Greece - Crete

Megs and I have been in Crete for three days now and it's been lovely! We spent the first couple of days enjoying the beautiful beach in Rethymnon, the water is so clear and the waves are great. Today we took a day trip to the other side of the island to go snorkelling, it was pretty intense, wet suits and everything, it was great. We saw some cool fish, and I even got to hold a sea urchin, very cool. It's so hot here, it's nice to be close to the water. Tomorrow we're going to hike the Samaria Gorge which is supposed to be the longest gorge in Europe, it's 18km. After that we're heading to Heraklion for a couple of days and then back to Athens.

We had a great Greek meal last night, hopefully we'll have good luck tonight too!

Greece - Santorini

Santorini is the one island that every book and every person we spoke to told us we had to go and it did not disappoint! It was beautiful, although it was a bit expensive. We finally had some great Greek food. Last night we went on a little cruise, we stopped at a nearby island with an active volcano and we climbed to the top. It was pretty neat. After that the boat stopped "close" to shore...haha they said we only had to swim 30 meters to get to the hot springs, but it was more like 100. Anyway, it was worth the swim, when we got there the water was orange from the rock in the area and it was really warm somewhere between 25-30 degrees. After we got back to the boat we watched the sunset. It was a great last night in Santorini.

Aaron left this morning, I miss him already! I'm catching a ferry in a few hours to Crete where I'll be meeting Megs!

Naxos-Part 2

It's our last day on Naxos, and like every other place so far, I wish we had more time here! We walked through the old town today and it was beautiful, there was an old castle and tons of little winding alleys and side streets and it was perfectly silent almost everywhere. Pretty amazing.

My only complaint about this island so far is the lack of good Greek food. We had a great meal in Athens of souvlaki and moussaka (sp?), but since we've been on Naxos the food has been pretty disappointing...kind of fast food quality. Anyway, we decided to try a "foreign" food restaurant tonight and it was lovely! We had Indian and Thai food and it was fantastic. Hopefully we'll have more luck with Greek food tomorrow on Santorini. We're catching a ferry there mid-afternoon so we'll be there in time for dinner and what is supposed to be the best sunset in Greece!

Greece-Naxos

We've been in Greece for a few days now and it's been getting better everyday. We spent the first day in Athens which was not bad, it was a typical big city though aside from the acropolis which was pretty amazing! The shopping there was fabulous too so it was a good thing we didn't stay for too long! On our second day we took a day trip to Delphi and saw the ruins there, they were pretty neat, however after seeing what we saw in Egypt, nothing seems quite as spectacular. The major difference was that the structures in Egypt were preserved a lot better.

Today we took a ferry (which we almost missed) to Naxos, we're staying on a pretty secluded beach which is really nice and our hotel/pension is adorable! It's nice to have some downtime. The water is crystal clear, it reminds me of Thailand but the sand is a bit grainier. We'll be here for one more day before we head to Santorini!

Jordan - Petra and Aqaba

I'm writing this from the airport in Jordan, we're just about to catch our flight to Athens. Jordan was amazing!!! It was so much better than I could have imagined. Yesterday we went in to Petra and saw the old city, it was beautiful. The rocks were all different colors, mostly different shades of pinks, and the carving was pretty unreal. Again, so hard to explain in words but it was great, I can't wait to post some pics, hopefully within the next couple of weeks. After seeing Petra we took a taxi to Aquaba which is about two hours south of Petra, there we went to a beach and did some snorkelling. The coral and fish were really neat, I've only snorkelled in one other place (Thailand) which was also really cool, but the neat thing here was that there was coral surprisingly close to the shore, so you didn't have to go far to see the good stuff. There were tons of bright colors and tropical fish, I wish I could have taken pictures! We also got to have tea with a out taxi driver's family which was really nice even though they didn't speak a lot of English, it was nice to see a traditional house in Jordan. My time is up so I'll end this here, but I hope you're all doing well!!

Jordan - The dead sea

We got to Jordan yesterday and it's been a great change of pace! We went straight from the airport to a resort at the dead sea. It was our one night splurge of this trip and it was more than worth it! We were staying at a pretty posh resort but in one of the cheaper rooms, but lucky us, when we got there we got upgraded to a deluxe suite...it was beautiful! We had a great view and the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in. The resort had tons of pools, great restaurants and a prime spot on the coast of the dead sea.

The first thing we did was go for a float in the dead sea, it was incredible! It stung a bit at first because the salt got into every little cut and scrape. After the initial pain it was really cool to just float around. You couldn't float on your stomach though and, as we found out, if you tried the water would force you to flip back over. We were 400 meters below sea level so the gravity and everything was really unique. After taking tons of pictures we ate at an Italian restaurant, and watched the most beautiful sunset...though the one on the Nile was nice, we found a secluded spot to watch this one so we got some amazing photos and didn't have to share the experience with anyone else, it was lovely! Tomorrow we're going to explore Petra.

Egypt - Luxor!

I really thought that seeing the pyramids in Cairo was going to be the highlight of my trip to Egypt, but I was proven wrong today! After two days in Cairo, Joy, Luke, Aaron and I flew down to Luxor.

The tombs and temples there were spectacular...absolutely amazing! Some of them were so well preserved, and some not so much but it was amazing. My favorite things were the obelisks, they were massive and carved from a single piece of stone, they were breathtaking, none of them were under 100 feet tall and every inch of them was covered with hieroglyphics, pictures etc...the amount of detail in every carving was unbelievable.

Also, the Karnak temple and the tombs we saw were unforgetable. My favorites were the tomb of Ramses II and Sety. Some of the tombs were fairly simple and shallow but these two were deep and so intact that you could see color on some of the walls. Most of the temples and tombs were full of color when they were made but that has since faded in most areas so it was pretty impressive to see an spots where it was still preserved.

We also took a sunset cruise on the Nile in a felucca boat, as you can see it was beautiful!

We head to Jordan tomorrow morning, I can't wait!

Egypt!

We've only been here for a few days but I feel like it's been at least a few weeks, we've done so much! When we got here Joy and Luke met us at the airport and we spent our first two nights with them in Cairo. We saw the Giza pyramids the first day which was AMAZING! We took a horse ride through part of the area and walked the rest of the way. Even though it was incredibly hot, it was beautiful. It's so hard to describe what it was like to see them. We watched a lot of travel videos and looked at pictures before we came but nothing can really do justice to explain how amazing it was to see them in person. We also visited Islamic Cairo and Coptic Cairo.

One of the best things about the trip has been the amazing food, falafel, shawarma, Tahina and fresh pitas, it's fabulous! However I think I may have been enjoying it a bit too much as somewhere along the way I picked something up and I've been pretty sick the past two days, I won't go into details but let's just say it's not pleasant, I'm hoping it clears out soon. We're in Luxor right now, I'll have to write more about that another time, hopefully before we head to Jordan on Thursday morning!

Leaving on a jet plane!

It's officially my day of departure for what I hope will be a fabulous two months of traveling! I hope i can keep this blog updated as I go along. My first stop is Cairo where I will be meeting up with two dear friends, Luke and Joy. I can't wait to see them and to see what the next little while has in store!

Almost done...

As my year here comes to an end, I'm starting to realize just how much has changed in a year. When I left, my plan was to spend a year here, make some money, pay off some loans, and go back to do my masters...basically put my life on hold for a year and step right back in to it without missing too much. Well that hasn't hapenned at all...thank goodness.

When I came here, I wanted a break but I got so much more. Rather than taking a break from my life, this has been an amazing extension that has turned into an an adventure I can't wait to continue. Although I'm sure it sounds a bit cheesy, I've learned so much about myself by living in another culture. I feel like it's added another dimension and given me another perspective on what I want to do with myself and how I want to do it.

Ok no more vagueness, basically it made me realize just how different life can be without exposure to diversity. Diversity of opinion, thought and culture. Korea is a very homogeneous country. I'm the only Canadian or person of color most of my students have ever met. While teaching English is my job description, I think the most important thing I have done for any of my students is to give them exposure to another way of thinking, not one that is better than their own, but just one that is different. And, I think that's also the most important thing they've done for me.

Jindo

This weekend Aaron and I went down to Jindo, south of our city, for what's known as the 'Jindo sea parting festival'. It sounded too amazing to be true. Before I went, I had read about thousands of people flocking to this small community to walk down a path that clears in the middle of the sea three times a year. The tide goes out in such a way that right smack in the middle of this normally deep sea, there is a path that allows you walk all the way to the nearest island about 3KM away.

It was awesome!! The first part of our experience involved buying these bright green boots that went all the way to my thighs (and also conveniently matched my shirt). Then we ate some food, walked along the beach and waited until 4:30 when we could start walking. The tide was officially out all the way at 5:00, so there was some water on the path when we started the walk, but for the most part it was pretty clear. There was a marching band of sorts leading the way and along the way, some of the thousands of people we were sharing this experience with, were scooping various sea creatures out of the water and directing us where to go. There were a few places where a couple of steps in the wrong direction lead to deep water (I hapenned to take one of those steps, that's why my pants are wet in some pics, oops!). We saw some excited children find starfish and one man pulled out a large octopus/squid looking thing, it was intense. The whole experience was pretty surreal, I'm glad I have the pics to show, unfortunately my boots were not in good enough shape to keep as a souvenir!

Spring in Korea....lovely!

I can't count the number of beautiful things I seem to see on a daily basis in this country. Aside from the gorgeous, charming, intelligent kids, I spend my days with, nature seems to take my breath away here these days. A few weeks ago I went to a Butterfly festival in a nearby city Hampyeong. Aside from being cornered into an awkward Conglish interview, the festival was beautiful! The butterflies did not disappoint, and the flower displays were stunning. There were even tiger lillies which brought back memories of my days as a prairie girl!

Busan and Buddha's Birthday!

Busan is probably my favorite city in Korea. If I didn't have a great job at a school I love, I would move there in a heartbeat. It's a port city and it's big, but right smack in the middle of it is a long, beautiful beach that you can get to by subway....definitely my kind of city! We spent the weekend there, it was full of great food, sunny beach time and a little bit of shopping! It was a much needed weekend away.

Aaron and I went to the Beomsa Temple for Buddha's birthday, but unfortunately it was on the last day of our weekend, so we were pretty exhausted, it was still great to be there though. The temple was beautiful, even more so with all of the colored lanterns everywhere for the celebration, definitely somewhere I want to go back to when I have more time.

Boseong

Boseong is less than two hours away from where I am in Gwangju, Korea. However, somehow, I still managed to get violently ill on the bus ride there....violently! It was not pleasant but seeing the green tea fields when we got there made it totally worth it. They were beautiful. All the bushes were landscaped to the hillside, and there were also various other trees growing among then, it was so nice. I'm glad we got some pics of us among the bushes, we almost got caught by the "Green tea field police"! It's always nice to get away from the city on the weekend, especially to a place with cleaner air. I was with Catie, who has since left Korea, I miss her tons. I always think it will get easier to see people leave here, but it really doesn't, especially when it's someone amazing.

Catie and Jim's going away

I can't believe I've been here for a year...time flies when you're having fun I suppose! Catie and Jim came basically at the same as I did last year, so they've been a huge part of my experience, I can't believe they're leaving. I've never been in a situation where I've had to say bye to so many people in such a short time. It's a strange situation to be in here. Most people you meet here are from other cities, provinces or countries, but in such a small community, you become close so quickly, and you share so much in such a short time, so when someone leaves (especially someone you were close to), it's really strange to think that you might never see them again. Such is not the case with these two (I hope!)...but it was still hard!

However, it was a stylish send-off! We started off with a house party which was awesome, some rooftop fire spining with Angie and Jim, of course there were fireworks....and then we ended the night on a Korean note with lots of loud, off-key, but energetic norae-bonging! It was a fabulous night, definitely a tribute to two fabulous people!

Kindergarten graduation in Korea

I had my first experience with a kindergarten graduation of any sort a few weeks ago...it was insane! I should really say that I've been having this experience for awhile because we started practicing for the spectacle in December. The performance wasn't until the end of February. The kids I teach are 6 years old in Korea, which means they're actually really only five years old. All the teachers at my school had to create a skit for their class of 12 children. And when I say skit, I really mean a five minute English play where each child has 5-7 lines that they memorize interspersed with 3-4 songs that the children sing and dance to....did I mention that we had to choreograph the dances and make these 5 year olds memorize words they don't understand??

It was quite an experience. I was so nervous for them, but on the actual day, despite nervousness and frustration, they looked amazing, performed like all-stars and managed to remain relatively calm while waiting for their 5 minutes of fame during the performance schedule. Did I mention that it was a four hour ceremony? After it was over, all of us foreign teachers introduced ourselves and the kids brought us flowers, I have never seen such elaborate bouquets. I love Korea!

Beijing

It's been awhile since my trip to Beijing, but I still haven't had a chance to write about, since life has been a whirlwind here lately. Beijing itself was amazing. Going there on a group tour was probably not the best idea. It was like being on a high school field trip at some points...but that being said, the sights of Beijing were fantastic! The great wall was even more amazing than I would have expected from any history book or pictures I'd ever seen. It was completely breathtaking to see it in person. We managed to climb to the top of the section we were at (Badaling), the view was spectacular, though it was quite a hike to get there, it was more than worth it. The summer palace and Behaii Park were my two other favorite places. It was pretty chilly when we were there, as I'm sure you can tell from the winter coats, but it was nice to be there for Chinese New Year. There were fireworks non-stop for about two days. People were setting them off from thousands of places around the city. The sky was lit up for hours at night, and it was so noisy you could barely hear the person next to you at times....AMAZING! It was quite an experience and it was also lovely to be reunited with Isabel, a friend from home who is also in Korea a few hours a way. The highlights; the food, the marble boat in the summer palace, the great wall, playing on the ice on little slider things on the frozen lake in Behaii Park and the amazing acrobats. Everyone should go there at some point!

It's about time!

I've been here for almost a year now and while I have had good intentions of keeping a blog....I haven't. So this is my second (and hopefully more successful) attempt! I'm only here for a couple of months before I head off on another adventure, but I will be returning to Korea in the fall, and hopefully as I travel through other countries this summer I'll be able to keep up with this blog. Cheers to good intentions!