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......

Prague, Here We Come!

After months and months of indecisiveness, we have finally arrived at a decision! In just a matter of weeks we will be making the big move to Prague, Czech Republic. We're both very excited and a little nervous about our next destination. We're moving there without anything prearranged, so it makes it a little scary. At our previous destinations pretty much everything was set up before we arrived. But this time, we don't have a job or a place to live or anything, really. But that's not because of poor planning or few options. Things just work a little differently in the Czech Republic. Where as most other parts of the world will hire English teachers through email and phone interviews, it doesn't work that way there. It makes it a little scary, but it will actually be better for both the school and for us to be able to see the school and meet the staff before signing a contract. This way we'll know what we're getting into and won't get into a bad work situation without knowing something about the school first.

So the big question everyone seems to be asking is, "Why Prague?" And to that I say, "Why not Prague?"

Neither Jason or I have ever been there, but it's a place that we've both had a strong interest in visiting, as well as the rest of Eastern Europe. And Prague seems to be one of the big spots for American Expats and teaching English. (Probably our ideal place in Europe would be Spain, but it is very, very difficult to get a job there as a Non-EU passport holder for visa issues.) Prague is supposed to be a wonderful city, everyone who visits loves it. When I studied abroad it college, I loved living in Europe and I'm excited to be back there again.

The other reason to go to Prague, is that this is just how it worked out with applying for jobs. Some of our other hopeful options kind of fell through. We had considered going back to Korea, but with North Korea becoming more of a threat in recent months we decided against it. We had also looked into some positions in Mexico and Japan, but nothing was really working out how we had hoped it would. The Czech Republic was always kind of the option that we thought we'd be able to work out no matter what. But don't get me wrong, we are both very excited for this new adventure.

Our first few weeks in Prague will surely be a little stressful, finding a job and an apartment and everything, but I have faith that it will all work out. And if it doesn't? Well, then we got to vacation in Prague anyway.

My future home, in just a few weeks!

Pictures!!

Jason and I at the Kwang Si Waterfall, Luang Prabang, Laos

Boh Tea Plantation, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Haad Yuan, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand

The Many faces of Bayon, Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Rice Terraces in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

FINALLY...... after being home for about 6 weeks I have gotten around to loading all of my photos online. We had thousands upon thousands so it took me quite a while to go through them all and try to choose a reasonable number for each album. So here it is! Click here to view my photos from our 3 month jaunt in South East Asia.

Enjoy :)

Home Sweet Home

My Big Family.

I have been having the best time being home and just enjoying beautiful Colorado. It has finally started clearing up and getting nicer out. For about the first month that I was home it rained everyday. But in the last couple of weeks, we have had the beautiful sunny days that Colorado is known so well for. Since I'm not working this summer, everyone keeps asking me what I'm doing to keep busy. Glenwood is a small town and I have very few friends around here these days, so I'm not exactly sure how I'm keeping busy, but I am. I babysit occasionally for a little extra spending money, try to make it to the gym everyday, and apply for jobs, work on uploading pictures (almost done!). I feel really busy and am afraid of how fast my time at home is going, there just isn't enough time to do everything I want to. I had a great visit to Dallas to see Jason and am excited for him to come up here at the end of the month! Next weekend I am going to Minneapolis to visit Macey and Amy, who both happen to be living there right now. I'm excited to see my friends and to go somewhere in the States that I've never been before.

As for the job hunt.... everything is still completely up in the air. Korea is looking like it's probably out, but we're still looking at several other countries. And we could make it back to Korea sometime next year, who knows!

Until next time....

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.

Malaysia Wrapup

What a beautiful country filled with wonderful people! After we left the amazing Perhentian Islands we headed up into the mountains to the Cameron Highlands. This area is an old British hill station, dotted with small towns, the rolling hills covered in farms and rain forests. We stayed in a very unique guest house composed of bunker like buildings leftover from around 100 years ago.

Our first full day in the Cameron Highlands we hooked up with 3 other people staying at our guest house and decided to go check out the "Boh Sungai Palas" tea plantation. We took a bus out of town and then walked a few more kilometers to the plantation. The bright green tea fields on the rolling hills were a sight to be seen. We watched as farmers harvested the tea leaves and admired the beauty around us while enjoying a cup of tea at the plantation. After finishing our visit there we decided to continue our trek and head up to the top of a nearby mountain. The book said it was only a 2 hour walk up... we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. The road all the way up was a steady and steep climb with around a 1000 meter elevation gain (the peak is exactly 6666 ft high... Hmmm...). We eventually made it to the top of the mountain after some confusion since none of the roads and trails are marked. We arrived at the top just in time for the clouds to roll in and cover us in fog which was really beautiful in the middle of the forest.

From there there was a "jungle walk" that we were supposed to be able to take back down the mountain. Well I have done a few different jungle treks by now but nothing like this one. We climbed straight down the mountain through thick mud and over/under/around trees and roots. It was such slow going we only went about half a kilometer in 45 minutes. By the time we made it down we were covered in mud and exhausted. We figured that we had done a 9+ mile hike, and that was after weeks of inactivity at the beach to make it worse. I was sore for days to come after that one.

After another day of easier hiking and touring around the Cameron Highlands we headed south to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. What I love about KL is the international and multi-cultural feel it has to it. You walk down the street and see a woman covered from head to toe in a veil,, Buddhist monks in their red robes and Indian women wearing saris and bindis. And the great thing about it was that there didn't seem to be any tension between the cultures- to an outsider on a quick visit at least. Everone we met no matter their background was very helpful and friendly. It was probably the first city in Asia that I felt like I could even blend into the culture there.

We wandered around the city taking it all in. Visited the Petronas Twin Towers, the ex-tallest buildings in the world before Taipei and Dubai out did them. Got a free tour (on condition that you watch a 15 minute advertisement for Petronas) and went up the towers, to the sky bridge at least. Visited the National Mosque as well as the oldest mosque in Malaysia. Did some shopping and exploring and just enjoyed being in a nice city.

I think many times when people plan their South East Asia trips they don't even consider visiting Malaysia, we met very few people who had been there while we were in other countries. But Malaysia ended up being one of my favorite destinations of the whole trip.

Monster Island!

We just spent a week on what must be one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Close your eyes and imagine an island paradise: soft white sand, clear blue warm water as smooth as glass and palm trees swaying in the light breeze. That place you're imagining is the Perhentian Islands off the coast of Malaysia. It is barely inhabited with just a handful of hotels on the beach and a small fishing village on another part of the island. There isn't even regular electricity: none in the day and generators power the lights and fans for a few hours at night.

As soon as we set foot on the beach all we could say was "Wow." The only way to describe this beach was perfect. So far Koh Pha Ngan was our favorite hang out beach and Koh Phi Phi was the most beautiful island with its limestone cliffs, but Palau Perhentian had by far the most beautiful beach.

However one flaw quickly became apparent in this beautiful place. This was no ordinary island, it was MONSTER Island! While Jason wandered around the beach looking for a place to stay and I waited with the bags I spotted 3 giant spiders. Now if you know me at all you know that I am absolutely terrified of spiders no matter the size. But anyone who saw these things would agree that they were monster sized. The only thing I've seen bigger are some tarantulas. These spiders ranged in size from "small" ones the size of a toddlers hand all the way to that of a hand of a big man with his fingers spread all the way out. And the thing with these spiders was that they were everywhere (except the beach, thank God). We ended up staying at a hotel set back a few hundred meters from the beach where we had to walk along a dirt trail through trees and long grass to get there. Around 15 visible spiders dotted the trail. And at night there were no lights along this path. Our first night walking home I was so scared I actually cried. I eventually got better about dealing with them because what choice do you have? Deal with the thing that terrifies you most or go home. And I wasn't leaving. The only thing that made me feel better was that they NEVER moved from the center of their webs. And the man at our hotel promised me that they were not poisonous and that people even touch them with no problems.

The other reasons I called this Monster Island was because of the 5 foot long Monitor Lizards that inhabited the place and the Mosquitoes the size of a silver dollar. The creatures were so big i was half expecting to find King Kong lurking in the bushes But despite all of the monsters it was an amazing place and we had a great time wasting our days away on the beach.

The Perhentian Islands are also renowned for their incredible diving and snorkeling. Yesterday, our last day on the island, we went out for a snorkeling trip to 3 different sites. We got to swim with -and touch- a giant sea turtle, were surrounded by dozens of fish swimming up to our masks and through our arms and legs (they kept biting me!), see beautiful coral gardens, saw sting rays and even a shark!! When they said we might see a reef shark I imagined a tiny tiger stripped shark maybe a foot and a half long. But this was a big grey shark with black tipped fin, over a meter long! Very cool to see in the wild and somehow I wasn't even scared. Even though I've been doing a lot of snorkeling and boating lately and been fine with it, this time my stomach decided I should share ALL of my breakfast with the hungry fish. Always a fun experience.

Now we are moving along to our next destination. We are currently in the middle of a 5 hour mini bus ride to the Cameron Highlands- an old British hill station filled with tea plantations, strawberry fields, butterfly farms and hiking trails. After a couple days there we'll head to the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and then fly to Bali where we'll spend the last week of our trip. I can't believe the 3 months are coming to an end so soon.

And if you're wondering when I'm going to post photos from all of these wonderful places, its going to have to wait until I get home. Internet connections are too slow, and the last time I tried to plug a camera into a computer in Thailand it put a virus on my memory card...