http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jenni Jen/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Jenni Jen en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:59:34 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:59:34 BST You speakee English You want easy money Come work my school Excerpt from my third phone interviewOK actually that was about the WHOLE interview.The bank account was looking rather paltry and I jumped on the train of easy employment teaching English in Seoul along with tens of thousands of other native speakers. Despite my cynicism on life in Korea I have to admit that the work itself http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-118713.html So .... do they or don' t they This question undoubtedly enters the mind of many a tourist that strolls the narrow alleys of Hanamikoji Dori at night while a soft golden glow inside the buildings lets them snatch a quick glimpse of those lucky few being entertained in the ldquoworld of willows and flowers.rdquo Admittance beyond the quasiimpenetrable gates of the geisha houses generally re http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/blog-77833.html ldquoThe Land of the Rising Sunrdquo hellip it really evokes a mystical romanticism doesnrsquot it But as with all clichs one canrsquot help but expect that it has been over hyped. So I hovered outside the airplane lavatory with nose pressed to the frosty emergency exit window to make my judgment. Of course anyone with a little bit of forethought would have selected a seat viewing http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-54098.html Hustling hawkers exhaust fumes international fast food chains neon lights traffichellip. Though this was not the vision I had conjured up with Malaysiarsquos tourism mantra perhaps Kuala Lumpur was a good microcosm of Southeast Asiarsquos cities. For the bad and the ugly in this part of the world were also accompanied by the bright and beautiful hellipcolorful tropical fruits and flow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Selangor/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-50309.html In a candlelit room in Kanthaya the beach that seemed to be isolated from the rest of the world we learned via BBC radio that Burma had secretly changed its capital. Overnight the generals pulled out of Yangon and snuck 400 km farther north to Pyinmana an outoftheway blurb on the map where plans for new government and army headquarters would be accompanied by fortified bunkers and tunnels. T http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South/Railay-Beach/blog-46133.html It is said that one can only know one extreme once she has known its opposite such as sorrow carving out a space in your heart so that you may also know love more deeply. And so it goes with life on the road as well for the plucking of a travel pearl increases in value with every tightlipped sea creature you have to battle in pursuit of it.Since the buses only run at night getting from Bagan t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Thandwe/blog-36567.html Upon finally reaching the big city I somehow feel tricked for instead of springing into the modernity that metropolises often bring it seems that I stepped back into a bygone decade. Bus videos censor through the ldquolove scenesrdquo music videos depict a wouldbe suitor trying desperately to wrest his young love from her parentsrsquo everwatchful eye for an innocent handhold the afte http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay/blog-29681.html The night could be described as nothing less than magicalhellipsitting on the veranda of a restaurant in Nyaungshwe after dark I watched the town slowly come to life as each restaurant home and shop lit dozens of candles and paper lanterns on their streetfront sides. The chanting coming from the main pagoda in town had been going steady for the past 24 hours and the faded singsongy mantra g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Kalaw/blog-28170.html If I could have crossed the border near Mae Hong Son I would have left this country with a tempered view and an admiration for its aesthetical attributes as well as its friendly locals but alas frosting and sprinkles alone arenrsquot enough to make a bland cake into an awardwinning recipe.My first stop after Sukhothai was the border town of Mae Sot which turned out to have little to see ot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North/Mae-Hong-Son/blog-25207.html Though I had already waited out an eleven hour layover after a very short last night in Germany I could scarcely think of sleeping on the equally long flight out of sheer excitement at FINALLY being on my way to Southeast Asia. Five years ago I had heard of the Freeman Foundationrsquos scholarships to study in Asia and had started this lovely obsession with the region which continued long afte http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North/Sukhothai/blog-22979.html Ten years ago I first set foot in this tiny place wondering how I could survive a week let alone an entire year. My request to be placed with a family in the former DDR for my exchange year had been granted but the old proverb of ldquoBe careful what you wish forhelliprdquo was running through my head as we rolled down one of only five streets in town to my new home. Forget looking for thi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Brunow/blog-22251.html Whatever her sister Croatia was lacking in personality Bosnia made up for tenfold. The sayings that ldquoWhat doesnrsquot kill you makes you strongerrdquo and that conflict breeds character serve to explain why this last of my Balkan sisters was not only the most controversial but also the most interesting as well.Though I had been easily mesmerized by the physical beauty of Croatia it w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina/South/Mostar/blog-21105.html I pulled my hood over my head and huddled inside my sweatshirt for warmth as the train rolled through misty Ljubljana. I dozed off to the sight of colourful cathedrals and castle turrets peeking out of the fogcovered hills as the sun fought to break through the clouds. A late night prior to departure ensured that I slept straight through to my destination point of Rijeka Croatia. But when I open http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Istria/Opatija/blog-19333.html For seventeen days I wandered between three of the exYugoslav republics with Slovenia as both the first and the last stop on my trip. Like part of a family they all share certain common elements of history language cuisine and culturehellipbut just like any one of three sisters who is constantly admired for her similarities to the other two each would be quick to highlight what different http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovenia/Upper-Carniola/Kranjska-Gora/blog-18601.html While flipping through some cultural magazine I once read ldquoIf you really want to know a country work there.rdquoAnd I must admit there is a lot of truth to that statement. For even though I had lived in Rome for 8 months prior to my current sojourn here I feel that I know the city in a completely different way due to my experience in the last 10 weeks. As a student I may have wrapped http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-16151.html Those of you on my email lists probably could have seen this blog coming but even had I not been fanatical about getting everyone I know to sign the One or Live 8 petitions I would still have to write about this concert. Because this day stands out as the single greatest event I have ever participated in and just as I remember when the Berlin Wall fell and where I was on September 11 2001 I w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-12709.html To live in Rome to revel in the age of its monuments to marvel at what manrsquos hands can create to reflect on how history has shaped and been shaped by its peoples to passively participate in admiring the plunder and booty of an empire and to breathe in and internalize the timeless appeal of a city that has dazzled onlookers for millenia this task could easily take up the time and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-12328.html Change of plans...and continents.As Paolo Coelho writes in The Alchemist when you are following your dreams and pursuing your own personal legend the whole universe conspires to help you achieve it. As such it is hard not to recognize that certain opportunities which fall right into your lap are most likely signs of which road to take next on your journey of life. It was only a few short weeks http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/blog-11379.html It turns out that Mexico City pulled through in the last innings with so many redeeming qualities that my final impressions in the last country on this four month journey brought tears of joy not frustration.Not that the men were any less aggressive here actually I apparently just missed a free Santana concert in the main square the prior night where a guy from my hostel was shoved away from t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/Mexico-City/blog-7489.html All that glitters isn't gold.My days in Oaxaca a city whose colonial architecture artfilled parks floral courtyards lively plazas colorful shopfronts extraordinary cathedrals historical artifacts and purely delicious cuisine beckon you to explore its wonders have proven one of the key truths in travel it is the people where you travel that make or break the experience. For no matter http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Oaxaca/Oaxaca/blog-7304.html