Around The World

I am back after a LONG break.  Sorry for not keeping up with it during my second year in Korea.  I stopped traveling as much, and things were not as exciting as my first year. However in the past few months I have done a fair bit of traveling, so I thought I should update everyone, and allow you to see some photos from my journey.

2012 started off with a trip to Cambodia.  Angkor Wat was on my to do list, and living in Korea it is too close not to go.  Angkor Wat was unbelievable, but I think the country impressed me more than the temples.  The people in Cambodia have been through so much with flooding, and struggles of every day life.  It is a noticeably poor country, but the people are so thankful for everything. I got a sense of true appreciation for small things in life, I also didn't feel like I was being scammed or ripped off which is always a nice feeling.  The weather was amazing while we were there in February, and we had a great time relaxing by the pool and seeing the sights.  We hit up the major temples, the floating market, and took a boat from Phnom Phen to Siem Reap.  It is very cheap to travel within Cambodia, drinks, food, lodging, and transportation are all unbelievably cheap.  Cambodia was a bonus trip for me, but I highly recommend visiting.             

I left Korea in April, on a milk route home to Canada. My first stop was Bali, Indonesia. It has always been on my Asian bucket list, and when I left I thought I might be done my Asian experience forever.  Needless to say I was not disappointed by this country or the people I met.  I landed in Bali, the same day as an earthquake and tsunami warning.  I asked while in a taxi what we should do in the event of a tsunami or earthquake, and I was told to just go to a temple.  I am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to things like that, but each to their own. It was my first time traveling solo for any length of time, which had me a bit hesitant at first.  I decided because I was traveling alone I would stay in hostels which would give me the chance to meet other young people traveling.  I had done a fair bit of research and decided on staying at the "Big Pineapple".  I was instantly greeted with a warm welcome, and ended up being in the same boat as a lot of other people at the hostel.  Many of us were traveling alone, all similar in age which worked out perfect. We all made the most of it, planned day trips together, hung out at the beach, and partied hard at night. I also got a chance to see and speak to the fortune teller from the book/movie "Eat Pray Love."  It has defiantly turned into a tourist attraction since the movie release, but it was worth the photo opportunity, and good for a laugh.  In the week I was there we all manged to have a great time together.  While traveling the people you come across from all over the world are really interesting, and can provide so much education about culture and language.  I feel I have learned more in the past few years about cultures, history, and language than I have from any textbook or lecture.

From Bali, I hopped over to Singapore. One great thing about South East Asia is that all countries are relatively close, and cheap to fly to.  Everyone has great things to say about Singapore, maybe because it is very developed and clean compared to other South East Asian countries.  I will say the cleanliness and the level of English speaking people was very nice, however it is also much more expensive than other countries. One thing I did find missing in Singapore was culture.  Most Asian countries are very rich in culture, but Singapore is a major business hub, and has a large population of foreigners which noticeably takes away from the traditional culture.  In Singapore I did not have as much luck in finding a good group to travel with, but I managed to do what I wanted.  Hop on Hop Off tours in any city are a great way to cover a lot of ground in a day or two, so I did a day of that, and a day trip to Sentosa to enjoy the made made beach.  The weather while I was there wasn't great, so I didn't soak up as much sun as I usually would.  I did enjoy a few Singapore Slings during my short stay. If I had to sum up Singapore in a few words I would say shopping malls, office buildings and strange laws (ie: no chewing gum).

My last stop before home was Malaysia. It was a very quick stop, with just one thing on my list of things to see in Kuala Lumpur.  I wanted to see the Pentrona Towers, and catch a few more rays of sun before heading home to Canada.  I arrived in the middle of a huge thunder and lightening storm, so the sun tanning was crossed off the list, but the towers are impressive, especially at night.    

I continued my travels home to the east coast, I had a bit of a nightmare getting home with missed flights, an over night stay in Hong Kong, and no luggage for a couple days. After all that was sorted out I managed to spend two lovely months relaxing, working a little bit, and traveling between Halifax, Miramichi, Wolfville, and a couple shopping trips to USA.  The things you miss while traveling are always a treat when you reach home soil.  Tim Horton's coffee, poutine, garlic fingers, cesars, clothes in multiple sizes, driving a car, television shows, fresh dried clothes, and English seems like such a treat after being away. It is also very nice to unpack your suitcase, and have a permanent address. Although I guess once you have the travel bug it stays for awhile.  I was not very entertained while I was home, and found myself soon searching for flights. The lifestyle in Korea is really catered towards post university students, who are keen on adventures.  I missed that after coming home to find friends talking about weddings, and babies.  So I decided to continue my travels again in July starting with Germany.


One of my dear travel buddies in Korea, was going to be in Europe for a school conference, and asked me to join her for a short lag of her journey in Berlin.  I have never been to Germany, and it is always nice to reunite with an old friend in a new country.  Berlin is a city with a very cool vibe, very artsy, while still managing to keep a lot of history.  Of course the major sight seeing attraction for us was the Berlin Wall, which sections still stand throughout the city.  We had no itinerary while traveling, so it was a very relaxed trip with lots of sausage, apple strudel, beer and schnitzel.  One thing I was impressed with, was the ability Caitlin and I had to decipher the German language.  With our combined knowledge in French and Afrikaans we managed to do very well in restaurants, subways, and shops. It is funny the stereotypes we create for cultures, but for me I see all Germans as very tall and big built, I will admit this is not true, although while shopping at the Birkenstock store I did notice all the shoes on display were size 40+ which fits my vision.   
 
My cousin had recently moved to Poland, so I figured I should check it out while she was there.  I must say it is a very underrated country. I have never thought much about traveling there until she moved there, but the food is good, traveling is cheap, the people are friendly, the weather was nice, and there are lots of things to see.  Auschwitz and Birkenau were the highlights of this trip by far.  We did a day tour to the concentration camps, the weather was about 40*C, and the atmosphere still manged to give me chills.   It is really amazing the history that place holds.  I was in Krakow, which is home of John Paul II, so the city is full of religion, massive churches, and priest and nuns all over the streets. It is a very pretty city with a lot of old buildings, horse and buggies, and cobble streets.

From Poland I took a bit of a detour to South Africa.  It was also a major check off my 2012 bucket list, and with two good friends getting married, it seemed to be perfect timing.  In Korea I met many South Africans, so it was very nice to visit with some of them in their home country.  I spent most of my time in Durban, which is on the coast.  Although it was 'winter' when I was there the weather was beautiful.  Every day felt like a sunny fall day.  My South African trip was more for visiting people, but we did manage to fit in a few cultural things.  We did a tour of a Zulu traditional village, as well as a safari and hippo/ crocodile boat cruise.  The safari was amazing, to see the animals in their natural habit, and close up is mind blowing.  The only thing we didn't get to see were lions.  This was a bit disappointing see as we all had the Lion King theme song running through our heads the whole trip. South Africans are very warm and welcoming, and love to BBQ and feed you. I was able to have a lovely braai, while watching rugby, and snacking on billtong. The country is also a lot safer than I had expected, you do see poor parts of town, and small children on the streets, but I generally felt very safe.

I have now made it back to Korea, I didn't think I would see the day of teacher Andrea again, but i'm back.  Same city, new school.  I don't think this run will be as long lasting as the previous, but let the adventure begin. My 2012 bucket list of seeing 3 new countries is well on its way. As of July I had visited 12 countries, and 6 of those were new. There are no travel plans for the near future, but living here and having many countries close by I am sure I will check one or two more off the list.

I have not been keeping up with post like I should be, but this past month has been very busy. I have literally flown around the world, and have hit some major cities along the way.

My first stop was Hong Kong. I wasn't as impressed with this city as I thought I would be, but I blame that on a number of factors. One being I was sick while traveling, and two being the rainy weather. I was hoping for some sun and beach time here, but it wasn't warm enough for that at all. I will say shopping in Hong Kong is great if that is what you are looking for. I spent one day in Hong Kong where I did a bus tour. I got to see the city, Victory Harbor, learn about some history, visit the floating village and restaurant, and take in some markets. It was a jammed pack half day trip, but it allowed me to cover a lot of ground in a short time. The other day I had in Hong Kong, I spend in Macau. It is just a short ferry ride away from Hong Kong, but still a part of China which doesn't require a visa. Macau is known as Asia's Vegas. It's a land of hotels, casinos, shopping, and shows. I got to see Cirque du Soleil's show Zaia while there, which was absolutely amazing. It may be the gymnastics background I have, but this was the highlight of my trip for sure. The sets, costumes, dance, song and story had me in awe. It was a quick trip for me as it was originally suppose to be my last Asian vacation before home. Since booking the trip I decided on coming back to Korea, so I will hopefully get in a couple more this year.

The next stop on my journey was London, England. I am so accustomed to lack of communication in English that my first question at the airport was "Do you speak English?" I feel in England, this may be taken as an insult. I had a week to travel around London and see the sights with my friend from university. The first day we spend wondering through Hyde Park, and enjoying afternoon tea we were both a little jet lagged, so it was a fairly uneventful day. We were in bed before the sun was down. The next day we decided to do a hop on hop off tour around London. We didn't pick the best day, or season for that matter to travel in England, and ended up caught in a major down pour. The tour took us to see London Bridge, London Eye, National Gallery, Tower Bridge, London Tower, Thames River, Big Ben, and the Parliament. I would highly recommend this to anyone. The guides on the bus were highly informative, and we both agreed that bus tours are not just for seniors. The next day we decided to have a "Royal Day." London was overly decorated with Will and Kate's face, and being there so close to the royal wedding we felt the need to check out the locations. We went to Buckingham Palace for changing of the guards, then walked the wedding route by St James Park to Westminster Abby. Westminster Abby was surprising to me. Even after seeing it on TV it seemed very different inside than I envisioned. It is by no means a beautiful church. I would say it is rather cluttered, and Gothic looking, but it is full of history. That night we took in a the musical Legally Blonde, which we didn't have high standards for, but were pleasantly surprised. Later in the week we went to see Dirty Dancing, which being a classic expected to be great, but I would say I enjoyed Legally Blonde more. The next day we took a day trip to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. Windsor Castle was another royal event, and the town of Windsor is very posh, and historic. I thought Bath was a very cute city, and if I were to go back would spend more time there. We only had a couple hours at each location, but the smaller cities is where I would spend time next trip. In Bath we spent most of the time checking out the Roman Baths. We also had traditional English Fish and Chips here. Stonehenge was the last stop and is defiantly worth seeing, but its not a full day event. There is nothing in the area besides the rocks, but seeing it and listening to the theories behind why they are there was really interesting. The rest of our time in London we spent enjoying tea at the Orangery, walking in Kensington Palace garden and shopping. I will say after spending a year traveling in non English speaking countries that London was a treat.

The final stop on my journey was home. I flew into Montreal, and as much as English was foreign to my ears in England, French was in Montreal. I will say that after being away from home for a while, that I now know why people see Canadian's as friendly. Of all the places I have been, no one holds a door, lets you skip line if your in a hurry, or helps with your luggage. From the second I got off the plane I had some lift my heavy bag, hold a door, and allow me to skip the line at security. It really made me feel at home, and proud to be Canadian. Home was a great break for me. To go to the grocery store and see recognizable food, speak English, drive a car, watch English TV, and visit friends and family was unbelievable. I got to do a quick Nova Scotia tour, visiting Bridgewater, Wolfville and Halifax. I also had a bit of a New Brunswick tour and visited Miramichi, Moncton, and Fredericton before flying back to Korea.

I am now back in Korea for 8 months teaching at the same school. I have no trips planned as of yet, which is a bit depressing. I have a couple places on my wish list before I head home to Canada in January. I am thinking Singapore or Bali. I don't have as much time off this time, so I plan to do more Korean vacations on weekends.

Things hear are like I never left. My kids are back to themselves, although after being gone for three weeks it only took them five days to become annoying again. In a class of 12 kids for 50 minutes they managed to say the word "teacher" in there Korean accent over 100 times. There is a reason why Soju (alcohol) is so cheap in this country.

Mt Fuji

Tokyo Tower

Shibuya Intersection-1 million people cross here everyday.

Hachico Station

Tokyo

Wild Deer

Torri Gate

Making Japanese "Pizza"

A Bomb Dome

A Bomb Museum

Japan

Japan is an amazing country. It is very clean and organized non like many other places I have been here. I do feel lucky that I was able to experience Japan before leaving Asia. I am also glad I saved it til the end. It has given me a much better impression of Asia as a continent. People are patient here, they stop at cross walks, and don't spit or put cigarettes on the ground. After living in Korea for over a year, I appreciate all these things.

I feel lucky with the timing if my trip, if I had been a few weeks later, things may not have gone so smoothly. The tsunami and earthquakes have caused a lot of damage this week, and as I am glad I am back to Korea safe.

The airport efficiency had me impressed from the start, so I could tell it was going to be a good vacation. Everything seems to run so smoothly in Japan. There was no waiting for luggage, customs, immigration, or trains. The airport is also high tech with finger print scanning, and identification. We started our adventures in Osaka. We only spent one night in Osaka, in a part called Mikuni. Mikuni is a nice quiet part of the city. It has a very small village feel with street markets, bikes, cafes, and restaurants. It almost reminded me of the valley; everyone knows everyone in this part of town. There were not many foreigners around, but we did run into a guy named Patrick. He is definitely a known foreign local, and he was able to give us lots of help and advice. We didn't have much time in Osaka, but we got a chance to walk around and enjoy a couple pubs, and restaurants here. We stayed at the Caminoro guesthouse here, and I have to give it an excellent review. Clean, spacious, great location, and the owners are very friendly. They also have an adorable baby girl. I would recommend this place to anyone in who is in that area.

The next day we got up early to take a bus to Hiroshima. This was the part of the trip I had been looking forward to the most, and it did not disappoint. Hiroshima is a beautiful city with many rivers running through the main part of town. The Peace Memorial Park, and A Bomb Dome are very well persevered and maintained. I found the A bomb museum extremely interesting, and eerie. Some of the artifacts such as the watch which stopped at 8:15am when the bomb hit, and paintings done by the survivors in the museum were very disturbing. It gave me a much better picture of the threat of nuclear weapons. This also made me a little uneasy, seeing as I currently live in a country that is in constant disagreement with North Korea, who have an undetermined amount of nuclear weapons. The museum is very tastefully done, and highly educational. One thought that ran through my mind a number of times while reading and looking at different things, was I am happy to not be American. I would have felt very guilty being there as an American.

Following the museum and park we tried some of the local food. Okonomiyako which is "pizza," they make it using lettuce, pork, egg, and a tortilla. Since pizza is my favorite food, I will not call it pizza, but it wasn't bad. The guy even let us help make it. We also had momiji, which is a small leaf shaped cookie. Inside it is filled with custard, red bean, green tea, chocolate or some other fillings. I had the custard one which wasn't too bad either. In the evening we had a try of shochu, which is traditional Japanese liquor. They drink it mixed with water or ice. It is not delicious but much better than something like vodka or rum.

The next day we went to Miyajima island. It is not far from Hiroshima, and it is very easy to get to by train and ferry. At first we were not so sure if we would waste a day going, but once we got there we were happy we did. The island is small and most famous for the Torri Gate (aka the floating gate). That was the main attraction we went to see, but once we got there we enjoyed the nature and small island vibe much better. It is a very touristy location, but the locals, houses and history is very preserved. We rented bikes and did a bit of an island tour. The weather was beautiful, and we got to see the gate during high tide. The island also has hundreds of wild, but very tame deer. They will come right up to you and take food, or paper right from your hand. Here I got to try eel and oysters which are the famous food of choice. Eel was not for me, but the oysters were much better than I thought they would be.

That night we took an overnight bus to Tokyo. We wanted to fit in all of Japans highlights while there, so we flew to Osaka and home from Tokyo. Japan is not a very large country land mass wise, but it is very long. 14 hours from Hiroshima to Tokyo by bus, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. They make many stops, and once you get comfortable enough to sleep it is ok. We arrived in Tokyo early in the morning, and decided to cover a lot of ground in one day. We did Tokyo Tower, Government Buildings, Sony Building, Hachico Station, and the Shibuya intersection. I got to have some delicious sushi, and hit up a couple of clubs in Tokyo which was really fun. We were in Tokyo during the weekend, which if you are looking for night life I recommend. For being the largest city in the world, it was very easy to get around, clean, organized, and nice. It is massive, and when you are looking from the observation deck 50 floors up you can see that, but they all do an amazing job in making it work. Even the subway during rush hour is organized, and people wait in lines. While we were there, the Tokyo marathon was taking place. If I had of known I would of loved to run in it. To run in a marathon with 35,000 people from all over the world would of been an amazing experience, the course is also fairly flat. Next year I will have to keep it in mind.

Our last day in Japan we took a day trip to Mt Fuji. It is very pretty, and the weather was beautiful. It was a clear day so we were able to see the peak. It is still snow covered at the peak, and climbing season does not start until summer so we didn't get to hike it. We also went to an onsen while there. This is a natural outdoor hot spring. There are indoor baths as well which are similar to the Korean bath houses, but the outdoor hot spring is so relaxing. You can sit outside in a warm rock bath, with Mt Fuji in the background and fresh air. After getting over the fact you are naked with many strangers it is very relaxing. The Japanese are much more modest than Koreans, so walking with a towel in front of you is ok. After spending a few hours soaking in tubs and cleaning I felt like a million dollars.

Japan is a beautiful country. I would highly recommend it to anyone. It is some what expensive to travel throughout the country, but it's worth it. I would not have skipped any of the locations we covered, or omitted any sights or activities. If I had to choose one city to visit I would say Hiroshima was my favorite. I loved Japan and could defiantly see myself living there.

The past couple of months have been flying here in Korea. I celebrated Christmas very different from years in the past, but everyone is in the same boat so we made the best of it. It was a very green Christmas here. My company had a big staff party on Christmas day, so I did manage to have turkey for dinner. I rang in the New Year and my 1 year anniversary in Daegu with some friends which was fun. Daegu is a bigger city, and more to do than Gumi. I also thought it was fitting because that is where I rang in 2010 as well. The local foreign bar here has started Wednesday trivia night, so we have been religiously going to that which helps break up the week. We can have teams of 2-3 people. We have a group of 6 friends who like to make it a fairly competitive event. So far the 6 of us have finished in the top 2 teams every week, so its a fight to defend our titles now. I have been crossing off my bucket list things and preparing for my return to Canada. The countdown is at 46 days, which gives me anxiety. Part of me is ready to go home, and part of me wants to stay. I am sure my departure will be bitter sweet.

Happy New Year 2011

I have finished my South East Asian travels this week. I took a trip to the Phillippnes with a couple girls from here. It was a great trip, and nice to get out of the cold weather for a while. We were only there for a short time but covered a lot. We arrived in Manila late on Wednesday night and headed to an island Puerto Galera for the beach part of our vacation. We spent a few days there on the beach, snorkeling, para sailing, and partying before heading back to Manila to do some shopping and sight-seeing.

Melissa, Chantel, and I

The beach was nice, the water wasn't as warm as Thailand, but a comfortable temperature. It is still "winter" in the Phillippines so it was the coldest time of year. The temperature was still around 26 degrees, and the sun was great. We did a boat tour which took us snorkeling and the amount of fish was amazing. We took some bread to feed the fish and hundreds of tiny fish would surround you. During the evenings we hit up some beach side bars. They all have lady boys that work and entertain. I have to say I was very entertained by the lady boy and fire shows at night. We had a chance to ask some of the lady boys our questions, and I have to say some of them were very convincing females. We also got to try some balut while on the beach. Balut is a fertilized egg, and is known to be one of the worst foods in the world. I had a VERY small sip of the liquid, but couldn't eat it.

Balut

We spent a couple days in Manila before coming home. We got to do some shopping, which was much better than Korean shopping. We even got a few grocery items which you can't find here. The Phillippnes has a much larger selection of American goods, which are like luxury items for us. We also went to Intramuros which is the oldest selection of Manila which was built by the Spaniards. There are lots of old churches and buildings here, but the original heritage is not well preserved. Beside a 16th century church you can find a 7-eleven.

Interamuros

Overall I had a great vacation, and was happy to do it in great company before heading home. Even managed to get a bit of a tan.

My next adventure is in a couple weeks time. I will be heading to Japan to do a tour of the island. We plan to hit up Osaka, Hiroshima, Mt Fuji, and Tokyo. Should be another fun vacation.

China has come and gone; it was a quick trip but very enjoyable. We started things off a little rocky with a 2 hour delay, but once we got to Beijing it was fantastic. Our tour guide met us at the airport and from there we started with sight seeing right away. First on the list was Tiananmen Square. This is the largest city square in the world, and hosts many Chinese historic events. Across the street we went to the Forbidden City which was the house for the Emperor in the Ming Dynasty. No members from the public were allowed access to this huge area until 1925. Only the Emperor, and Empress had access to the 980 buildings and 8707 rooms. Now the "Forbidden City" is called the Palace Museum since it is no longer forbidden to the public. By the time dinner came were exhausted, but we enjoyed a few Chinese style dishes before going to the acrobat show. I will say it was a bit dissppointing. China produces some of the best gymnast in the world, but this show did not show their potential level of talent.

The next day we did the Jade market, Ming Tombs, and the Great Wall. The Great Wall was defiantly the highlight of my trip. It was extremely cold and windy, but its was amazing. The section which we climbed was very steep, but from the top you were able to see a large section of the wall to really appreciate the size of it. Following the Great Wall we went to the Summer Palace, which was built as a summer resort for the Empress. It is completely man made, but it really is beautiful. Since it was winter, it was hard to get the true sense of beauty, but in summer or spring with trees and flowers I imagine it would be gorgeous . We also went to a pearl market, where they let us see how to extract pearls and taught us how to tell if they are real. Last on the agenda was a tea ceremony. Tea for me is a stereotypical "China" thing, but to see how different tea should be prepared was interesting. They also believe that different tea is good for different functions, so they to try them and learn about it was interesting.

The last day of our tour we did the Temple of Heaven, silk market, and a Chinese duck meal. The Temple of Heaven is now a big city park which is open to the public and there were hundreds of people there exercising, but it is still very peaceful. The silk market was also very interesting to see the steps in making silk.

Our final day in China we spent shopping. We went to a big market which had everything. pearls, silk, makeup, electronics, souvenirs, shoes, and purses. If you are good at bargaining you and practically buy things for nothing here. Most of the vendors sell the same products so if you name a price, its hard for them to say no.

After hearing some negative things about China and Beijing, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was probably my favorite Asian destination to date, I didn't find it to be dirty, or crowded with people. The tour which we did was also perfect. We were the only two on the tour, so we had a guide and a driver and they really catered to our interests. They would pick us up, drop us off, and let us do our thing which was exactly what I wanted. I would defiantly recommend a tour package for people wanting to see the most of Beijing in the least amount of time. We were able to see everything we wanted and more in 4 days, and it didn't feel rushed at all. As for going in winter, it probably wasn't the best time of year. In the fall or spring I feel would be ideal. One bonus about going during winter months, there weren't as many people around at the sights.

This week was the first snowfall, it made things feel more like Christmas. Snow never lasts very long around here, but it was nice to wake up and see big white flakes falling. The kids are much more excited about snow, then Christmas. A lot of my kids said they are "too old for Christmas." None of my kids believe in Santa, which I find very sad. I had a 6 year old kid tell me that the thought of a fat man coming down a chimney was crazy. Makes the holiday season much less exciting around here. There are a few stores and office buildings decorated for Christmas, but no houses have lights. It is not recognized as a major holiday like back home.

December in Korea has brought lots of goodbyes. They are starting to slow down now, but its sad to see people who you have spend the past year with go home. It has also brought changes to Moon Kkang. At my school we have a new Korean teacher, new manager, and soon will have a new foreign teacher. Starting in January there will be changes to the curriculum as well. As much as I am in a routine now, changes make the time go by quickly. I will be saying my farewell in less than 100 days now. Scary how fast the time has gone.

This week has been eventful with another attack from North Korea. It is sad that it is a fairly common thing around here, most Koreans don't even flinch when things like this happen. Living in a country and having a hostile neighbor for 50+ years gives you time to adjust to acts of war. When I first got here I thought the monthly invasion drills, amount of military, and sirens were a bit ridiculous, but after this event I guess they are all necessary precautions. When we first got here we asked a lot of questions, but my co teachers insisted it was fine. We would often say "This is strange for us because no one really hates Canada. That is why tourist sew Canadian flags on backpacks even if they aren't from Canada." Living abroad has made me thankful, and proud to be Canadian.

It is sad how much knowledge Korean kids have of war, military, and weapons. This week in class while discussing the North Korea attack with a group of 10 year olds; I had a child explain to me the chemicals used to make a nuclear bomb. Since military is mandatory here for males when they reach their twenties, a lot of my students also pray to be from another country so they don't have to do service. When I asked some middle school kids how they felt about it, they would answer "It is so terrible, I don't want to be a solider I want to play soccer and computer games." For now life goes on as usual, and I am glad I don't live near the boarder.

Farewells are still happening weekly here. This weekend there are 7 foreigners who will say goodbye. My co-teacher has also left my school, so there are a lot of changes happening soon. I am heading to China this week, so I am really looking forward to that. Caitlin and I have booked a tour and are going to hit up all the major tourist attraction in Beijing before she heads home to South Africa. I will be sure to update when I get back!