The No-Ped Diaries

Ski Season

2012-01-26T14:33:00.002-06:00

Ski season is well underway. Prior to returning to Kansas City for Christmas and New Years, Leysin and the surrounding ski resorts got dumped on with about 2.5 feet of snow. Before even leaving for break I got eight days on the slopes. The best thing about my school/job is that we have ski term. For two months (mid-Jan to mid-March) every Tuesday and Thursday school ends at noon and everyone has to go ski. Yes, that's right, I'm required to ski twice a week for two months. Ski term is great! I even purchased another pair of skis for when we get fresh powder.

Here's a quick video from before break. My friend (coworker) Ethan provided the silly commentary.

Second semester flies by here. Before I know it I'll be back in Kansas City for a week (end of March) for my buddy's wedding and in early May I'll again be taking a group of students surfing in Portugal. These are the things that I have to look forward too this semester :)

As mentioned above, I went home for Christmas break. This was my first Christmas home in four years, and I think it had been nearly eight years since my whole family was together for Christmas. Coming home for the holidays was much different than coming home for summer. It made me miss home a lot more! Being back home was refreshing. Spending time with my family and friends was good for my mind and soul.

Wow!

2011-11-29T14:18:00.009-06:00

Wow, it's been two months since my last post. If I used to have some readers, they are probably gone by now, but the update will ensue nevertheless.

I can't say that my life has been super exciting over the past two months. First semester here is a gauntlet with no substantial break until the semester ends. But we are rewarded with two months of skiing and two week spring break in March, so it balances out...kind of.

I'm nearly 75% through my two year contract here. Coming into this school year I had every intention of leaving and finding a new job. I love Switzerland and the skiing, cycling, and travel opportunities that come along with living here, but I do not love where I work. I'm still in search of a school and surrounding environment that I love...is that so much to ask...it seems to be. The recruitment process for 2012-2013 school years is underway and I've been full steam ahead in pursuing a new position. Unfortunately, of the 55 counseling positions that have already been posted, only one is in Europe...Frankfurt, Germany. I was invited up to their school for an interview, but at the end of the day it was mutual that neither party was that interested in the other. Most of the positions are located in Asia (mainly China and South Korea) and the Middle East. I have an interest in returning to Asia, but know that it's probably not the healthiest move to make. I received an offer in Lima, Peru. I'd love to do a couple of years in South America, but just not yet. I love the mountains here. I love the cycling and I love the skiing! To leave here after only two years would leave a lot of things incomplete. I'm registered for a job fair in London this coming January...hopefully some more jobs will be posted by then. By default I may end up staying at my current school for one more year.

I don't feel like an adult here. Having an "apartment" in a student dormitory is not ideal, but it's part of the job. There is no separation between my personal and professional life. I want a normal living situation, but I won't get that here. Anyways...

For the first part of October I was still getting out on my bike. But as the days have become shorter and a bit colder, there isn't much of a chance to ride.

I was able to drive up to Stuttgart, Germany to visit an old friend (former colleague from South Korea) who now lives there with her German fiancee. The timing was perfect as it was during Oktoberfest, and Stuttgart's Oktoberfest is the second largest in Germany...second to Munich. I don't have pictures of the giant beers that I drank...I'm still waiting for my friend to send them.

I don't play soccer, but I like to watch. Last year a few of us from school went down to Milan to watch AC Milan play Inter Milan. This year we headed to Manchester, England to watch Manchester United play Manchester City. This is a coveted match to watch and my wallet felt the impact. Manchester United was favored to win, but they ended up getting slaughtered 6 - 1. I didn't care who won...I just wanted to watch an entertaining game...and that's what I got.

Two weeks ago I attended a conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon is a great city...in my opinion. I had previously spent only one day there, so some more time was great. At the conference I was able to reconnect with some folks that I haven't seen for a couple of years as well as meet some new people. After a couple days at the conference I headed out to Sintra, which is just NW of Lisbon about 30 minutes. I have a friend there, so I stayed with him and his family for two nights. My first night out with them I accidently ate shell fish and ended up in an emergency clinic getting a steroid shot so the swelling in my throat would subside. Sintra is home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so I spent the next day touring around the city with my friend's family. If I had the chance to live there, I would move in a heartbeat...friendly people, great food, great cycling, surfing, and inexpensive. No jobs there though.

We've been waiting for snow here in Leysin, but nothing has arrived, which means to go skiing I have to get out of town. This past weekend my friend and I went to Zermatt...where the Matterhorn is. They have snow there, so we did some alpine skiing for one day and then some touring the next day. We toured up the Breithorn at 4,164 meters (13,661 feet). I got my arse kicked since I've been relatively inactive for a few weeks, but it was great to get out there and going again. This year has been the driest since the 1920's. Cross your fingers for some snow.

Up and Running

2011-09-19T15:14:00.005-05:00

Students have been back in session for nearly a month now. Thought I'd post just a couple of pictures of the people I'll be spending the next year with. I'm living in/supervising the seniors boys dormitory again. There are 37 students in there with a large number of Saudis and Russians with a number of other nationalities mixed in.

Each year all faculty members are assigned a small group of students that we spend time with throughout the year. I have an American, Saudi, Brazilian, Mexican, and a German in my family, plus a college student from the University of Waterloo who is here for a semester doing an internship. This past weekend was our faculty family weekend where we spend two days with our students. My family is great! All of them get along quite well. Our first day was spent at the Cailler chocolate factory, La Gruyere, and BBQing around a bonfire while looking out over Lake Geneva. The second day we cooked pancakes and eggs for the kids, and then spent the afternoon canyoning at Les Marecottes. After spending two days with the students I was exhausted and slept 11 hours the following night.

The Past Few Weeks

2011-08-24T12:15:00.003-05:00

Not a whole lot has been going on over the past few weeks, but here ya go...

You may have noticed in the news how strong the Swiss Franc has become in the last month. To attend my school for one year it now costs $97,000 USD. Ridiculous! It's not worth it, but our school provides the "status" that some people seek. Our school also accepts nearly everyone that can come up with the money. A perfect combination for some people. My next stop will be a "normal" school. But working here for now allows me some great opportunities outside of my job :)

Last weekend my friend (coworker) and I headed down the mountain to eat some Thai food and then explore some other mountains down the valley. While eating at the Thai restaurant we met an older Thai lady that works for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The three of us talked for a while and then we were invited to lunch the following day (Sunday) to eat some more Thai food with the company of her colleagues. We said sure...something different to do. After lunch Sion and I headed up the other mountains to check out a climbing a spot and try to find some mountain water to swim in. We were successful. We hiked around and found the climbing spot (too difficult for me) and then found a nice stream. The water was surprisingly cold, yet amazingly refreshing.

Found some water. Didn't find my swim trunks.

Sooooo cold!!!

Sunday was lunch. We drove about an hour to Morgins (border town between Swiss and France) to the lady's chalet. We arrived a bit early, so helped set up and prepare a bit of the food. I had a great time meeting some new people (although most I will never see again) with a huge variety of experiences. Having worked for the UNHCR they all had quite interesting stories and job placements. Hopefully another invite to enjoy some great food and company will be coming down the road.

The lunch group. The lady in orange was the random lady from lunch the day before. My friend is in green in front of me.

Work started. I guess I'm ready for it. Excited to get to know the new group of students, but a bit stressed about some that I know from last year. Where does a student go with a cumulative GPA of 1.0? Community college or vocational school are not options. We'll see what happens :)

Still riding my bike. Still getting worked over on the climbs. But loving every minute of it.

Summer Fun

2011-07-30T12:55:00.025-05:00

Summer has been great! As you know, it started off with a visit from my family (see previous entry), and has since been filled with bike rides, travels and adventures. There are many stories to be told, but they're secret :)

Here's a run down of what I've been up to these past couple of months.

June 5-11: Family visit

My family (minus dad) in Montreux

June 12-13: Went up to northern Switzerland to watch the last two days of the Tour of Suisse. Levi Leipheimer won..it was great!

Levi about to start the Time Trial, which gave him the overall victory!

June 14-21: A lot of bike riding with a couple of friends here.

Climbing up the Col du Pillon

June 21: The Summer Solstice. On this day I went on my longest bike ride ever. Two friends and I set off at dawn in hopes of riding over 200 miles. We finished our ride nearly 16 hours later and covered 202 miles. 12.5 hours were spent pedaling...the other time was spent eating on the side of the road. No pictures from this ride because none of us wanted to carry a camera for the day.

June 22-28: Three nights in Amsterdam. Three nights in Brussels. Lots of sight-seeing, museums, art galleries, etc.

Hanging out in Amsterdam

Drinking a beer at the Grand Palace in Brussels

June 30: My birthday. A bike ride, plus dinner and drinks with friends in Leysin.

July 1-10: Reserved a bed in an apartment in Livorno, Italy (western most part of Tuscany). I ended up getting a 3 bedroom apartment all to myself. I went there with the intention of riding my bike. Tuscany in July is HOT and HUMID. I'm not used to heat and humidity anymore, so my time there turned into a sight-seeing trip with just a little bit of riding. So I spent time in Livorno, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Sienna. I would love to return to the Tuscany region, but in the fall or spring when it's not so hot and crowded. My buddy Hayes joined me on July 5.

Hayes, and two new friends from Philly

Vernazza, Italy

Pisa. I took the silly pics too, but this one looked nice.

A replica of "The David." I followed the rules and didn't take any pics of the real "The David."

Sienna

Piazza del Campo, Sienna

July 12-16: I ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain for two days. Went to Bilbao, Spain for a day to check out the Guggenheim Museum, and The Arcade Fire happened to be playing there that night, so I watched them in concert as well. I didn't get a feel for Pamplona, but the running with the bulls was hands down, AMAZING! And I lived :) Northern Spain is beautiful, and Bilbao was a clean, friendly city...there is one international school there...hmmm. Spain was followed by catching the first two mountain stages of the Tour de France. These stages were in SW France in the Pyrenees mountains. I want to go back there. Sammy Sanchez won the first stage watched, and Thor Hushovd won the second.

The Guggenheim in Bilbao.

Hanging out before the bulls.

The bulls in the background. I didn't get any pictures while running because the police told me to put away my camera or I would be removed.

Thor Hushovd winning Stage 13

Sammy Sanchez up the final climb of Stage 12.

July 18-22: Paris, France. I keep going back to Paris because I love that city. I've visited four times and there is always plenty of new places for me to visit each time. This trip was planned in order to meet up with a family that I worked with in South Korea. They are back living in Canada, but were taking a 3 week family vacation through Europe. We were able to time it to meet in Paris.

Hanging out with the Leigh family in Paris.

A storm rolling into Paris.

July 22-29: Long-time friend Matt McClanahan visits. Time was spent in Grenoble and Chamonix, France, Interlaken, Switzerland, and near my place here in Leysin. We watched the Time Trial of the TDF, went rock climbing, climbed the Via Ferrata on the Tour d'Ai, went canyoning in Interlaken, cycling around here, ate some food and drank some beer. A great visit.

After climbing the Via Ferrata on the Tour D'Ai.

Matt and I before we enter the canyon.

Cadel Evans at the start of the Time Trial. He was in the Yellow Jersey after this ride!!

So here I am on August 5 relaxing in my "apartment" watching "The Social Network." The last few days have been spent watching way too many movies and riding my bike since I didn't get to do that much over the last few weeks. Work starts in 2 weeks. Work gets in the way of my life, but it also enables me to do all this fun stuff...a catch 22.

Family Visit (Pictures posted later)

2011-07-11T16:47:00.003-05:00

Family Visit

This post is overdue, but better late than never.

Graduation was on Friday, June 3^rd. My mom, brother and sister-in-law arrived on the evening of Sunday, June 5^th and would be staying in Switzerland until Saturday, June 11^th. My dad was unable to join because he doesn’t like to fly…maybe I’ll end up in Mexico or Canada next and he can drive there J

As excited as I was to have family visiting, it honestly felt a bit weird initially to have them there. Back in Kansas City my life involved frequent interactions with my family, but since moving overseas I’ve only seen my family when I visited back home, or on Skype. My overseas life hadn’t really been shared in person, only through pictures and conversations. So it did take some time for me to warm up.

Rather than staying at a hotel, my family was able to stay in some rooms provided by my school. My brother and sister-in-law got a normal room, but my mom wasn’t so lucky L She had a tiny room with a bed and had to share the bathroom with the others. I wasn’t happy about that, but the school said that those were the only rooms available.

I had a pretty good itinerary lined up for everyone along with my family’s request to spend a couple of days in Zermatt. Everything would have been near perfect had the Swiss weather been consistent with what had been going on the previous few weeks. But Switzerland decided to bring in the clouds and the rain for my family’s visit. Despite this, I still think we had a pretty good time.

Day 1 I took them on a hike, which I had never been on going up…only on the way down. I choose the Tour D’ Ai, which is a beautiful hike that leaves one with amazing views of Lake Geneva, Dents Du Midi, and even the Alps on the northern part of Italy. But the hike was more strenuous and longer than I had anticipated. Everyone did awesome…and my mom was a trooper!!

Day 2 we left for Zermatt where we were hoping to see the Matterhorn. It was raining when we got there and was still cloudy when we left the next day. No Matterhorn for us except on the postcards. But it was fun to visit Zermatt.

Day 3 was spent at Zermatt…not doing much. And then driving back to Leysin with a couple site-seeing stops on the way back.

Day 4 we went to Gruyeres, a famous village known for its cheese making. There’s a well-restored castle there which we all toured, then enjoyed some of the ever popular Swiss fondue. After lunch we headed to the Caillier Chocolate Factory. The tour felt like a walk through ride at an amusement park…nevertheless, it was entertaining. At the end of the tour there was a tasting room. I ate too much there and had no desire to purchase any additional chocolate. But my family went on a shopping spree there in order to bring back chocolate for friends, family, and coworkers.

Day 5 the weather improved and we had sunshine, which was perfect because we were going to the Swiss Riviera (Montreux and Vevey). We took the cog down the mountain and then a quick train ride to Montreux. Montreux sits right on Lake Geneva. We then took a nice long walk along the lakeside to the Chateau de Chillon. This castle has a lot of history and was extremely significant back in the day. I’m not a history buff, so you’ll have to read about it. We toured the Chateau for quite a while, then took the walk back to Montreux. We spent our last dinner together at my favorite restaurant back in Leysin called the Lynx, which had been closed every other time we tried to go there earlier in the week.

Day 6 In the morning we went to their favorite breakfast spot – The Creperie. Breakfast was followed by some souvenir shopping, and then packing. They had to catch a train to Milano in the afternoon, so we all drove down to the train station together. Short goodbyes are the best way to go. I learned that after the first time I left the states to go to Korea. My parents along with one of my best friends waited in the security line with me for an hour or so. It was torture for all of us. After that time I’ve just had my parents drop me off outside the airport and go on their way. Here at the train station we said our goodbyes to one another and a train came quicker than expected, which made for a quick goodbye (thankfully).

I was so happy to have family visit and for them to get a taste of Switzerland as well as what my life is like overseas. They got to share in some of the frustrations as well as the joys of being overseas. It meant a great deal to me to have them use their vacation time and resources to come spend some time with me.

So thank you very much to my family for visiting! I hope you enjoyed your trip and felt that it was well worth the time and effort to come over. See you at Christmas!

What Do I Say...

2011-06-15T12:48:00.007-05:00

Well, Year 1 of working in Switzerland has come to a close. It's kind of hard to believe that a full school year has passed and this time last year I was boxing up my stuff and leaving Korea. This year has been interesting. By and large I feel pretty good about my decision to have come here, but there are a couple of regrets. This year I've met a number of great people who share the same love for the outdoors that I do. Having a group to ride and ski with has been amazing, as well as having the opportunity to do these things immediately out my door. My health has improved drastically...there's still more I could do in this area, but I'm feeling good these days. I've grown professionally, and hopefully my two years here will help lead me into another place where there will hopefully be a balance in between the outdoors and city-life. Although throughout my job this year I have felt like just another cog in the machine. Despite spending huge amounts of time with students I never really felt much of a connection with my students. Graduation didn't mean much, and only a few brief goodbyes were exchanged with students. I do feel like I missed out having not remained with the first graduating class back at my school in Korea. Graduation would have meant a lot to me there as I had great connections with my students. Oh well, as I said, I feel pretty good about having come here.

Here's a pic of the staff at Graduation

Prior to graduation we had Spring Cultural Trips. Two friends (coworkers) and I took a group of 21 students to Peniche, Portugal to spend 4 days at Peniche Surf Camp. We also got to spend a day in Lisbon. I loved Portugal!! Plus, we had a great group of 11th graders, some of whom I'll be working with next year.

Peniche Surf Camp

Some students and I after our surf competition

Our group at the end of surf camp

Group pic overlooking Lisbon

The spring weather has been great (minus the week my family was here), which means I've been out on the bike a fair amount.

I've developed some pretty killer tan lines. They're on my legs too.

Riding up the Les Mosses climb

Me, Paul, Laura, Krysten, Mike on the border of Switzerland and France

Here's a silly video that my friend Paul did on the climb up to the Swiss/French border. I did not feel well, and Paul had a hard time staying on our side of the road while recording.

It feels weird not returning to the states for the summer. Instead I've chosen to spend some time in Switzerland as well as travel to Holland, Belgium, France and Italy. There's lots of cycling and sight-seeing ahead for me this summer, all of which I'm excited about.

I'll write more about my family visit soon...after I get some pics from my family.

Tour of Romandie - Stage 2 Finish in Leysin

2011-04-28T03:31:00.005-05:00

Here are some pics from yesterday's finish in Leysin.

Me, Ethan, Erin, Mike, Pezz, Shane

Me with the Liquigas bus

Some friends cheering in the rain - Paul, Krysten, Laura, Tiffany

The winner of Stage 2

Cadel Evans, ???, Alexander Vinokourov

More money than I can imagine in wheels.

Some Random Thoughts

2011-04-26T15:05:00.006-05:00

Just outside of Interlaken

Riding near Neuchatel

I've only been living overseas for nearly three years, and in the grand scheme of things it seems like a drop in the bucket, but at times it feels like it's been forever.

Leaving the US and the bubble in which I lived has opened my eyes and mind to a large degree, but often times I still feel narrow-minded. Stereotypes exist for a reason. Traveling to different places, living with a variety of people, being immersed in different cultures, etc. have indeed opened my mind, yet the stereotypes still exist...and I'm sure I've done my fair share of perpetuating some of the American stereotypes.

I love cycling. I love skiing. I love the outdoors. But I've realized that I love the energy, flavor, and vibe that exist in a city. In Korea I had all city, and no (well actually just limited) cycling and skiing. Here I have the opposite. I would like to find a balance in between the two.

Keeping in touch with friends back home has been more difficult this year. Part of that could be attributed to the inconvenient time difference. I also think it's partly due to the fact that this is my life now; it's no longer new for me to be living overseas.

Despite looking Swiss (or European) I feel more like a foreigner here than in Korea.

I don't know French and I don't have much desire to learn it. I want to learn Italian even though it's useless outside of Italy...and I don't live in Italy.

I want to become more of a dreamer. I'm too realistic and pragmatic.

Year 30 has been a good one. Thirty is the new twenty, but when it comes to looking at my future, I feel 18.

Although I have many years ahead of me, I feel like it's not enough time to do everything that I want to do.

Those are just a few of my thoughts.

This past Saturday a friend of mine and I rode our bikes to Interlaken. If you come visit I will take you to Interlaken...it is amazing! This week is filled with bike racing, but I'm just a spectator. The Tour de Romandie is within riding and driving distance of Leysin. Stage 2 actually finishes here in Leysin. I will watch two other stages on Friday and Saturday. It's a treat to watch world-class cyclists do their thing.

I'm staying put in Leysin for a few weeks in order to relax and let my bank account recover. At the end of May I'll be going to Portugal with two other staff members and about 15 students to attend a surf camp for a few days. After that we have graduation and then it's summer vacation!!!! :)

Traveling

2011-04-03T04:05:00.002-05:00

So I'm finding it difficult to keep this blog thing alive, but I'll keep trying...

At the beginning of March I gave up on the skiing here as a true winter never came. The only skiing I did in March was when I had ski duty on the mountain supervising students. Today it's 70 degrees here and very spring-looking. Yesterday was the same, so I went out on my bike for a few hours...didn't wear sunscreen everywhere that I should have...my arms look silly!

The month of March was busy...busy with work, then busy traveling. My bank account hurts right now although my account of cultural experiences is flourishing.

In mid-March I returned to Barcelona for 4 days. I was there initially for work, but due to the timing of it all I was left with a couple days to wander around, but didn't do much of that because of the rain there.

My most recent travels took me to Istanbul, Turkey and Rome, Italy.

In Istanbul I met up with my friend Greg who I know from my time in South Korea. We spent 8 days touring Istanbul and some places outside of the city as well. Istanbul is unlike any place I've been to yet. I think some 95% of the population is Muslim although its government is secular. We had a lot of famous mosques to visit and heard calls to prayer 5 or 6 times a day. The Turkish and Muslims cultures were inescapable there, but that was fine as I was there for new experiences. The Turkish people in Istanbul were neither friendly, nor mean...they were just there doing their thing. I'm glad to have visited there as most people rave about that place. I had a good time while learning some new things, and I also marked that off my list of places that I would like to live :)

Here are some pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116289&id=1393045053&l=fb98a83bd9

After Istanbul I came back to Leysin for a couple of days and then went down to Rome solo. I reserved a bed in a hostel hoping to meet some people to wander around Rome with. I ended up being in a 4 person room where there was actually another guy from Missouri...how crazy! This was my 3rd time to Italy, but first time in Rome. This history of Rome is mind-blowing and to be there where so much of our history took place left me in awe. I would love to go back to Rome. My time there was spent on walking tours of the city, ancient ruins, and the Vatican. I got my share of history.

The only bad thing that happened in Rome was that another guy staying in my room threw up on my shoes during the night. That was not fun to wake up to. He apologized profusely the next day, so I did my best to laugh it off. Wish I had a better story to tell.

Here are some pics of Rome: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116285&id=1393045053&l=4dd69afd82

Austria and Ski Touring

2011-02-27T10:48:00.008-06:00

Last weekend was a three-day weekend at school, so I took advantage of the extra day off and rode a train for 9 hours to Salzburg, Austria. My friends Hayes, and Jen are working at an international school just outside of Salzburg, so I was there to meet up with them. The weather was crummy (cloudy and rainy), but we still had a nice weekend together. I would like to make it back to Austria at some point in time while I'm still over here.

At the AUGUSTINER ABBEY & MÜLLNER BRÄU BREWERY

Overlooking Salzburg

Hayes and I

Overlooking Salzburg

Here in Leysin, and a majority of the other resorts over here, we've been suffering from a nearly snowless winter. We went around 60 days with no snow...ridiculous. But Friday night it started snowing, took a break on Saturday, and has been snowing all day Sunday. Finally we have some real powder to ski in. Yesterday I went on a ski tour with five friends (Shane, Pezz, Aaron, Erin, and Ethan). We were out for about 5.5 hours and in that time we only skied down for about 20 minutes. A lot of work with little reward. But we found untouched powder and got an amazing workout while at it.

A nice break on top of a saddle

Prafandaz Restaurant for a post-ski drink and snack (chocolate cake)

Post-ski beverage

Aaron and I (I'm exhausted and it shows)

(Thanks for the pics Shane)

The Last Two Weeks

2011-02-15T09:58:00.005-06:00

Well my life during the week continues to be rather mundane. Work. Dorm Duty. Maybe skiing. Knocks on my door when I'm not working. Same restaurants. Same people. But all in all relatively good. We haven't had a real snow in some 53 days. Watching all the snow fall everywhere but here was crazy. Last week instead of skiing I rode my bike...yes, it was that nice out...a bit cold in the shade, and plenty of water on the roads from snow melt, but the temps were right.

My friends Peter and Leslie visited two weeks ago and spent a couple days here in Leysin and then we went down to Chamonix. They brought me some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and NyQuil. The Reese's are nearly gone. They NyQuil hasn't been tapped into yet, thankfully I don't need it. It was so refreshing to spend time with people from back home. I have friends here, but it's different. Their visit was great and they even got engaged when we were in Chamonix! A very ideal place for a proposal!

This past weekend I went to Paris for my 2nd visit. I fee like I'm getting acquainted with the city now and I'm excited for my next visit which will be in the summer for the Tour de France...maybe sooner.

A couple of weeks ago I went tubing with my "family" from school. The tubing is much better than the skiing. With the warm temps during the days and cold temps at night, it turns the tracks into ice. We had a lot of fun! Here's a video

Chamonix

2011-01-23T16:10:00.004-06:00

Hey, two blog posts in one week...I'm doing well!! This weekend I went with three coworkers to Chamonix, France, which is considered to be one of the best ski resorts in the world. After this weekend I would say that it is one of the most beautiful ski resorts in the world, but for the skiing I can't really comment too well...the snow conditions were not that great. But it's easy to imagine if there is good snow, then there will be amazing skiing. Despite the conditions, we had fun skiing, and it excites me to return later in the season. It seems like many of the ski resorts are suffering from a lack of snow, and it seems like my previous two homes are not (Korea and Missouri).

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107013&id=1393045053&l=64e925bb70

Looking Back

2011-01-19T14:05:00.004-06:00

This evening I had dorm supervision duty, which means that for 4 hours I sit at a desk or wander the dorm and make sure students stay relatively on task. Out of boredom while sitting at my desk I thought it would be kind of fun to look back at my blog. My first entry was some time back in June/July of 2008. I laughed a lot about some of the things I wrote. Two years ago seems like such a long time ago. Lately I've lacked the motivation to write much, but I'm going to try again. This semester should be full of opportunities to take pictures, ski and travel, so hopefully I'll get some of those pics and stories up on here.

This past weekend I went to Gstaad, Switzerland, which is about an hour from here. Normally it has great skiing, but lately the weather has been quite warm and all the ski resorts at lower elevations suck (including Leysin). So we went a bit higher for a little better conditions. A friend from Asia was in town for work with her marketing team. Since she does some work with school counselors, I was written off as a business expense...which means my hotel, lift tickets, and meals were taken care of. A great, unexpected gift! Despite the poor ski conditions it was a fun weekend with a group of people outside of work. I'm waiting on pictures from the people I was with...if I get some, then I'll post them.

This weekend I am supposed to be on duty, but got it switched so that I can go to Chamonix, France with 3 coworkers to ski. I have high expectations for the skiing there, but if the snow is not good, at least the scenery will be. I will take my camera with me.

There's a lot going on in my mind right now about the future. I came here with the intention of staying 3 to 5 years, but as you've read in previous posts I'm not to keen on my school, so I will hopefully be leaving after my initial 2 year contract is up. There are some positives about being here, namely the travel opportunities, riding my bike, skiing, and having worked in a Swiss boarding school, believe it or not, is a huge C/V booster. Part of me would like to stay in Europe, but another part of me would like to go back to Asia...I'm thinking Japan. There are several jobs that I'm interested in that are posted for the next school year, but I will have to hope that some jobs that I'm interested in will be available for the year after (starting Fall 2012). If I stay in Europe I will need to be in a city. Despite my love for the outdoors, I need more than that...I need people, culture, energy, etc. But I need to focus on now, and make the most of my current situation, which really is quite good.

That's enough for now. Pictures to come in the near future...

Korea Revisited

2011-01-09T08:11:00.002-06:00

Much to my surprise and many others, I opted to return to Korea for my Christmas vacation. I had originally planned on traveling Europe during the holiday, but after an exhausting semester I just wanted to see some friends and escape from what was, at times, a sterile life in Switzerland. Rather than returning home for the holidays where the goodbyes never seem to get easier, I came to Korea instead.

After arriving in Switzerland I began doubting my decision to leave Korea. I worked at a great school and had great friends, but my view of Korea was jaded by things in my control as well as things out of my control. In Korea I struggled with living a healthy life - physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. - and that was my number one reason for leaving. I had a love/hate relationship with Korea. My life is the classic case of the grass always being greener on the other side. Anyways, I was second guessing my decision to leave and was even considering a return back to Korea for work.

This trip has brought some closure for me, even though the temptation to return still lurks around the corner. Korea is a fun place. There is an energy that exists there that I haven't experienced anyplace else. But I want to live a healthy life and I want a healthy relationship and I don't foresee myself having/doing either if I returned to Korea. So my three weeks here have confirmed my decision to leave and my thoughts about my life here...but who knows what will happen in the future...I'm known to make decisions that don't make much sense.

It's been great to see friends and to see people who I thought I would probably never see again. When I arrived at the Incheon airport it felt like I never left. I'm comfortable here in Korea and I know how things work here. I know more Korean than I do French (I know zero French), so it's pretty easy for me to get around. I stayed at my friend's apartment, so I had a free place to crash. I spent my first night here throwing up...not because I drank too much, but because I either caught the 24 hour flu or ate something bad on the plane...I think it was the 24 hour flu. Thankfully the school nurse was able to get me to the doctor the next day. It's been bitter cold here in Korea, much colder than in Switzerland. After the stomach issue left, I then caught a cold, which I've had for the duration of my trip. I went to the doctor two times here, and then the other day a filling popped out, so I will go to the dentist before I leave. But despite all this, I've had a good time here, and I'm leaving excited to return to Switzerland.

The start of the semester will be busy, but I'm rewarded with skiing during the school day and then some weekend trips to different ski resorts around Switzerland and France. My friends Peter and Leslie are visiting at the end of January/beginning of February. They will spend a couple of days in my town, and then we're headed to Chamonix, France for a few days of skiing there. I welcome any visitors. Living overseas and not being able to share my life with people close to me gets kind of old, so I'm excited to have some visitors!

Well, there's a brief update of my life...if anyone is still reading this..hah.

Pictures

2010-11-22T13:09:00.002-06:00

Here are some links to pictures that I haven't posted on here...

Switzerland:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97744&id=1393045053&l=936805be31

Cycling:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97737&id=1393045053&l=9fc4b7e3e6

Paris:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90828&id=1393045053&l=ccff8b80c6

Milan:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97740&id=1393045053&l=3f7ac01e00

Barcelona:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97743&id=1393045053&l=74c74c7f07

Lacking Motivation

2010-11-15T07:41:00.007-06:00

My friend Hayes visited for a few days

Sunset from my window

It's been forever since I last posted. I haven't been in the mood to write anything partly due to the fact that I've been struggling some with being here. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but where I spend most of my time, at work, is not so beautiful. I've learned some lessons that I will apply when searching for my next job, which may end up being sooner than later...I'm still deliberating. In the future I will avoid working for a "school" which is for-profit. Education does not come first at such places. I will also avoid working at a boarding school that is not independently staffed by someone other than the teaching faculty. We are put through a juicer here...squeezed for every minute and every dime. But being here has afforded some great opportunities when time allows.

Four weeks ago a coworker and I headed down the mountain to watch the first race in the World Cup Cyclocross series. National champions from all of the world kicked off the series in Aigle, which is just 30 minutes from where I live. There were 3 riders there from the USA, so we cheered them on...they were probably wondering who was cheering for them :)

Jeremy Powers at the World Cup race...go USA!

Amongst the snowy days and rain that has been common lately I was able to get out for 2 final rides before the season ended. Now I anxiously await ski season to roll around the corner. I went down to the ski shop last week to check out their "touring" skis, which will allow be to go just about anywhere. It's like a combination between cross country and alpine skiing. Great for fun and fitness!
My favorite bridge to ride across

The month of November is crazy at work since we will be processing about 800 college applications. But despite this I booked 3 of the 4 weekends for travel. This past weekend I went to Milan, Italy (I'll say more in a minute). Next weekend I will be going to Barcelona, Spain and the weekend following that I will be in London.

Since my time here I have been to Italy twice. I'm in love with this place, but will most likely never be able to get a job there because of visa issues. If I were to take a year off from work, I would definitely consider doing a language program in Italy. The people are friendly, the food is amazing, the language is beautiful and there is plenty of cycling all around the country. It's about a 3.5 hour train ride to Milan, which goes by quite quickly. For those of you fashion gurus, Milan is the place to be. I was with one coworker and we stayed with his friend that is studying there, so we had a "tour guide" and a free place to crash. A majority of our time was spent checking out the historical sites...the two most notable places being the "Duomo di Milano" and da Vinci's "The Last Supper." Ancient architecture blows my mind and to see one of the most famous paintings in history was amazing! A group of us then went to see one of the largest European soccer rivalries: AC Milan vs. Inter Milan. 85,000 fans chanting, singing, and yelling. They are emotional about their times. The atmosphere was buzzing with energy! Both teams have played much better soccer in the past, but it was a once in a lifetime experience to be there! We arrived back at Leysin at 3:30am Monday morning...work started at 8am...and I made it there at 9:30am.
Duomo di Milano

At the San Siro Stadium

It looks like the stands are on fire, but just some flares!

Audrey Hepburn and I

Christmas break is starts in about 5 weeks. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss Korea and many of my friends back there. So I'm planning on booking a ticket there for Christmas. I lost motivation to travel here during break. I just want to relax and not bounce around. So Korea here I come (90% sure).

Work, Riding, and a bit of Traveling

2010-09-27T14:13:00.006-05:00

It's been too long since my last post, and although my life hasn't been that exciting I have been doing my best to enjoy life over here. My weeks are long with a lot of work, but I've managed to get some play time in during the weekends.

Three weekends ago a group of us from school did a ride/race to Verbier. This is a famous ski town and has also been featured in the Tour De France. Myself along with 500 other riders went out for a 95km ride that include a 10km time trial up the mountain to Verbier. This is the first time in a LONG time that I've been involved in anything even remotely competitive. I managed to place 47th out of 87 riders in my age group. I was happy with that since I've only been riding in the mountain for a month. Plus I beat some of my colleagues that I've been attempting to catch up with since I moved here. Once at the top we had a pasta lunch, listened to some live jazz, and then headed home. With the ride back home I logged 150km for the day.

Just finishing the climb up to Verbier.

Trying to dry off and get some sun on my blinding, white body.

The group from school.

Being stupid.

Working at a boarding school, the staff members are the surrogate parents for the students. Here we have what's called "Faculty Family" where each faculty member has a small group of students that we meet with on a regular basis to eat dinner, go to the movies, hang out with, etc. My family consists of 3 guys and 2 girls. Three of them are from Mexico, one from Brazil, and one from Azerbaijan. We are a bit dysfunctional, but for the most part we're a good family. Two weekends ago I had a weekend trip with my family. I had arranged some plans, but due to the poor weather we bagged the initial plans and hopped on a train to Lausanne for Friday and Saturday. The students wanted to stay the night in a hostel, which was funny to hear since they normally live a life of luxury. So we booked a couple of rooms for the students and I stayed with strangers. The students slept well, but I did not. Anyways, we spent our time eating good food, doing a bit of shopping, walking along the waterfront, going to the cinema, and hanging out at the hostel. It was surprisingly a fun time.

The Darby Family.

And this past weekend I went to Paris. I went with four coworkers and our original reason for going to Paris was to see Mumford and Sons in concert. Things didn't go as planned, and our train was delayed for a while on Friday afternoon, therefore we were late to the concert and only heard four songs...but they were four good songs :) The remaining time was spent touring the city. Being there for two days only allowed me to get a taste of the city, so I will definitely go back a couple more times to visit the museums and some of the other sites that I missed.

Obvious what this is.

Arc De Triomphe

The concert group eating at "The Pharmacy."

Notre Dame

The only tough looking people in France...the riot Police.

October is another busy month, with work on every Saturday. So unfortunately I really won't be able to go on any weekend excursions. Damn the man. We already got our first snow here. I had to wear a winter coat today. I'm not ready for the cold weather, so hopefully this was just a fluke.

Up and Running

2010-09-05T08:04:00.006-05:00

Although students have been here for 2 weeks, classes officially started this past week, and my college counseling classes will start tomorrow. Unfortunately I'm unable to coach or sponsor any outdoor activities here because my college counseling classes take place after school Monday - Thursday which is the same time as team practices and other activities. This will be a change for me as I've always coached a school sport, but I have to do my job and that includes these after school classes with groups of about 15 students each day. Thus far I've enjoyed the other people in the college counseling department. We get along well and laugh quite a bit.

This weekend was a good one. I ventured down the mountain to Lausanne in hopes of meeting some people outside of school. Lausanne has a large expat population with many people around my age. I went down there Friday night with two other coworkers and it ended up being quite fun. I managed to meet some people from England, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Germany. Hopefully I'll have to chance to connect with these folks next time I head to Lausanne. Saturday was spent on my bicycle. A group of 6 of us (3 staff, 3 students) had planned on riding around Lake Geneva, which is a 110 mile ride. About 25 miles into the ride we encountered some construction near Evian, France, so our plan to go all around the lake was foiled. But we caught the ferry to a different point on the lake and started riding again from there. It was a picture-perfect day for riding and we ended up riding the northern part of Lake Geneva twice and logged 125 miles. I'm tired today.

I'm still adjusting to the smallness of the community in which I live and work. Swiss business hours are awful if you're trying to go to the bank or buy groceries. Most shops close at 6pm, even vending machines...and that makes no sense whatsoever. Also, business hours change unexpectedly. If you visit a shop on Monday at 4pm, there's no guarantee that if you visit it again at that day and time that it will be open. Business owners do whatever they want, which is great for them, but at times can be frustrating for others.

The beauty here continues to amaze me. I hope it never gets old!

Looking down on what I rode up.

The group of us on the ferry while out on a ride.

My back yard.

My back yard again.

Money, Money, Money

2010-08-26T04:36:00.002-05:00

Students and their families began arriving on Monday. Most of more dorm students are here. I have students from: Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Russia, Norway, Italy, South Korea, China, Japan, and the USA! I'm probably missing some countries. Coming here I knew these families were wealthy, but it's beyond crazy how much wealth exists here at this school. Also, money talks here....not a good thing. I found out that one family donated 1 million dollars to help build some facility here and the student was bumped up a grade level. Hmmm, doesn't sound right to me. I'm slowly becoming aware of the school politics...something I hope to stay out of as much as possible.

Part of me thinks adjusting to life here in a small, remote village will be more difficult than my adjustment to South Korea. We shall see.

Inaugural Ride

2010-08-22T16:36:00.006-05:00

After a busy week of orientation I was finally able to get out and have some fun. After morning meetings on Friday, the staff went out for some bobsled training. A local here was on the 1980 and 1984 Swiss bobsled team, and back in the day he built a small track, which was used for training for the start of a bobsled race. So we all formed groups of 4 and had a competition. It's something I'd never done before, nor did I think I would every be pushing a bobsled, but it was so much fun. After that we had a friendly game of softball.

I had to make a decision about what to do on Saturday. The school was taking a group to IKEA to buy furnishings for the apartments, but there was a group of returning staff members that were going out for a ride. I needed some stuff at IKEA, but I chose the ride, and I'm so glad I did. Not only did I get to spend some great time riding with some new people, I had one of the most beautiful rides I've ever been on. The route was undetermined prior to the start, but I was told it we shouldn't be out for too long...not true. We ended up riding 80 miles, and climbing over 6000 vertical feet...that's a decent amount. There was one climb that took us an hour to ascend. At the end of the ride they apologized to me for taking a newbie out on a ride like that. We started off in Switzerland rode into France and then back into Switzerland. Before we crossed back into Switzerland we took a brief stop to swim in Lake Geneva and get cooled off. It was an amazing ride through great scenery and many quaint, little towns/villages. Now I have a group of riding buddies for the next couple of months before the cold weather sets in.

Today I rode with one other person in attempt to have a recovery ride. Recovery rides are nearly impossible as each ride ends with a long climb up the mountain back to Leysin. We did our loop and were about to head up the mountain, but there was a wreck that stopped traffic, so we turned around and went back to a cafe for breakfast. After breakfast we headed back up the mountain.

I hope once work officially starts (as in classes begin) I'll still have plenty of time during the week to get out on the bike. My new bike is awesome. It climbs like a machine, but I don't..haha. I have a lot of time to put in on the bike to catch up with the other staff members, but I feel good about it.

Arrived Safely

2010-08-19T17:43:00.003-05:00

Hey!

After flights from Kansas City to Chicago to Warsaw, Poland to Geneva, Switzerland, and a 1.5 hour car ride to Leysin...I am "home." I've been at my new "home" for 2 days now. Right from the get go we've been busy attempting to learn the new ropes...no free time. The village is beyond beautiful. The people are friendly. I haven't had the chance to explore too much, but I hope to do so in the near future. I think school life/work will occupy a majority of my time.

The past 2 dinners have been typical Swiss dishes....cheese fondue on night 1 and raclette on night 2. YUM! If I don't exercise like crazy, then there will be trouble. The local wine is good....and cheap.

I shipped my mountain bike 3 months ago from Korea and I took my road bike on the plane with me, but somehow it didn't make it to the airport when I did. A delivery guy dropped it off today. I was bit worried, especially since I dropped an arm and a leg for it. But both bikes are built and ready to ride...I just need the free time to ride now. These mountains are going to beat me up, but I'm excited for it :) I think I'll get out Saturday and see how my lungs and legs hold up.

Something I didn't mention earlier as I was trying to focus on the positives of my new job and environment. I am working at a boarding school...boo. There are approximately 400 students representing 60 different countries...yea! I've been placed in the 12th grade boys' dorm and I have dorm responsibilities once a week and one weekend every 5 weeks. This part of the job I am not excited for, but I will do my best to embrace it. My apartment within the dorm is decent. I have just a bit less space than I did in Korea. It's a very weird setup, but it will work fine, especially when people visit because there is an extra room and bathroom. I guess one perk about being in the dorm is that my apartment gets cleaned once a week by housekeeping :)

Life won't be perfect here. Life may even be crazier here than in Korea...who knows. As I mentioned earlier, I think work will consume my life, but I should have time to enjoy the things I love. Initially there will be a lot of lonely times, clinging to the past, and resisting change. After getting used to living in Korea and feeling like I know what I'm doing, I now feel like a foreigner again. I have no idea where anything in town is. I don't even know survival French. I'll have a lot of work to do to get accustomed to life here, but in time I will be good.

I will take some pictures over the next few days. Here is one picture, but it's far from an accurate depiction of how beautiful this place is...it's what I wake up to in the morning :)

Summer Is Nearly Over

2010-08-13T15:17:00.002-05:00

It's been great to be back here spending time with family and friends, and I feel like the time is much more rich given that it's limited and not something I experience on a regular basis now that I'm no longer living here. Going to my favorite places seem "that" much better now. I value the time spent with those near to me.

In 3 days I'm off to Leysin, Switzerland where I will be for at least the next 2 years. I signed my contract with the intention of staying additional years given that I like my job there...we'll see what happens. I'm doing my best to manage my expectations of what my life will be like when I'm in a place where I have access to so many things that make me feel alive (e.g. skiing, mountain biking, cycling, hiking, etc.). I believe that my quality of life and my health will improve being in such a place, but I still have a job to do and that's what most of my time will be spent doing. I'll have about the same amount of vacation time here as I had in Korea, which will allow me ample time to travel around Europe. My list of places to go is long!

I bought a new (used) road bike for my time over there. I contacted an old friend who is a sales rep for Trek Bicycles and he was able to pass along huge savings to me on a 2010 Trek Madone 6.9. This bike is AMAZING...more bike than I need, but hey, I got a great deal :) Right out my door in Leysin is world-class cycling, and I'm going to ride as much of it as possible.

Something I may not have mentioned earlier is that my school has a ski term. From January to March, every Tuesday and Thursday is ski day, which means that we have school the 1st part of the day, and then the 2nd part of the day is spent on the ski slopes! :) That's quite the job perk.

Hopefully in the weeks to come I'll have some fun stories/pictures/videos of my new "home."

A Lot to Say, A Little to Write

2010-07-18T02:44:00.002-05:00

I've been back in the states now for just over a month. Much of my time has been spent with my family, friends and bicycle. It's so wonderful to re-connect with everyone back here, but at the same time the lifestyle differences are apparent and my position overseas is a great fit for the time being.

After 2 years of living abroad I know that I fit in better out of the states, than in the states. For a long time I was following the traditional path and that path did not lead to happiness for me...so I made a change. Although I miss regular time with family and friends, the adventure, new experiences and a broadened perspective make it worth it.

Despite knowing that the move and change I made was a good one, there are many times that I wish I was in one place. The past few days have been spent at a conference in Boston, MA for the Overseas Association of College Admission Counseling. Nearly 900 people representing over 80 countries gather together to network, share stories, learn, and have a good time. There are so many single people here though...of all ages. I've realized that this profession lends itself to a life of singleness, though not in all cases. Two years ago I was not ready for marriage (not for sure how I feel about the institution of marriage)...I'm still not, but I am more ready for long-term relationship than in the past. I've had the opportunity to meet many people that share my interest for education, travel, and adventure and at this conference I've met even more. I met a great gal this weekend from Vancouver, Canada. She works as an Admissions Rep for a Canadian university. We connected in many ways and it's times like these when I wish I was stationary and in a place to have a real relationship. It's times like these when I wrestle with what I've written at the beginning of this post.

I'm not sure what Switzerland holds for me. I look forward to the diverse student population that I will be working with, the skiing, the cycling, and the European travel. Four more weeks till my departure!!

Goodbyes Cont'd

2010-06-12T00:37:00.002-05:00

Goodbyes in your home country are different than goodbyes in a foreign country. Each time I say goodbye to my friends and family in the states I know full well that I will see them again upon my return. In one sense saying goodbye to people here in Korea has been more difficult than back home. Odds are I will not see a majority of these people ever again, so it truly is a goodbye. We were at the same place during the same time and now we part ways. I value the relationships formed here, but due to the nature of our lifestyles and location we may never meet again...although I hope that our paths will cross in the future.

Let the Goodbyes Begin

2010-05-27T04:30:00.003-05:00

Today was our last day of class, which will be followed by a week of student exams. We had an end of year assembly where student awards were handed out and the official goodbye was given to each departing staff member - that included me. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but I was caught off guard. My principal said some very kind words to/about me while I stood before the student body. I got just a little bit choked up, but not too much...you know, just a couple small tears. The principal said goodbyes to the three other departing staff members, then the assembly was finished. Afterwards, student after student approached me to say some nice words, tell me that they'll miss, and give me a hug. This is where I struggled. I was sad to begin with, but when I see other people cry, I share that experience with them. So a lot of hugs and tears later I was in the clear.

As much as I hate Korea, I love it. As much as the students frustrate me, I truly care about them. As much as the parents drive me crazy, I've built some great relationships with many of them. Four months into my stay here I was ready to bail on my contract and move home. I endured. My time here has been a mixture of love and hate, frustration and joy, camaraderie and loneliness, along with a number of other emotions.

Although I'm ready to leave, part of me desires to stay. I will miss my students, my coworkers, my friends - all those that have been a part of my life here in Korea. I'm moving on to what will be another chapter of travels, adventures, and new experiences, but I'll be taking with me many great memories of Korea.

My New Home - August 17

2010-05-19T21:32:00.004-05:00

Here are just a few pics of where I'll be living for the next two years starting August 17. Looks nice, doesn't it? :)

Attempting to Wrap Things Up

2010-05-04T06:23:00.003-05:00

Seeing that I haven't posted in quite a while you may assume that I've been busy or that I'm lacking motivation...both are true. I'm down to my final 5 weeks in Korea. It's hard to believe. I'm swamped at work and I don't think that I'll get everything done that I need to do before I leave...I can only do so much. Wrapping up things in one place while getting ready for a move to another place is quite overwhelming, enough so that I don't even want to deal with it. But I'm trying to knock out things one a time. Last Monday I visited the Swiss Embassy to submit my Swiss Visa application. If all goes well I should receive it right before I leave Korea. Last Friday I had a shipping company visit my apartment to provide me with a quote to get all my crap to Switzerland. My ticket is booked to leave Kansas City on August 16th and arrive in Geneva on August 17th. I'll get to try out LOT-Polish Airlines. I've been spoiled here flying with Korean Air.

There are a lot of things running around inside my head, but I'm going to save them for myself or another post. I'm ready to be back in the USA right now. I need/want to see my family and friends, and touch base with "home."

Another Change

2010-04-01T23:54:00.003-05:00

After an unexpected turn of events this past Monday I was offered a job in Switzerland at Leysin American School. I'm beyond excited for this opportunity to live and work in such an amazing place. I don't think I could be working in a place that is a better fit for me than this school. In August I'll be moving to the Swiss village of Leysin, which is on the east side of Lake Geneva, and up in the mountains. This will be a huge change from where I'm at now. Suwon = 1.25 million people. Leysin = 3,000 people year round and 10,000 people during the ski season. I'll have daily access to skiing, mountain biking, road cycling, and hiking, right out of my front door. Ah!!!!!!!

The timing of all this was a bit difficult as I had verbally committed to another year at my current school. Thankfully I work under some wonderful people who support and understand me as a person. They knew my heart wasn't here in Korea and that it was a dream of mine to move to Switzerland. So when the opportunity arose they were supportive of me pursuing the position.

Something tells me I'll have a few more visitors at my next location :)

Back From Vietnam

2010-03-29T05:34:00.003-05:00

After 8 days in Vietnam I'm back in Korea and back to work for the final stretch of the school year. Vietnam is a great place to visit and I might even consider living there despite its extremely hot weather and crazy amounts of people. English is widely spoken due to the tourism boom. The Vietnamese people are friendly. The food is yummy. And the country is beautiful! My friend and I stayed at a hostel while in Ho Chi Minh and then stepped it up a few notches for the few days at the beach. Accommodations at both places were comfortable although much nicer at the beachside resort.

Ho Chi Minh City was busy, and full of scooters, prostitutes and travelers. A lot of the people I met were on trips that lasted up to a year and with their extended travels came some good stories. We did a couple of day trips to some significant sites outside of the city. We visited a Cao Dai religious temple and watched their daily ritual, which involved mostly chants. The Cu Chi tunnels were definitely the most interesting place I saw in Vietnam. These were the tunnels used by the VC during the American Vietnam War. A portion of the tunnels were enlarged so that tourists could go through them. They were still very small and I couldn't imagine going through them during war time. The VC built over 200 kilometers of these tunnels at depths up to 10 meters. Pretty crazy endeavor! We toured the Mekong Delta by motor boat and row boat. The other time was spent wandering the street markets, eating good food and bumming around.

After Ho Chi Minh City we went to the Mui Ne beach, which is a famous spot for kite boarding and wind surfing...but I did neither, ha. The only semi-constructive thing we did was rent a scooter for a day and drive around to some of the different sand dune parks. Towards the end of our ride we took off our helmets because they wouldn't have done squat for our heads had we actually been in a wreck. Well, it turns out that the only thing the Police care about in terms of road safety is the use of a helmet. We were quickly pulled over. The police officer asked for my Vietnamese driver's license. I obviously don't have one. A small crowd started to gather because what's more fun than watching a couple of tourists get pulled over...? Nothing. The police officer said that he was going to have to keep the scooter because I had no license and was not wearing a helmet. I kept my cool, although nervous on the inside. Thankfully after being polite, apologizing and promising to wear our helmets, he let us go. A lot of time was spent lounging around the beach, swimming in the oceans, watching movies, eating food, drinking some beers, and sleeping. It was a very relaxing 2nd half of the trip!! A hot and sweaty 5.5 hour bus ride brought us back to HCMC where we had to kill a couple of hours until going to the airport for an overnight flight.

We arrived back in Korea at 7 am, and I got to my apartment at 9 am...showered, made a couple of phone calls and hopped in bed for some sleep. Overall it was an excellent trip!

Kickboxing and Vietnam

2010-03-15T19:20:00.003-05:00

I'm in my 4th week of kickboxing and it's going pretty well. Despite looking and feeling like a fish out of water I've been making small steps of progress. There is a lot more rhythm and coordination involved, so I'm still trying to get the feel of the movements. It's fun. It's engaging. And at times it's painful. Once the weather warms up I'll be riding my bike to and from the gym, which will eliminate the time wasted sitting on a bus. Instead I'll get a 45 minute ride each way to/from the gym and then 1.5 hours of kickboxing. I should see a drastic increase in my fitness sometime in the next month.

On Friday my friend and I will be getting on a plane to Vietnam. After a 5.5 hour flight we'll arrive in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon. There we will spend 4 nights in a hostel while exploring the city and surrounding areas during the day. From Ho Chi Minh City we'll go east to an area called Mui Ne and spend 4 nights at a beach resort. I'm ready for some warm weather, sunshine, and ocean water.

New Things Going On

2010-02-27T01:39:00.003-06:00

Within the past two weeks two new things have started up for me this Spring. Once again I am helping coach our girls soccer team. The season just recently started and half of last year's team came again, and the other half is composed of girls who have never played soccer. We are starting from Step 1 again rather than being able to build on last year's success. Oh well, what can you do...? We had our first game on Friday and the Head Coach was out of town so I had to run the show. I was a bit nervous, but things worked out well. I yelled for 80 minutes while the girls played soccer for 80 minutes and they finished with a 4 to 0 victory. Great job girls!!!

During my time here I've let some parts of my life get sloppy...mainly my physical health. Although I still look relatively healthy, I don't feel that way. Since I'm going to be here for another 18 months I've resolved to take back control of my life and my health. Last week I joined a Kickboxing gym and I've started taking Muay Thai Kickboxing lessons. On of my friends introduced me to the gym and I work out alongside a couple other foreigners and then 4 to 6 Koreans. My instructor is Korean and he doesn't speak English. It's awesome!! Right now it's all about conditioning along with a little bit of technique and bag work. My body is sore, but it's a good sore! I have a long way to go, but it's exciting.

Two weeks ago I went ice climbing in the world's largest indoor ice climbing facility. We were able to climb up for 62 feet. My hands have never been so tired. I had a great time, but I can't foresee myself doing it often because it takes 2.5 hours to get there via public transit (bus, then subway, then bus).

It's been a long, cold winter here. Many people say it's been the worst winter in the past 10 years. The weather is slowly changing for the better. Once the ground dries up the trails will be rideable and the temperature bearable, which is quite exciting because I built a new mountain bike before the winter started and now it's ready to go.

Although work will be extremely busy until the end of the school year I'm optimistic about achieving some of my personal goals for the next few months.

The Unthinkable

2010-02-14T21:15:00.003-06:00

Life doesn't always go as planned and these past couple of months I have had an up close and personal experience with that. When I ventured off to Korea in July of 2008 I planned on being here for two years and then returning to the states. A couple months into my stay circumstances back home changed, so I was less inclined to return home after two years in Korea. Over the course of my time here I've come to love living outside of the states. I miss a lot of people and aspects of American life, but the international educator lifestyle is great.

For quite some time now I've planned on finishing my contract here (June 2010) and then moving to another country to work at another international school - hopefully in Europe. I applied to approximately 15 schools and attended a job fair in London. No results. A potential offer with a school in London fell through after their current counselor decided to stay. My interviews with a school in Zurich went well, but they wanted someone with UK university experience. The American School of the Hague wanted a female counselor. And, well, some schools just weren't interested in me.

Here I am now with no other options for a job. My current school has been kind in allowing me extra time to find other employment, but they finally said time is up, and I have to decide what I'm going to do. It's either sign for another year here in Korea or face the possibility of unemployment or having to take a job for 2 years in a country that I don't want. So I'm signing on for another year in Korea. I never thought I'd be spending 3 years here in Korea, as two has been more than enough! But circumstances change, therefore, plans have to change. My attitude has been very negative towards the thought of staying here another year, but I must change that now because it's a reality. My situation is great compared to many others. I have a good job, I get to travel a lot, and I'm able to save money - that's a nice combination :) I am working on changing my attitude, and seeing the ways that I can benefit by being in Korea for another year. Wish me luck! :)

Funny Blog

2010-01-31T02:04:00.002-06:00

This is a blog I came across. I love it because I enjoy taking pictures of passed out people here in Korea. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do....

http://blackoutkorea.blogspot.com

$#$^@$^%#%@#$%#$&$%&#$^@#$%@#$^@$^!!!!!

2010-01-26T06:43:00.002-06:00

Well this weekend did not go as I had hoped. I left without a new job for next school year. I was on the verge of receiving an offer from Zurich International School (my dream school/job), but obviously that didn't happen. This job fair was like one kick after the next to my nuts. Ouch. Right now I feel quite defeated. Sure there are still options out there, but who knows. The best place and best odds to get a job is at a recruiting fair, and that didn't happen for me. Anyways, doing my best not to be self-loathing. If something is going to happen, I have to make it happen. London was cool though. English speakers and good beer :)

Off To London

2010-01-21T06:32:00.003-06:00

It's Thursday night here in Korea and I'm packing two suits and few other things in order to head off to London tomorrow morning . For three days I'll be attending an international school job fair in hopes of landing a job somewhere in Europe. I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm wondering if any school is going to pick me up or not. It seems like everyone around me is confident that I'll get offered a job, but who knows...

As much as I want to leave Korea, I know I'm going to miss this place. The reality of a potential move hit me tonight while I've been packing. I'm actually sad. But this is normal and it will pass. I look forward to the possibilities of so many new experiences that come along with a new job in a new country.

We'll see what happens...

Nepal

2010-01-17T07:32:00.004-06:00

At the top of Island Peak - 20,305 ft

I could write a short novel about my trip to Nepal, but I'm lazy now, so I'll be brief. Nepal was AMAZING. Nearly every aspect of the trip was perfect...the only that wasn't was two days of altitude sickness. Seeing Mount Everest, going to Everest Base Camp, and climbing Island Peak were all dreams come true. For now, here is a link to some pictures. I will post more.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47025&id=1393045053&l=f137bcfef3

Last night I met a girl and fell in love only to find out she had a boyfriend :(

2009-12-02T17:04:00.005-06:00

Okay, I didn't really fall in love last night, but I was floored by this girl. She was Korean by ethnicity, but Canadian by culture and upbringing. A perfect combination of personality and beauty. Damn...haha.

News

2009-12-01T19:59:00.001-06:00

Sometimes fake news is better than the real news...

Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus

My Favorite Korean Commercial

2009-11-23T08:30:00.003-06:00

This is my favorite commercial on Korean TV right now. It's so catchy!! Believe it or not, it's for cash loans...can you see the relation? I can't. It's only 20 seconds of your life, so check it out :)

http://video.naver.com/2009061114000889462

Some Details of my Christmas Trip

2009-11-12T21:34:00.002-06:00

This is a note that my travel buddy wrote to his friends about our upcoming trip to Nepal. He knows the details, so I just borrow what he wrote. I don't know anything I just give him the money.

"Hey,

So I wanted to let ya'll know what my next adventure will be. This Christmas, me and 2 other guys will be going to Nepal to hike to Everest Base, Gokyo Lakes, and try to summit Island Peak. It will be an amazing trip, where we will see another 4 8,000m peaks. We will be able to see Everest (world's highest), Cho Oyu, Lhotse, and Makalu!

It will take us about 18 days to complete the whole trek and we will be staying in tea houses along the way instead of camping. In Nepal they have a lot of little towns along the way that you can stay at. In these tea houses, you sleep on beds and get your food made for you from the person who owns the tea house. It's quite nice!

We will start by flying into a town called Lukla. From there we will hike up to Gokyo lakes which are some really high altitude lakes near Everest. From there, we will cross the Cho La pass (over 5,000m), and go to Everest Base Camp. From Everest Base Camp, we will hike up a hill nearby called Kala Pataar. From that vantage point you can see Everest really well. That again is over 5,400m.

Finally, as we hike back down the valley, we will sidetrack to go to Island Peak. Island Peak is a Himalayan Peak at over 6,145m and is what it is. It's a mountain that is an island among the greatest mountains in the world. This will be our first ever attempt at mountaineering and luckily it's one of the easiest mountaineering peaks out there. Basically, we trek up the mountain until we reach a headwall. We then latch into ropes with harnesses and climb up a steep (50% or more) section of about 100m. Then we climb a narrow ridge to the summit! From the summit we will be able to see Makalu very well, along with a beautiful mountain called Ama Dablam.

Anyway, I'm super stoked for the trip. I'm hoping the weather will hold up for us. As you know, December/January is the heart of winter and it will be cold there. Especially when we try to summit the peak, it will be really cold. Some estimates that it could be -15 to -20F. So we'll see if it will be possible. I'm just praying for no snow. That could halt our attempt at the summit.

Just wanted to write this note to let ya'll know what was up.

As for safety, Nepal is safe for hikers and tourists."

Exciting!

Swine Flu

2009-11-03T22:29:00.002-06:00

The number of high school students makes up half of our school population. The high school has eight confirmed cases of Swine Flu and four pending. I'm not for sure how many are in the middle and elementary schools. Numerous international schools and Korean public schools are being shut down. There is talk of the same for us. Though a few days off would be nice it only means that we will loose one of our breaks in the spring...I definitely don't want that to happen!! Let's hope for the best.

Update on Decisions

2009-11-02T00:04:00.003-06:00

No official decision has been made as to where I will be next school year. I have spoken with my school and we came to an agreement that I will be looking for a new placement elsewhere and they will be looking for my replacement. If both of us are unable to find what we are looking for, then I will remain here in Korea for one additional year. At this time there are not many counselor positions posted in Europe, but I did find one in Warsaw, Poland, and I will send them my information. Poland is cheap, developing, beautiful, and has great access to so many places...

Better Late Than Never

2009-10-28T04:33:00.002-05:00

Going to China's capital city over its 60th year celebration made for an interesting, people-filled trip. Our flight was delayed 5 hours, which meant that we arrived at night on Oct 1st. Due to the massive celebration of Communism and all the fun festivities that entailed the subway line that we needed to take was closed. So we followed the masses into more masses into even more masses of people. I have never felt so out of place. After walking around aimlessly for nearly 2 hours we managed to get a taxi that could take us near our hotel. I say near our hotel because our hotel was located in an area that was blocked of to the public because of the celebration. We were not allowed to cross. After finding someone that spoke both Mandarin and English we were able to borrow a phone and contact the hotel. Another 1.5 hours passed and we were finally allowed to go to our hotel. Night 1 over.

Day 1 stuck in the airport for an additional 5 hours. One of hundreds of thousands of people walking the streets.

Day 2 consisted of a 2.5 hour, lightening fast, wild taxi ride to a drop off point on The Great Wall of China. We chose to do a 10K hike on the wall from one point to another. Spectacular weather. Spectacular scenery. Greg is a soccer player and pretends to be a tough guy, but I had to listen to him whine about carrying a small backpack for 5K (the easy 5K). It was a great hike. For Night 2 we went to one of the foreigner districts in search of a quality brew. Success. Wandered around with some people from the Philippines, Chicago, and LA.

Day 3: Tiananmen Square Attempt 1. Due to the national holiday, the number of people at the historically significant landmarks was insane. We walked around for a few minutes, then bailed. Went to the Temple of Heaven instead. Less people, but still thousands. Met up with Sue and her friend Jooyoung for the late afternoon and into the night. They took us to the Silk Market, an art district, a jazz club, an awesome restaurant, and a couple other great spots. It's so great having a local to show us around. Went back to the hotel and watched soccer.

Day 4: More walking and more pictures at The Summer Palace and the back streets. Night 4 we went to an English pub and then ventured out to a China night club. Danced. Danced some more. Met a group of Koreans and hung out with them. Kinda funny how we gravitated towards them.

Day 5: Tiananmen Square Attempt 2. Just as crazy as the 1st attempt. Braved the crowds. Had random people come up and take their picture with me. Funny. Walked around for several hours before heading to the airport to catch our 7pm flight home.

Beijing was great! I want to go back. So many different vibes to experience. Despite the absurd visa price, China, "I like you and hope to see you again!"

Click on the picture below to go a small photo album of the trip.

China

A Preview To My Nepal Trip in December/January

2009-10-16T22:04:00.003-05:00

December 20 - January 9th I'll be in Nepal with two friends that I went to India with last year. We are doing a trek to Everest Base Camp and on our return back we'll attempt to summit Island Peak (20,305 feet tall). This is a video of what we'll be doing.

A Gift

2009-09-23T05:12:00.003-05:00

Today I met with a mother of a new student that I worked with. The student started about 6 weeks into the school year and I had to spend some extra time trying to get things sorted out for him. His mom wanted to stop by work today and say hello to me. We chatted for a few minutes, talking about his opportunities at our school, how he's doing, etc. And as the meeting wrapped up I was given a gift. It was a fancy gift. I received a Coach passport holder. This is a gift that my ex-girlfriend would be excited about, maybe even proud that I own a designer accessory. It was a thoughtful gift from that mother. Thanks.

Cycling and Eating

2009-09-22T00:40:00.003-05:00

I think last Saturday will probably go down as my best day (or most American day) in Korea! I woke up at 6:30am and drove an hour north to Hwajeong Mountain to meet up with another 30 mountain bikers plus their wives, girlfriends, friends, etc. Despite being surrounded by like-minded people and enjoying a great day of riding the best part of the day was what came after putting in the miles. Jerry, who heads up each weekend, brought two of his coworkers that are from some southern state. They brought their red Chevy, and their SMOKER! While we were out riding they were preparing a feast of smoked meats, vegetables, salads and much more. There was a total of 75 lbs of meat...all from the USA. After a morning of hard riding we were treated to a most amazing meal! I sat and ate smoked pork, smoked sausage, corn on the cob, garlic bread, Doritos and drank good beer. It was a perfect day!! I also met a fellow Mizzou grad who was there the same time I was...small world.

Beijing It Is...

2009-09-14T21:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I purchased my ticket to Beijing for $250...what a deal, but the visa for US citizens cost $130 (ouch!). My friend and I will be staying in Beijing for 4 nights and we'll be minutes away from The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and many other great places. A short bus ride and we'll be at The Great Wall. Five-star hotels are only $80-$100 per night. It should be a fun and relatively cheap trip =)

Good News

2009-09-08T01:29:00.002-05:00

We just received word that we will be allowed to travel over the Chuseok holiday (Sept 30-Oct 5). I haven't bought the ticket yet, but I will be headed to one of three places in China: Yanji, Beijing, or Shanghai. I'd like to go to Yanji because I will actually be able to step foot in North Korea, but I will be with 20 coworkers - something I don't really want. If I went to Beijing I'd get to see the Great Wall of China plus some other cool sites. And outside of Shanghai are some beautiful mountains. Hmmmm...where shall I go?

Blah Blah Blah

2009-09-03T07:10:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted anything substantial for a while now because I feel like I'm having more "I hate Korea" days than "I love Korea" days. The way of life here, the normal Korean behaviors, the typical Korean "friendship" are driving me crazy. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be mad because it's just the way things are here. Just because it's different doesn't mean it's bad, or wrong. So I'm trying to keep a positive attitude when things piss me off.

Despite being perpetually irritated and tired my life is pretty good. Here is what has been going on or coming up:

- I had a custom 3-piece suit made along with a couple of shirts. Things fit better when they are made specifically for me/you.

- I've been riding my mountain bike a decent amount. Last Saturday I rode the bike for about 4.5 hours with a big group of expats and then afterwards we ate American food and drinks such as Johnsonville Brats, Doritos, Sam Adams and much more. I met another rider that lives about 10 minutes from me. He is originally from Montana. We will be riding together. I am going to build up another mountain bike for the fun of it.

- One of my best friends here moved back to the states yesterday. It's sad to see him go, but he is one that I'm sure I'll stay in touch with.

- My week-long, swine flu vacation was quite relaxing. I slept, rode, watched a ton of movies, went on a couple of dates and didn't do any of the work that I needed to do.

- I won't be able to travel anywhere during Chuseok (1st week of October) due to the dumb quarantine policy that is now in effect. If you leave the country you cannot enter a school for 7 days once you return to Korea.

- I'm going to the beach this weekend with some friends and to meet up with some others. I'm excited to blind people with my white body...ha.

That's about it =)

Swine Flu aka Foreigner Flu

2009-08-25T22:39:00.003-05:00

On Sunday evening (Aug 23) our school was shut down by the Korean Ministry of Health due to 1 confirmed case (and 7 pending) of H1N1, aka Swine Flu. Our school will be closed for 1 week and the situation will be reassessed as to whether or not the closure will be extended. I am happy and healthy, and now kind of lazy. I guess I am on vacation...again =)

A Few Pics and Words

2009-08-16T03:51:00.005-05:00

The "Soda" Club

Every couple of weeks we get together for "sodas" and we cook for each other. This night we had dinner at Mikki's house. She cooked a great mixture of Korean and Western food. She knows I'm picky. In the pic: Me, Mikki, Melissa, Greg, Tiffeney.

Celebrating Melissa's birthday. She's from Honduras and was so kind to bring back some Honduran cigars =)
My beers are getting ready for a long plane ride.
This weekend some friends and I went to a show called "Breakout." It was a breakdancing musical comedy. Very cool! The first week of school went pretty smooth. Not too much going on right now. There is a trip to Yanji, China coming up at the end of September over the Korean Chuseok holiday. Yanji borders N. Korea. I'm trying to get signed up for a 4 day trip, but I don't know if I'll get a spot.

I started listening to a guy named John Legend. He's been around for a while, and I wish I heard his music a long time ago. Check out the album "Evolver."

I'm a Fake!

2009-08-10T00:14:00.002-05:00

The story behind the title of this post isn't that great, but thought I'd put it in here. In April of 2008 I had Lasik surgery. I was tired of wearing glasses all the time, so I decided to fork over $1700 and experience some mild discomfort (I hate anything being near my eyes) to fix my vision. It has been worth every dollar!!! But there was a small part of me that missed wearing my glasses when I had to meet with parents, give presentations or wear a shirt and tie. I thought the glasses added some intellect and made me look older. I'm 29 now, but still pass for a few years younger...so I'm told. Anyways, this summer I took my old glasses in and had them put in non-prescription lenses. Last Friday was new student orientation. Over the previous two weeks I did not wear my glasses when meeting with parents...well, in fact, I didn't wear them at all. For new student orientation I had to wear a shirt and tie, so I put on my glasses as well. No one here has seen me with glasses, so it felt a bit odd, especially when people would say, "Oh, I didn't know you wore glasses." I would reply, "Well I don't wear them that often." =) Lots of people liked my look with glasses. I feel like a fake. But so many people in Korea wear glasses even when they don't need them, so maybe I can justify my actions by saying that I'm just trying to fit in with the people I'm surrounded by =)

Boring post huh!

On another note...I've been riding and swimming a lot! The Koreans at my local bike shop invited me to ride with them...we'll see how that goes. There is a new staff member at my school who is my Chinese twin. He rides and swims...how great! It's been nice having someone to swim laps with and push one another.

I'm down to 7 beers from the States. I cooked fajitas twice last week and will be cooking for a couple friends on Thursday. I'm becoming domesticated. But instead of ironing my shirts I decided to pay someone to do that for me (it's only a dollar per shirt).

(2nd) Home Sweet (2nd) Home

2009-07-31T20:06:00.002-05:00

I've been back in Korea for 7 days. The flight and bus ride back home were smooth. Korean Air remains my favorite airline. Good entertainment, good food considering it's on a plane, friendly service, and hot flight attendants! I'm all settled into my apartment once again. This time I brought with me my favorite beers, Kool-Aid, fajita and taco seasonings, and a few other things to enjoy.

Saying my goodbyes for a 2nd time was not fun. I will say it is much easier leaving the country when you aren't leaving a girlfriend behind. And goodbyes are also much easier when you make them brief. There was no standing around this year. Nevertheless, it was still hard to leave home again. It's difficult at times being torn between the comforts of home, family, friends and a lifestyle of new/different experiences, travel opportunities and change.

Thanks to mom who did some work for a guy that got a 75% discount at Fedex, he hooked me up and shipped my bike to Korea. It arrived a day after I did. While putting it together I messed up a piece of it, so my riding has been delayed a week while I wait for a new part. I'm soooooo excited to have one of my bikes here. It will allow me to do some exploring, connect with a different group of expats and Koreans.....and improve/maintain my health.

I have some amazing trips planned for this year, but will wait to write about them until the time nears. Work is work, but whatever =)

Pics from Colorado. By the way I'm back in Korea...

2009-07-29T03:20:00.003-05:00

My nephew, Derek, looking cool while supporting Walt's Bike Shop!
My cousin and I after some 4-wheeling.
Part of the family before a nice hike.
Good view.
One of the many reasons why I like to hike...you don't those views from the bottom.
The Entertainment

Colorado, etc.

2009-07-19T11:34:00.004-05:00

This was written a few days ago. I now have 5.5 days left in the states. I will post some pics of Colorado once I get back to Korea (I forgot the computer cable for my camera).

I’m down to my final 1.5 weeks of my vacation/visit back to the states. Time has gone by way too fast, and that is an understatement. Right now I’m in Buena Vista staying in the “Cozy Cabin” with my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and my niece and nephew (3.5 and 1.5 years old respectively). This has been an up close and personal time with the family and life with kids. All I can say is that it must be different when you have your own kids. Time in Colorado has been pretty fun. Hiking, rafting, ATVing, eating, drinking (Bristol’s Compass IPA), and relaxing on the “Cozy Cabin’s” rear deck, which looks out onto the Collegiate Peaks. Buena Vista is an amazing place and each time I visit, its beauty always leaves me in awe.

Coming back to the states was somewhat anti-climactic. I arrived in the Atlanta airport and I thought to myself, “Welp, I’m home” and that was about all. Immediately, the most notable difference was how diverse the US was compared to where I’ve been living. And it was a bit weird not being surrounded by Koreans...that will soon change.

Being back in Kansas City has been bitter-sweet. Spending time with family and friends has been refreshing and life-giving. I am a fortunate person to have such great people in my life, and I do my best to remind myself of that fact each day. Due to my surgery I ended up spending much more time at home with my parents than I had originally planned. It’s been good there. But prior to surgery and once off the pain meds I’ve been able to spend a good amount of with my friends. I have felt loved! But the life I left on July 29, 2008 no longer exists and that has been tougher to deal with than I thought. Each restaurant, bar or place that I’ve visited, whether solo or with friends, something has been missing and that will be the case for an indefinite amount of time. I didn’t expect things to be placed on hold while I was gone, but I also didn’t expect things to feel and be so different. I’ve been overwhelmed with emotions, and thoughts, and memories. One of my goals this past year has been to live in the moment, live in the here and now, rather than holding onto and being plagued by my past or always looking to the future for life “to fall into place.” I feel like I’ve been rather successful in doing so, but my time in Kansas City has proven to be quite difficult in living out that goal. I am trying! =)

Here is a brief heads up for what I’m thinking about doing after year two of my contract in Korea. Despite missing family, friends, and the comforts of home (the word “home” is becoming more loosely defined) I enjoy living overseas. This last year I have felt alive. I am a different person. Being overseas and the opportunities/experiences that come with it tap into a part of my personality that needs to be stirred. So this upcoming February I have plans on going to London to attend another international school recruitment fair. At this fair I will have the chance to interview with European and South American schools. My goal/dream is to land a job in: 1) Switzerland, 2) Austria or 3) Spain. I think working in any European country would be amazing, but those are my top three picks. My choices for South America include: 1) Brazil, 2) Argentina, 3) Chile or 4) Peru. Working, living and playing in Europe would be a dream come true, but I also believe that doing those things in South America would stretch and challenge me to a greater degree and would most likely be more of a learning experience for me. Anyways, those are my thoughts for now. Things could change. I’m open and flexible to what may come my way. I will take hold of Korea for what it's worth over this next school year.

During my last few days in the states I will over-indulge in the things that Korea lacks. I will eat, drink and be merry! I will embrace the fleeting moments with family and friends! I will be thankful for the present!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-06-22T15:38:00.002-05:00

Well I've been home for just over 2 weeks. I have over-indulged in all things I've missed! I spent last in Washington DC attending a conference for work. I met some great folks, which may end up being great connections for future international jobs...if I decide to go that route. While in DC I was able to see a couple of friends that I haven't seen in over a year. I attending the 48th Annual Congressional Baseball Game. It's the Democratic congressmen versus the Republican congressmen. In other words, it's a bunch of old people playing baseball, and it is hilarious. The played at the Nationals' stadium.

I'm back in KC for about 2.5 weeks and then I'll be going to Colorado for 1.5 weeks in July for a family vacation...1st one ever! In 2 two days I will be having surgery on my sinuses and having my tonsils removed (which I guess is a big deal at my age). So unfortunately I will no long be able to indulge in good food and beer for a number of days...damn! Oh well, this surgery should benefit me in the long-term.

My family and friends have been wonderful to me since I've returned!! Thank you all!!

Home

2009-06-05T02:46:00.002-05:00

Today was our last day of school! I made it!! Nearly one year of living in Korea has come to an end and in 48 hours I'm headed home =) I'm quite excited for 18 hours on a plane...seriously, I am.

See You Soon, Friends!

2009-05-29T09:11:00.008-05:00

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

2009-05-24T06:20:00.005-05:00

Last weekend I went down to Taejeon (1 hr 45 min bus ride) to say my hellos/goodbyes to some friends that work at my sister school. I have three close friends there that I have not seen much this semester due to a busier work schedule. It's that time of year where everything is getting wrapped up and people are preparing for summer, for next year, for the next chapter of life, etc. Last week I said goodbye to couple of friends that I made here in Suwon. They were English teachers with one year contracts, which just finished. They are back in Colorado =) This weekend I said goodbye to my friend Jen. She's Canadian-Korean and her 2 year contract finished up this year and she decided to return to Canada rather than signing on for another year (I don't blame her). Jen became a close friend of mine this year through many visits to Taejeon, Suwon, and Seoul. We also spent 2 weeks together traveling through Thailand and Indonesia. She will be missed, but I look forward to visiting her in Canada.

Oh, and if you've never heard David Gray's song "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye," then you should check it out. It's a great song and has nothing to do with this post other than the title.

Doctor Visit

2009-05-19T20:14:00.007-05:00

Last week I visited a Korean doctor. For the past several months I've been experiencing some symptoms on a regular basis (nearly everyday), but I didn't really want to visit a doctor here in Korea. After much contemplation I decided it would be best to visit a doctor and see what's going on with me. Here are some of the symptoms I experience:
- love for skinny jeans

- love for stiletto heels

- love of straight, black hair and brown eyes

- tolerance of broken English

- tolerance of fickleness

- ability to withstand countless stares when walking with a Korean girl

- immunity to whiny voices

- lack of interest in caucasian girls

I know a majority of these symptoms do not appear to be life-altering, or distractions in one's daily life, but in my case they are. Anyways, I explained to the doctor what was going on with me. Within minutes, the doctor diagnosed me with one of the worst cases of "Yellow Fever" that he had seen in the last decade. I felt relieved to be able to put a name to what I've been experiencing. The doctor reassured me that there was no need to panic, and that "Yellow Fever" can actually enhance one's life. So I left the doctor's office embracing my "sickness," and committed to making to the best of my situation!

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/20/11-asian-girls

Sappy

2009-05-05T09:05:00.003-05:00

It's kind of late and I'm in a sappy mood. Guess what I do when I'm sappy...? Sometimes I run. Sometimes I read. Sometimes I write. Sometimes I talk to others. But most of the time I listen to music. Death Cab for Cutie's music never fails to meet me where I'm at.

Random Stuff

2009-04-25T22:58:00.009-05:00

Last weekend I went to a rural part of Korea and spent the night with a Korean family at their Ginseng farm. I've been to a couple Korean baseball games. They are filled with entertainment! I had an "I Love Korea" moment on Friday night. I finished the book "Three Cups of Tea." You should read it. Six weeks till I come home.

Being silly!
Ginseng Farm
Korean family.

Me, Sunny, Will
Doosan Bears Baseball Stadium

Those Bastards!!!

2009-04-21T18:45:00.003-05:00

Someone stole my credit card information! The other night I was working on the computer and started receiving emails thanking me for my order, or saying that my order was being processed. Right around the same time the credit card company called to report some suspicious spending. I confirmed that the purchases being made were not being made by me. So this is what "I" purchased:
- 2 auctions on Ebay...I don't know what they were
- urban clothes from DrJays.com
- clothes from zazzle.com
- online web hosting space from 2 different companies
- something from Cyber Health
- Berry Acai drink and some type of tea
- Theft Identity from LifeLock, Inc.

The total amount spent was just over $1000. Since it is fraud I will not have to pay, but some of the orders were already shipped. The funny thing is everything was shipped to my residence back in the states. So the thieves were kind enough to at least send me what they bought =) Anyways, thanks Nate for returning the packages when they arrive! But if you want some FUBU gear, then have at it =)

Another Look At Korean Life Through A Music Video

2009-04-16T08:11:00.000-05:00

Things I'm Excited For....!!!!!!!

2009-04-13T20:57:00.008-05:00

Here is a list of things that I'll get to enjoy in 8 weeks:
- seeing and spending time with my family
- seeing and spending time with my friends
- riding my mountain bike at Landahl Park
- trap shooting with my dad
- eating home-cooked meals with mom and dad
- grilling hamburgers in Brookside
- sitting on a front porch or back deck
- personal space
- the English language
- walking at Loose Park, on the Plaza, or on the Trolley Trail
- walking across a street without the fear of dying
- being around people with the ability and spatial awareness to walk in a straight line
- hopefully a Royals baseball game
- a family vacation in Colorado where I will get to see by bro, sis-in-law, and my niece and nephew
- fresh air
- driving
- laying on a couch that my legs do not hang off of
- Shawnee Mission Public swimming pool
- beanbag toss
- Charlie Hoopers, Houlihans, The Flying Saucer, Panera Bread Co., Jardines, Barnes & Noble, McCoys, 75th St. Brewery, Cuppinis, Baja 600, Jacob's Well
- Boulevard, Sierra Nevada, Blue Moon and many others
- movies with no Korean subtitles
- walking down the street with a smile and not being look at weird for doing so
- saying hello to strangers and the greeting being returned
- no kimchi

Absence has made my heart grow fonder.

Philippines 2009

2009-04-11T23:57:00.004-05:00

Welp, I'm back from the Philippines and once again I've enjoyed another great trip to a beautiful country in SE Asia. At this point in time I'm not really in the mood to write a lot about my trip. I had an amazing time, but there a definitely some conditions and cultural norms that are quite saddening.

Over the past few months, especially when traveling, I've wondered a lot about my role as a person in the grand scheme of things, how I fit in it, and what sort of difference I want to make. My heart is constantly pulled in numerous directions. I enjoy the comforts of my lifestyle that I have here in Korea and the life I left back in Kansas City. I want to get married and have kids. I want a house. I want a "normal" American life. Etc. But at the same time I have such an adventurous spirit that seemed to disappear over the last few years while living out the "normal" American life. My heart is also pulled towards a more humanitarian direction. A large part of me wants to give up my comforts and pursue a life of helping those in the greatest need. I don't know which direction I will go. I want happiness, but it's difficult for me to be truly happy when I know others don't even have the basic necessities to live.

Anyways, that is a brief tangent, but something that I think about quite often.

Here is a link to some pictures from the Philippines:

http://picasaweb.google.com/darby80/Philippines#

Broken Bones

2009-03-31T19:42:00.005-05:00

Each Saturday, both the girls and boys soccer teams have a game. Here is a picture of what happened to one of the guys playing. A clean break of the both the tibia and fibula. He and the goalie collided and this was the result....

The guys won 3-1 and the girls won 2-1.

Tacos!!!

2009-03-22T21:28:00.007-05:00

This past Saturday we took our girls' soccer team to play a Department of Defense school at Osan Air Force base. This was the 1st time the girls were exposed to the "American mentality" of sports. There were a lot of Osan parents and students that came out to watch the game. The fans were rowdy and their players gave our girls an ear-full of F-bombs. It was somewhat humorous. We got smoked, but it was a good experience for our girls to play a tough team.

Visiting a military base was a treat. For 4 hours I did not feel like I was in Korea. I saw cars made in the US and there was a variety of Western restaurants. Everyone spoke English! My buddy and I ate Taco Bell before the game (9:45am) and then after the game we treated our players to a meal at Taco Bell. Ninety USD feeds about 14 girls! I ate again. My Taco Bell experience included: 3 soft tacos, 1 chalupa, 2 gorditas and a Dr. Pepper. Gluttony. I felt disgusting, but I still loved it. Back in the states I didn't really care for Taco Bell and most other fast foods, but when you don't have access to them anymore, you end up craving it. So I went all out!

Sometimes I flash dolla billz, sometimes I flash soft tacos! We are tough...don't forget! =)

Two weekends ago was our school's winter formal dance. A few of us spent two days decorating for the dance. Thankfully I was given a task, which required no interior design skills! Anyways, here is a picture with the soccer team.

Brief Update

2009-03-17T18:42:00.004-05:00

Our girls soccer team is 3-1-1, which is a huge improvement from the previous 2 years where they had never won a game! The level of competition and commitment to sports programs is quite different than in the states. No parents attend the games. The girls don't care if they miss practice or miss a game, which can be a cause of great frustration. But I'm just trying to accept that this is a difference that exists and that I need to accept it. Despite the times of frustration, the girls crack me up all the time...they are a fun/funny bunch!!

I just purchased a plane ticket to Cebu Island in the Philippines for April 4-11. My coworker/friend Greg and I will be doing a few days of relaxing and a couple days of river climbing and canyoneering. I'm excited for the warm weather and the beach!!

Third quarter ends this Friday, March 20, which means the school year is nearing its end. I hope to book a flight back to KC around June 11 or 12 with a brief layover in Hawaii. I will have to return to Korea around July 24 or 25.

Mother Nature's Strip Tease

2009-03-09T01:25:00.001-05:00

I've never been to a strip club. But two weeks ago I witnessed Mother Nature's version of a strip tease! Mt. Kangchenjonga is nicknamed "The Elusive Peak" because a majority of the time it is covered in clouds. Nevertheless, we ventured off hoping to catch the peak unveiled.

It's hard to describe the Himalayas. I guess what you need to do is take the superlatives of the most amazing words, apply them to the Himalayas and then you have a partial description, which does not do them justice. But you have a taste!

Waking up at 4:45am and hiking up to a view point to catch the sun rising behind the mountains was something I was looking forward to. I didn't know that I should have prepared myself emotionally for the moment I first saw the snow-covered mountain tops. Hiking at dawn, wearing headlamps, and rounding a bend, I looked north and saw the silhouettes of the mountain tops that I've dreamed of seeing for so long. Honestly, I was caught off guard.

I was overwhelmed by it all and couldn't get a good hold of my emotions. I laughed out loud, shed a few tears, and continued hiking upward.

Thirty minutes later we were at Dzongri Top ready to continue watching the sunrise.

There were plenty of clouds in the sky, but our guide estimated that the winds were gusting around 80km/h, and that the sky would clear. Despite the initial clouds we still had amazing views of a majority of the peaks. The skies cleared after a while...except for over "The Elusive Peak." We continued waiting, the wind kept blowing, but the only clouds in the sky remained over Mt. Kangchenjonga. We waited for nearly 2 hours hoping to catch a view of the top, but were only rewarded with fading glimpses of its lower, north face.

This whole process was repeated the next day with the same result. As some clouds cleared, more rolled in from the backside of the mountain. The moments when we thought we may get to see it were only a tease. Despite not seeing the fullness of Mt. Kangchenjonga, the trip was a success. All of us handed out our dollar bills and departed satisfied.

That, my friends, was Mother Nature's Strip Tease.

Pictures From The Trip

2009-03-06T22:58:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple links to photos from the trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/darby80/Himalayans2009#

http://web.me.com/ericm.george/Travel/My_Albums/My_Albums.html

Frustration

2009-03-05T10:06:00.003-06:00

Today was one of those days. A day where I kind of hate Korea. I miss my friends and family back home, but I'm definitely not homesick...I enjoy being here most of the time except for when the little things add up. Today I was almost hit by a car while I was walking across the street at a crosswalk. The driver ran a red light and nearly hit me and 3 students, so while he passed I decided I would punch his car. He stopped and rolled down his window and started yelling at me. He was yelling in Korean, so I don't know exactly what he was saying, but I have a good idea =). This evening I had an appointment in Seoul like I do every Thursday. Traffic was horrible due to the rain, plus I didn't know it was going to rain, so I didn't have my umbrella, so I was looking like a wet dog by the time I got on the bus. Because of the traffic I nearly missed my appointment, but thankfully I made it. After my appointment I always go into Itaewon to eat some Western food, and then I take a taxi back to where I catch the bus to return to Suwon. It is quite the process getting anywhere via public transportation...especially when you live outside of Seoul. Anyways, after eating dinner in Itaewon I hopped in a cab and told the driver where to go. He ended up taking a route that I've never seen before and wanted to drop me off at a place I did not want to get dropped off. I told the cab driver another landmark and he got me there. The cab ride cost twice as much as usual. I missed the bus that I planned on taking, so I had to catch the next bus. When I got on the bus I went to the back where there is normally more room, but instead I was greeted by a Korean man that had too much Soju and spicy chicken.......he was puking his guts up into a plastic bag and the bus reeked of the partially digested combo of Soju and spicy chicken...disgusting!! Dude, if you're going to be stupid and drink yourself sick at least take a taxi, so others don't suffer because of your stupidity. At 11pm traffic was still a nightmare! But I was on the bus and I had a seat, so I turned on my music and tried to relax for the extended, smelly bus ride home. I got home a midnight!

Ok, my bitch session is over. Please pardon the language in the picture, but it's how I feel tonight.

My Trip

2009-03-01T22:44:00.007-06:00

So I'm back from my trip to the Himalayan mountains and I'm wondering how I should write this post. Here's a brief rundown of my days away...

Day 1 Feb 20: Ater work two hour bus ride to Incheon Airport. Six hour flight to Bangkok. Five hours of sleep in a hotel
Day 2 Feb 21: Two hour flight to Calcutta, India. One hour flight to Bogdogra, India. Six hour jeep ride to Yuksom, India. Arrived at our destination at 10pm.
Day 3 Feb 22: Started the Dzongri Trek. About 5 hours of hiking to our first night on the trail. Weather started at about 80 degrees and ended up around 40 degrees.
Day 4 Feb 23: A very short day of hiking to small village of about 13 families. A day of relaxing, reading and farkeling
Day 5 Feb 24: A long day of hiking up to Dzongri (~13000 ft). First night here we got about 6-8 inches of snow. 15 degrees.
Day 6 Feb 25: Woke up at 4:45am to hike up to Dzongri Point (14000 ft) to catch the sunrise over the mountains. Hoped to see Mt. Kangchenjonga (it's spelled so many different ways). Clouds cover the mountain.
Day 7 Feb 26: Again, woke up at 4:45 am to hike up to Dzongri Point (14000 ft) to catch the sunrise over the mountains. Hoped to see Mt. Kangchenjonga (it's spelled so many different ways). Once again the clouds covered the mountain. Did a day hike to an alpine lake. More snow. Started back down.
Day 8 Feb 27: Finished the Dzongri Trek at noon. Went to a couple markets. Six hour jeep ride back to Bogdogra. First shower in 7 days =)
Day 9/10 Feb 28/Mar 1: 3pm flight from Bogdogra to Calcutta. Eight hours of hanging out in Calcutta. 1am flight to Bangkok. 8am flight from Bangkok to Seoul. Arrived back at my place on Sunday evening at 7:30pm.

Now to briefly elaborate...

I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to go on this trip. It's not everyday that a dream comes true, but over the last week I had the pleasure of living out one of my dreams - seeing the Himalayan mountains. There were 5 of us in our group and we were taken care of by 5 Indians (1 guide named Phurba, 2 cooks, 2 porters). Our guide was the only Indian with us that spoke English, so unfortunately we didn't get to know the others that well...just a bunch of smiles and hellos back and forth! Our hope was to see Mt. Kangchenjonga, the 3rd highest mountain in the world, but knew that it all depended on Mother Nature as to whether or not we'd get to see it. The hiking wasn't too difficult as we didn't really have to carry much and the mileage wasn't too much either. We had plenty of down time, which I spent playing "Farkle," reading "Eat, Pray, Love," "The Road," and "Three Cups of Tea." I've never played so much "Farkle" in my life and we taught our guide how to play as well...he loved it and I left my "Farkle" game with him, so he could play it with other groups and the guys in his crew. We were in bed at 8pm every night because you can only read and play "Farkle" for so long. The nights were cold, but my sleeping bag did a good job keeping me warm. We were served amazing food, meal after meal. I didn't shower for 7 days and didn't smell that bad either =) Our group got along well. India is an extremely poor country, but the people are friendly...even when they're not trying to get something out of you. I thought I felt out of place in Korea, but that feeling was much greater in India. While in Calcutta I had several kids come up and introduce themselves to me because they wanted to shake hands with a foreigner...the kids were hilarious! I plan on going back to India. I will post a link to my pictures very soon...

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T23:59:00.003-06:00

Last year I spent Valentine's Day eating some great AMERICAN food at Avenue's Bistro in Brookside. This Valentine's Day was spent with 5 coworkers and what started off to be a slow night ended up being quite fun!! We started off at a Japanese restaurant and ordered a lot of sushi and sake. I've only had sushi once before, but I'm starting to like it...I think. We spent a couple hours at the restaurant and then headed to the "Symphony." Symphony is an upscale noraebong (karaoke bar). For those of you who know me, you probably know that I can't sing. I'm not being humble here. I really can't sing, but here in Korea that doesn't stop me from having some fun and making a fool out of myself (I'm very good at that)! Here is a list of songs that I remember singing (if you want to call it singing): Hungry Eyes, Eternal Flame, Gangsta's Paradise, Like a Prayer, I'll Be Missing You, With or Without You, Wonderwall, Hero. Yes, I had a mic in my hand for all of those songs, plus some others but I forgot what they were. We stayed at the noraebong till about 1am and then headed to a dance club called "Lounge 3." I'd never been there and when we arrived we were the only people there, but were promised that by 2am the place would be bouncin...the promise was upheld =) We were solo for a while, but then came the Korean masses. The music was amazing and the remainder of the night/morning was spent on the dance floor =)

This is me at the Japanese restaurant. This is a fish that I did not want to eat. But I lost a farkle and therefore I had to eat the head of the fish. Gross!

A Korean dude on a custom motorcycle!

Greg and I singing "With or Without You" or "Hero" to the ladies in our group!

Same Same

My Himalayan Trip

2009-02-11T04:00:00.009-06:00

This upcoming Friday, February 20th I hop on a plane with a final destination of Bagdogra, India. From there I'll be on a bus to Sikkim, India where I will start a 6 day trek in the Himalayan mountains. Sikkim is nestled in between Nepal (to the north) and Bhutan (to the south). I am going with 4 other people that I do not know, but they work at my sister school, so hopefully they will be a fun group! We will be doing a route called the "Dzongri Trek" where we will get to see the 3rd highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga! The highest altitude that we will be hiking at will be around 15,500 feet, but Kanchenjunga's elevation is 28,169 feet. Wild!!

Going to the Himalayan mountains has been a dream of mine for many years. Simply put, this trip is a dream come true for me and my excitement is unmeasurable!! This trip is also a bit different than what I'm used to in terms of backpacking or roughing it. We have to use an outfitter to go where we are going, which means we will have our own cook, guide and a yak to carry most of our stuff. We will not really be roughing it that much at all =)

I will be taking a lot of pictures, so like I did for my Christmas trip, I'll include a link to my photo album for you all to enjoy!

Somewhere in Sikkim, India.
Kangchenjunga
This is the route we will be on. We'll be going from the south to the north.

Life In Korea Via Rappers

2009-02-09T05:19:00.002-06:00

This is a video made by some English teachers here in Korea. It's hilarious....and very accurate!!!! Korea is so hard to describe, but these guys nail it!!

Backfire

2009-02-05T20:03:00.004-06:00

Back at my last job as a school counselor I was also the assistant coach for 3 years for the boys swim team and the girls swim team. Coaching added quite a few hours to my work week (weekend) and some stress as well...there was always drama with the swimmers or their parents. So when I came to my new school I said to myself that I was here to enjoy and explore another country/culture and not spend all of my time working. Thus far I have done a good job at that. When I came here I kept my mouth shut that I have experience in coaching swimming, therefore I escaped coaching middle school swimming. (I know, I'm a bad employee). Now Spring time is rolling around, which means high school soccer season is starting. My closest friend here at work is the Head Coach for the girls soccer team. The first 2 people that said they would be his assistant coach ended up bailing. I told him if he couldn't find anyone else to be his assistant coach, then I would do it. Well, he couldn't find anyone else, so I am now the assistant coach for the high school girls soccer team. WTF?! =) If I would have coached swimming I could justify not helping out with soccer, but since I avoided the swim season I feel somewhat obliged to help out now. So in my attempt to avoid coaching, I am now coaching a sport that I am relatively unknowledgeable about. That's what I get!! =)

Not Much Going On

2009-02-01T00:10:00.004-06:00

In my attempt to update this on a regular basis, it's time for a post even though there's not much to write about at this moment. Last week I had 3 days off plus the weekend, so a total of 5 days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year. This is a huge holiday in Asia. In Korea, pretty much everything shuts down for 2 days. I went up to Seoul several times over the break and it was dead! Originally I was supposed to spend this break in Tokyo, but I spent way toooooo much money on my Christmas trip, so I opted to stay in Korea and relax...and it was great. In 3 weeks I leave for my India trip. I'll write more about this trip as it gets a bit closer to departure date (Feb 20). Like I said, there's not a whole lot of new things going on right now...

This is a gift from my Korean buddy Sam. He's a graphic design student at a local university and he has his own line of clothing called "Mating Heroes." He makes some pretty funny shirts and this is one of them. I have the pleasure of wearing this shirt around...haha!

Min Hyung (friend I met back in KC) and I hanging out at one of my favorite places in Itaewon, 3 Alley Pub.

Clarification

2009-01-25T22:31:00.002-06:00

So I received a bit of feedback from my "An End To Every Beginning" post and it seemed like what I intended to communicate was not was received on your end. That was not intended to be a depressing post by any means. The 2008 year brought with it a lot of great experiences, but was coupled with its difficulties as well. There are many things that I will take with me from 2008, but there are also many things that I am leaving behind. I'm relinquishing control in areas of my life where things are out my hands, but also taking control of other areas that are my responsibility. I'm letting go of a lot of unhealthy/unrealistic expectations that I place on both myself and others. I'm doing quite well these days. Sorry for the confusion there...Thanks for your concern =)

Dating In Korea

2009-01-20T20:12:00.012-06:00

If I had only one word to describe dating in Korea it would be - AWKWARD. If I had only two words to describe dating in Korea they would be - AWKWARD and CONFUSING. And if I had only three words they would be - AWKWARD, CONFUSING and HILARIOUS. AWKWARD and CONFUSING are experienced throughout the date, whereas HILARIOUS is experienced afterward when I'm going home laughing to myself at how AWKWARD and CONFUSING that date just was. Are you following me...? =)

Despite the risk of sounding shallow at times I will continue with this posting =) Over the past couple of months I have been on dates with 11 different gals. Ten of them were Korean and one was from the states. Some of the Korean gals lived abroad and some had never left Korea...this makes a lot of difference. Dating in a foreign country makes things interesting for a number of reasons. 1) The language barrier. Never have I had to repeat myself so many times and never have I had to say "what" so many times. 2) The cultural differences. The way people approach dating is different here. A majority of people live with their parents until they are married, so by in large most everyone still lives at home with their parents. US (Western) culture and Korean culture are at opposite ends of the cultural continuum 3) The way people communicate is different...my dry sense of humor is beyond understanding here. 4) Most of the time I don't have a clue as to where to go for the date. Back in the states I could always come up with some good date ideas, but here, I'm lost. As a result I end up looking indecisive and clueless. 5) Eating with Koreans can be disturbing. It can turn an attractive girl into somewhat of an animal. Slurping, chomping, and chewing with your mouth open is culturally acceptable. Yuck! Ha! Those are my Top 5 reasons why dating in Korea is AWKWARD, CONFUSING and HILARIOUS.

Not only are the dates interesting, but so is going about getting a date or getting turned down for a date. Ha =) I'll share a brief story to illustrate how Korean girls are confusing. One nightI was playing pool with a couple buddies. We asked two Korean gals if they'd like to join. They accepted. We ended up playing pool with them for nearly 2 hours. (Side Note: their English was good). My partner and I talked and laughed the entire time...things seemed to be going well. I told her I'd like to take her out sometime. She said "here's my number, give me a call and we'll go out this weekend." We continued playing pool for a bit longer, then it was time for me to leave. I said I'd give her a call and set something up for this weekend...you know...because it seemed like I had the go ahead. It was at that time that she turned to me and said, "I'm not into you." (almost like the popular book title) I was like, "Huh?" Again, she said, "I'm not into you." I laughed, threw my beer on her and left. Just kidding. I just laughed and then left. 2+2 did not equal 4 that night. It made no sense. She made no sense. All signs pointed to yes. My buddies got a good laugh out of that!! =) Anyways, that is just one example. I have plenty more awkward stories.

I've had a couple 2nd dates and even a 3rd date, but it all stops there thus far. Trying to really get to know them and them getting to know me is difficult mostly due to the language and cultural differences. But Korean girls are BEAUTIFUL (except for when eating) and, well, I guess that's why I keep trying. Call me shallow, but hey, I gotta do what I gotta do...I'm here for a while. Ha!

Who will end up next to me...? It's a mystery =)

Videos From My Trip

2009-01-13T07:09:00.003-06:00

Hayes, Billy and I riding around Bangkok in a Tuke Tuke. It's a taxi with 3 wheels...kind of a combination between a car and motorcycle. Billy speaks Thai. I wish I had a video of him speaking Thai with the locals (they always seem amazed).

This is part of the waterfall that we searched for all day. The water was warm. Watch Hayes fall in the background =)

This video is from my first night in Bangkok. We watched about 4 hours of this.

Here I'm sending off a lantern. Pretty fun. A couple times during the year, the Thai people send these up in the thousands. We were just playing around.

This video is from New Year's Eve, which was spent in Khao Lak, Thailand. It was a pretty low key and relaxing evening. The tiny lights you see floating along in the sky are lanterns, which you saw in the previous video

I tried posting a video of the cock fighting, but it was removed. Maybe I'll try again later.

Back to Reality

2009-01-11T06:03:00.012-06:00

Welp, I'm back in South Korea , the land of perpetual confusion and chaos. I must say that it is nice to be done traveling, and to know that I'll have a bed to sleep in tonight and clean clothes to wear tomorrow, but beyond that I can't say I'm excited to be back in Korea. I would much rather prefer to have ended my travels pulling into my parents' driveway and sitting down for some homemade apple pie, lasagna, or a steak, plus a Boulevard Pale Ale, but that's not the case. Instead, I left the 85 degree weather in Bali, and stepped off the plane in Seoul, Korea where it was 15 degrees. I rode the bus to Suwon and was dropped off about a 13 minute walk from my apartment. I was wearing shorts and a light sweatshirt. I took off in a dead sprint towards my apartment. The sprint lasted all of about a 200 meters, then turned into a jog accompanied by a steady wheeze. I received a lot of "hellos" and thumbs-up from the Koreans I passed. They must have been thinking "stupid foreigner." I agree, but I didn't want to carry a pair of jeans that I would only wear at the beginning and end of the trip, and that is why I mailed them home from Thailand.

Here's a somewhat abridged look at my trip:

Day 1 (Dec 20): Flight to Bangkok. Four hours of Muay Thai kickboxing

Day 2: Long-tail boat ride through Bangkok. Snake garden. Golden Palace tour. Tour of the red light district.

Day 3: Went to the movies. Took a 14.5 hour train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai...I will never do that again. Staying with Billy and Tracee for the next few nights.

Day 4: Rented scooters for 6 days at $3/day!! Ate a lot of good food. Rode the scooters all over the place.

Day 5: Slept. Ate food. Wandered around Chiang Mai. Shot off fireworks and lanterns at night.

Day 6: Merry Christmas. Exchanged a couple gifts. Amazing Christmas meal at a hotel. Watched Brian Regan on DVD.

Day 7: More scooter riding. More eating good food.

Day 8: Rode out to the country to find a waterfall. Found waterfall after many detours. Enjoyed the waterfall.

Day 9: Watch cock fighting. Flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket. Met up with friend there, crashed at a hotel.

Day 10: Missed boat to Similan Islands. Wasted 5 hours. Change of plans. Caught boat to Ko Phi Phi. Checked into a cheap bungalow. Used a towel as a blanket.

Day 11: Laid on the beach all day. Ate good food.

Day 12: Snorkeling. Tour around the island. Checked out some other nearby beaches. Caught boat back to mainland and cab to Khao Lak for New Year's Eve. Enjoyed New Year's Eve festivities.

Day 13: Caught boat to Similan Islands. Snorkeling. Slept in a hot tent.

Day 14: Snorkeling. Read a book. Slept in a hot tent.

Day 15: Laid on beach. Played cards. Read book. Boat ride back to mainland. Cab to airport. Done with Thailand. Flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Day 16: Arrived in KL at 2am. Went to China Town. Ate food. Checked into hotel and slept till 9am. Toured KL. Batu Caves and couple other places. Befriend a cab driver named Mr. Lee.

Day 17: Flight to Bali. Cab to Ubud, Bali. Check into a nice villa. Ate good food.

Day 18: Wandered around Ubud. Ate good food. Swam in pool. Watched a "Monkey Dance/Chant."

Day 19: Ate good food. Swam. Lounged.

Day 20: Cycling tour around Ubud. Saw a volcano. Said hello to A LOT of local kids. Cab ride to Jimbaran, Bali. Thought we were going to Uluwatu. I didn't know the difference. Checked into an even nicer villa with our own private pool. Rented scooters.

Day 21: Went to the beach. Swam.

Day 22: Went to the beach. Went to the movies. Sat in airport for a long time waiting for our 12:30am flight back to Korea

Day 23 (Jan 11): Arrived in Korea at 8:30am. Arrived at my apartment at 10:30am. Went to work at 1pm. Pizza Hut at 6:30pm. Typing this blog at 9pm. Dreading going to work tomorrow.

I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel. My trip had its ups and downs, its frustrations and fun, but overall I enjoyed the experience of three countries to which I've never been. I tried to get a Thai girlfriend while in Thailand, but was unsuccessful. Ha! The only ones interested were hookers. No thanks! Two weeks in Thailand is enough for my life time. It's a beautiful country and I love the food, but it's dirty and I can only tolerate heckling and being heckled by so many street vendors. Plus, I'm allergic to Thailand...seriously. My asthma was the worst it's been in years. And when walking around in the city, my skin broke out...for real. Thankfully I packed enough Benedryl to last several months. I do not recommend taking the 14.5 hour train ride. We took it just to experience it, and I will not do that again =) If you do make it to Thailand I strongly recommend going to the Similan Islands, especially if you like snorkeling or scuba diving. Breathtaking!

Although my time in Malaysia was quite brief, it was great. The food was almost as good as in Thailand, but the people were more friendly and trustworthy. Plus a majority of the people speak English. I would like to go back to Malaysia for at least a week.

Bali was my favorite part of the trip. In retrospect, two weeks in Bali and one week in Thailand would have been more appropriate. Once again, most people spoke English. Every restaurant I visited served up some amazing food. The countryside is beautiful. By the time we reached the beaches in Bali, all I wanted to do was relax, which meant no surfing for me. I'd like to go back to Bali.

A couple observations from my trip. Just because you are good friends with someone does not mean that you will make good travel partners. Communicate. Plan to spend more than what you budgeted. I prefer traveling with a significant other, which was not the case for this trip. Ha! Things that might appear to be simple may end up being quite complex. I missed wearing underwear on a daily basis. Commando got old!! Ha! Try to respectfully engage the local culture. I read two books. "The Kite Runner." You all have heard of that book. "Naked" by David Sedaris, which is a collection of embellished memoirs, and it is quite funny!!!

Here is a link to an album of pictures from the trip. I took a total of 600 pictures but only included 280 or so in the album. Hopefully you enjoy looking or laughing at them. My pictures I will post a few videos in a couple days.

I feel like there is so much more that I could write about this trip, but I'm going to wrap it up here.

In Bali

2009-01-06T04:37:00.003-06:00

Hey all!

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Ubud, Bali. Just thought I'd write a quick post even though I'll be returning to Korea somewhat soon. Bali is amazing! The people are friendly. The scenery is amazing. The food is legendary!! =) I've been here for just over 3 days, and will be headed to Uluwatu, Bali tomorrow after a cycling tour. Uluwatu is on the southern side of Bali right on the ocean. I'll be there for 4 days and will be back in Korea on the afternoon of the 11th. I'll have a lot to write about once I return to Korea and have ample time to write. I've taken a couple hundred pictures, so I'll have to figure out a way to put a link on here to my photo album. That's all for now! I don't want to go back to Korea, I'd rather stay in Bali =) Damn.

...and I'm Off!!

2008-12-19T04:07:00.003-06:00

It's Friday evening. I just finished packing for my trip. I didn't really know what to pack, but I knew that I didn't want to pack a whole lot. Tomorrow evening I'll be chillin' in Bangkok, eating some amazing food, and who knows what else. For the longest time I've wanted to do some international traveling. Prior to moving to Korea I'd only been to Mexico three times and Jamaica twice, other than that my traveling was within the states. I added Korea and Japan to the list and will soon be making some more additions. FINALLY!!!!! Here a some packing pictures...

This is all I'm taking for 3 weeks!!! =)

Medicine, money, book, etc...

My trusty North Face backpack. I've had this thing since 1996 and it's still kickin'. I bought a new backpack that I've been wanting to use, but the green guy has been everywhere with me, so I might as well not abandon it now. It's been soooo good to me!
I'll have limited internet access on my trip, so please don't expect regular posts for a while. I will post if I can, but no pictures will go up until I return because I'm not taking my computer with me.

Peace out! Darby

Just a Post

2008-12-17T03:16:00.004-06:00

It's Wednesday night and I just finished watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." I just love that movie!!!! I'm getting ready to go up to Seoul to meet a friend. This last week leading up to Christmas Break has been quite busy with work and with friends. This week I've had (or will have) two Christmas dinners, one Christmas party, and a couple nights out with my Korean friends. I've hit the pool 3 times this week and it feels great! My technique is still there, but I don't last too long, but that makes it easier to see results. Saturday morning I catch a bus at 6am up to Incheon (Seoul) Airport to catch my 10am flight to China, then on to Bangkok. I will be packing on Friday night...I'm a last minute packing type person. This is another boring post, but I figured I should post something. Here are some random pictures from the past few days...

A sculpture made by a student. I don't know how they got away with this. I found it (and what I'm doing) quite inappropriate, yet hilarious!! Sorry.
A list of items up for auction at a school fundraiser. Please read carefully (click to enlarge)....
Crappy cellphone picture of a dance club.
The Christmas tree from "Christmas Tree in a Can." It's awesome!!! Kind of reminds me of the tree from "Charlie Brown's Christmas." =)
A few co-workers and I after a Christmas Dinner at Outback Steakhouse...that's right, we have Outback here!! =)

Care Package

2008-12-11T20:09:00.003-06:00

I received my 4th care package today and it made my day and that's why I'm blogging about it. Its contents: Bicycling magazine, Christmas Tree in a Can, homemade cookies and Chex mix, asthma medication, tasty soup mix, cashews, shirt from woot.com, random mail, Christmas card, hot chocolate mix, and a new Speedo!! That's right a new Speedo, and I look damn good in it..ha..jk. If you're lucky I'll post a pic...once again..jk. I'm swimming again and my old suits are worn out (eg nearly see through), so my mom sent me a new one. Plus I'll strut around in it on the Thailand and Bali beaches =) Seven days till departure!!

Thanks Mom!!

Ben Folds Five - Evaporated

2008-12-09T22:22:00.004-06:00

The Ben Folds Five album "Whatever and Ever Amen" captured my senior year of high school(1997-1998)...a time of transition, anticipated change in life, closing one chapter while opening another. Recently, this album has found its way onto my playlist, and it brings back many memories. Now I find myself in Korea, in my late twenties. I've uprooted my life. I'm in the midst of transition. There have been significant changes in my circumstances, and significant changes within myself. I'm 4 months into a 2 year chapter of my life...at times asking myself, "what have I done...?"

Seoraksan National Park

2008-12-08T06:24:00.004-06:00

Two weekends ago 3 friends and I headed off on a 4 hour bus ride to the NE coast of South Korea to Seoraksan National Park. We went out the night before and didn't get to bed until 5:30am and had to be at the bus station at 7:30am. We got less than 1.5 hours of sleep before catching the bus, but thankfully I was able to sleep some on the bus ride. The place was beautiful. If we would have gone 3 or 4 weeks earlier it would have been amazing. We met some new people. Got in 2 great hikes. Froze. And froze some more. Nearly blown off the mountain. Slept on the floor. Went to the sauna. Returned home Sunday night. Had a great time. Here are some pictures...
Getting ready to fall asleep on the floor

Sleeping on the bus
Stairway to Heaven

The big mountain we were on top of

The view from the top
Chillin, trying not to look frozen
Will, Greg, me, Adam
Park entrance

Our hotel room. Fully furnished with a bed mat.

Will, he is part duck

Tis' The Season To Be Giving

2008-12-04T18:31:00.003-06:00

I like water. You like water. I need water. You need water. We all need water. But over 1 billion people do not have access to life-sustaining, clean water. Give a little, help a lot!

Here are a couple credible organizations where you are able to help:

Charity Water

Blood:Water Mission

The school that I work at just did a fundraiser for Blood:Water Mission. It was an educational evening for me. Hence, this post.

Back in Business

2008-12-02T17:37:00.002-06:00

It's reported that on Friday, Dec 5 Bangkok's airports will re-open!!! The protesters got what they wanted...the Prime Minister to concede. Here is an article on what happened. Hopefully, the media hasn't reported anything too soon. Travel plans are back in line!!! Sweet!

Competition

2008-12-01T20:01:00.006-06:00

I miss my bike (bicycle)...actually bikes. I miss riding them. I miss working on them. I miss racing them. I haven't been a bike for quite a while now, and even longer since I've raced one. I miss being competitive. I miss suffering. I miss having concrete fitness goals. These days it's more like "I want to get in shape." What does that necessarily mean? What does that look like? Etc. That is a goal that does not create much motivation for me to achieve it. There has to be something to work toward, not a better physique, but more like I want to run or ride in this race, place this well, or maintain this pace. So here are my thoughts... you read a while ago that my mountain bike never made it to Korea and you also read that I started running again. Nowadays I have to keep the distance pretty short due to my crappy knees, that are getting progressively worse. But I can run a 5K (who can't) and a 10K, so that's what I'm going to stick with. Here in Korea there are plenty of 5k and 10K races in the spring months, which give me something to work towards during the winter months. Also, I think when I return to Kansas City (cause odds are that's where I'll end up) I'm going to pick up a cyclocross (cx) bike. You can ride it anywhere, plus there is a decent CX scene in Kansas City with plenty of races. In fact, the Cyclocross National Championships are held in KC. My return to KC is a long way from now, but those are my thoughts...one way to help prevent becoming stagnant again.

Wow, this was a boring post, but it's typed, so it's being posted.

A couple of my bikes...somewhere in Utah

Mountain biking in Durango, Colorado (check out the hair...ha)

Mountain biking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (The Tetons in the background)

Official Travel Plans: Christmas Break

2008-11-28T01:54:00.009-06:00

In my previous post I alluded to some upcoming travels. Well, here are the official travel plans for my 3 week Christmas Break!!! =)

Dec 20: Depart Seoul, Arrive in Bangkok, Thailand

Dec 20-23 Bangkok: One night will be spent watching this...

Dec 24-27 Chang Mai (northern Thailand...in the mountains): I will ride an elephant! Hopefully it will not stand up on its hind legs =)

Dec 28-29 Similan Islands (a national park in Thailand)

Dec 30-Jan 4 Ko Phi Phi (island in southern Thailand

Jan 5 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Jan 6-11 Ubud, Bali: I will be staying in a bungalow surrounded by rice fields and terraces.

Beach in Bali...hopefully will go surfing for a couple of days.

Jan 12 First day back to school

Needless to say, I'm quite excited for this trip. One of the reasons for moving overseas was so I could travel and I haven't been able to do much thus far. But second semester offers up ample time to travel. Here are some upcoming trips with details to come later:

1) Jan 23-28: Tokyo, Japan

2) Feb 20-Mar 1: Sikkim, India. Trekking in the Himalayas

3) April 3-12: Philippines..exact location to be determined

Turbulence and Traveling

2008-11-27T17:48:00.005-06:00

So if you've been watching the world news you will have noticed that (like usual) a lot terrorism, threats of terrorism, and violent protests have been taking place. I talked with my mom today to wish everyone at the family get-together a "Happy Thanksgiving" and she said to me, "you may want to reconsider your travel plans." I told my mom that all my tickets and sleeping arrangements have been booked. Three of the countries that I plan on visiting in the next 3 months are dealing with some major violent disturbances.

In 3 weeks I'm off to Thailand and Bali for 3 weeks of travel and beach time. Bankok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport has been shut down due to anti-government protests, which included at least 4 bomb blasts. Hopefully things will settle down and the airport will reopen by December 20th.

In 2002 and 2005 Bali experienced numerous terrorist bombings that targeted the tourist districts. Just recently, the individuals directly responsible for the bombings were executed. Leading up to the executions, there were a number of terrorist threats to continue bombing tourist districts and embassies. I am supposed to arrive in Bali on January 4th.

On Wednesday major attacks were launched on popular hotels and commerical buildings in Mumbai, India. The death toll is 119 people. Islamist terrorists are supposedly responsible for the situation, which is still not under control. People are still being held hostage. Reports state that the terrorists were looking for both Americans and Brits. I will not be in India until February.

It's a bit eerie to see places that I will soon be traveling to experience such chaos and tragedy. I know tragedy takes place on a daily basis across the world, but I've always had the idea that I'll be safe, and odds are when I travel to these places, I will be safe, but it does make me feel a little weird.

Road Trip

2008-11-23T23:01:00.003-06:00

Today I checked the gas prices back in Kansas City. Roughly $1.50/gallon. If I was back in the states I would jump in my car and go on a road trip. To where you may ask. Maybe Utah, Jackson Hole...I don't know...I'm just so excited that it would only cost $25 to fill my tank. But I'm not in states, and I sold my car when I left. So instead of road-tripping this week I will be going to Seoraksan National Park in the NE part of South Korea to do a couple days of hiking. I'm going with a group called "Adventure Korea." Three friends are going on the trip as well. It seemed like a fun little trip to go on in order to mix things up a bit. Here are some pics of the park...

My Blog

2008-11-23T01:10:00.005-06:00

I'm a relatively candid person, but I find myself feeling the need to censor what I write on my blog (not because of inappropriate content, but for reasons somewhat unknown). When I first starting blogging I was quite un-enthused about doing so. These days I find myself wanting to blog all the time...whether it's about a new song/album that I just heard, an emotion or thought that I had, a silly statement that I heard during the day, an encounter with a Korean, anything. I could probably post twice a day (at least). When I first moved to Korea I had someone back home to talk to on a twice-a-day basis. It was during those conversations that I could share what was going on here in Korea each day, therefore I didn't feel the need to write a blog. I do not have those twice-a-day conversations anymore. In fact, if I get to talk on the phone with someone back home once a week, I consider it a good week of communication. So maybe that's why I find myself wanting to blog all the time because I can no longer consistently tell another person what's going on in my life. So (some of) it ends up here. In the posts to come you may (or may not) see another side of me. We shall see...

One of the most common sites on the subway...a drunk person passed out...rather humorous!!

My buddy, Greg, and I receiving verbal instructions on how to use chopsticks. PS...we already knew how to use them.

Me picking up a Skittle with chopsticks...it takes talent...I was very excited! =)

Don't mess with the Chopstick Compadres!

Fix It

2008-11-22T21:46:00.002-06:00

Mr. Ryan Adams

I couldn't have said it any better! Thank you for making music that meets me where I'm at.

Name Change

2008-11-18T22:22:00.006-06:00

My blog was originally titled "The Moped Diaries" because I had a vision of purchasing a moped/scooter and riding around all of Korea experiencing the people, the culture, the landscape, etc. Well several weeks ago I opted not to purchase a moped for several reasons: 1)shopping for one was difficult 2)can't take scooters on the highway, nor do I want to after experiencing the driving here, 3)I'd rather use the money on a plane ticket somewhere. Also, I was planning on having my mountain bike shipped over via the military. I had a friend back home take my bike to a shop to have it boxed to certain specifications. The bike shop failed to follow directions, so my bike is sitting in two boxes, one of which the military will not ship. So no moped, no bicycle. Oh well, I have two legs that work very well, buses and trains are frequent, and taxis are cheap. Plus if I really need to go somewhere I can borrow a car from my school...I have my Korean driver's license. The other day I drove for the first time in 3.5 months...it was quite fun. I could speed, swerve, honk! I could do whatever I wanted and it was permissible. Back to the name change. It's now titled "The No-Ped Diaries" because I do not have a moped or a bicycle...no wheels, no pedals.

The weather has changed in Korea. I thought I would handle the cold weather quite well being from KC, MO where we have cold winters. The difference here is that it went from being nice weather to bitter cold in a matter of 3 days. There is no in between here like in the Midwest. This morning it was 19 degrees F when I walked to work. Four days ago it was 40-45 degrees F when I walked to work. My blood needs to thicken or maybe I'll walk to work sipping on my flask of whiskey. Just kidding.

This is what I look like when walking to work in the morning...

15 Seconds of Funny

2008-11-17T17:12:00.001-06:00

cat boxing

Brazilian Steakhouse, Smores, and S'more Dancing

2008-11-17T02:13:00.010-06:00

I got into the bad habit of not carrying my camera around with me at all times, so I'm making an effort to carry it with me more often. This past weekend I went to Daejeon (1.5 hour bus ride south) to meet up with my friend from the states and a couple of his co-workers that I'll be traveling with over Christmas break. We had dinner reservations for 6:30 at Mr. Lee's Brazilian Steakhouse. Mr. Lee is Korean and he owns the place, but it is staffed by Brazilians, so it is authentic food. For 27,000 Won (~ $25) we had all you could eat beef, lamb, duck, chicken, turkey, and pork. I stayed away from the chicken and pork because I eat so much of that stuff as it is...I wanted to save my appetite for the good stuff. Sorry, I didn't take my camera out till after dinner.

The steakhouse was located on a hill overlooking a lake. There was also a campfire pit right outside the restaurant where you can hang out at after dinner. Before dinner we went and got the makings for Smores, so that after dinner we could make them at the campfire. We walked out to the campfire and sat down with our goodies. My friend and I were the only non-Koreans there, but our friend that came with us is Korean, therefore she knows the language, which was quite helpful. There were several Korean families at the campfire and most of them had little kids. So we decided that we would make Smores for all the kids and if the parents wanted one, they'd get one too. Koreans do not know about Smores, so they were in for a nice treat. Everyone was amazed at the roasting of marshmallows...they'd never seen it before. So we prepared the treats and watched them enjoy!!! It was great!! Lots of laughing, and broken English and a little bit of broken Korean on my part. I think the kids favorite part was roasting the marshmallows. What kid doesn't like fire?!

After dinner and dessert we headed off to grab a couple drinks at Santa's Bar. The owner's name is Mr. Ho, hence Santa's. We enjoyed some Guiness (at a reasonable price). Ran into a couple of schmuck foreigners. I left with a new Guiness pint glass for 1,000 Won (80 cents)...score!! Next we were off to a dance club. No great stories from there, except that I danced...haha. It was a fun night in Daejeon.

Here are some pics...

My dancing queens!

What looks to be the "peace" symbol actually means "victory" here in Korea. Every picture...

Word to your mother!

I call this one "Lazer Head"...or" look at my double chin"...ha!

I call this one "totally awesome/L-E-G-E-N-wait for it D-A-R-Y!"

Hayes, myself, and an "ajashi."

Hayes, Jen, a kid we called Jack, and myself roasting marshmallows!

More roasting. I also taught Jack how to "pound it," "bump it" ...whatever you call it!