Asian Adventure: part 4

Hong Kong:
We made it to Hong Kong by the afternoon and were ready to go. That evening we went to Victoria peak to see the skyline at night. I think Hong Kong has the best skyline of any city I've seen. It was a highlight. We went another evening as well, this time along the Victoria Harbour, just missing the light and music show by seconds. It was beautiful anyways!

One of our days in HK, we took a ferry to Macau. Macau, like Hong Kong, is technically a special administrative region of China, so they aren't their own country, but they also are separate from China. We found a tourist map of the area telling us where all the site were and pretty much walked around the entire city; one side to the other and back; it was so HOT that day too. Macau was administered by the Portuguese until 1999, so a lot of it looked very European. All of the signs were in Chinese and Portuguese and the buildings and plazas reminded me a lot of Lisbon. It was not what I expected a place in China to look like! Macau is also known for their casinos, but I didn't think they were picture worthy. The last picture in this set doesn't look as European as most of Macau. We spent an hour or so in a beautiful park with ponds full of koi fish and lily pads. The park also happened to be displaying a photography exhibit, so that kept us busy for a while too.

Back in Hong Kong, we of course did more shopping!! Like the rest of China there are markets on every other corner. Half of the information in the guide books were different markets or shopping areas to see. It was ok by me; I love markets. We spent a lot of time wondering around streets looking at all the clothes, jewelery, fake handbags, and people of course. I don't think I've ever bought as much stuff for myself on any trip I've been on as I have this one. Especially in HK, I loved all the signs, lights,and hustle and bustle.

Our last day in Hong Kong, before our flight that evening, we made our way out to the country side to see the Tian Tan Buddha. We took a train and bus to make it out there, but it was a nice ride through the country after being in one big city after the other. The big Buddha was indeed quite enormous! Can you see me? Also, while waiting for our next train we walked along the beach and saw a beautifully carved dragon boat.

Hong Kong was more than I expected. Not that I knew what to expect. I had an image that it would be just another big city, but I was surprised. It had personality and the people seemed so alive. It was also nice because it was so international, more like what I'm use to.

Asian Adventure: part 3

Shanghai:
Just before our trip we heard that there would be a total eclipse in the vicinity of Shanghai on the 22nd of July, the day before we were suppose to arrive in the city. We decided to change our plans and go a day early in hopes of seeing the eclipse. The weather forecast was dismal and we heard there were big crowds expected in Shanghai, so we opted for a smaller city nearby called Suzhou. We took the overnight train from Beijing and made it in plenty of time to see the 9:30am eclipse. We went to one of the city gardens and hoped the clouds and rain would hold out. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible and we couldn't see the sun at all. But, it was still cool because it went from a morning light to complete darkness for a full 6 minutes. We sat out in the rain anyways. These are some pictures in the garden, which was awesome in it's self. We had a bit of time to waste until the eclipse because our train arrived really early, so we had a picnic and photo shoot in the rain.


After spending most of the day in Suzhou walking around and visiting a couple of gardens and becoming completely soaked (especially Michelle who had forgotten her umbrella!!), we took an evening train to Shanghai. Shanghai is the largest city in China with over 20 million people, just in case you were wondering! but still smaller than Seoul. On our first day there we took a city tour that our hostel offered. It took us to all the big attractions. We first went to the top of the Oriental Pearl tower to get an overview of the city. Then we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. Our guide told us a lot about the meanings of the different kinds of Buddhas. There were also lots of people worshiping with incense and bows. Another one of the things on the tour was to go to a pearl outlet. They were trying really hard to get us to buy some pearls so they even did a little show for us. They showed us how they get fresh water pearls by opening an oyster right in front of us. The last stop on the tour was to Yuyuan market. It was a huge, crowded market with all the shops overflowing into the streets. I got a few gifts from here!! But the architecture alone was a sight.

The following day we took ourselves around the city to take a look at the few things we didn't see. We strolled along Nanjing road, Shanghai's most popular shopping street, with all of it's millions of shops and people, to end up at The Bund. The Bund is a famous area in Shanghai known for it's European style architecture. The area stretches along the coast of the Huangpu River and I can only imagine how nice of an area it would be. However, unfortunately for us, it was under renovation so most things were closed, had scaffolding, or were fenced off.

That night we went to an acrobatic show. WOW!! It was so amazing. The stuff these people could do was unreal. They did all kind of ridiculous contortionist stuff, over the top stunts, balancing acts. I sat with my mouth wide opened the whole time.
The following day we did a bit more exploring and shopping. We had to get ready for our 20 hour train ride to Hong Kong that evening, so of course we bought lots of food to keep us busy. When I found out that the the train was 20 hours long, I was a little discouraged, but honestly, it went by quite quickly. We slept for about 8 hours of it, ate for probably 2, read books, did crosswords, took 2 naps, and of course chatted. It so happened that in our bunk room were 2 British guys, so we shared our stories and they shared theirs. Not bad at all!

Asian Adventure: part 2

Beijing:
We left Korea on Sunday the 19th for Beijing. I think Beijing is the place I was looking forward to most because I've always wanted to visit the Great Wall. Our first day there we went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. The photos really don't do the place justice. Both the square and the Forbidden city were massive and it seemed like you'd never be able to see it all. It was both beautiful and eerie.

The following day we did a day trip to the Great Wall. Instead of taking a bus there, snapping a few photos, and driving back, we opted for the hiking trip. It was an 8k hike (a small bit considering it's 6,700k long) and man, it was an intense hike! I didn't expect it to be so steep. I had hear that it had a lot of stairs, but I never realized how difficult parts of it were. I can't believe people built this thing! We took a cable car to the start and ziplined off of it at the end. I took tons of photos of the Wall; I guess I was in awe that I was really there.


One evening we went to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube Olympic buildings. The last summer Olympics were held in Beijing in 2008, and the area was really nice and modern. They even took the best of care with the grass, notice the plaque!

Another day we went to the Temple of Heaven. It's a Taoist complex where the emperors would come to pray and have ceremonies. Just like Tienanmen and the Forbidden City, this place was massive. It was completely walled in with many different temples and a huge park area.


These last photos are from the Hutong were our hostel was. A Hutong is an old neighborhood made up of a complicated series of alley ways, side streets and courtyards. The buildings were all so old and beautiful, but also extremely easy to get lost in!

Asian Adventure: part 1

Arrival & Korea:
From July 15th-August 5th I had two of my au pair friends I met in Switzerland, Michelle and Sarah, come to visit. I was looking forward to their visit for months and now that it's over, I don't know what to do with myself. I had a wonderful time hanging out with them and we had a great trip. We got to travel around Korea, China, and the Philippines in the 3 weeks they were in Asia. We named our trip the "Asian Adventure." I'll write about the trip in a few different blogs because we did sooooo much, I have to break it up a little. So, here is part 1: Korea!!

Michelle and Sarah arrived on Wednesday the 15th. I was initially suppose to work the rest of that week, but because of the swine flu scare (and I have to say that Koreans are petrified of getting it) I got Thursday and Friday off because I was coming into contact with "the foreigners." My school told me to take sick days; it was just fine with me!! So, I had Wednesday-Saturday to show them around my stomping ground. We went to the Gyeongbokgung Palace and museum (picture 1), walked around different parts of the city, went to a few markets both in Seoul and Incheon, as well as met up with some of my friends. One night we met up with my friends Mark and Cam for a big Korean BBQ dinner; though I don't eat the meat, you can see there are tons of side dishes I can have. The side dished come free with the BBQ, so I'm a really cheap date here!! After dinner we went to a cafe called Dr. Fish. At Dr. Fish you can sip on a coffee while soaking your feet in a tub with dozens of little fish that eat your dead skin. I was really squeamish and barely let them even touch me, hehe!

One afternoon we went into Seoul and did a little shopping as well as went up to Namsan tower. I had been there once before when I first arrived, but it had been a while. A tradition at Namsan is to attach a lock to the fence with your significant other and write a little love note on it and then your love will last forever. They call it love locks. So, we of course wanted to add on to this tradition! My friends Rebekah G and Mallory were with us this day, so together we attached a lock and labeled ourselves the Seoul Sistas!!

One of the evenings we went for a night out in a popular area called Hongdae. Mallory and my Korean friend Lucy joined us for the night of fun! We stayed up all night and slept the next day instead! Oh, and as you can see in the last photo, I showed them the wonders of Korean glasses. My favorite thing about Korean fashion is the AMAZING eye glasses they wear. They come in every color, every shape, but the best thing of all is that they are so CHEAP! I already bought a pair of glasses about 6 months ago, but when they only cost $30 for lenses and all, you might as well get another. All 3 of us got a new pair of glasses, Sarah got 2! We fit right in!

My kids, my house, & Mud Festival!

Here are some videos I've taken lately. In my 3rd grade classes we taught the students "Pat-a-Cake", and a song called, "I can." They are so cute when they sing, so I had to get a video. Also there was another English festival at my school, so I took a video of some little girls singing as well as took a couple of photos of some other performances. The last video is of my house. I am leaving in about a month, meaning I need to start packing soon, but before I do, I wanted to show what it looks like these days. The last video of my house was the first day I got here, so this video is more like what it really looks like. I love my house!!!


In mid-July there is a big festival that brings all the foreigners around Korea to the same place. It's Mud Festival! It's not just for foreigners of course, there are lots of Koreans there too, but for some reason the foreigners come in flocks, me included. I ran into everyone I've ever met since being in Korean at Mud Festival. Basically, Mud festival is just as it sounds, it's a festival in Boryeong, where everything is devoted to Mud... a huge Mud fight! They had mud slides, mud jump houses, different color muds, mud soaps, mud everything. Me and a few of my friends shared a hotel together (the sleep on the floor kind) and enjoyed the mud. The monsoon season weather was in full effect that weekend, but we tried to have fun despite it. As you can see from the photos, we built sand castles, played in the mud, went swimming (or drowning!). It was fun acting like a kid for the weekend (as if i didn't already do that every weekend!!).