Thailand – The Climber’s Shangri-La
Southeast Asia has, for years, and for many reasons, been a top travel destination for the young and adventurous. For starters, apart from the plane ticket required to actually get to the region, it is one of the least expensive places to go. Full meals start around 2 USD, hostel rooms for 5, and nice hotel rooms will run you around 15 USD (obviously depending on the area and quality of the hotel in question). When discussing Southeast Asia,... Read More
The Travel of Love
WoopWOOP Family love! There are many reasons that people love to travel. The freedom it brings, sights you see, things you learn and experience, but especially the people you meet. I have found that the older I have been when I’ve gone travelling the better the friends I made are. The friendships created are more realistic and less superficial than when travelling at 18. (As I said, this isn’t a rule, but seems to be the case for me!)... Read More
Korea vs. Japan
A Korean soldier stands guard over Dokdo Island Ever the naive Westerner, I had assumed that South Korea and Japan would have some sort of ”Northeastern Asia Friendship” going on after spending the last 200 million years chilling out next to each other in the Sea of Japan. Just as Canada and America share some similar cultural attributes and mentalities, I expected the two countries to have some sort of geographical bond between them. ... Read More
Thoughts from a Nation Builder
In light of President Obama’s recent State of the Union Address (which can be found here, and is well worth a viewing), I thought I would toss in my two cents about the Korean education system, which was highlighted in his speech. For those just tuning in, I am currently teaching in Seoul, South Korea as an English teacher, so I found his words especially intriguing. “In South Korea, teachers are known as ‘nation builders.’ ... Read More
The Foreigner’s Guide to K-Pop
For those of you who have not had the joy of being exposed to K-Pop (Korean pop music), this upbeat genre features both male and female groups which generally have around five fiendishly attractive performers, and a group leader. While Korean music hasn’t cracked into mainstream Western society yet, it is a cultural phenomenon that extends into Japan, China and Southeast Asia. K-Pop is one of my favorite parts of Korean culture and does wonders... Read More
Discovering the Beauty of Dependence
Dependence in action I had a revelation yesterday. Well, actually it began last Friday. Well, actually I’ve been piecing things together for the past several months, but didn’t begin to articulate it until yesterday. I was taking the subway home after a department dinner with my school when I began reflecting on my life in Korea, and how I may have changed as a person since leaving the States four months back. There are a couple... Read More
The Media and Our View of the World
The attack on Yeongyeong Island and the extent of Korean concert (photo courtesy of Newsmild) The media is a really beautiful thing. TV news reports, magazines and papers allow us to understand events transpiring in every country, despite our current location. One glance at BBC’s website can tell me more than I ever cared to know about giant panda breeding, cricket scores, and discovered works by a renowned poet I am not familiar with. ... Read More
Working Overseas – The Unexpected Complications
Korea is a whole lot of different It probably goes without saying that I love to travel. I love being able to slip in and out of cultures, explore new countries, and meet people with life experiences entirely different from my own. I want to hear new languages swirling around me, see how boyfriends and girlfriends interact in public, and find the human traits that are shockingly different, and refreshingly similar. I’ve always found international... Read More
10 Reasons Why You Should Come to Korea
Seoul's Gyeongbok Palace Despite being one of the world’s economic leaders, and a culturally rich society, Korea doesn’t get a ton of attention when it comes to international tourism. If you ask the majority of Americans where they want to go in Asia, you’d expect to hear Thailand, Japan or China, but South Korea doesn’t make the cut. So allow me to present to you ten reasons why you should plan a visit to “The... Read More
How to be a Cheapskate… Overseas
I once slept here for a night because I was too stingy to get a hostel. But you don't have to be that cheap... I’m a cheapskate. Honestly. For many people, the words cheapskate and traveling have no place beside one another in a sentence, but I’ve made it work, and have made it to four continents without ever having a ‘real job’. Few people are ever exposed to the inner-workings of my cheap mind, as you would be... Read More
