Midnight musings.

Two hours from now, Emily and I had planned to be in Korea, but hit an unforeseeable detour .

We will be arriving in Korea 1 day late, with many adventures we can already see in order to make our way to orientation, including (but not limited to) arranging our own van ride, potentially attempting to speak Korean with limited knowledge, a phrasebook, and jet-lag, and meeting the 4+ other teachers who are in the same boat as us.

In the meantime, we're stranded at the airport... it's like a sleepover in Seattle.
With hard airport floor. Chairs. Carpet.

We're even staying up all night to adjust to South Korean time.

Emily and I are becoming delirious and have grand plans of cartwheel races down the empty terminals, riding the inter-airport tram for fun, and whatever else we can think of.

One thing's for sure: we won't be sleeping. Even in an empty terminal it's terribly loud.

"Go on reassured," he says.

While packing last week I found something I hadn't thought about in a while, but was completely necessary to my trip overseas. In the bottom of my bathroom drawer, my St. Christopher necklace laid in wait for our next big adventure.
For those of you unfamiliar with St. Christopher, he is the saint of safe travels, and has been with me on many many trips. So far, this necklace has been

• Jumping waves in the Pacific Ocean (United States)
• Swimming in the Sea of Cortez (Mexico)
• Sea kayaking in Phang Nga Bay (Thailand)
• Monsooned on in the hills of Chiang Rai (Thailand)
• Bathing elephants in the MeKong River (Thailand)

So I'm looking forward to adding more experiences to this seasoned medallion.

It's getting incredibly close to takeoff time. I'm thinking a bagel is in order.
Love from the SeaTac airport, in the air, and across the globe.

'코끼리', 'ko-gee-ree', or 'elephant': it's all the same.

I've been spending so much time and energy into getting ready (both mental and physical preparation) to leave that this evening I really just needed a break (from more of the former than from the latter).

So I got a new buddy to take with me traveling. It eased some of the stress.



This is Cheen-gu. Also written in Korean as 친구, meaning friend. Look for pictures of Cheen-gu on these postings as we travel (yes; he'll be stowing away in my backpack wherever adventure takes me), just to liven things up.

As if moving to Korea wasn't exciting enough. I'm really beginning to go crazy from all this anticipation.

5 days and counting!

I love making lists.

So naturally the biggest high is making a list of things to pack when you're moving half-way around the world.

This is a massive, comprehensive list, with colors and quantities and labels (yes; I'm aware I'm totally geeking out and no; this is not a problem to me). Here are a few of my favorites/ most notable items:

1. My Lonely Planet Travel Guide to Korea. Lonely Planet is one of the best sources for travlers to know anything they would want to about a foreign country, and the authors are pretty hilarious (because who wants to read dry paragraphs when they're stoked to travel?!). I loved this book so much I bought the Korean Phrasebook to go along with it; score!

2. A quick-drying travel towel (REI). It's space-friendly for suitcases and dries like THAT, so I never worry about it being damp when I need it. This is perfect for backpacking (which I'll definitely be doing when I'm not at work!).

3. A travel journal. Because you'll want to remember how you felt when you first arrived, and see how much you've been able to accomplish (or simply survive!). Don't forget extra pens!

4. Clif bars. Not because I'll be running a marathon during my first weeks in Korea or anything, but sometimes it's nice to have a little taste of something familiar. I invested in some of these babies on my last trip abroad and am glad I did! Not only did I use them on a couple of occasions when food was scarce or questionable, but bringing enough to share can make you an extra friend or two along your journey. Well worth the extra bit of weight.

That's all for now! I'm going to ride this list-making high and see how much stuff I can get organized.

realities.

1. In 18 days, I will be in the air on my way to Korea.
This week, I secured a one-way flight (!) and acquired my visa to live in Korea for a year. It should make everything more real but for some reason I'm still in denial. Is it okay that I'm mostly excited for the movies on the international flight? I can't think too far past that right now. My head might explode.

2. Getting your teaching certificate online is a lot of work, but it's worth it.
I thought I was good at grammar before taking these classes. What I REALLY learned is that native English-speakers really take their language for granted. It's difficult at best to learn. But now that I've had these classes, despite loathing the English language before I even become a teacher, I feel prepared to teach any grade level now. My hope? 1st-2nd graders. Adorable.

3. I love learning Korean. But I don't know nearly enough.
Knowing the language isn't required to be a teacher in Korea, but I wanted to know some before leaving. Podcasts have been the most helpful. If you are ever interested in learning Korean, Youtube Korean101.com or find their podcasts in iTunes. I even took them on vacation with me and found it pretty easy to pick up.

4. My suitcase remains untouched because I'm scared to put everything in it.
It's hidden by a pile of clothes sitting in the corner of my room. And I don't even want to think about the extra things I'm going to need to get before leaving:

-lotion (because many lotions in Korea have skin-whitening agents in them)
-deodorant (because it's pretty uncommon in Korea)
-grammar book (for obvious reasons)
-watch with alarm (so I can still get up on time for orientation while I don't have a phone)

and probably some other things I haven't even thought of yet.

5. Ulsan is 16 hours ahead of Seattle time.
So if you ever want to know what tomorrow's going to look like, just ask me. Well maybe not.
But to find out what time it is in my corner of the world, you can

a) Guess.
b) Take your current time, add 4 hours and flip the am/pm (for people in PST only).
c) visit this link, which also includes a weather report. You can even search for other locations too, to keep up with all your friends around the world.

6. This is going to be a great adventure.
Enough said. And above any challenge or hesitance I know it's going to be worth it.

Kimchi explosion.

So, the stats:

6= the approximate number of weeks til I touch down in South Korea.
17= the number of units I have left to complete for my teaching certification.
and
1= the number of twists it took on a jar of kimchi for it to explode in my kitchen this afternoon.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish. Essentially, it is pickled cabbage, marinated with chili and other Korean spices to make a hot and pungent delight. And when I say 'delight', I mean 'acquired taste.' But after the initial shock of seeing red kimchi juice splatter the counter in an 8-inch radius, I really grew fond of the flavor. Thankfully.

In my excitement to try new things and desire to experience more of Korea before my departure, I failed to look at the top of the jar, which says quite clearly: "Due to fermentation, contents of this jar may be under pressure. To open, place a napkin over lid and twist over a sink." Simple enough, if only I had caught it prior to opening the jar.

Hopefully the rest of my preparation will be just as exciting... but maybe a little less messy.

She's back!

For the past few months, I have been waiting for the day I could write about my next big trip. When I found out what city I was actually traveling to, I decided my postings could begin. Well folks, today is that day... finally! Here's what's going down.

Destination: Ulsan, South Korea.

I will be teaching English to public school students for a full year in one of South Korea's beautiful metropolitan cities, located in the southeast coast. My contract begins in August, which means just a couple more months in the United States before I'm off on my next adventure!

Many people have been asking me why I chose South Korea. The Korean government puts high value on their youth's ability to speak English, and therefore subsidizes rent, airfare, and pay for native English speakers to come work with students firsthand. With this kind of a deal, I will be able to save a deal of money while traveling and learning about this amazing culture.

The recruiting program I worked with to acquire the position, Footprints Recruiting, has been extremely helpful in the arduous 6-month process it has taken to process paperwork, creating contacts, and successfully completing interviews with English Programs in Korea (EPIK). This has been a marathon of phone-calling, email-writing, fee-paying, and putting faith in the system to work out the details. Fortunately, it is coming through just fine. So here I am, Bachelor's degree freshly achieved and ready to buy a ticket out of the country.

As some of you already know, this will be my second trip to southeast Asia, but my first move to another country. My first trip to Thailand in August 2009 (see previous blog posts) provided me with the opportunity to teach English to children as well. Education is incredibly important in developing countries where a skill like English can provide job opportunities to kids when they wouldn't normally.

Aside from teaching and developing a level of comfort in this foreign culture, I'm hoping to create some paths which will further my career with international non-profit work, including building a foundation as a professional photographer. SO, if anyone has professional connections in South Korea (or anyone else who may find an enthusiastic college grad such as myself relevant), please let me know!

Keep looking for this blog to find updates, photos, and so much more!

From your happy traveler, Laura.