Kathmandu, Nepal

Hey! We have arrived safely! Nepal is wonderful! It was love at first sight. It is a chaotic place full of vibrant colors, loud honking, beautiful Nepalese people, and delicious food that I cannot stop eating. I fully intend on buying the big, baggy pants that are sold everywhere on the streets. That way I won't feel like I need to cut back on the sampling of foods. The smells are probably my favorite part so far. There is a constant aroma of curry and incense that tends to mask the smells of the trash piles all over the streets and meat rotting in the sun. The temples have been breathtaking to see. They are nothing like the temples I have seen in my other travels in Asia. They look a lot more weathered and the colors are more subdued than the gody temples in China and Korea. The people here are so friendly and happy. They don't bother us much or stare like we are aliens. We don't blend in, that's for sure, but the locals don't seem to care that we are here. I feel like I got stared at more in Korea. A lot of them speak a little English, so it has been fun to chat with them. They smile at us and say "Namaste", which is the greeting for "hello" and "bye". Unfortuately there is a lot of poverty here like India. There are street children everywhere who beg for anything we will give them. I feel a little more prepared than previous trips for it. It still breaks my heart, but I understand it a little more now. Although there are beggars, they seem to give up pretty quickly when we say "no" and they move on to the next possible customers.

Yesterday we visited Durbar Square where the king of Nepal used to live. It is a square filled with beautiful temples and other structures. One of the buildings is where the "human goddess" lives. The goddess is anywhere between the age of 6 to 16 years-old. She is chosen after about 32 intensive tests to prove her status. One of the last tests happens in a dark room. There are real buffalo heads placed all over the room. Then men dance around the girls wearing frightening masks and chanting. If the girl is not scared, she passes the test. The current goddess is 7 years-old and she will keep her status until her first period. Then she will go back to a normal life with a hefty dowry. I guess it is difficult for former goddess' to find a husband because many men believe she was pampered early in life and will expect it in the future. The goddess lives in the palace with a few family members and makes a window appearance every hour. She is very important to the culture here in Nepal and even the president gets blessed by her. It was pretty cool to see her, but I was bummed that I couldn't take a picture. She was all dolled up and looked flawless.

We leave Kathmandu tomorrow and head to a homestay in a village called Kirktipur (spelling?). We are staying with a man named Babu and his cute family. We have been emailing him for months, so we are excited to finally meet him. We will be there a few days and then head towards the mountains to do some hiking. We keep getting approached my guides who want to take us on treks through the Himilayas for a few days. We laugh at them and tell them we are too lazy to do that. Maybe one day...or maybe not.

It has been wonderful so far. I already miss my students and friends in Korea but that is expected. I know it will get easier. :)

It's taking far too long to upload any more pics. I will try again soon.

Namaste

xoxo

Taking It All In

Reuben and I grabbed one of our last dinners together. Sad times. He was one of my first friends here in Korea! It's an ending of a short era. He will be leaving in June and heading to China in the fall. I'm so excited for him!

After dinner, I took a quick trip to my other favorite place in the city. It is a temple in the heart of the business district here in Seoul. It is almost Buddha's birthday, so the lanterns have been put up all over the city. It is one of my favorite holidays in Korea for that reason. Lanterns are fabulous, especially at night.

I got tad choked up as I entered the grounds of the temple. It was late. I've never been there when it was so quiet. The darkness of night brought a sense of calm and peacefulness to my soul that I needed. The lanterns were more vibrant than I remember them to be. It seems like all my senses are on overload these days. I'm trying to take everything in. I want to take a mental picture of it all in hopes that I won't forget anything. It is exhausting. Thank goodness for pictures.









xoxo

Sunday Bun Day

I have a tradition here in Seoul. Every Sunday is Bun Day for me. Bun Day is a day where I get a bun. Cleaver, eh? I think so. It should be an official day of appreciation for them. Buns can be described as bready heaven filled with numerous concoctions of meat, kimchi, red beans, and other unknowns. My go to bun is filled with pork, veggies, and kimchi. It is AWESOME! I also really love the sweet red bean ones as well. Red bean is my favorite Korean staple. A few weeks ago I went to get a bun on a Sunday (duh!), and I didn't even have a chance to order before they told me they were sold out for the day. It was then that I had a realization of my bun addiction. I also felt a tad old. I don't know many "spring chickens" who eat a particular food on a certain day of the week and get bothered when their food routine gets disrupted. Don't worry though. I'm perfectly ok with my "old soul ways". I mean.. I am practically 30. :)

Anyways, this past Sunday was a wonderful day. I spent the afternoon in Olympic Park with Eryn and Jeff (my BFF from MN). The weather was beautiful. We had a picnic of BUNS, wine, and korean snacks. It was great to be able to show them one of my favorite places in Korea. I'm so happy that we will always have the memory of Korea together.


fashion forward





BUNS!




My brain hurts. It's awfully early. I must get ready for work. It's Tuesday. 5 more teaching days. A lot going on this week. There are so many people to see and last minute things to squeeze in.

Weee!

xoxo

Sweet Spring Aroma with a Splash of Ramen

Hi, Friends! Well it was an incredible weekend away from Seoul this weekend. The scenery was beautiful with the blooming cherry blossoms, the country side, fresh air, and great company. We left Seoul at 6:30 AM on Saturday morning and took a 4-ish hour bus ride to Gyeongju with about 100 other foreigners. We immediately got bicycles and then headed out on an all day adventure. My friends and I were not really paying attention (go figure) to all the instructions and advice that they gave us before we arrived. I was half asleep and thought someone else was listening. Clearly I have friends who are somewhat similar to me. We took a leisurely stroll through the city and around a giant lake. We stopped many times to get coffee, snacks (ramen), ice cream, and other treats. All was grand until we decided to head out and find our hotel. We didn't realize that we would be traveling up a small mountain or TWO to get to it. We also didn't plan on getting lost for over an hour on our bikes trying to find our way. It didn't help that we only allowed 2 hours to get to our hotel before sunset, but who wants to waste a perfectly lovely day back at the hotel. I sure don't. We clearly should have checked out the map beforehand to see how TERRIBLE it was and asked for better directions. My friends were a little stressed. I should have been, but I thought it was hilarious and I was just taking it all in. The landscape was beautiful. I was in Korea. Honestly, I didn't care. We made it there literally as the sun was setting. It turns out we weren't the last ones there, but there were only less than 10 rooms left. Everyone got lost, but they just gave themselves extra time for that. We gave ourselves extra time for food. I think we had our priorities right on.




Plus, the sunset was awesome. I like awesome things. I'll be practical tomorrow.
























All in all, we rode about 20 miles this weekend. My body is sore. My cheeks hurt from laughing. My head is spinning less. My belly is happy. My heart is heavy.

2 weeks. I can do this.

Because of you.

Thanks.

You're awesome.

Hope you are all taking time to enjoy spring and the people you are blessed to be around.


xoxo

ME = Annoying

It's April. I have 15 more working days and 3 weekends left. Time is moving at lightning speed. I've noticed it sometimes takes me leaving a place for me to truly take it all in and appreciate everything in a whole different way. I'm not sure if that is something strange or human nature, but it is my nature. It's actually starting to annoy me. I keep having these feelings of panic every time I hangout with friends or experience anything Korean. My mind immediately thinks this may be the last time I experience that here in Korea. This also occurs when I go to restaurants. I think I need everything because I may never eat it again or that they may run out of it before I leave the country. Good thing I have a gym membership that I use "all the time". At this rate they may need to roll me on to the plane.


This past weekend was one of the first really beautiful spring days here. I spent the afternoon riding my bicycle along the Han River, which runs through the entire length of Seoul. The river was jam-packed with tons of people. They were decked out in all the latest athletic clothing and equipment. Many people wore their ninja masks/head coverings and gloves to protect themselves from the poisonous sun. I saw a man playing soccer while holding a sun umbrella. He was quite the multi-tasker. I was impressed and felt embarrassed for him. He needs to live on the edge and not worry about tanning his skin. People were also wind surfing on the river, which makes me cringe just thinking about how polluted that water is. I would imagine it is as clean as the Hudson River in NYC. Those people are brave and possibly crazy. Anyways, we rode for about 3 hours throughout the city and stopped at a park that we stumbled upon. We stayed true to the Korean outdoor food tradition and bought some ramen noodles ( with a slice of cheese for added nutrition) for a snack. It was delicious! Ramen is so much better here, I swear! Then we people watched, played some games, and discussed how good the ramen was.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the day!













I love this city so much! Even terrible smells are lovely these days. I guess it's the perfect time to leave. :)

On a unrelated note, my kindergarten students told me they had a vampire party over the weekend where they drank blood. They wouldn't give me more details. Apparently they are "vampires" now. Interesting.

This next weekend I am headed to Gyeongju. It is the old capital of Seoul. It is supposed to be amazing and the cherry blossoms will hopefully be blooming as well. It has been on my list of things to do here for the past 2 years, so I'm so excited to finally get to see it! It will be nice to get out of the city one last time with some fabulous friends.

I hope you are all well. I miss you all very much! Sorry for the lack of communication these days. I literally have something planned every day, so it makes it difficult to catch up on Skype. I hope you understand!

xoxo