some gardening and enjoying the fresh mountain air.

Right now I am on yet another plane, headed down to Dallas to visit Jason. I'll be there for a week and a half and then later in the summer Jason will come up to Colorado for a visit. Our future plans are still up in the air at this point. We were planning on going back to Korea but situations have been deteriorating there lately so we're not sure yet if it would be a good idea to go back there or not. We were also looking at Japan but just learned that the JET program (the main resource for teaching English in Japan) involves a 9 month application period and we just don't have that kind of time. Whatever we are going to do we need to figure out in the next couple of weeks if we want to leave around the end of August. I'll keep "y'all" posted...

Goin' Home.....

3 wonderful months. 6 beautiful countries. An experience I will never forget.

As sad as I was for it to be over so quickly, I was also very excited to be going home. I'm heading back to the States right now for the first time in 15 months. Seeing my parents for the first time in just as long. It feels strange but it will be great to me home.

I'm going to sleep in MY bed.
Shower in MY shower.
Drive MY car.
Go to the grocery store and be able to find the things I want.
Walk into a store and communicate with the clerk without using hand gestures.
Eat delicious food.
Relax in the comfort of a beautiful home.

These are the things people miss while living abroad and the things I cannot wait to do when I get home.

I left Bali, which I have not yet written about but was amazing, and headed back to Seoul for a few days to tie up some loose ends. Bali was where Jason and I parted, he flew to Tokyo then Dallas and I came back to Seoul. I had a great two days here staying with my friend Kelly and seeing other friends for dinner. I made the dreaded last visit to my school and somehow the owner pulled it off and we were paid all of the money we were owed. Everything just worked.

And now for the long trip home. On my way to the airport right now where I will fly Seoul-> Tokyo-> LA-> Denver and drive back to Glenwood. It's along journey but a great one nonetheless.

Dancing Around the World

This is probably the best message for world peace ever.  And it will make you smile.  

The World Is Just Awesome.

Best Commercial Ever.  Makes me smile every time.

An Important Message Before Election Day

Clips of Life

This is a video from the Hansin Tigers baseball game we went to in Japan.  The entire stadium (which was sold out) erupted in noise, chanting, singing, banging noise makers, etc.  I couldn't believe they kept it up for 9 innings. 

There was a monk chanting in one of the temples that we visited in Kyoto.  I probably shouldn't have been taking a video inside the temple, but it was just such a great moment and I really wanted to capture it.