That's all she wrote

        Sitting at the dining table in the home I grew up in, in the town I grew up in, it feels as though I've woken up from an ironically strange, yet familiar dream. This past year has been a whirlwind to say the least. 6 countries - South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia - 12 different flights -over 4000 pictures - and an excess of memories. Truly an experience of a lifetime, one which I will continuously try to top. Thank you to all that have supported me throughout this journey. And thank you to all the exceptional people I've met along the way. Remember, life is what you make it. 
                                                        
                                                           Fortune favours the bold.

Watching the lights display 2012 - New Year's at the Tokyo Tower, Japan  

Hiking and leaping for 6 hours at the Great Wall of China 

Swimming with elephants in Luang Prabang, Laos

Wandering for 3 days around the temples of Angkor, Cambodia

Karaoke and Soju until the sun rises in Gwangju, South Korea

Biking and caving in the countryside in Vang Vieng, Laos

Island hopping and beach bumming in Southern Thailand

Teaching others and learning about myself in Gwangju, South Korea

Bangkok Baby!

   Well this Friday marked the last day not only working at Sewoon but the last day in Korea as well. Teaching has finally come to an end and it feels oh so bitter sweet. But now onto the next chapter! After a long day/night of travelling we made it to Bangkok. And well in the course of a mere 5 hours in the city we've already ridden in a tuk tuk, visited an insane night market, tried the local beer, and had one gross encounter with a cockroach. Not to mention sampling a variety of local street dishes that I've been looking forward to thanks to a minor passion in culinary exploration that I've recently developed. All I can say that if this is any indication of the trip to come, we're in for the trip of a lifetime.

Summer Roses

       Capitalizing on the lovely weather (a balmy 30 degrees, sorry to brag!), we went for  a lazy weekend stroll to the Pungam Reservoir near our house. At the far end of the reservoir is an impeccable rose garden featuring the flower in every color, size, and variety. Mother nature never ceases to amaze me. Absolutely breathtaking!

Korea Y U SO CRAZY

     I'd like to add this photo to my growing collection of pictures titled "Korea, Y U SO CRAZY". Beneath the demure disposition of a traditional and reserved culture is this lust and desire for anything quirky and obscene. This is the window display for a new coffee shop that opened up near my house. The other windows show the same character holding a knife dripping with blood and wielding an ax. Inside it's actually quite cute and serves some delicious coffee and desserts but it definitely doesn't look appetizing from the outside. Only in Korea.

Sincere apologies!

Foreigner trying to sleep it off at one of the infamous "Waygook Wando"
beach parties.

        First of all, I am terribly sorry for the long hiatus from blog writing. I unfortunately lost the creative drive to publish frequent posts. But luckily, as my trip begins to come to a close, I am going to make an effort to get back into it. For the upcoming posts, expect more pictures than words. The old adage says 'a pictures says 1000 words' and I feel that through my photography I am able to express much more than mere consonants and vowels. Again, sincere apologies and thanks to those who have taken the time to keep reading. 


Peace and Love 

      After a lovely week with my parents in Gwangju, we headed up to Seoul on Friday night to spend the night and some of Saturday there before our departure for China. For Cam and I, it was a perfect opportunity to return to Gyeongbokgung Palace, this time with more bearable weather. For my parents, it was an opportunity for them to witness a cultural perspective of Korea. Gyeongbokgung is perhaps one of the best remaining cultural relics of Korea's history. That being said, the palace as it stands today, as previously mentioned, is only a small fraction of what it once was. 

     The trip to the palace was preceded by an interesting Friday night. Our train tickets purchased by a Korean friend, turned out to be valid for Wednesday, not Friday. Although they wanted us to pay for new tickets, eventually we managed to get them to let us simply ride the train on the platform in between the cars next to the bathrooms free of charge.  We capped off our night by staying in a seedy love motel, a Korean travel must.

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Year of the Tiger

Gwangju FC Home Opener

      Saturday marked the Gwangju Football Club's home game opener at World Cup Stadium in Gwangju. Although a little tired from my birthday celebrations the night before and despite freakishly cold weather (you wouldn't believe it is March here!), we managed to make it for opening kick off and watch the whole match. As we are foreigners, and well at the risk of sounding pretentious, foreigners get a lot of perks if you know the right people, a group of 6 of us were given free tickets to watch the match. Now the best thing about watching a Gwangju FC game, and this is the same for baseball games as well, is that you are allowed to bring your own food and drinks into the stadium. So not only are tickets cheap, even sometimes free, but you aren't forced to pay and arm and a leg for food and drinks (say goodbye to 8$ beers).
   Conveniently enough, the Gwangju World Cup Stadium is attached a huge department store called Lotte Mart. As such, we headed there before kick off and grabbed two extremely large pizzas and several beers at a mere 10 bucks per person. After stocking up, we went into the stadium to enjoy the match. Although the quality of the soccer itself is perhaps a little underwhelming, it is a pretty good way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the neighbourhood. 

Cheerleaders!