Lexy925 - Alexis Stratton

I am a graduate from the University of South Carolina, finishing my BA in May 2006 (with a major in English and a minor in Film Studie)s. I spent Spring 2005 at the University of Limerick in Ireland studying abroad and traveled everywhere I could throughout Ireland and Europe! Post-graduation, I taught English at a girls high school in South Korea via the Fulbright Program and returned to Korea a year later to assist with the training program. I've also spent time in various parts of the US and world, such as Biloxi, Chicago, Venezuela, and Peru. I love to travel and hope to get out of the US again soon!

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Joined on: January 23rd 2005
Last Login: October 4th 2009

Blog Entries: 75
Photos: 791

TB Code: [blogger=1678]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Lexy925, order by Date newest first.

By Lexy925
August 24th 2008

*Ahem* Sorry for the delay... Asia » South Korea » Jeollanam-do » Yeosu

Well... there's my summer. I intended to write in here more regularly, but unfortunately, the summer (and my intense job as Orientation Coordinator Team Leader) got away from me. However, this is just a note to let all of my faithful readers (especially those who haven't chastised me already) that I'll be updating on the full summer soon, including a second trip to Songnisan (see the posting re: the giant golden Buddha in Summer 06), a visit to the DMZ (at a different location than my Orientation), how we tried to visit the small town of Hwacheon to say hello and [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
June 19th 2008

Home Away from Home Asia » South Korea » Jeollanam-do » Yeosu

So... I'm back in Korea! Surprise! Well, not a surprise for all of you. I took a position for the summer working for Fulbright to train new ETAs (English Teaching Assistants--what I was). I'll basically be leading the same summer training program that I went through in 2006. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, coming back to Korea has kind of been like a dream come true. It's all so familiar, it's practically like I never left. And yet, it's so hard to believe I'm back in a place I called for a year, that I came to know and love so well--though, [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
August 1st 2007

Movin' Out Asia » South Korea » Jeollanam-do » Yeosu

A Goodbye Message
One of many kinds of goodbye messages I received from my classes...

I know I’m a few months belated, but July and August were quite whirlwinds for me. It was hard to say goodbye to my students, the teachers, my school, my host family, and everyone else who’d meant something to me in Korea. Let me try to catch you up. June and July flew by. At the end of June, I went to the final Fulbright dinner. It was nice to catch up with everyone and find out what was next for everyone. About 7-8 are staying in Korea for a second year, I think, which I’m impressed by. A lot are [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
July 13th 2007

Class Pictures Asia » South Korea » Jeollanam-do » Yeosu

3-1

These are all the class pictures I took the final week(s) of classes. I can't find my old class schedule, so they're unlabeled (I told my students they could download them from this site). So, if you're my students, check out the pictures, and find whichever one is your class. Sorry! :-) [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
June 9th 2007

Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring...and Summer Asia » South Korea » Jeollanam-do

Turtle Ship Festival
Musicians in traditional dress at Yeosu's annual Turtle Ship Festival.

Bonus points for those who get the allusion in my entry title. I couldn't help it, because the circle I've made thus far from July to June has made me think of the title of the Korean film (which, sadly, I have yet to see but I hear is pretty good) called Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring. My life here has come full circle. And it definitely feels like it. Except that things are different this summer. I'm not bewildered. I'm not afraid to go to the convenience store and buy something-- worried about all that I won't understand, worried [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
May 8th 2007

Glittering Gold Asia » Japan » Kyoto

Kinkakuji is Awesome
My favorite place the whole Japan trip... Here, all that glitters ~is~ gold...

So, Tuesday morning (the 8th), I woke up (a little early) and headed to the train station to make my way to Kyoto (from Osaka)-- about a 1-hour train ride, depending on what kind of train you get. Despite making the mistake of getting onto a train that stopped, like, every five meters (or so it felt), I was able to switch mid-trip to a faster train and got to Kyoto in good time. Kyoto's vast and a little hard to navigate by oneself, especially sans guidebook OR map (I only realized that there was a small tourist information center [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
May 7th 2007

On to Osaka Asia » Japan » Osaka

Osaka Castle
Osaka

So, I took a plane down to Osaka midday on Monday (the 7th). Why, you might wonder, would I take a plane when the train system in Japan is so wonderfully fast and advanced? Well, not only does Japan offer a Japan Railpass as an easy an economical way to travel around the archipelago, but it also offers a special airpass for reduced rates on domestic airfare for foreigners. So, it ended up being quicker and cheaper for me to travel by plane. How cool is that? (I think Osaka is maybe a 4 or 4.5-hour train ride from Tokyo [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
May 6th 2007

Tokyo, Day 2 Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Imperial Gardens
Tokyo

So, my second day in Tokyo it rained like crazy. Well, it didn't necessarily pour-- most of the time. But it rained basically all day until about 7 p.m. Still, I was determined to see all the sights, so I did as much sightseeing as possible within about a 12-hour period. I was planning to go see the Tsukiji Fish Market, supposedly the biggest fish market in the world, but as I didn't have an alarm (and the fun at the market is usually over by about 9 a.m, or so I heard), alas, I overslept. So, I started instead [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
May 5th 2007

First Day in Japan Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Asakusa Temple
Tokyo

So, I just finished up my first day in Japan, and things are going splendidly so far. (By the way, I'm in Japan because my school has exams and I get a little time off for those...) Anyway, I flew out of Seoul early this morning (6 a.m. wake up call, baby!) and arrived in Tokyo (Narita) by 1pm or so. I took the train into Tokyo to check into my hostel, and then went out on the town. Fortunately, everything's gone smoothly so far. I was worried that with language barriers and whatnot I'd have a tough time. But, [View Full Entry]

By Lexy925
April 7th 2007

Jeju Strikes Back! Asia » South Korea » Jeju

Horse riding
My friends said I looked like a real cowgirl... I think they were just flattering me... Photo courtesy of, well, the guy who led my horse, via Noelle's camera. :-)

So, one more trip to Jeju-do! Last weekend, I met with 65+ of my closest friends in Seogwipo, Jeju-do (Jeju Island), for a Fulbright teaching conference. What fun! I had a great time, and it was a pretty productive conference. More importantly, I had at least three all-you-can-eat Western-style buffets, ate many, many helpings of French toast, spoke unbroken, fluent English for more than 48 hours, got to celebrate a friend’s birthday (replete with Indian food and sangria—not at the same time, mind you), went to the norae-bang (singing room) again, rode a horse, and saw a lovely wa [View Full Entry]

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