HOLY CRAP I FORGOT I HAD THIS

Well not really, but it sounds good, right? Right? Whatever, I'm updating now, so be happy about that, nerds.

It should probably be a testament to how much I'm liking it here that I haven't updated baaaaasically since I got here. Either that, or a testament to how busy I've been lately. Which, as you might surmise, is fairly busy.

I suppose I should start with my school, as that is the thing that consumes most of my life these days. A couple things about that:

1. Being able to converse fluently with your coworkers is WAY underrated. I cannot tell you how much nicer it is to be able to speak with the people I work with
2. I am SERIOUSLY busy in my new job and I love that! You may recall that last year I essentially did very little that required any amount of thought or creativity, especially during school break times. This year is shaping up to be the complete opposite, and I couldn't be more excited. Yes, grading essays takes a while, but I am so happy to be teaching kids who can WRITE essays.
3. It's nice to be at a job where I am both appreciated for my talents and respected as a teacher. Seriously. It's like the EXACT OPPOSITE from Hwaseong Elementary School

It's hard to convey just how much better this job is than my last job. People here don't get it; people back in America don't get it; people in Korea don't get it...I think it's because none of them really knew just how bad my last school was. Being ignored, treated like an assumed paedophile/drug addict, marginalized in every respect...it sucks. But here at my new job, the hours are longer and weirder, and the vacation is less, but I feel like an actual teacher working with a team of teachers. It's nice to feel like that. It really is.

Another thing making me SO MUCH happier here than in Korea is living in a real city again. If the last year taught me anything, it's that I can use chopsticks. Also, that I need to live in a city. Preferably a large one, and they don't come much larger than Shanghai. I love this place! I love feeling the crush of people around me - knowing that there's always someone nearby. I love the diversity that comes in any large city. I love sitting in a restaurant hearing people chatting in Chinese, yes, and English, but also in French, Italian, German, Arabic, Farsi. I love that no matter what day it is, no matter what time it is, there's always something going on. Most of all, I love living in cities because it makes me feel part of something larger than myself. Not to get all cliche about it, but I love being a part of the living, breathing human fabric that makes up the story of our civilization.

The people here are great - in another post, I'll expound at length on the difference between an academy teacher and a public school teacher, but for now I've found a good group of friends and an even better pub quiz team. The East LA Shamrocks have won three nights in a row (and about $300 in bar vouchers) and have our eyes on the prize: the overall season winners will get an open bar party for 20 people. I plan on being there come July. While no one can really replace the Pamily (miss you all terribly!), I think I'm going to enjoy the people here.

Of course, I am well aware that this is all a part of the honeymoon period, and that in about 6 weeks I'll start feeling beaten down and trod upon by this new culture I'm encountering. Fortunately for me, by then summer intensives will have started and I won't have time to feel anything but exhausted.

Fighting the internet in China

Good news, everybody! I've arrived safe and sound in Shanghai, if not a little (a lot) jetlagged. China so far is...interesting. Fascinating, even. It's definitely very different from Korea, but I'm trying to take Shanghai on its own terms without constantly comparing it to Korea.

This, obviously, is not happening. Every time I go to a restaurant, or get on the subway, or even walk along the street I find myself thinking how this would be different in Korea and, sorry Korea, but China is currently winning that fight.

Well, on every front except one: the internet. In Korea, the internet was generally cheap and relatively fast (except if you were trying to watch a youtube video or stream anything. That just doesn't happen in Korea).  Here, however, not only is there the Great Firewall of China to contend with, but there's also something that just feels so very third world about the internet here. At least here in my hotel (and also in the Starbucks down the road). Occasionally sites will load on command, but more often they have immense difficulty loading even the simplest .jpegs. What's worse, though, is that the internet will just cut out and decide that you've loaded one too many pages in a given time period and refuse to load any more for the next 5 or 10 minutes. Which is just great fun, given that my internet-induced ADD leads me to often have 5 or 6 browser tabs open at any given moment.

The Great Firewall itself is proving to be as problematic to me as it was to the Mongol hoards. Apparently it's going to take a far stronger VPN than I had initially planned to get around, so I'll probably in the end wind up paying for one following Chinese rules for internet browsing. I NEEDS MY FACEBOOKS AND I NEEDS THEM NOW.

In the Becoming A Real Person In Shanghai front, I went to the school location yesterday, which happens to be in a crazy ritzy part of Shanghai (in the Pudong area across the river). So I'll go from teaching in a pretty poor area of Korea to a pretty rich area in one of the richest cities in China. Exciting. Also, apparently, our school is some sort of Model Location or whatever, which means that the bigwigs from corporate come by from time to time to observe/bother us. Hurrah.

More pressing, though, is the housing search. Debating whether to have roommates or not, finding a neighborhood, and ultimately finding an apartment that I can actually live in is apparently not the easiest thing. But people have done it before in Shanghai, and I've found apartments in Washington DC, so in theory I should be able to find a place to live. It'll just hopefully be sooner rather than later. Side note: if anyone happens to know of apartments in the Jing'an or Huangpu areas of Shanghai for less than RMB4000/month, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THX.

I'll keep you guys posted on the living/working/internet situation, assuming I do not suffer a nervous breakdown stemming from facebook withdrawal in the near future.

Ugh FINALLY he's posting

After having been thoroughly put to shame by my friend, who just had a friggin baby (btw, CONGRATS) and is still blogging, I felt it was time to update the interwebs on how my life has been going.

The short answer: it's been busy. I think I last left you guys in mid-February, when I was still at Hwaseong Elementary in Korea. Well great news! I'm not there anymore! I flew back to the States on March 7, following a whirlwind of good-bye parties (both wanted and unwanted), packing, giving away things, and transferring money.

And actually, as it turns out, NOT transferring money. See, I had been told by my school that my severance pay and deposit refund would not be paid to me until the next payday. Which would fall after I left Korea. So I didn't think, on the day I was running my bank errands (which naturally had to be left to the last business day I was in Korea), to check my balance. So I missed the many millions of won that needed to vacate my account so I could have the money sent to America. Fortunately, though, I have some fantastically helpful friends and the money made it to my American bank account.

Back at home, things were just a whirl of wind. Visits from family, awkward KISS concerts, and a week spent running around the Washington, DC area. One of the things you quickly learn when living the long-distance lifestyle is just how little time you really have with your friends and family when you do get to see them. It never seems like it's enough, and someone is always going to feel screwed over because you couldn't spend enough time with them. And that pretty much sucks. It takes someone with far greater planning and scheduling skills than I to juggle everyone properly and appropriately manage expectations. I guess the moral of the story is PEOPLE COME VISIT ME. I LIVE IN COOL PLACES.

But now I'm sitting on my parents' couch with my bags packed yet again, preparing for departure to Asia. It was a little more than 13 months ago that I left for Korea, and while I'm nervous now, it doesn't compare to how I felt back then. I'm pretty sure I can handle this, and most of what I'm feeling is excited.  Well, that and hungry. Time for my last dinner in America! For the next year, anyway...

See you in Shanghai!

A post of convenience

Just because I like you all SO MUCH, I have decided to combine for you here, in link format, all my posts from the vacation in chronological format. So have fun! Click around! Relive the magic! You won't be sorry! Though you might be! Especially if it makes you sad you missed the trip!


The layover in Shanghai

The terrifying LCCT in Kuala Lumpur

I'm on a beach!

GERMANS! Cover your shame!

A near death experience

Cambodia (here I started to get lazy)

Malaysia is an...interesting country

Travel tips

Photo dump


Also, in case any of you are interested in recreating the journey (or at least looking for places to stay), here's what we did:

First night in Kuala Lumpur: The Burger King in KLIA
First night in Bangkok: Convenient Resort (near Suvarnobhumi Airport)
Phuket: Two Chefs Bungalows - Kata Beach
Bangkok: Soi 1 Guesthouse Bangkok
Cambodia: Borann Hotel, Siem Reap
Kuala Lumpur: Swiss Inn Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Flights to/from Kuala Lumpur via China Eastern Airlines; Flight to Bangkok, Phuket, and Siem Reap to KL on Air Asia. Phuket to Bangkok: minibus to Surat Thani, overnight sleeper train to Bangkok. Bangkok to Siem Reap: train Bangkok to Aranyaprathet (Thai border), tuk-tuk to the border crossing (Poipet, Cambodia). Taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap.

Photo dump!

And now for some photos from the vacay...(WARNING: These may be largely boring landscape shots. DEAL.)

Finally! A real beer.

And delicious pad thai, natch...

Beautiful, warm, Kata beach in Phuket

Our lovely island hotel/restaurant

Photos of photos with beautiful scenery (Ko Phi Phi)

Beware of Train!

Bangkok: ancient meets modern.

Yep.

Great city. Probably my favorite in Asia so far.

Monopoly money (clockwise from dollars): US Dollars, Malaysian Ringgit, Thai Baht, Japanese Yen, Korean Won, Cambodian Riel

Angkor Wat (as well as the next few photos)

Our fixies to ride around the grounds.

Our driver, Mr. Ya. He's the best.

Oh noes! Sharia law has infect McDonald's! RUN!!!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Golden Lion dance. For the New Year/Luck/whatever.

Petronas Towers: They're really big.

Final thoughts on travel

A few final thoughts on travelling, bulletted out for you. Hooray listicles!

• Hotels in SE Asia can be fantastically cheap. The hotels we stayed at in Phuket and Siem Reap, in particular, were AMAZING and still dirt cheap. I think the most we ever paid per night per person was $25. So if you're going to this area of the world, don't feel like you have to cheap out and stay in a hostel. You can, but nice hotels are out there and are very affordable.
• Don't try to pack to much in a vacation. Especially one as long as mine was. It was great, and I don't regret seeing any of the things I got to see, but having done so much and gone to so many places, by the time I got to Kuala Lumpur - I was just exhausted. Honestly, if that hotel had had a pool, I am not sure I would have ever left. And I would have been just fine with that. Too much travel is tiring, physically and mentally. Pick one or two places and stick with those.
• Choice of travelling companions is so very important. You really do need to take along people who have similar styles to you, otherwise you might spend your entire time bickering about what to do next. Fortunately, we were generally okay enough to go it alone if we wanted to do something a little different, or if we were getting slowed up by the stragglers in the posse. It worked out well for us...make sure it will work out for you!
• There's this bizarre notion of "cultural authenticity" that a lot of people have. For example, when I mentioned that I would be visiting Bangkok, someone told me that it was "just like any other city" and "not authentically Thai." Which kind of took me aback a little bit - there are 9.1 million people in the city itself, of whom about 8.7 million are ethnically Thai. I'm sorry, did they somehow lose their citizenship or culture by moving to/being born in a city? This way of thinking - that something in Thailand can be somehow "inauthentic" - is pretty problematic. It's kind of a colonialist notion, really, demanding a sort of disney-esque "noble savage" caricature of what life in some Foreign Land is like. But here's the dirty secret: Thais drink Starbucks. Malaysians go to the mall. Koreans eat at McDonald's. And none of these people are any less products of their homelands for it. They are probably different than the generation before who did not do these things, but it is pretty belittling to them and to their countries' economic successes to tell them that by going to Starbucks or McDonald's or buying Apple products they are somehow betraying their cultural heritage. We live in a globalized world. Some things are everywhere. Deal with it.
• In that vein, if you want to go to McDonald's or Starbucks while on vacation, don't feel like you can't because you can do that at home or because of some notion that you should completely any American-based company while on vacation. One of the most fascinating things that I find when traveling anywhere is just how different we all still are, despite being the same. And the places where these differences are most apparent tend to be the places most indicative of globalization, i.e., the ubiquitous fast-food chains. But go in them! Look at the menu! See how the franchise has adapted its menu to suit the location and be reminded that yes, we all are different, but yes, we all love to consume things. It's quite amazing.
• As much as it pains me to say this, English is really the most important language you could know while traveling. On this trip, just about everyone we encountered, from the service professionals to the airline staff to cab drivers and street vendors and even other tourists spoke English to one degree or another. As important as it is to learn other languages (and it IS very important to learn other languages), it's not the end of the world if the only language you speak is English. Especially in Southeast Asia, you're pretty much guaranteed to find people who also speak English and can help you.
• Most importantly, have fun! Experience your trip. Don't hide behind the camera, don't hide in your hotel room. Say yes to new experiences. Hugs not drugs. Hit the books because they don't hit back. Other cliches. Mostly, enjoy. Vacations are about giving you a break, so do things that will make you happy. Don't feel obliged to do something you don't want to do, unless you are a child, in which case please listen to your parent and generally don't act like an ass. Remember, there are other people on vacation too. Don't ruin theirs.

Malaysia: Truly Asia

Or something. Malaysia is indeed pretty awesome, though.

Perhaps because it was the first place where I stepped off the plane and felt warm, but I knew the second I arrived in Malaysia in the early morning of January 20 that I loved it. Though the feeling was tempered when we finally returned, two and a half weeks later, I still feel a great deal of fondness for that country.

First, a few words about traveling: you guyses, it is EXHAUSTING to take a two-and-a-half week vacation and pack it with as much stuff to do as we did. KL, Bangkok, Phuket, Bangkok, Siem Reap, KL again - not to mention the tiring and stressful travel to get to and from all of these places - it just sort of takes a lot out of you. So when we did get to our last destination, I was pretty well vacationed out, and ready to take it easy in Kuala Lumpur.

Fortunately, the weather was more than willing to cooperate with those plans of mine. Hot, humid, threatening rain in the afternoon - it was like a Houston summer, only in February (which sometimes happens in Houston, too). It was, however, perfect weather for hanging out in airconditioned monorails, malls, temples (both Hindu and Buddhist), mosques, and museums. The nice thing about the Malaysian capital (and its largest city) is how very compact the central city is. The suburbs sprawl out all across the Klang (it's a river AND an onomatopoeia!), but the central city is not only very walkable, but well-connected by a monorail and a light rail. Our hotel in Chinatown served as a great jumping off point for not only Lunar New Year's festivities, but also for light city exploration.(Though this turned out to be a double-edged sword: centrally located in Chinatown during the New Year means also centrally located to what sounds like a Mongol invasion when they set off the firecrackers every night)

What struck me the most about KL, though, was the staggering diversity of it. Living in Korea for a year, which is a traditional nation (ethnic/state boundaries are generally coterminous), has kind of warped my expectations of what to see in other countries. China, Thailand, and Cambodia really only reinforced this. In each of these countries, the state is generally associated with one ethnic group - China with Han Chinese, Thailand with Thais, and Cambodia with Khmers - and any minority populations tend to either be very small or shunted off to the hinterlands. This is true even of the big cities. In Kuala Lumpur, however, you have ethnic Malays, Chinese, and Indians of all shapes, sizes and colors walking around the streets. Add to that the legions of tourists and business travelers passing through the city and it makes for some very interesting walks.

My particular favorite scene was one I found myself in on the first afternoon in KL. I was standing on a street corner in an area that looks like a less-crowded version of Mayor Bloomberg's Times Square in NYC. Standing next to me was a woman in a full burqa, and the both of us were watching a street performer sing a cover of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry". It was one of those very surreal moments that seems so far out of the realm of possibility; yet here you are, and there she is, and there he is singing Bob Marley. Odd.

Another fairly remarkable thing about the city: it exists, holding sizable populations of Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus (with other minorities) side-by-side in relatively little conflict with one another. Partly I think this is because of the history of the place - these religions and ethnicities have been in peninsular Malaysia for centuries - and partly I think it is because of the heady wealth flowing into KL over the last thirty years that seems to have done pretty well for the entirety of the city, rather than just the already-wealthy.

An interesting parallel to this city could be seen in Sarajevo. For centuries, Bosniak Muslims, Serbian Orthodox Christians and the generally Roman Catholic Croat population lived together in what was arguably the most cosmopolitan city on the European Continent. Then, during the collapse of Yugoslavia and the rise of Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian Nationalism was stirred up in response to the breakaway republic of Croatia and the attempts of Bosnia-Herzegovina to leave the union, leading to a horrifically bloody war (complete with genocide in the east and the stunningly awful siege of Sarajevo).

Malaysia in the latter half of the 20th century, in contrast, saw incredible growth in its economy thanks to increased oil reserves and other natural resource extraction - not exactly ideal conditions to incite nationalist zealotry. So the country has done fairly well for itself, and indeed has become a fairly important conflict moderator in the region. As well, its approach to religion has been a fairly liberal (in the classical sense) one - the strictures associated in the West with Islam seem far more flexible in Malaysia. Yes, some women wear burqas. But standing with their daughters who are dressed in a more western style, one wonders whose choice it was to wear the burqa.

I was fascinated by KL, and I was exhausted by it. I think I'd like to go back some day with more energy to really see the city, but the thought of any more travel just at the moment (aside from going back to Houston and then spending some time in DC and then moving to China) just makes me want to crawl under my desk and hide in terror.

Cambodia all together

So it's our last day in Siem Reap, and I think I'm going to try to sum up the last few days all in this one singular blog post. COME ON THIS JOURNEY WITH ME.

First, a little background: Siem Reap is a perfectly nice small tourist town that would be little more than a few huts had not the ruins of the largest religious structure in the world been discovered there in the 19th century. As it is, Siem Reap serves as the touristy jumping off point for visits to Angkor Wat, and that's exactly what my friends and I were going to do.

First, though, we had to get there. Some redheaded guy had the bright idea to make a land crossing from Thailand, so we climbed aboard the 5:55am train to the border a few days ago. Let me tell you: crowded third class is a FAR cry from first class sleeper accommodations. But we lived, and about 6 hours later we arrived in Arantaprathet and hoped in a tuk tuk to the border.

But not before our driver took us to a rando roadside cafe with what amounted to a hand-painted sign reading "BORDER" with backwards R's.

It was a cute try, and he knew it. Once at the real border, he tried to rip me off of an additional 20 baht, and we mostly genially parted ways.

We had no idea that would be the EASY one. Protip: don't ignore the "something here isn't right" feeling. Ever.

Like when we were ushered into a "quarantine" area and told to fill out a "customs form" and given a sales pitch for a cab ride to wherever we were going. After a few highly stressful minutes, we hightailed it out of there and made it to the real Cambodian customs house. The thing about experiences like that is they tend to set you on super high alert, suspicious even of the real Cambodian tourist officials showing you where to hire a cab to your hotel and how to change money. It also makes the ensuing two hour cab ride an intense one, on which you are convinced that you are about to murdered.

Fortunately, we arrived at out hotel safe and sound, albeit very hot, dusty, and in need of a shower. The hotel, however, was amazing - an oasis in the savannah of Western Cambodia. It served as a wonderful place to relax and cool off after a long, hot day of touring the ruins at Angkor.

Which themselves were amazing. It is a particular passion of mine, old ruins. Ancient Rome, ancient Greece, Liza Minelli...so you can imagine how much fun I had traipsing about these thousand-year-old temples in Cambodia. But my favorite memories have to be the people we met, from our driver, Mr. Ya, to the plethora if Canadians, to the General Contractir in charge of the reconstruction of the Baphuon Temple. Simply incredible. What's even better, though, is that to get to Malaysia, we get to take a plane! Hooray for simplicity!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (but not really, it's an iPod touch)

Location:National Highway 6,Siem Reap,Cambodia

Traveling Story

So I currently find myself in one of those very typical Unexpected Travel Situations that no one really plans for, but that are the staples of any travel story. This happens to be the part of my vacation that involves a very long, complicated route to Bangkok that could easily have been obviated by a short, hour-and-fifteen minute flight. Instead, we have decided to take the minibus-minibus-taxi-train route which, it turns out, will take approximately 24 hours.

Which just seems absurd.

What it is doing, however, is giving me ample time to reflect on the nature of travel on crowded minibuses first full of bleary-eyed backpackers and then full of Thais on their mobiles.

None of which I will bore you with, as they seem to be mostly of the all-too-earnest "one world, one family, united by commercialism blah blah blah kill me" variety. Boring. If you really need that fix of high school philosopher pseudointellectualism, well, this is the Internet. It's readily available.

Instead, dear reader, let me regale you with tales of my adventures of yesterday. To preface: I am quite obviously fine, and do not need worried phone calls/texts/emails/facebooks thankyouverymuch.

The day started off threatening storms, which made for a pretty choppy and wet ride to Ko Phi Phi, sitting on the top of the boat as we were. Fortunately, once we neared the island, the skies cleared and we were able to enjoy some moderately nice sightseeing around Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh. Then it was time for the part of the trip I'd been most looking forward to: SNORKELING! It started off as these stories so often do: the snorkeling was fantastic, and I loved seeing the fish swimming amongst the coral reef. My two friends and I were having a great time splashing about, playing in the water.

As you might already know, I am moderately ADD when it comes to animals (see the post about manatees). So it's probably inevitable that I got kind of distracted by a fish. I followed it for a while - couldn't have been but a minute - but when I looked up, I saw one of the scariest sights I have ever seen in my life: no one. It looked like I was completely alone in the water which, as you might imagine, is a pretty terrifying feeling. All my fears about deep, open water that I'd managed to successfully suppress for years came flooding back to me right at that moment.

Frantically, I searched for the nearest boat, becoming acutely aware of just how strong the current really was. After what felt like an eternity, I reached the boat, and my heart sank as I realized that it definitely wasn't mine. I paused, collected myself, and asked if anyone knew where the boat I had been on was.

500 meters. I could do this. There was a boat between this one and mine, so I knew I would have a resting point. I set off.

There was a shelf of coral, relatively shallow, that I knew I would need to keep close to if I was going to have any chance of staving off the panic that would come with staring into the abyss of the deeper water. The current, however, was having different ideas. Like a linebacker, it did it's best to keep me away from the comfortingly shallower water.

I was terrified to look up and drift even further out, but I was even more terrified to lose sight of the orange boat that was my beacon and guide to safety.

Finally, my breath coming in gasps and my mask sloshing with salt water, I reached the boat. Clinging to the rungs if the ladder, a German diver remarked on the strength of the current

"Just a bit," I replied, desperately hoping my dry sarcasm would mask the very real fear I felt for the inevitable second round.

"Best to get on with it," he nodded, and with more than a few steely breaths, I took the plunge.

Perhaps I was weaker, or more afraid, but it seemed that every time I looked up, the boat was farther away. The current, too, seemed more intent on dragging me out, and with every glance down the water seemed deeper and the fish more menacing. I could feel the panic rising in my throat.

"Don't panic. Just breathe." I tried to keep The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in my mind, but I could hear my breaths coming in short tasks with more and more salt water in each one.

But I kept on. Finally, after what couldn't have been more than a few minutes but what felt like hours, I saw it: the boat's guide rope, stretched taut in the water like a finish line. Somehow, I had the presence of mind not to grab on in water too deep, but waited till I could keep my head above the water and pull myself to safety.

Trying desperately not to break down in tears, I hauled myself up the ladder, gasping for breath and amazed to have made it out of the water.

I think I'm pretty lucky: I've been swimming regularly for six months, so I'm pretty strong in the water. That, and the lessons I remembered from boy scouts probably kept me safe. Looking back, though, I'm not sure how much real danger I was in. There were people everywhere who likely could have helped, and ultimately I made it.

So overall, I'd say it was a good day.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (but not really, it's an iPod touch)

Location:On the road to Surat Thani

It's called modesty, you guys

Perhaps it is because I was raised in a good, old-fashioned American shame-based religion. Or possibly because I do not have the body of Brad Pitt. But I would never in a million, billion years consider going to the beach in a speedo, let alone outside my own house.

That, however, is precisely what countless hoards of European tourists insist upon doing at this beach. What's particularly scary is just how bad ALL of these guys look. I think my friend Jill said it best: all the women look concave and all the men look pregnant. It's really a terrifying sight.

Here's the thing, though: even if you DO have the body for a speedo, that doesn't mean you should wear one. I mean honestly, people! Have some shame about your body! Goodness, walking around like you don't have body issues!

Cover. That. Mess. Up.

The good news, though, is that America us definitely winning the culture wars. I have seen more white trash tourists here than on a Carnival cruise ship, and none of them are American. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (but not really, it's an iPod touch)

Location:Karon,Thailand

The Beach, minus Leo

YOU GUYS. I am officially the most sunburnt evAR. Well, on my legs at least. I am serious. They look like boiled lobsters. Stupid Korean SPF 47. Whatever.

What's more important, however, is that I am at the beach. In January. In Thailand. This is the greatest moment of my life.







This is my beach, Kata, in Phuket. It is amazing.

So far, Thailand has been awesome. Warm weather, beautiful beaches, and hordes of German and Slavic tourists wearing innumerable inappropriate speedos. Seriously, guys, we need to work on exporting Shame to these foreign lands. Because you clearly do not have enough of it if you are a 250 lb tanned leathery whale, DO NOT WEAR A SPEEDO. Just don't do it.

So that's a thing here. But now I'm going to get back to planning my snorkeling with sharks excursion. LATA NERDS.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (but not really, it's an iPod touch)

Location:Karon,Thailand

On the way to thailand

So we are finally on our way to Thailand, sitting in Kuala Lumpur's Low Cost Carrier Terminal. And in case you were wondering, yes, it very much is low budget.




Yes, that's the plane. Yes, we will have to walk up stairs to embark. No, there is no bathroom in this terminal.

Also, terrifyingly, there are a lot if people in Muslim Garb around. Juan Williams would be shitting himself if he were here.

(Sidebar: I am 100% certain that Juan Williams is crazypants. So not worried about the other passengers)

Aaaaand that's a bird in the "terminal". Ge-HET-to.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (but not really, it's an iPod touch)

Nihao from China!

So I have made it to China ( sort of), and now I am sitting in the Shanghai airport eating French fries and strange chicken wings. So that's fun. Also fun? The unexpected trip through customs for my flight transfer. The airport here is pretty standard, if a little crappy behind security. Ah well. Another stamp for the passport and another note for the airport notebook. See you all in KL in about six hours...hopefully...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (but not really, it's an iPod touch)

Location:Pudong Airport Rd,Shanghai,China

Test

Test blog post. Will it work? Will I be able to update from my iPod on my vacay? Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (but not really, it's an iPod touch)

Location:Osan

Year in review

After an unacceptably long absence from the blog, naturally I'm going to do a year in review post rather than an actual update.

It does, however, seem a fitting topic for my 100th post on this blog.

Sidebar: 100 posts? About basically nothing? I'm awesome!


Anyway, it's New Year's Eve here in South Korea already. Here's the thing about New Year's Eve/Day: it's not my favorite holiday in the world. While I do love the excuse on New Year's Day to sit on my couch, eating Ro-Tel and velveeta and watching a marathon of USA teevee shows, the whole "reflection on the past and looking forward to the future" is something that produces more anxiety than excitement in me. In addition, there's so much pressure to do something HUGE - to End the Year with a Bang! - it all gets to be just a bit much.

Last year, though, was a particular low point on my part. I spent the evening (having turned down invitations to parties) sitting on my couch eating Cheez-its and drinking Diet Coke. I completely missed the countdown because I was watching some random mediocre movie, probably on Lifetime. It was possibly the saddest, most depressing sight ever.

Oh did I mention I had moved back home with my parents, having left a great life in DC?

It was not a pleasant way to end 2009.

I should note here, how grateful I am to my parents for letting me move back in with them. They were fantastically accommodating to me and never once did anything on their part to make me feel like I was a teenager again. But as anyone who has moved back home while in their 20s can attest, that's just how you feel, no matter how nice your parents are.

But that was last year. This year was...different. Lots of changes. It started out with a slightly panicky roller coaster ride as first one, then two more teaching positions in Korea fell through until finally, approximately one and one half weeks before I was supposed to be in the country, I was offered a position teaching at an elementary school in Osan. Thanks to another series of exciting mis-communications regarding the day I was supposed to fly out (and an accidental purchase for a ticket in the wrong year), I ended up arriving a week later than I'd meant to, which I'm pretty sure put me on a great start with my school.

Not that I had any idea about that at the time. Not that I had any idea about, well, anything at the time. I stepped off the plane and into a world where I was a) a complete stranger and b) completely alone. The first week was, well, terrifying. I had no idea if there even were any other foreigners like myself in my down, let alone if I would have any actual friends. I was the only foreigner in my school, and the first foreign teacher to boot. It was pretty scary. But I made it through, and at the orientation for new GEPIK arrivals, I met the first part of what would become my Korea Pamily.

I think, really, that's what it's all about. No matter where we live, having that close-knit bond with a few people, finding that all-important support group, that's kind of what living is about. I think, anyway. Maybe just sharing our lives with others. I don't think we are meant to be solitary people, living alone on our islands. There's a reason humans came together to form communities, and then larger communities, and then societies. We need it.

Or maybe we don't, who even knows. Ask Sarah Palin's blood libel or whatever.

So the year wore on, and I grew more comfortable, and then more uncomfortable in my teaching position. Not that I felt that I got better, and then worse, as a teacher; rather, that as I grew more comfortable in my role as an educator, I became more uncomfortable with my role in the education system here that really seems to harm students more than anything. Cue the eyerolls, obvious first year teacher who thinks he knows better than a system that's been around for decades. Well let me tell you, Mr. Smarty-Pants! I do not think an education system that prizes the ability to memorize and actively rejects critical thinking is at all effective!

Anyway, that, plus conflict with the school administration about...everything, and my coteacher's complete lack of assistance on...anything, has made the last few months of 2010 pretty sucky, job-wise. But the last few months have also been pretty good, starting with the new job offer to teach for a year in Shanghai. Add to that the planning for my winter vacation (happening at the end of January), and some quality time with the Pamily, it rounded out quite nicely.

So with 2010 behind me, I can say without hesitation that it represented a marked improvement over 2009. I have met some wonderful people and had some great experiences. What's more, I Learned About Myself and Grew As A Person, so that's a win for the year, right?

And let me make one last thing clear: I do not hate Korea. Not at all. There are plenty of things that annoy me here, the vast majority of them job-related, but I am 100% certain that at a better school, I would have had a better year, and might even be staying an additional year. I liked Korea, and I like being here (generally). I will miss Korea, and my Pamily, as we start to break up late in February, but jeez-oh-man (to quote a friend from Pittsburgh) am I ready to get back to the States. That's the curious thing about living abroad: it really drives home just how much you are a product of your native land.

So here comes 2011: Leaving Korea, visiting America, moving to China. And along the way...who knows? Stay tuned!