Citisen of the World

Could I live here?

2012-01-21T15:38:00.002+09:00

This is my 6th time in Thailand.

It's a bit ridiculous when you think about it. I live close to so many amazing countries, yet every chance I had I went to Thailand.

Today I took a walk through a local supermarket. I almost started to cry when I saw all the amazing products they had.

I felt the same when I went into a supermarket in Doha last year, but things are much cheaper here, and I don't feel in danger or oppressed.

I wonder if I would be able to live here.

Next year I think I want to come back to Thailand and do another month long volunteering experience at a farm somewhere. I've already found quite a few, and this time they are actually free, unlike the last place.

It's just so amazing here. They have everything I want.

But... I don't know how it would be to live here for a whole year. Maybe I should give it a try and see if I like it.

Hm...

THAILAND!!!!!!!!

2012-01-20T17:03:00.000+09:00

YAAAAAY!!!!

I'M HERE!!!!!!!

Thailand! Thailand! THAILAND!!!!

So hot, so nice, so delicious, so cheap, so much variety.

I bought some pants, I need to go get a tank top, I bought a bracelet, I got a very cheap hotel room without any hassle, I ate some cheap and actually delicious street food, I got some fresh papaya and some fresh mango...

LOVE IT!!!

LOVE IT!!!

Now I want to stay longer

2012-01-18T23:21:00.000+09:00

So, after Hanoi, and after meeting up with one of my neighbours, everything got better.

I didn't feel so angry about beeing cheated everywhere, I wasn't so depressed and was able to see the nice and wonderful things about this place.

Today I had a great time in Hanoi with the family of a Vietnamese friend from Korea, I had a nice long chat with one of the hostel staff about Korean music and Korean TV dramas and Korean culture in general. I also met a really cool French girl from a tiny island off of Madagascar on my morning free walking tour. I'll be going to visit her on her little island in the next few years.

I also bought a great silk sleeping bag because I gave the other one that I had to Manon, the French girl from The Island.

I am at the end of my stay in Vietnam and it's finally starting to get better.

I wish I could stay longer to do the trip up to Sapa and to Halong Bay. Those are supposed to be fantastic.

The hostel where I'm staying at actually feels like a proper hostel, run by young people who have travelled, for people who are travelling, a hostel who is honest about their room rates and availability, and is honest about their available tours.

There's even a free breakfast, so you know they're not out to screw and scam you.

It's comfortable and the people here are also proper travellers, not just young people looking to get drunk in a cheap and exotic place.

I think I might come back to Vietnam now, but only up here to Hanoi and do the things I didn't get a chance to do.

Also, I learned how to do things a lot cheaper here, but that means not sticking to my strickt diet, and just eating local street food that is delicious, but is all carbs.

I have learned a lot on this trip, and I kind of want to do it again and kick this countrys ass all over the place, and show it I know how to handle myself.

I failed once, but I have learned and the next time around I'm not going to fail again!

Finally!!

2012-01-14T23:18:00.001+09:00

Finally something nice.

After being quoted 40$ just to copy a pair of 8$ Wallmart shorts, I found a place with a lady with a smile and nit greedy soul.

For 20$, she'll add elastic, two side zipper pockets, make it out of better material and fix my old ripped pair. Now, how is she still making a profit??? Because things are actually really cheap here, but they try to rip off tourists so much that it's disgusting.

So, I finally feel happy and content, to have actually made some genuine contact with a local, who was trying to do some honest work.

Yay for a saved day.

What is going on?

2012-01-14T19:40:00.001+09:00

Why am I so unhappy?

I think I'm actually depressed. I'm starting to think it might not all be this trip.

Well, it's not meeting any of my expectations, and I still have to be around here for almost a week. I don't even want to go shopping or walk around. I'm not even that hungry and today is supposed to be my splurge eating day, where I eat everything I've wanted to eat all week but couldn't.

So yea, something is not good.

Tomorrow i have to check out of my moldy and stinky hotel room, maybe I'll head north.

I don't know. I kind of just want to stay somewhere nice and relax, read my book, sleep, eat and watch TV.

I want Thailand

2012-01-14T16:10:00.000+09:00

Everything is not worth the money here.

Maybe I've moved up on the travellers expectation ladder, but I feel riped off everywhere I go in this country.

From service to product, the cost is high, and quality is not even mediocre.

When I pay 60$ for a day trip, I expect a lot. When a meal costs 1$, a pack of cigarettes also costs 1$, and a large 1.5L bottle of water costs 3$, 60$ is a shit load of money in this country.

I wish I could go to Thailand earlier, but I just tried to change my flight from Hanoi to Bangkok, and it can't be changed.

So, I'm stuck in this shameless, dirty and uncivilised place.

I went to check how much a pair of simple pants would cost to be made. The woman had the nerve to quote me 40$. SERIOUSLY!!!!!?????

It costs 50$ to make a suite with pants and jacket and shirt. How the hell did she think I'd say yes to that shit deal??

Anyways. I haven't been able to trust any of the local people. Wherever I've gone, regardles of my behaviour, if I was friendly or bossy or rude, they still tried to rip me off at every possible step. Make me feel guilty and buy something, push me into buying something I don't want, being in my face all the time.

I experienced similar hassles in Thailand and Cambodia, but there it was done in a much more benevolent way. Here, I feel like are out to rob me.

I'm trying to be positive, but it's really difficult when there's not much to be positive about.

I just regret coming here, and wasting my money and vacation time. I don't know what other people have done to enjoy this place so much more.

BAH!

My Awesome Hair

2012-01-11T19:19:00.001+09:00

So, in Nha Trang, I trusted this lady with my hair. She did an amazing job with it.

Not my kind of place

2012-01-07T23:03:00.000+09:00

I've been in this country for less than a week, and I feel I've been here for over a month.

I'm ready to leave...

This is not my kind of place at all.

It's very expensive. It's full of university style party people. The locals are not very friendly. The food isn't great. The weather isn't great. The choice of activities and day trips is very VERY limited.

Only good thing so far, I've bought a nice shirt and a nice pair of light and airy pants, and I got a nice haircut. Besides that, everything is meh...

I am looking forward to something though. I booked a 5 day 4 night trip up the coast on a motorcycle. I won't be driving because traffic is INSANE here, but I'll be sitting on the back of a cruiser bike for the duration. I think it's going to be great. I hope, or else Vietnam will go on my "Not Like" country list. And that will be a first.

Also, I found a great sandal that I want made in Hoi An, the place with all the tailors and shoe makers. Hopefully they can make it. I also want to get a nice pair of convertible shorts/long pants made. The ones I have now are wearing away, and I need something for the rest of my trip.

I've bought my motorcycle trip, I've bought my flight ticket to Thailand... I wish I had an earlier date... I might change it.

I am a bit down, and it's just so crappy to feel like that during vacation, when I should be having a wonderful time.

This is the first time in a long time that I'm actually travelling, and not just going to a place for the whole time and with a purpose. And what is also difficult with this sort of travel, I'm travelling on my own, and it's kind of sucking... sucking a lot actually.

I think, next time when I go travel again, I'll either go with other people, or go to one place and take part in something.

This morning I went scuba diving. I didn't think I'd actually freak out. But I did.

I realize I have a fear of edges, and gaps. Maybe it's because of all the crazy things like Bungee jumping and Skydiving I've done. Anyways, I was on the boat with all the scuba gear on, and I had to jump off of the boat into the water. It took me about 5 minutes to jump off, and then I was having a panic attack and freaking out. It took me about another 20 minutes to calm down enough and relax and breath through the mask and keep my face in, before attempting to dive. But, I kept freaking out and rushing to the surface. So, I only dived to 2.7 meters. I did see some pretty fish and corals, but the waters were pretty murky, so visibility wasn't great.

Also, my dive instructor was kind of spacey. She wasn't very good at calming me down, or making me feel confident in her ability to watch my back. I kept rolling on my side, which I found out later from a girl in my hostel, was because my weights were not adjusted properly and I wasn't balanced in the water. Also, she didn't really give me much instruction on how to actually move in the water. I think I needed more instruction on the actual mechanics, once you are in the water. The breathing and such was ok. Also, my face mask wasn't working well because I kept getting water in my goggles and that was making me panic as well.

All in all, a shitty experience so far.

I am hopeful that it will get better, and that's why I'm not just quitting this and moving on to the next country.

Vietnam

2012-01-05T18:35:00.001+09:00

I've been walking around all day and I came to the conclusion that I stink.

In a good way.

It's so amazingly hot here.

So amazingly humid.

It's not as nice as Thailand, but it's interesting and there are new things to experience.

As soon as I got here I could feel that the people are not as friendly. The locals and the tourists.

It's more hectic, more rushed, more high strung, less hippie, less mellow, less open and welcoming to tourists.

Thailand has done a really good job being accessible to tourists, and you can do SOOOO many things there for pretty cheap prices. Vietnam on the other hand, you have to spend a bit more money to actually get better trips and experiences. If you pay for your basic $10 day trip, you get 5 or 6 hours on a bus, lead around to buy local souvenirs, and mediocre food.

So, when it comes to tours and such, you really do get what you pay for here in Vietman.

Thailand, you can pay very little and have amazing experiences. I can't wait to go to Thailand.

Much more people will go back to visit Thailand than people who will go back and visit Vietnam.

I'm looking forward to getting out of the big city and go to a smaller city on the beach. It's pretty difficult to leave the tourist trail here, mainly because outside of the big tourists spots, people don't speak English and you'll have a very difficult time finding out how to get around, where to stay, and where to eat.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-16T22:05:00.001+09:00

After many years of being here in Korea, I finally decided to buy a Christmas Tree.

It's small, 60cm tall, but it's perfect for my small apartment.

It's red, and looks wonderful when the little lights are on.

YG Concert weekend!

2011-12-05T11:18:00.001+09:00

So, I've been hating on K-pop for the past 4.5 years that I've been here in Korea, and only recently, with the amazing song "I am the best" by 2NE1, have my anti-k-pop feelings been crushed.

So, this weekend a friend of mine asked me if I wanted a ticket to this fantastic and obviously immediately sold out YG concert. I had no idea who that was, but it didn't matter. I said YES!!

I went, and I LOVED IT!!!!

The energy was fantastic, the music was great, the crowd was totally into it all, and so was I. I was dancing, screaming, jumping and waving my arms like a lunatic.

I also bought a 2NE1 awesome hoodie and some other souvenirs.

I took a lot of pictures, but they were all crap, so here are the official pictures from the concert.

The stadium from the outside.

And the souvenirs. I've got the black 2NE1 hoodie on the far left.

People lining up outside, ready to go in and PARTY!!!

Inside, fantastic stage. I was on the far right standing and dancing. There were also seats above, but who the hell wants to sit down at a dance concert??

This is SE7EN. Very cool!

This is 2NE1. My favorite! And they sang: "I'm the best", and "Lonely"

This is Gummy. She has an amazing voice!!! Brilliant!

G. Dragon!

BigBang. The girls were going crazy when they came on.

Tablo. He was alright...

And the end, as they were all sporting the YG merchandise. YES! I GOT A HOODIE :)

Birthday weekend

2011-11-30T20:34:00.001+09:00

Well, wow! Last weekend was my birthday. November 26, Saturday.

For the first time in a long time, I actually had a birthday party and was totally cool with letting everyone know it's my birthday.

The theme for the party was school girl/boy uniforms, and well, since I didn't have any, I had to get myself some. So, from my town, I got a tailor to make me as skirt with my school uniforms material. And from the next town over, I bought a shirt, girls tie and jacket. Before heading out to Seoul, I got a dry curl hair style and got it sprayed really well so it would hold for the whole day and night. I looked fantastic!! Just like a Korean Middle School student. Here's the only picture of the night.

This is the only picture I or anyone else took. We were so busy having a good time that no one remembered to take out a camera and snap some pics. It's alright though. I've got great memories.

We went to Hongdae, a very popular area with young Koreans. We went to some bars and some nightclubs, where we danced and danced and danced some more.

What a fantastic night. The next day wasn't too good, but I made it home. The "Dawn" hangover cure is truly amazing, and should be in everyone's fridge if you plan to have a crazy night and not have a horrible time the next day.

Suceava Aug 4 - Aug 16

2011-11-02T11:23:00.001+09:00

So, after some time, here is the last post of my Romania trip. My trip had 3 distinct parts. Bucharest, Brasov and Suceava.

By now, I was a lot more comfortable and confident being back in Romania, speaking Romanian and being considered Romanian. It took some time, but I was able to get back into it.

I was very sad to leave Brasov, but was super excited about visiting my family up north.

After a long train ride, I arrived early in the morning in Suceava. I took a cab and went to my aunts house.

That day, my aunt and me went to the market to get some food. I love these traditional markets. The smell, the variety, the familiar produce, the typical people. LOVE IT!!!

Look at that!! Dill, fresh dill. Just lying there, like it wasn't a big deal!!!

Olives!! OH MY GOD!!!!! So many olives!!

My grandma sitting in bed.

This is the Suceava region tourist map, and under number 8, you can see my uncles house as a crafts display house. Fantastic!!

Then in the afternoon, my aunt and I went to the ruins of an old fortress. It was very pretty.

My foot on the cool old stairs.

They had a wax Shrek there.

And a Yoda. I had to poke him.

Friday and Saturday we stayed in Suceava, doing some shopping, wandering around the town, and spending time with my aunt and grandmother. Saturday evening my uncle came back from a trip he'd been on, and so we were ready to go to Paltinoasa, the village where they have some land and have built a house.

This is the swing.

The fireplace behind some very beautiful and aromatic flowers.

One side of their property.

The small house they built on the side, next to the original large house. They rent out the big house for holidays to tourists, and they stay in this little one.

The bedroom/living room.

Awesome wood cooking stove.

This is the large house from the back. It's got maybe 5 rooms, and can sleep maybe 20 people or even more. It's fantastic. Very rustic.

This is my aunt and me. She is my moms younger sister.

Those are my aunts pants and my uncles shirt. I didn't have any long sleeved/legged clothes and we were heading out into the forest to pick mushrooms.

Loaded with some buckets, my uncle brought some wood so we can step through the puddles that were at the base of the hill/forest.

Wild berries are super tasty.

And then we started finding the mushrooms. These are called "Galbiori", meaning Yellowish Mushrooms. They were everywhere.

We got 2 full buckets of this stuff.

I also found this amazing mushroom. My uncle called it the meat of the forest, because it's so delicious, and filling.

They also have an outdoors shower. I didn't get to actually use it because after the first day I was there, it got to be pretty chilly and didn't get a chance to shower outside. Maybe next time.

Little worm on the little mushroom.

One of the days, we had delicious "Mici" (ground meat) with "Mamaliga" (corn meal). SOOO GOOD!! Especially when you eat outside.

I helped my aunt clean and cut the mushrooms.

This was the big one I found.

Breakfast!!

The next day, my uncle had gone on his own in the morning and picked some more mushrooms. I was very fascinated.

There was a GIANT mushroom. Looked like someone had taken a bite out of it.

This is my cousin. I'm so happy to have a cousin. It's the only one who is relatively close to my age, and we actually have a lot of things in common, and we hung out, and we have each other on Facebook, and we talk. It's so cool.

Then, on the last day I think, some of my uncle and aunts friends came and we had a party. We drank and ate and laughed till very late.

It was pretty cold but it didn't seem to matter.

And we kept hearing this scratching sound coming from the roof, and then this little squirly thing showed itself. So cute!! It just sat up there watching us.

And these are the current 2 house dogs that live there and sort of protect the property. They are very cute and well behaved.

My uncle started doing some of his carving. He's very talented and has made and sold many MANY wonderful things. The swing, the tables, the gates, masks, canes, hanging frames... he's made lots of things.

Roasting eggplants to make eggplant salad. My favorite!!!

Look how pretty and organized they look :).

Mmmmmm! They are almost ready!

Almost ready....

YES!!!! Now they are ready!!! I'm drooling just looking at this picture!!

And, the next day, as usual, I wanted to go milk a cow. Since I was little, I've wanted to be one of those kids to takes out the cows for a walk and to graze. Never did that, well, now I have the chance to experience that a little, and every time I've gone to Romania, I've done this :). YAY :)

Here I am, doing a good job :).

You can see the milk coming out!!

Success!!!

The cow doesn't seem to think so! I think I was too slow for her liking.

These were the little calves waiting for some milk too.

Yay!! Fresh milk!!

Warm fresh milk, with awesome bread and a bit of salt!! What a delicious breakfast!

And for lunch, some more mici, and beans, and sausage and delicious pickles. Proper pickles!! Not them sweet ones you find in Korea!

Pretty purple flowers! They smelled SOOO good!

COLOUR ATTACK!!!!

And then, luckily, my uncle had some time to show me how to use the scythe. It's more difficult than it looks.

"Like that, aha..."

"Hm... doesn't seem to work ... "

"OK, a little bit better..."

"YES!!"

"That's what I'm talking about!!!"

It was fantastic. But doing a whole field that way would be very intense. A good work out though.

And then, on Wednesday we came back to Suceava, because I was heading down to Miercurea Ciuc to meet up with Daniele and go to the wwoofing farm, and my uncle and aunt were going on an adventure of their own across Romania.

So, on Thursday, I got an early bus and went down to the middle of the country. I was so surprised when I got there. It turns out that whole region is Hungarian. It's in the middle of the country and they were all speaking Hungarian. I went to a shop to get some beer and sunflower seeds for the farm, and everything was written in Hungarian and the people and cashier were speaking Hungarian. I was very shocked actually.

So, after I got off the bus, I took a taxi and told him the general direction to go in, and I found Daniele waiting for me at the side of the road. I was so excited to do some real wwoofing!!

The ''farm'' is owned by two older ladies who were looking to buy some land and live their life in a simpler way. One of the ladies is from England, and the other from the Netherlands. Very very nice and friendly and open ladies.

Here are some of the pictures from the ''farm''.

They built this beautiful bench, and in front is a well that gets filled with rain water.

They had a herb spiral too :).

This is one of the dogs there. What a lady!

On one of the days when it was Danieles turn to make dinner, he decided to make a BBQ. It turned out interesting...

Lots of fresh veg to grill.

The other dog was relaxing in the grass.

Daniele was working hard!

It was a lentil burger, with potato salad, boiled eggs, and grilled veggies.

This is the Tyrell from the Netherlands. Behind are Eva from France and Tobias from the UK.

And this is Nicolette from England.

Tobias playing with the dog.

Awwwww

This was my project for the 3 days that I stayed there.

I really enjoyed it!

There were a lot of these little geckos around.

Daniele made me smoke from the distance.

Daniele doing manly things.

Power tools!! YEAAAA!

This was the last rock I put on the wall. And then my job was done :)

After a sad goodbye, I got on the train and headed back to Suceava.

I rode on one of those old trains. It was really nice!

I had a lay over of a few hours, and there was this one dog that was going around the waiting trains and begging for food from the passengers. What a smart dog. It would just sit there and look really cute.

And people would look out and see it, and throw food down to the waiting dog. Fantastic trick :).

This was the end of my trip. After that, I only stayed another day in Suceava to pack my things and then, I went back with the train to Bucharest, from where I took a taxi to the airport.

I was incredibly sad to leave. I didn't want to go. I was so happy here. I cried a lot when I got in Korea. I finally realized that I am done with Korea and there are definitely better things out there, and that I needed to leave now and do the things that I need to do for my own happiness.

What an amazing trip!!!

Panya, Chiang Mai, Thailand - January 2011

2011-10-14T16:43:00.001+09:00

January 2011, my winter vacation, 3 weeks.

I've gone to Thailand almost every vacation I had. Why not, it's absolutely beautiful, the weather is perfect, the food is incredible, the people are super friendly, and there are so many wonderful things to experience.

This time, I went to this eco-farm called Panya Project, north of Chiang Mai in norther Thailand. I took a "Natural Building Course" that lasted 2 weeks.

Pun Pun was to the left and Panya was to the right. Pun Pun was a Thai run organic farm that had volunteers and wwoofers as well. We went there later during our stay and enjoyed some coffee and home made cookies.

This was our dorm. We stayed on the top, and the people who were there more long term where in the rooms on the bottom.

Mine is the 2nd last on the left. You can see all the blankets I had there. First night I slept with 3 blankets and I was FREEZING!! 2nd night I slept with 5 blankets and I was much better. I was surprised by how cold it got up north.

This was the back of the sala. The place where we ate, and hung out and all watched movies and had our lectures.

Ahead is the library, and upstairs is the computer and some spare work clothes.

Pretty candle spot built into the pillar.

Compost toilet! LOVED IT!! The 2 on the left are full and have been left now to compost. The 2 on the right with the burgundy curtains were being used.

Someone is doing their business at the moment :).

This was one of the toilets. Behind are the backs of rice husks used to cover your dodo once you're finished. The walls did not connect with the roof, so it was almost like you were out in the open. It was very nice :)

This is the garage, where the tools and storage was.

Very funky design on the outside.

In the garage.

This was the amazing oven they build next to the kitchen. We made personal pizzas there one of the nights.

Main area at night.

Kitchen, and duty board on the left.

This was the alcohol room. Here, they made all sorts of interesting concoctions. They also made Kombucha.

This was an experiment, where they tried to make a dark room to grow mushrooms in. Maybe they'll get back to that in the future.

The nursery.

One of the kitties.

The other one.

Compost. Lovely lovely compost that's ready to be used.

Papaya plants ready for harvest.

Some Thai around the walls to help us learn.

Banana circle. Grey water from the kitchen or showers will be siphoned in the middle of the banana tree circle. No waste there :).

Lovely Lemon Grass!! The anti mosquito plant! Love the smell!! LOVE IT!!

Overlooking an experiment, trying to make a lake for fish.

Great sauna they made.

It's small, but gets super hot!

And here we go! In the mud pit! Mixing mud and straw and rice husks to make our Adobe bricks.

All happy and muddy :)

And then we make the brinks. It was so easy.

Then we had to leave them out in the sun for a few weeks to dry.

Next project was to fix up the wall between the men and women shower, and decorate and paint the outside of the wall.

And the finished product.

So beautiful!!

That is a bottle, and you can peek in if you like :)

More compost

We're turning over a pile of smoking compost. So cool!!

This was another project. We were making a rain collecting tank from cement.

This was the base, and the size.

Put chicken wire all around so it can hold the cement.

Apply cement :)

And it's ready :). YAY!!!

Then we went to visit Pun Pun, just a short walk away.

They had their own bricks laying out in the sun to dry.

Outhouse. Very cool looking.

Solar water heater.

A really large building made of Adobe bricks.

Everyone sitting outside at the Pun Pun coffee shop enjoying some cool drinks.

So many cool people :)

Breakfast bananas picked from our own banana trees.

Planting tomato seedlings.

Beer bottle river.

Preparing a meal.

Pizza night prep.

Ingredients :)

Darts in the evening. I was surprisingly good :)

After a muddy day, we went to the local water hole to swim, wash and cool off.

Cheese making :). Step 1: Add milk to the large pot.

Step 2: Add herbs and boil.

Step 3: Add a little bit of vinegar and continue to cook.

Step 4: Then it starts to curdle :).

Step 5: Separate the cheese from the liquid.

Step 6: Strain, and then eat :)

Then we each got to make some alcohol. Mine was with pineapple, ginger and chilly. I have no idea how it came out.

Relaxing in the hammock.

Ben had inspirational dreads. I will get mine soon and they'll look just as amazing :).

Transplanting banana trees.

Jeffoa playing with bees wax :)

Yup, that's a very French/Belgian mustache.

Permaculture in a nutshell.

Ime taking some blankets up to the sauna to spend the night outside watching the full moon.

Hahahahaha! Why? I don't know.

Scratching glass to prep for cutting.

Then you wrap a string soaked in a flammable liquid around the bottle on the scratched spot.

After a little while, you put it in cold water, and the bottle should crack right on the line you made.

This was for our next project.

We had to re-do the floor in this house because termites had gotten in.

Then we added gravel, but it had to be pounded down.

Then we had to roll some mud with straw and elephant dung to make the last layer.

We were mixing some stuff.

Adding the bottle bottoms.

Pretty layers :)

Finished product. Now to let it dry.

Walking to the little village nearby.

We met this really cool couple.

The monk was blessing the food.

A house made of Adobe bricks.

Amazing decoration and design.

Love the light.

A very important monk had died, and this was his party/burning. It was spectacular.

Teachers BBQ in Geojin (June 2009) (another late post)

2011-10-14T14:34:00.000+09:00

Can you believe that I still haven't posted this stuff?? Seriously!!

Alright, so this is a teachers BBQ we had behind the Gym building. It was June, 2009, and the weather was fantastic. I was skinnier back then.

Cutting some wood for the fire.

This is how the fire is lit in Korea. A gas canister!! Blowtorch it until it's all lit!!

We had lots of delicious stuff there.

And we also had a big tub of marinated chicken. YUM!

And LOADS of Soju.

These were my 2 co-teachers. Mrs Kim on the left, and Mrs Choi on the right. Mrs Choi left and moved to Gangneung :(

The teacher in the front with the white jacket is my favorite. She's the moral arts teacher and she's the only one of the non English Korean teachers who continued to try to learn English from me, and she always tried to speak to me in the little English that she did speak. She also had a really cool style.

Skydiving Video

2011-10-12T15:54:00.000+09:00

Here it is :).

CRAAAAAAZZYYYYY!!!!

Adrenaline Weekend Part 1 - Sept 17

2011-10-10T14:58:00.001+09:00

So, this weekend was action packed!! I got to Seoul pretty late at night, around 1am, because as usual, I didn't want to rush and hurry to get there.

I stayed overnight at a new Sauna and had a good sleep.

I had to wake up really early though because that morning, I had registered to go Skydiving. YES!!! Finally :)

So, at about 8:30am I got to the Han river in Seoul, and walked around for about 1 hour until I found the group. Jamie was the guy that let me know this was going on and reserved my spot for the day.

This was a special opportunity. 10,000 feet tandem jump from a helicopter on the Han River in Seoul with special permission from the Korean government, together with ex hardcore military Korean dudes! Totally worth it!

Here, we are getting instructions on what to do when we're up in the air and plummeting to the earth uncontrollably.

This is my tandem guy getting me all set up.

OMG!! This is it! There's no turning back!!

This is it!!

This is where we'll sit just before we jump out.

Can you see the horror on my face as I watch crazy people jump out of a flying machine!!!!!!!???????

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! (That's what I was actually saying.)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I'm still smiling :)

WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Oh thank GOD the parachute is coming out!!!

SAFE!! SAFE AT LAST!!!

HAHAHAHAHA! CRAAAAAAAZY!!

I need some help to get up.

My heart is trying to jump out of my chest!

Did I really just do that?? Oh, and I love my hair!

After this, I left and went to a convenience store where I parked my ass outside for about 30 minutes and had myself a cold and wonderful beer.

WHOA!!! What an amazing experience!!

Video to come soon :)

Incredible Weekend!!!

2011-10-09T22:33:00.001+09:00

What an amazing week/end!!!

After a long weekend reconnecting with a friend down south, I had two cool brothers come couchsurf at my place. They stayed for a couple of days. It was great to talk to travellers again. A day before they left, another couchsurfer came. It was awsome trying to fit all three in my tiny apartment. Well, we all bonded and talked and exchanged ideas and great music.

Then, on Friday, Bernard, my neighbour, got me to go with him to another town and party with some if his friends I met a few weeks ago. Well, the weekend started with two and a half bottles of wine on the bus to Hongcheon. Then another few bottles of wine at Family Mart, maybe some beer and soju too. Crazy evening with Jen, Danny and Bernard. We somehow managed to get home at around 1:30am and passed out until late afternoon the next day.

We each had some Korean Morning Care hangover cure from the same Family Mart and eventually at about 2pm we left fir Seoul.

We were going to the Global Gatherings music festival. After a very long hour in the cab, we finally got there. We could hear the music and see loads of people all dressed up heading the same way. I was so excited. It's been such a long time since I've been to an electronic music festival.

And then the music started!!!!!

WHOAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

It was amazing. We danced from 6pm until about 3am. We walked around to different stages and looking for people. It was so nice to be outside and dance to amasing music together with new friends.

We left around 4am and waited at a KFC full of sleeping people for the subway to open at 5:30am so we could go to the bus terminal and each of us go to their respective towns.

Naturally, I slept all day today (Sunday).

Tomorrow I have another couchsurfer coming for was couple pf days.

And then next weekend we're having a Thanksgiving party with hiking the next day. I hope next weekend will be just as amazing as this weekend has been!!!

Old pictures of me

2011-09-28T16:39:00.001+09:00

These are some pictures I snuck out of my baby album to scan, upload and shared with the world.

Me and my sister. (February 1, 1983)

Cute little me. (March 2, 1983)

I burned my finger in the radiator. Awwww. (April 3, 1983)

Me and my Godmother. I think this is where I realize how darn cute I am. (August 4, 1983)

My grandma reading a book to my sister and me. I must have been really impressed. Just look at my face. (December 5, 1983)

My sister and me playing outside somewhere. This was before the invention of computers, electronic games and TV addictions. (August 6, 1983)

My mom and dad, my sister and me. I'm the little one. My sister and me competing for the cutest munchkin award. My sis is the clear winner here :). (September 7, 1984)

My sister and me with your fox fur hats. I personally hated mine because everyone stared at me and it made me extremely uncomfortable to be stared at. I understand that we looked very VERY cute in them, but still, did not like it. (December 8, 1985)

Here I was at a dress up event for my kindergarten. I was Red Riding Hood. (May 9, 1986)

I think this was at my grandmothers house in Brasov. (August 10, 1988)

This picture was totally staged. It's in the kitchen. I'm one with the purple dress. Awww! (August 11, 1989)

Here we were on a trip to Germany. I loved those pants. I remember the pockets. I loved the feel and the fact that they weren't short, nor long. Really, loved those pants. (August 12, 1990)

Hm, I don't really know the story of this picture. (August 13, 1990)

It must have been some party. And we were probably snuck a bit of the alcohol and were a bit drunk. On the left is me and my best friend Roxana, and on the right is my sister and her best friend Cristina. Cristina and Roxana were sisters. (March 14, 1992)

Me, my mum, and my sis getting a professional picture done. (May 15, 1992)

WoW!! Is that me? Yup, that's me! (August 16, 1992)

Me at Christmas. The stuffed toy was from my dad. (December, 1992)

Here we were on vacation at the Black Sea. I was thoroughly tanned. Loved those shorts. So thin and comfy! (August 18, 1993)

New years party! Wow! I remember that shirt as well. Loved it too :). (1993)

Mom, sister and me visiting Bran castle. Do you recognize my shorts?? (June 20, 1994)

At the Black Sea collecting sea shells. Gorgeous from an early age, I now :)!! (August 21, 1994)

Brasov July 29 - Aug 4

2011-09-14T16:37:00.004+09:00

After a looong ride from Bucharest to Brasov, I finally arrived in my beautiful hometown. I was very impressed with the very wide roads, and presence of roundabouts and flowers pretty much everywhere. It looked really REALLY good compared to the crowded Bucharest.

So, I found this hostel I wanted to stay at. It had really good reviews, and was exactly what I had envisioned. It's called Kismit Dao Hostel. Unfortunately, they were fully booked for the night, so I couldn't stay there that night, but they had rooms available the night after. I booked the room and asked them to find me another room at another place. They called someone they know, and the guy came and picked me up and drove to one of the apartments he uses for tourists. It was really nice. More expensive, but really nice. I had a whole room to myself and was able to relax, take a nice much needed shower and get myself organised a bit. I didn't really do anything that first evening. I did meet the other people who were staying in the other room. It was a room with 5 bunk beds, and there were 3 guys from the US staying there. They tried to convince me to meet up with them in Hungary at the Sziget music festival. I was very very tempted, but knew there was just no way I had the time to actually get to Hungary to the festival and also do the things I wanted to do in Romania. Well, maybe next year :).

So, in the morning, the guy drove me back to Kismet and I checked in. I got my stuff all sorted out and went to venture out into town.

The hostel is on a little road that leads up and over the hill in the middle of town, Tampa.

I walked out and the street ahead looked really familiar. I decided to just walk around and go on every road that seemed familiar. I wanted to remember.

And this is where I was. Strada Agriselor :). This is where my 2nd school was. I went to 3 schools when I was little. This one I remember the most.

This is the main entrance. I don't really remember how it used to look.

But this I remember. It's the back yard where I used to play. Between classes I always used to go here and play soccer with the other kids in my class. On the other side was an orphanage I think. This whole place looks so much smaller than I remember. A lot smaller. That ramp is also new.

I remember walking down this road once when it was winter. There was so much snow everywhere. Cars couldn't go by. The roads weren't even cleared. On the sidewalk there was just a trail from where people had previously walked. It was so much fun.

And this is the inside. I only remember the hallway that lead to my classroom, which was at the end of the hall. I don't remember this part at all. Maybe they remodeled it.

And then I kept walking. I was crying a bit here... I remember walking around when I was so small. I walked with my friends, went to the shop and bought snacks... I was so little and so oblivious of the world around me.

And then I found this place. WOW! This was my first school. I don't remember very much about my time here. I don't even remember how many years I went here.

What I do remember is the playground which also looks super small now compared to what I remember it like. I remember walking around and bullies untying my uniform from the back. It's strange how we remember such random things. I'm not sure if the school is still functioning. It was locked and it looked like there was construction going on there.

And here is where my kindergarten used to be. Now, it's just a parking lot and a bar next to it. I was so surprised. I thought it would always be there. I guess not many people send their kids to German kindergarten, or maybe they do, just not to the one I used to go to. It was sad to see it gone.

Oh, and then I saw this place. It's a restaurant. Has been there for a very long time. I remember walking by it and peeking through the windows. I could see the cloth covered tables, looking so fancy and expensive. I never thought I'd be back there peeking through the same windows again.

Down this road, a friend of mine used to live.

There in the corner used to be a cinema. It's not open anymore.

Going up towards the center of town.

This is the theater. I wanted to go see something but I didn't really have the time.

Up a little bit further...

Can you see the Brasov sign on the hill??

And this is the busiest street in town. Full of restaurants and patios and people...

The center. SO BEAUTIFUL!!! You can see the Black Church in the background.

I decided to go to one of the expensive restaurants in the square here :). Hey, why not!! I have the money, and it's not like it was expensive.

I had a salad, red wine (naturally) and a tochitura. It was ok. I was expecting a bit more. But the mamaliga (polenta) was fantastic!!!

Then, I walked on to the Black Church and to my 3rd school behind the church.

This was the building where I remember I had my main class.

In here I had choir.

This building I remember was being renovated. It didn't have any floors inside. I always wanted to go inside and see what it looked like.

And this last building is where I had a class where I remember I was sowing. I think it was some sort of home economics kind of course. The girls went here and did sowing, and the boys took another class. I have no idea what they did in their class. Through these gates you'd go into an inside courtyard where we'd play soccer and basketball. In there was also a shop where we'd buy snacks and drinks.

I tried really hard not to cry when walking around here.

And then I walked right down an alley, and ended up on another familiar road.

I saw the guy there, and the sign, and I realized this was that famous "Rope Street" I heard about. I don't think I ever went down that road, or if I did, I don't remember.

Sooooo nice :).

Cobble stone roads everywhere. It must be difficult to walk around here in heels.

And this was a remaining piece of the wall that surrounded the original town. What history!! Amazing!!

I love how everything looked. All the houses, so old, such a distinct style. So beautiful!!

And then the actual gate. I think it might have been one of the gates into the city in the old days. How fantastic to think that soldiers used to go through here, or that merchants would pass through this gate, and all other kinds of interesting people.

This is Saguna. I think it's a high school. Not sure though. We used to go there when we had gym. We'd do all the Track and Field sports there.

The classic Dana photo :). Me and my feet.

This is a hospital. I might have been born here. Again, I'm not sure though. Just seems like something I remember. Might have been a dream. :)

And then I went back down towards the center.

On the way, I stopped at a shop to get some water, and I saw that they were selling these awesome chocolate eggs with a surprise inside. I used to love those when I was little. They had great toys. You'd build them and then play with them and collect them.

And this is the bus station where all the buses come. I this is where I took the bus to go back home from school. It looks more modern now.

This is where the buses would come from.

AND!!!! Bus # 31 is the bus that I'd take to come here and go back home with. Valea Cetatii - Livada Postei. So cool to see this bus pull in :).

Then, I walked around a bit more, and around 6pm I met up with Ioana who used to be my English teacher before leaving Romania. She's also a family friend and is very cool. It was very nice to meet up with her. We went to a restaurant in the center and had pizza and beer and talked for over 4 hours. I'm glad I got to meet up with her :).

Then, for the next day I booked myself a bicycle tour of some fortresses in the area. There wasn't anyone else that was going, so it was just me and the guide, which was super super nice. We rode for about 8 hours in total, for 50km. My butt was really sore after that. Once we got back into Brasov, we had to walk the last couple of km, because I just couldn't sit on that bike seat anymore. Auch!!

So, I went from Brasov to Prejmer, to Harman, to Sanpetru and then back to Brasov. It was very beautiful, and the weather was perfect.

There is something unique about the plants in Romania. Well, I don't know if it's unique, but all the weeds, and plants, and crops, well, they just looked right. They looked exactly the way they ought to, and they looked normal, exactly what normal means to me. I was so surprised to see and feel like that, because I never looked at that before.

There was a guy there with some sheep. I had to stop and take a picture :).

This was Prejmer.

Very beautiful and well preserved.

The rooms there were used as living quarters for the villagers when they were being attacked by invaders.

And in the middle was a church. German, Lutheran, and I think it still holds service every week.

They also had a school in there for when the villagers were taking refuge here. It was very old-school, but it reminded me of my early school days.

You could also take a walk through the wall that surrounds the fortress. It was very eerie to walk through there, because you could very easily imagine what was going on there. People were fighting, people were scared, people were dying. It was war and it was horrible. The adrenaline, the fear, the anger, the anticipation... I don't know how people were able to live that way.

I don't know which one this was, either Harman or Sanpetru. They were all pretty much the same. Same layout, same purpose, but they weren't as well kept as Prejmer.

I had a couple of really nice moments on this trip. To go into these places, if you are not going there when the church is having a service, then you have to pay some money, which they use for the upkeep of the place. Well, at Prejmer, because I spoke Romanian and it was only the two of us and we were there on bikes, the lady thought we were a local couple, not tourists, so she let us go through for free. It was really nice :). Then at the last one, at Sanpetru, you didn't have to pay anything, but you could leave a donation. I did and the keeper there gave me a receipt. He asked me what my name is and naturally, I told him my whole name, first and last, long as it is. He said OK, and wrote it down perfectly. I was ASTOUNDED!! I don't remember the last time I told someone my full name and didn't require to spell it out for them or pronounce it slowly. I was so happy. Yup, it's Romania, I'm Romanian, I have a Romanian name, so obviously he man knew how to spell and pronounce it. FANTASTIC!!! :)

That's the symbol of my hometown. That's where I got the crown for my tattoo :).

After a very long day on the bicycle, I decided to treat myself and finally go and have some food at that restaurant that I passed so many times as a kid. I went and ate at Ceasu Rau.

They have a patio on the left side, but I wanted to go inside. That's where the fancyness was. That's where they had the cloth covered tables, the cloth napkins, the nice music... and the smell. Oh, the smell. There's a smell in Romanian kitchens. I don't know why. Must be the herbs and spices they use, or the dishes they make. I don't know. But it smells so comforting :).

So, I obviously ordered red wine. The house wine they have there is absolutely fantastic!! And I was looking through the menu and I saw this thing. What do you think it is?? You won't be able to guess it right!!

Well, if you guessed brain omelet, then you are a genius!!! It was disgusting though, so I didn't eat it. But I was glad I tried.

And then I got an assortment of BBQed meat, with delicious mashed potatoes and an assortment of pickled vegetables. And then 2 'mici' afterwards just because I really wanted some. I haven't had 'mici' in such a long time... mmmmmmmmmm!!

And then I went back to the hostel and relaxed, hung out in the lounge and met some really cool people.

This is my foot and the floor of the hostel.

This cool dude is Tommy. We had a similar story. He was born in the same city as me, Brasov. When he was very little, just 2 years old, he moved with his family to California. He's been travelling and living in different countries, and came back to Romania to get his birth certificate and Romanian passport. Very cool dude :).

And the guy with long hair is Vlad. Romanian born and raised. He lives next to the hostel, and goes there to hang out pretty much every night. It's a good way to meet new people and share stories. Very good guy as well.

And this is the reception and lounge and computers. The mural on the wall is super cool. Same as the one in the basement hang out room.

Kitchen. Very cool.

Basement hangout place. Very cool also :).

That evening I hung out at the hostel, drank some beer and met some cool people. The coolest was Daniele, a half Italian and half Danish super cool guy. The other one was Tommy, who's picture I put up before. I told them what plans I had for the day after, and Daniele was totally interested. So he joined me for part of my trip.

In the morning I went on a horse back ride through the Poiana. That's an area up in the 'mountains' where there are many hotels and resorts for tourists. It's very beautiful up there. So, yea, I went horse riding. It was OK. It could have been better, but the guy who guided my horse was drunk, and Hungarian, so he didn't speak a lot of Romanian, and he was quitting his job in 2 weeks so he didn't really care about it. He didn't show me how to sit properly on the horse or how to ride, and at one point the horse started running and almost threw me off. After that I told him to hold the damn horse still and make it walk, not run. Any attempt at getting him to tell me how to ride properly was lost on him, as he was staring at my ass and trying to touch my legs. It was interesting, funny, entertaining and just a little bit creepy.

I did manage to take some pictures in between trying to steer the horse to walk straight and ignoring the rants of my not so sober guide.

Then, in the afternoon, my guide and me drove back to the hostel to pick up Daniele and go to our next adventure.

PARAGLIDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

We hopped on on the ski lift and went up up up up up UP UP... it kept going up...

Daniele! Very cute :).

Him being a man and all, had to carry his own seat. I got to watch and take pictures.

He looked a bit tired.

I was getting excited now. I could see the parachutes being set up, the city was down below, the air was blowing, it was chilly... Ooooh so excited :)

This was my guy. His name is Nick. And he was AWESOME!!!! He could tell I was freaking out a little, and was very calm and comforting, reassuring me that we wont plummet down to the earth and die. He was very cool!!

Daniele looking very strapping in his jump suit. The tall guy was his jump buddy.

Ok, last chance to back out. No way, obviously! But still... I didn't really feel very scared. I just couldn't really think of anything anymore. I was just shaking and feeling the excitement.

So now we start running. Nick stops and guides me step by step. He was very good about that, telling me everything that would follow so I would not be freaked out or surprised and have some crazy panic attack.

WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I was in the air. It was magnificent!!!

I could see Brasov below me.

This was Daniele on the other side.

I managed to let go of the strap and hold my hand out and take a pic. I think that helmet was too small for me.

So cool!!!!

Then, after we were done, we went and celebrated at our new favorite restaurant: Ceasu Rau.

I had some Tripe Soup, aka Ciorba de Burta, aka Cow Stomach Soup. YUUUUUUM!! Sour, but creamy, with sour cream and bread!! Delicious!!

We ordered some house wine, which was excellent. I got the cabbage rolls and polenta, aka Sarmale cu mamaliga. Again... YUUUUUUUUM!!!!!

For dessert, we got some cheesy things: Papanasi. But, we got them to go cuz we were both super full. We were supposed to go to the 6pm free walking tour of Brasov, but were enjoying our dinner and walking slowly, so we didn't make it. We sat down at an outside patio and enjoyed our dessert.

Then we had our own free walking tour of Brasov. I pretended to be a knowledgeable guide, just because I originated from this town. I might have made up some stories here or there, just to give the whole place a little sparkle :).

I feel very short in this picture. Even though we are the same height.

A nice road leading into the forest.

And then we went back to the hostel. We gathered our new friends and had a little substance abuse party in the back yard of the hostel. It was great to be able to enjoy ourselves!! That evening, the 3rd adventure/trip that I decided to do was Bear Watching. It sounds exciting doesn't it? Well, it was all that exciting, and very misleading.

I kind of had an idea of what was going to happen, but I was still being hopeful that this wasn't what I thought. WRONG!! It was exactly what I thought. My tour guide, the guy who took me horse riding and paragliding and on the trip next day, he came with his super cool small but large car, stuffed it with 7 foreigners and took us on a wild hunt for bears. It wasn't in a forest, or in a park, or on TV, nope, it was in the back alleys of the neighbourhood where I grew up. Yup, my neighbourhood. Daniele and me were sitting in the back of the car laughing and making jokes and having a blast, making fun of this whole ridiculous venture. We were driving around from garbage dump to garbage dump, looking to spot a bear. If we saw a bear that night, we would pay the money for the trip, if we didn't see a bear, then we wouldn't have to pay. So you can imagine how hard the tour guide tried to find a bear. It was ridiculous really. But, like I said, we were intoxicated and having a blast. We drove around in circles for about 3 hours, and by the end, I had had enough, and Daniele had had enough, one of the people fell asleep, and another one just gave up. But there was this one crazy Scottish dude who didn't want to give up. He kept wanting to drive around and look for a bear. Like seeing a bear eat some garbage was some kind of miracle, and seeing one would have given his life meaning. So, after getting pissed and resorting to Romanian to tell the tour guide Florin that I had enough and wanted to go home, one of the girls said we can home after the song that was playing on the radio finished.

I swear, that was the longest song in history. It kept going and going and going... Until, the last few lines of the song: So, this is how it was... imagine sitting in a cramped little car, for 3 hours, driving up and down the same road, looking at garbage, sometimes in absolute quiet, sometimes the music is up, music that is super cheesy, from some easy rock ballad station, needing to pee, and wanting to go home, eventually hoping we don't see a bear so that we don't have to pay for this crappy tour... waiting for this stupid and LONG song to be over so we can be done with this pointless waiting... and the last 2 lines of the song... just listen... just listen....

na na na nana... I DIDN'T SEE IT, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I pointed that out and me and Daniele started laughing like drunk hyenas!! I mean, seriously!! How could you not laugh. The universe had a little private joke and we noticed, acknowledge and enjoyed! The others didn't get it. Oh what a fantastic end to a crappy tour.

We didn't pay anything :)

So, after a day full of adventure, I decided to go on a more cultural sightseeing trip. I hired the same guy to drive me to Sibiu and Sighisoara to get a proper tour of the places. I had been there before, but with friends and didn't really get the whole spiel. Well, I didn't get it this time either. Turns out he was just my driver, he didn't really tour me around. It sucked but meh, I got some magnets, some fountain pens and some good conversation out of it.

I won't bore you with the details of the pictures. Except... this is Sibiu.

A tower in Sibiu.

My foot in a tower in Sibiu.

Sibiu from above.

Sibiu windows.

A church in Sibiu.

Then off to Sighisoara.

The central area in Sighisoara.

Me in Sighisoara.

Pigeons in Sighisoara.

Me looking at pigeons in Sighisoara.

Me pretending to be a pigeon in Sighisoara.

And now back to Brasov, back to the awesome restaurant Ceasu Rau for another celebratory evening of awesome and delicious food and wine and company!! :)

These were cheese ball starters. With house wine, naturally!

There were these two musicians. One with the accordion, and the other with the guitar. They sang very nicely! They'd come around your table and if you nodded to them, they'd stop and sing you a song, and then you'd give them some money.

Two Koreans who were at the hostel. Funny story. They didn't know each other. They met in Brasov in the train station. As they got off the train, they spotted each other, and upon realizing that they are both Korean and of the same age, they agreed to become best friends and travel together. That is so Korean!!

Their names: Soon and Joon.

And this was a super cool Italian couple. Loved his accent. I don't remember his name, but her name is Laura. We tried to communicate. Her English is limited, but with a mix of English, Italian and Romanian, we made ourselves understood. I realized I understand a lot of Italian. It sounds so similar to Romanian. Now I want to learn that beautiful language. I'm actually studying on my own, and next year when I go to Europe, I'm going to take some language lessons on the way :).

This was my dish. I wasn't super impressed this time. I chose lamb, but didn't realize that BBQ lamb turns quite tough and very chewy. The polenta and pickled bell peppers were nice though.

I managed to get a hold of Soons (one of the Korean guys) camera and started just randomly taking pictures. Here, we can see Daniele trying to poke his eye out for some reason.

Here, Tommy looks very deep in thought.

This is a tour guide that took Daniele and Tommy on some tour somewhere while I was off in Sibiu and Sighisoara.

Joon staring in the distance at something amazing probably.

Soon trying to eat his fork. It so delicious!! It doesn't taste like anything we got in Korea!

And here comes the music!! YAY!!!

Daniele and me stand up and show the people how to really dance to accordion music!! Who knew I was so talented :).

Group photo!!

That evening, we met another Danish guy that had one of the beds in my room. He came to Romania with his car. Not sure why he was there, but he was a nice guy. Daniele suggested, and also convinced him (Dinesh), the Italian couple, and me, to go on a road trip on the Transfagarasean road.

So, we left early the next day, drove all the way from Brasov to Poienari, which is at the bottom of the road through the mountains. There we visited this ruin at the top of the hill, called Cetatea Poienari, aka Poienari Fortress, 1480 steps up. That's right, to get up there, you had to climb an insane 1480 steps.

This is the picture of the somewhat half way point. It wasn't too bad going up. But coming back down... whoa!! I almost couldn't do the last 20 steps. My legs were shaking, and I was afraid they'd slip right under me and I'd fall. I took very few breaks going down, so maybe that's why it was such a strain on my legs. I was in pain for the next 3 days. Could hardly move!! Felt good though :).

The view from the top.

There was a dirty guard dog there. I wanted to give her some water and food, but I didn't have any myself.

Touristy crap.

Magnificent view!! It was starting to get dark...

And this is the start of the Transfagarasean. A very windy and narrow road through the Fagaras mountains.

We reached a little clearing where we stopped, took pictures, and kinda got our bearings right.

It was such a beautiful evening.

Daniele. He got to drive the whole way. He was a good driver. Didn't feel in danger at all. Well, maybe only once or twice, but he drove pretty well considering the crap condition of part of that mountain road. Whoa!! Big giant pot holes.

Night caught us in the middle of the mountains, on the crazy windy roads. Dinesh saw a waterfall and wanted to stop and drink some water from it. So we stopped. We were also hungry, so the Italians got out the cheese and bread and sausage they had brought for the trip. We ate, and drank fresh mountain water from the waterfall. It was really cool. Then, Daniel had another bright idea. We were gonna play Rock-Scissor-Paper, and the looser had to be left behind and wait for us to come back. We were all in. We did R-S-P, and in the end it was between me and Laura, the Italian girl. I won. Rock is always the best choice. But she didn't want to stay. We weren't going to leave her there, obviously, but to stay alone for even 1 minute in that dark and isolated place was scary. In the end, she didn't stay, and I think her boyfriend will have to pay for trying to make her follow through, but it was a lot of fun :).

After we got out of the mountains, we had to drive west to Sibiu and drop off the Italian couple. By that time, it was 2am already. No problem, we got back into the car, Dinesh fell asleep, and Daniele and me continued talking until 4am when we finally arrived back in Brasov.

In the morning, Daniele left to go wwoofing in Miercurea Ciuc, a town in the middle of the country. I was so jealous. I totally wanted to do that too... and he suggested I come and meet up with him there. I said I might, but he'd have to ask the owners there if it was OK for me to come.

We said a very sad goodbye :( :( :( :(

That afternoon I went to visit another family friend, Rodica. It was a nice and short visit.

After that, since I was in the area, and it was my last day in Brasov, I finally had the time to go and visit the area where I used to live as a kid. I walked around, until I found familiar roads, and just followed them.

This was an intersection that to the left lead to my neighbourhood, and from the right straight ahead you'd come in from town.

Those are the hills up ahead where I used to play as a child. On the left is a really beautiful park. It used to be very simple, sad and unkept.

And this is the road where I used to sled down on. It's a very steep hill and there wasn't a lot of traffic back in the old days on this road. The building ahead is part of the L shaped building complex where I used to live.

And this where I used to live. Staircase A.

The inside looks exactly the same. My mailbox used to be #6, the one that's broken. Was it broken back then? I don't remember.

We used to play here. Sit here, pretend to have a market where we'd sell mud pies, or mud coffee, or grass vegetables...

The side of the building.

My apartment used to be on the 1st floor. Not the ground level, but the 1st floor.

This bench holds a lot of memories. We used to sit here every day. All the kids in the building. We'd sit here until it was dark and our parents would call us in from the windows. We'd sit here all the time.

This used to be the play ground. Now it's just parking space. There were no kids.

We used to play here. It all looked so much bigger then. There seemed to be a lot more things back then too. I don't remember there being grass...

Lots of kitties everywhere.

We used to play here too. I remember playing cards here, and trading picture cards from gum. In winter this was very slippery.

The window in the middle was to my room. I shared that with my sister. On the left is my parents room. On the right is the kitchen window and then the balcony that led to the living room.

Back entrance. So many memories...

We used to venture here sometimes.

And, that was that. I visited the place where I came from.

It felt good. I felt I gained a lot of perspective. I felt at peace, finally, with my origins.

Then, at 11:30pm I went to the train station and got the night train to Suceava, to visit my family up there.

Awakening

2011-09-13T22:35:00.003+09:00

The Awakening

A time comes in your life when you finally get it... when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out... ENOUGH!

Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on.

Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon. You realize that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you... and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are... and that's OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself... and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval. You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you - or didn't do for you - and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that everything isn't always about you. So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself... and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties... and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don't know everything, it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you believe you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it's OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom. You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people... and you learn not to always take it personally.

You learn that nobody's punishing you and everything isn't always somebody's fault. It's just life happening. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than your heart's desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in your heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

- - by Sonny Carroll

Wonderful weekend

2011-09-06T10:52:00.000+09:00

Ok, so on Friday, I got my end of year bonus, which was REALLY NICE :). Also, one of my friends bought an identical motorcycle to mine, so we went for a little ride around the area. I felt like I was in a little motorcycle gang :). Then we went to a really nice restaurant and had a super delicious Duck BBQ, after which I went back home and made myself pretty to go out to Sokcho and party it up. Hadn't been out clubbing since New Years. I took a taxi there and shared it with my motorcycle gang buddy, which was really nice. The cab driver put on a tape with English music, and we had some drinks in the back. At the bar, I had some wine, then some vodka, met some really nice people, and danced like a wild woman :). Friday night I stayed over at a friends house in Sokcho, and early in the morning at 7am, we woke up and went to another town to do some free kayaking in Hongcheon. We didn't end up doing any kayaking, but I met a whole bunch of new people, ate lots of good food, drank a lot, hung out on some rocks on a river all day and socialized. In the evening we drank some really delicious strawberry and kiwi Maccoli (Korean rice drink), met some Koreans through a somewhat wild Truth or Dare game, went to a singing room and had a wonderful time. We all slept over on the floor at a friends house. Sunday morning, after coffee, pizza and some shopping I left and got back home where I chilled out and enjoyed a very relaxing Sunday. What a fantastic weekend :)

Bucharest July 23 - July 29

2011-08-24T14:47:00.001+09:00

Words cannot describe the amazing experience this vacation has been. After a horrible start with my travel agency trying to screw me over with the flight ticket, everything became 100 times better. Being in Romania was exactly what I needed!

So, I arrived in Bucharest at the airport at midnight on Saturday, instead of arriving around noon. My couchsurfing host was kind enough to come and pick me up from the airport even at that time. Turns out my host was this DJ from a very cool radio station in Romania called "Radio Guerrilla". He had a really nice house out in Otopeni. Next day, we went to his house in the country side. On the way, we stopped by a shop and bought some fresh bread. WHOA!!

We actually bought about 3 loafs of bread, but ate 1 in just a few minutes, and almost finished up the 2nd one too. I missed real fantastic bread!

At the house there were some of his friends and they were preparing a BBQ. The lady also made egg plant salad. WHOA!!!! I nearly died!! The bread and eggplant combo was PHENOMENAL!!

Then later in the day we went for a little walk in the village. It was really cute. Apparently, there were many vacation houses there. I was very surprised. Who can afford a vacation home in Romania?

There was a dog cooling off in the little stream. He was really enjoying himself.

And then, we went back to his house. In the morning, his girlfriend Alexandra gave me a ride into Bucharest to where I was staying next. It was very central.

The vibe was very different. At the new place, my new host was working from home, so he was very busy and didn't really have any time to even go for a drink. It was OK in the end, because I got to explore on my own and just try to adjust to being in Romania and speak Romanian.

I went out and using my trusted iPod map, I went in search of things to see.

This is the statue of King Carol. He was a German dude that ended up being the king of Romania. He did a lot of good things for the country. I'm not sure if I remember all the history correctly. I got so much info these few days in Bucharest, but I might have jumbled them up a little. At least now I've got a better clue of how the country was in the past.

And on this balcony is where Ceausescu had his last speech, where he was booed away by the crowds below. I got goosebumps when I was there and thought of the change that was happening.

The next picture, I was told, is of a building that has the entrance of the old opera hall that was destroyed, and now rebuilt. It's the entrance of a bank I think. I'm not actually sure. But it looks very nice when you are walking up the street and you can see just the front part until you get much closer. Interesting design.

This was a house that apparently belonged to Vlad Tepes. So it was a bunch of ruins with his statue in front. It might have been for all the tourists there. I'm not sure.

This is how all the buildings used to look like in the old part of Bucuresti before it was renovated. There are still many buildings that look like this, but very many have been fixed up.

I was walking around the old town, looking at all the beautiful buildings, and admiring all the gorgeous people and smelling all the amazing fragrances that were hitting my nose from everyone and everywhere. There was this beautiful statue/sculpture on one of the side streets. And, as a proper tourist, I had to take a picture of it :).

The whole old district was full of terraces. Every restaurant had tables outside. It was so lively and wonderful.

This was in the center at Piata Unirii. I was waiting here for a free walking tour to start. I sitting on a bench, watching people walk by. It was sunny, the sound of the water from the fountain in front of me was covering the sound of nearby traffic. It was such a beautiful day.

This was a famous restaurant. They were restoring it to reopen the rooms and make it into a hotel. Before, a long long time ago, when Romania was a center for commerce, traders would come and stay in this Inn and the owner would be able to lock their goods away for safe keeping while they slept here overnight.

More of old town with its beautiful buildings and terraces :).

On a little alley, there was an old beautiful church. Typically decorated with beautiful paintings and carvings over every available space.

This was the inside garden that was being restored.

"Caru cu Bere" is a famous and popular restaurant in old town Bucharest. In the evening they have live music and dancing inside. The atmosphere is just as good as the music and hospitality. I went there twice, and loved it fully!

All these wonderful buildings were on one road. Hm... I don't remember the name of it.

This is a museum. I looks really pretty from the outside, with those columns. I heard the actual exposition inside was not worth checking out, so I didn't go. I had lots of other places I wanted to visit, so I didn't want to waste my time.

We went into one of the many MANY beautiful churches around. The lighting wasn't very good, hence the darker pictures.

Then we went on this little street, it was covered and most of the restaurants offered shishas. They are those Turkish water pipes where you smoke this falvoured tobacco jelly. We stopped here for a drink and a smoke.

This was the renovated hospital that had it's own church. It didn't look like a hospital at all, but more like a palace.

And this is the Ateneum. It's where they have classical music concerts throughout the year. It was closed now for the summer, unfortunately. I would have loved to go to a concert there. I did go inside and take some pictures on another day.

The next day, I went on another organized tour of Bucharest. This time it was paid. I met the tour guide and the rest of the group at a hotel next to the Ateneum. The group, was made up of 6 Americans that were travelling together and me. It was a very funny sight because they were all old people. I felt strange too because at this point I was still not comfortable speaking Romanian and letting other people know I was born there. I'm not sure why. I guess I had a negative view of Romania before going there and I didn't want to be associated with that bad image. Once I realized what crap that was, and got over it, I felt better. But it took a while for me to get to that state of mind.

So here we were driving around, going towards one of the big parks in the city where we went to visit a sort of national museum of old style country houses and churches from all over the country.

Here we arrived at the museum, and our guide told us all about these houses and why they had the shapes they did. I don't really remember what he said. Actually, I think the reason these houses had such steep roofs was to help keep water and snow off of them.

These houses were built below ground and the roofs looked like piles of hay, so that invading forced wouldn't see these houses and would not attack them. It looked very dark and depressing inside though.

This is how they used to make Romanian alcohol, Tuica and Palinca.

We were told that all these buildings were made without using any nails or glue. They were built in such a way that the pieces of wood just interlocked and kept the whole structure securely together. That's amazing. And in order to move these buildings to this outdoor museum, they had to dismantle the buildings, transport them, and put them back together again in the park. Fantastic!!

In the park there were many children's camps. Tabere. They were making all sorts of things. Masks, necklaces, religious pictures, paintings. It looked like a lot of fun.

And then we went to the "Peoples Palace". WOW! It was really impressive. I've seen it before, but only from the outside, and only from a distance. This time, I saw it up close, and then I saw it from the inside too. What extravagant idiotic luxury. WHY??!!

The rooms were huge, beautifully carved ceilings, and amazingly extravagant chandeliers. Who ever imagined these things? And then was insane enough to say, heck, why not build this??!!

And there was so much marble everywhere. Incredible!!

And then we had a little break, and I wanted to check if the palace had Wi-Fi. Hell yes!! THEY DID :). I had to take a pictures.

And then, even cooler, I was able to check my location. I obviously took a picture of that too :). That blue dot is where I was.

And then, Ceausescu had these 2 sets of stairs built. I'm on the left side, which is his wife's stairs, and then the ones in the front, the right side, are his stairs. They were built to fit his height exactly, so that when he goes up he looks really good, or some other crap like that. Seriously!! Who can rationalize such money spending??

And then we step outside on the balcony. So beautiful from up there.

This is the front view, of the parking space blow, and the large buildings ahead.

And me too :)

After finishing the tour, I went to this restaurant I was told of. It's supposed to be a really good restaurant with traditional Romanian food. Well, it really was delicious. It's called "La Mama", and there were 3 locations in Bucharest, as far as I knew of. I went to this one and from here I skyped with my neightbours back in Korea and made them jealous of the beautiful weather, fantastic food and wine, and European style patio :).

With every meal I ordered red wine. It was always so perfect. Not too dry, not too sweet. Just perfect. This time I ordered mashed potatoes. I loooove mashed potatoes, and well, nothing like eating something you love in a place you love :).

This was a river that was flowing through the city. It apparently was covered before during communism, and was since uncovered. I think it's really nice to have such a nice little stream going through a town. It gives it a different vibe.

Another restaurant, another meal, another glass of delicious red wine :).

Oh, and these were "Papanasi". They were more like cheesecake donuts. Not so much like how I remember them from childhood, but still, very very nice.

And then I went to the museum of Romanian National Art. It was REALLY interesting. On the bottom floor they had religious art. I learned some VERY interesting things from one of the people who was working there. There were many beautiful bibles on display there, but none of them were written in Romanian, or in the Roman alphabet. So, apparently, the Romanians didn't speak the way they do now, nor did they write the way they write now. They used an alphabet similar to the Russian one, and the language was very different back then. There were a lot of details that lady told me, but obviously I forgot. I'm going to have to read up some more on Romanian history. Can't wait :).

And as I mentioned earlier, I did go inside the Ateneum. It was incredibly beautiful. And this was only the main foyer. Imagine when everyone comes to the concert, the men dressed in beautiful suits, and the women in beautiful dresses all together to experience such cultural richness. Wonderful! I hope to be able to experience that one day.

And this was Km 0 in front of a giant set of statues.

These two guys were singing Pasarea Colibri for money. It was so cool. People who were walking by were singing along to the music. I was here with my last couchsurfing host, his girlfriend, and 3 other couchsurfers that were staying at his place who were from Poland.

Like I mentioned before, there were many dilapidated, old and abandoned buildings that had not yet been restored to their former glory. So, like any curious tourist, we ventured through and up to the roof to get a panoramic view of the old town.

So this is that famous restaurant from the old town: "Caru cu Bere" (The beer wagon). I went there with the 3 Polish people after we left the couchsurfers house. They were heading back to Poland, and I was heading to Brasov.

The last couchsurfer I stayed at suggested that I hitchhike to Brasov after I found out that my original ride had cancelled and now I was left without a way to get there so last minute. And that's what I did. I made a sign that said BV, which is short for Brasov. I took a taxi to the main road leading out of Bucharest towards Brasov, got out, put my backpack on, and took my sign out. My hands were shaking a bit because I was naturally a bit nervous. But honestly, after 5 seconds a car stopped and gave me a ride all the way to Brasov. WHOAAAAA!! FANTASTIC!!!! That was the first time in my life I hitchhiked. It was phenomenal!!! I will definitely do that again.

These are a few pictures from the car.

Bye bye Bucharest, and hello Brasov!!

Map to my place

2011-08-04T13:34:00.000+09:00

Here is how you get to my place.

Romania

2011-08-03T08:23:00.002+09:00

I must tell you something important.

I love this country. My country. The country of my origin.

I love this town. My town. The town of my origin.

I love the culture that is so vibrant and which surrounds you everywhere in this town.

I love the people that I have met, who have been incredibly friendly and have been amazing conversationalists.

And I love the food.

There are no words to describe the joy I feel when I eat this food.

I cannot explain how wonderful I feel to be back here.

I think I have gone a little further in making myself feel whole again.

I'm HERE!!!!

2011-07-25T17:37:00.000+09:00

So, I finally arrived in Romania!!

Calin, my first couchsurfing host, waited for me at the airport. That was really nice of him. It was late, I was tired, and I don't think I could have dealt with transportation on my own.

So, that was Saturday night.

We went back to his house, hung out a bit, but then went to sleep.

In the morning, I had some CIORBA!! great sour soup!!!

And in the afternoon we went to his house in the country side. There we met some of his friends and had a really nice BBQ. Hung out some more, ate some more, talked some more... it was brilliant!!

On the way there, we stoped at a shop and got some fresh baked bread. It was still warm. We ate a whole loaf of bread on the way. It was so soft, and warm, and chewy... mmmmmmmm!

In the evening, we went to the historical and old area in Bucuresti. It was AMAZING!!!!!

Beautiful architecture, beautiful history, lots of restaurants and tables outside, great music, great smells and incredibly beautiful people. I had no idea that Romanians are such beautiful people!!!

I'm definitely going to go there again during the day so I can take lots of pictures.

Today, Monday, I'm going to my next couchsurfing host. He lives in the center of the city, so it'll be easier to get around and see things. Can't wait :).

Peace is here

2011-07-23T11:47:00.000+09:00

So, no thanks to asshole travel agency, I made it.

I'm in the airport, checked in, and ready to go.

I went to the check-in counter and asked if my name is on the flight list, and WOW!!!!!!!! it was there!!!

I started crying. I couldn't help myself.

For the last 40 hours all I could do was wait and keep calling those assholes. They weren't giving me any information and I had to pry it out of them. They weren't calling me back but kept telling me that they'll call me. They didn't email me back or keep me informed. NOTHING!

But, now it's all good.

I'm at my gate, I'm charging my Ipod, I'm dressed really nice, I had a nice shower at the Sauna in the airport, I used some nice parfume from the Duty Free shops, I changed some money...

So, now I'm ready. Just waiting.

I'm flying with Lufthansa (LH 713 and LH 1422) through Frankfurt. I'll arrive to Bucuresti at 23:55 on Saturday.

Well, even if I don't manage to get bumped up to first class, I'm still gonna enjoy all the free red wine I can :)!

Medicine

2011-07-22T19:39:00.000+09:00

How I'm going to make myself feel better:

1. Go to the airport at 8:30pm.
2. Go have a burger and large fries at McDonalds in the airport.
3. Maybe have an ice-cream too.
4. Go to the sauna in the airport.
5. Have a REAAAAAAAAAALY long soak/wash in the sauna.
6. Find a Wi-Fi area in the airport.
7. Read something interesting.
8. Next day get dressed in something really nice.
9. Try to get into first class!
10. Drink lots of wine!!

UNREAL EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-22T18:55:00.001+09:00

I wanted to do some really bad things last night and today!

And by bad things, I don't mean those nice bad things... but bad things.

I've never been SOOO angry in my whole life before.

Never so outraged!!!

I think I handled myself pretty well in the situation.

I didn't cry, there was no point.

I didn't smoke either... there was no point to that either.

I did drink some red wine though. And ate some chocolate. That made me feel better.

So, what happened you ask?

Well, as you all know, tonight (Friday), I'm supposed to fly out to Romania for 4 weeks to visit family, travel, etc.

So, last night (Thursday), at 9:30pm, I get an email from my travel agent at Zenith Travel.

Here's the email, just so you can see:

********************************

Dear Daniella,

I am awfully sorry that I found that your flight booking to Romania, leaving on Saturday has been cancelled by accident.

I rebooked you on the below flights but now it is very expensive tickets only available and we can't buy the tickets as we don't have that much money.

MIHALCIUC/DANIELA MS

1 LH 713W 23JUL ICN - FRA 1345 - 1825
2 LH1422W 23JUL FRA - OTP 2040 - 2355

3 LH1657Q 17AUG OTP - MUC 0705 - 0805
4 LH 718Q 17AUG MUC - ICN 1210 - 0530

ICN: INCHEON, FRA: FRANKFURT, OTP: BUCHAREST

This is Lufthanza German Airlines.

I was wondering if you could pay W1,500,000 tomorrow then I will buy this tickets and will give you back W1,500,000 later when you return to Korea in August.

If this is possible please send the money tomorrow morning into my bank account, WOORI BANK, 26-080106-13-001,Zenith Travel.

I would like to apology you for my mistake.

I will definetly give you the money back later.

Sorry for trouble and incovenineces.

Thank you.

Wystan Kang

********************************

Naturally, I freaked out. I wasn't quite sure what just happened. I had already paid in full for my ticket months ago. I had my eticket all printed out and confirmed... everything was OK.

This was my reply:

********************************

ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY FLIGHT IS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ALREADY PAID FOR THIS DAMN TICKET!!!!!!!

AND YOU LET ME KNOW NOW???????

HOW THE HELL IS MY TICKET CANCELLED???????

I DON'T HAVE 1,500,000 WON JUST LYING AROUND SO I CAN GIVE IT TO YOU AGAIN!!!!

WHY THE HELL DID YOU NOT CALL ME EARLIER????

YOU ARE SORRY FOR THE TROUBLE AND INCONVENIENCE????

FIX MY TICKET!!!

I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO GIVE YOU RIGHT BEFORE MY VACATION!!!!!!!

YOU ARE A TRAVEL AGENCY!!! HOW CAN YOU MAKE THIS KIND OF MISTAKE??????????????????????????

FIX IT!!!!

********************************

As you can see, I managed to keep myself together pretty well. I swore only a little bit, but the yelling (CAPITALS) was for real.

And that asshole had the nerve to reply in this manner:

********************************

Hello,

I am very sorry aboth this problem happend.

Can you pay by credit card ?

Thank you.

Wystan Kang

********************************

And that was all I heard from him.

Now, remember. This was at 9:30pm, their office was close and he wasn't answering his phone.

I managed to fall asleep around 5am for a couple of hours.

Today was horrible. I had to wait until 9am for their office to open so I could call and talk to someone there.

Finally someone picked up, and naturally they said that the guy I dealt with wasn't there.

They tried to figure out what happened. I still haven't heard back from any of them. I've called them back repeatedly and they kept saying they are trying to figure it out. So, they were making me wait and wait and wait for the asshole dude to fix it.

He did call me at some point during the day and asked if I could pay anything towards the new ticket. I obviously flat out refused and told him in the best teacher is F@#$%^ PISSED voice to fix it.

Around 5:30pm, I called again (I've been calling every 30 minutes), because they haven't botherd to call me at all and keep me informed.

Asshole guy said they got me other ticket and he had to pay 200,000won extra out of his own pocket. He said it with such contempt, like it was my fault.

THE NERVE!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm at an Internet Cafe waiting for that asshole to email me the e-ticket.

I hate hate HATE this!!! They have been messing me around all freaken day!!!

And all I can do is wait.

It's unreal!!

I don't understand how something like this can happen.

No explanation, no service, no communication, no offer to make it up with some free shit. NOTHING!!!

And I've been with this company, buying plane tickets from the same guy for 2 years. FOR REAL!!!????

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Tall Sail Ship --> July 9/10

2011-07-14T15:29:00.000+09:00

So, after this trip was rescheduled because of bad weather, it was finally time to go sailing. Well, to be on a sail ship anyways. The weather was still crap. It still rained, but there was no turning back on this adventure. It was a very wonderful experience.

This was one of the rooms bellow deck. Pretty comfortable. And the rocking motion of the boat helped with sleeping.

This was the kitchen.

Looking out through one of the windows.

Map below deck.

In case someone's gone overboard :).

Nice weather eh?

It was raining...

And storming...

Only safe place is under the tarp.

We arrived at one of the little islands.

It was all misty and cloudy.

Dressed up in rain coats and plastic ponchos.

So, we got to our docking destination for Saturday evening.

People were swimming. Jumping off the boat. Brave people!

Climbing back up.

Local cuteness!

He was helping tighten up one of the sails.

Breakfast or lunch or whatever...

Finally, a break in the weather.

The boat was going fast, and it was all rocky.

Yay!

I went up to the tip. I think I'm developing a fear of heights/gaps... I was trying to be brave and do one of them dramatic poses.

Ok, better :)

Jenna posing.

Chilalxing.

3 gorgeous ladies enjoying the afternoon sun.

The captain steering the boat.

Harmonica time.

Some people were even braver and they climbed up to the top observation thingy.

Really high!!

Then it started to rain again.

Everyone ran back down under.

Group shot back on the main land.

Geojin BBQ --> June 21

2011-07-14T14:29:00.001+09:00

So, every week we have a dinner get-together in my district. It's a chance to meet up with the other teachers, to speak English, and to eat home cooked western food.

June 21 was the last day of beautiful summer weather. We had only 2 beautiful weeks, with beautiful weather, and the rest has been just rain.

It was Michael's turn to cook, and since it was a beautiful day outside, he planned to have a BBQ in front of our building.

It was wonderful!!

It was slow starting it, but we got it going eventually.

Mike prepared some pork burgers, beef is just too expensive here. He also had some marinated mushrooms and an assortment of sausages.

Simon and Bernard. Simon is from England. He lives in the next town over. Bernard is from Ireland, and he lives next door.

Awwww, how sweet!

That's Mike in the background. He's from California and also lives next door. In the front is Logan. He's from the States somewhere, and he lives in the next town over next to Simon.

All the wonderful things we had... mmm.