Sooo, I have not posted in a year. That is fitting seeing as I have not left the country in a year. But soon I will be. I am traveling to Ecuador from January 3 through the 28th and then I'll be in Peru for a week, mainly staying in Cuzco to see the Sacred Valley and Maccu Piccu. Hopefully, I will be able to update this a few times on the trip and keep you all updated.
CM
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Andy and Brita got married.
This past week has been very eventful from the perspective of a 20 year old away from home, but pretty uneventful from any sort of academic standpoint.
Last week's highlight was undoubtedly visiting the Hookah bar "Rainbow", suggested by my cousin Morgan (who has proved invaluable in finding all the great night spots -- kudos to you sir!) It was fun to ride the subway and check out another neighborhood of Seoul; with 23 million people living in the vicinity and surrounding districts it's impossible to comprehend how truly enormous this city is. We have continued to return to "Mr. Wow" - a hot dog and sausage street vendor who is delicious. Also, Red Mango - frozen yogurt - and kareokee bars continue to be high on the list of priorities.
This weekend we visited Jeonju, a city about 300 km southwest of Seoul. It was very small and quaint, with the feeling of a Colorado or Utah Ski Resort town like Breckenridge or Park City. Here we were able to tour a traditional village, and participate in traditional Korean craft making, dancing, and a wedding ceremony. Two brave souls, Andy and Brita, volunteered for this and were the lucky couple. It was a very unique experience and very interesting as well -- that's right, I just said learning was fun! Ahh! What is happening to me? We spent the night in a traditional (starting see a pattern, huh?) Korean style hotel, which has (literally) paper thin walls and heated floors. So we slept on the floor with big plush comforters and stayed toasty warm even the the temperature was about -20 degrees Celcius outside (too warm, actually).
From there we conintued on to Muju Ski Resort where we went skiing and snowboarding for the day. Needless to say, finding boots that fit me was an adventure all in itself, and I still don't think my feet have fully recovered from the crampt space I shoved them into for the day. The snow was all man made, and even though it was in the mountains it wasn't that good of a hill; think Lutsen, except Lutsen is even larger with longer and more runs. Regardless, it was still a very good time! It was, weirdly, the busiest hill I've ever been on - I can't wait to put up pictures, because I guarentee nobody will ever call a hill in the States "busy" again. It was RIDICULOUS.
This week we have our final scrapbook due and take our final exam, so hopefully I will still find a way to get out and about and see the city... I have done everything I came to do, but I still want to experience more and just do everything! I will, as in leaving Hong Kong, truly miss this place.
Much love and God Bless!
- CM
Last week's highlight was undoubtedly visiting the Hookah bar "Rainbow", suggested by my cousin Morgan (who has proved invaluable in finding all the great night spots -- kudos to you sir!) It was fun to ride the subway and check out another neighborhood of Seoul; with 23 million people living in the vicinity and surrounding districts it's impossible to comprehend how truly enormous this city is. We have continued to return to "Mr. Wow" - a hot dog and sausage street vendor who is delicious. Also, Red Mango - frozen yogurt - and kareokee bars continue to be high on the list of priorities.
This weekend we visited Jeonju, a city about 300 km southwest of Seoul. It was very small and quaint, with the feeling of a Colorado or Utah Ski Resort town like Breckenridge or Park City. Here we were able to tour a traditional village, and participate in traditional Korean craft making, dancing, and a wedding ceremony. Two brave souls, Andy and Brita, volunteered for this and were the lucky couple. It was a very unique experience and very interesting as well -- that's right, I just said learning was fun! Ahh! What is happening to me? We spent the night in a traditional (starting see a pattern, huh?) Korean style hotel, which has (literally) paper thin walls and heated floors. So we slept on the floor with big plush comforters and stayed toasty warm even the the temperature was about -20 degrees Celcius outside (too warm, actually).
From there we conintued on to Muju Ski Resort where we went skiing and snowboarding for the day. Needless to say, finding boots that fit me was an adventure all in itself, and I still don't think my feet have fully recovered from the crampt space I shoved them into for the day. The snow was all man made, and even though it was in the mountains it wasn't that good of a hill; think Lutsen, except Lutsen is even larger with longer and more runs. Regardless, it was still a very good time! It was, weirdly, the busiest hill I've ever been on - I can't wait to put up pictures, because I guarentee nobody will ever call a hill in the States "busy" again. It was RIDICULOUS.
This week we have our final scrapbook due and take our final exam, so hopefully I will still find a way to get out and about and see the city... I have done everything I came to do, but I still want to experience more and just do everything! I will, as in leaving Hong Kong, truly miss this place.
Much love and God Bless!
- CM
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Have you been in Communist North Korea? ...I HAVE!
This past week has been full of numerous highlight which I have found to be some of the best moments on this entire trip. The highlight was undoubtedly our trip to the DMZ (about 45 minutes north of Seoul) and our ability to step foot into North Korea - pretty crazy! I have some great pictures and was a crazy experience. We had the unique opportunity to sign over our lives if anything happened to us; something along the lines of "if anything detrimental to your health should happen today you can't hold us responsible" ...yadda yadda yadda. (Love you mom!)
We also visited the N Seoul Tower which provide us with a GORGEOUS view of the city. Many nights have been spent clubbing, bar hopping, and kareokeeing in Sinchon, which is the district just outside of Yonsei University where we are studying. It was Sara D's birthday the other night and celebrating that was a great time. Bars close here at six in the morning so when we came back at 3:30 it still felt "early" -- it was kind of ridiculous.
Thanks to my cousin Morgan who spent a year and a half here, and his friend Robyn, a list was compiled of numerous bars and clubs and things to do in this enourmous city and I am glad to say I am slowly but surely checking them off the list. We are still looking for "Rainbow" - a popular hookah bar. Hopefully we can try that out shortly. The highlights were definitely "Mr. Wow"'s hot dog/sausage stand and also "Red Mango" ("the yummiest frozen yogurt in the world").
Danny and I are starting to prepare for our week in Tokyo by looking into hostels and train passes. It is going to be more expensive than we thought which is frustrating, but let's face it: Tokyo is one of most expensive cities in the world, and we are only alive once and most likely never coming back. So we just are sucking it up. We are going to take overnight trains to avoid hostels (since we'll already have bought a pass) and probably not pay the extra for the sleeper cars to save some money that way...so excited! Currently our plans involve two days in Kyoto, a day in Nagano to go skiing, and three days in Tokyo. We fly out of Tokyo at 5 pm and arrive in Chicago three hours earlier at 2 pm -- gotta love the international date line!! So cool!
Much love to all, God Bless!
- CM
We also visited the N Seoul Tower which provide us with a GORGEOUS view of the city. Many nights have been spent clubbing, bar hopping, and kareokeeing in Sinchon, which is the district just outside of Yonsei University where we are studying. It was Sara D's birthday the other night and celebrating that was a great time. Bars close here at six in the morning so when we came back at 3:30 it still felt "early" -- it was kind of ridiculous.
Thanks to my cousin Morgan who spent a year and a half here, and his friend Robyn, a list was compiled of numerous bars and clubs and things to do in this enourmous city and I am glad to say I am slowly but surely checking them off the list. We are still looking for "Rainbow" - a popular hookah bar. Hopefully we can try that out shortly. The highlights were definitely "Mr. Wow"'s hot dog/sausage stand and also "Red Mango" ("the yummiest frozen yogurt in the world").
Danny and I are starting to prepare for our week in Tokyo by looking into hostels and train passes. It is going to be more expensive than we thought which is frustrating, but let's face it: Tokyo is one of most expensive cities in the world, and we are only alive once and most likely never coming back. So we just are sucking it up. We are going to take overnight trains to avoid hostels (since we'll already have bought a pass) and probably not pay the extra for the sleeper cars to save some money that way...so excited! Currently our plans involve two days in Kyoto, a day in Nagano to go skiing, and three days in Tokyo. We fly out of Tokyo at 5 pm and arrive in Chicago three hours earlier at 2 pm -- gotta love the international date line!! So cool!
Much love to all, God Bless!
- CM
Friday, January 2, 2009
I've Got Seoul, But I'm Not A Soldier.
We have arrived in Seoul, South Korea! I am so very excited to be here as I was looking forward to this probably more than any of our other stops on Global - mostly due to my cousin spending a year and a half here and talking it up big for me. This highlights of the next three weeks will include a visit to the DMZ and also a weekend excursion to the south. Also, the conversion is 1,264 Won to the dollar, so buying a meal for 4,000 won is basically three and a half bucks - crazy stuff. (This will take a while to get used to!)
First, a recap of the past week. We saw the home of Confucious, the Family Mozaleeum, and the Forbidden City. And of course, we climbed THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Wow! Possibly the coolest thing I've done on this trip - it's so hard to compare the Pyramids, Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall because they are all so amazing in their own right. Very cool - I am so blessed to have expierenced it!
New Years was spent playing Beer Pong in the hotel rooms, a trip to the plaza where a live band helped us to ring in the new year (including dancing on stage with the band), and a kareokee bar -- possibly my favorite and most fun new years ever.
We awoke this morning at about 4:45 local time and were at the airport within the hour. Our day started very eventfully with Gavin shutting the bus storage door on Stacy's head, slicing a gash about 1/2 inch long and an 1/8 inch deep. Needless to say it immediately started gushing blood (cool!). Not to toot my own horn, but yes, my years of first aid training paid off and I jumped into action - including gloves and guaze pads! Not going to lie...I was kind of impressed with myself. Anyways, she's alive, we (obviously) all made it to Seoul, and after a trip to the doctor no stitches were necessary - she's a tough cookie...
The rest of the day was largely uneventful. I now have numerous stamps in my passport, and my bags are beginning to show the wear and tear of traveling the world for four months. We are staying at Yon Sei University, which is very close to a part of downtown with great food and an exciting nightlife. Tonight we went out to dinner with some students and exchanged numbers; hopefully we'll be able to hang out with them in the coming weeks. We are living in a dormitory style again, something we haven't really expierenced on this trip yet and something I realized I didn't miss at all. Gender relations here are INCREDIBLY strict, and thus there is a women's wing and a men's wing which are strictly enforced with security guards and cameras (no exageration). There is a common lounge in the basement with computers and TV which we can all share which is nice - we will surely be spending mucho tiempo aqui. I am living on the fifth floor with no elevator - I'm going to have an ass of steel after three weeks!
Missing and loving all of you!
- CM
First, a recap of the past week. We saw the home of Confucious, the Family Mozaleeum, and the Forbidden City. And of course, we climbed THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Wow! Possibly the coolest thing I've done on this trip - it's so hard to compare the Pyramids, Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall because they are all so amazing in their own right. Very cool - I am so blessed to have expierenced it!
New Years was spent playing Beer Pong in the hotel rooms, a trip to the plaza where a live band helped us to ring in the new year (including dancing on stage with the band), and a kareokee bar -- possibly my favorite and most fun new years ever.
We awoke this morning at about 4:45 local time and were at the airport within the hour. Our day started very eventfully with Gavin shutting the bus storage door on Stacy's head, slicing a gash about 1/2 inch long and an 1/8 inch deep. Needless to say it immediately started gushing blood (cool!). Not to toot my own horn, but yes, my years of first aid training paid off and I jumped into action - including gloves and guaze pads! Not going to lie...I was kind of impressed with myself. Anyways, she's alive, we (obviously) all made it to Seoul, and after a trip to the doctor no stitches were necessary - she's a tough cookie...
The rest of the day was largely uneventful. I now have numerous stamps in my passport, and my bags are beginning to show the wear and tear of traveling the world for four months. We are staying at Yon Sei University, which is very close to a part of downtown with great food and an exciting nightlife. Tonight we went out to dinner with some students and exchanged numbers; hopefully we'll be able to hang out with them in the coming weeks. We are living in a dormitory style again, something we haven't really expierenced on this trip yet and something I realized I didn't miss at all. Gender relations here are INCREDIBLY strict, and thus there is a women's wing and a men's wing which are strictly enforced with security guards and cameras (no exageration). There is a common lounge in the basement with computers and TV which we can all share which is nice - we will surely be spending mucho tiempo aqui. I am living on the fifth floor with no elevator - I'm going to have an ass of steel after three weeks!
Missing and loving all of you!
- CM
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