Kailie Asam

enlightenedtravels

Kailie Asam

I'm just travelin', travelin', travelin'...travelin' on...



Asia » Malaysia » Sabah » Semporna March 31st 2011

Leaving Korea was difficult. A year may seem small in a lifetime, but it's huge when living abroad, because the people you form relationships with become your family away from family. Everyone is living far from home, in a foreign land, having similar experiences and emotions; we come to rely on one another more than we realize, that is until one leaves. I started to realize before leaving that it would be tough, which played into my decision to head straight to Borneo to start my Divemaster course. I'd pondered taking a couple of weeks off to travel first, but thought I might be having a tough time leaving Korea, so being alone somewhere in Malaysia could potentially be more lonely than relaxing. I figured, if I head straight to Borneo for a month-long stay to ... read more

Asia » South Korea » Gyeongsangnam-do » Geojedo February 28th 2011

January and February flew by! Since they were my last two months living in Korea, I knew that they would and I wanted to make the most of my final weekends with all the special people that have come into my life in the past year. I also wanted to see all the places and things I'd never managed to get around to in the previous 10 months. So, each weekend was spent having new experiences and adventures to make the most of my life in Geojedo, South Korea before one journey finished and the next began. Here are some photos from these amazing times:... read more
Yongin
Yongin
Seoul

Asia » South Korea » Gyeongsangnam-do » Geojedo January 1st 2011

Christmastime! Like I said before, when speaking about holidays, it's tough to be away from home, but when you live on an island like Geojedo and have amazing friends like mine, it makes it much easier. On top of that, all the love from home made a world of difference. I was so surprised when I received a Christmas box full of presents, cookies and cards from all my friends and family. It really made my first Christmas away from home a special one, so thank you, thank you, thank you!! So, a week before Christmas, we all got together for a trip to the local orphanage. There are 50 kids there and we managed to organize a party and presents for each of them. I chose a 6-year-old boy to buy a gift for and ... read more
Geoje-myeon Orphanage Christmas Party
Geoje-myeon Orphanage Christmas Party
Geoje-myeon Orphanage Christmas Party

Asia » South Korea November 26th 2010

The past few months have been full of exciting weekends! There really is never a dull day living in Korea, but these weekends have been especially fun!! The first exciting weekend was October 22-24 when I headed to Busan for the International Fireworks Festival. It was a best of both worlds experience for me, because my good friends Bryan and Jason came down from Seoul to meet me and my Geojedo friends came up on Saturday, so I got to hangout with all of my good friends. Saturday was the day of the event, so we headed to Gwangali Beach in Busan, where the fireworks were being held. Now, first of all, 4th of July is my favorite holiday because I love fireworks, so I was excited for this display to say the least. I always ... read more
Busan
Busan
Busan

Asia » South Korea » Gyeongsangnam-do » Geojedo September 25th 2010

My co-teacher Tim is an avid rock climber. All summer he tried to convince me to go rock climbing with him, but I always seemed to have something else going on. Eventually, over our Korean Thanksgiving in September, called Chuseok, I went with him. We went to Gujora Beach, then up the mountain from there to do some climbing. Tim's sister Nicky was in town, which I think helped convince me, having another newbie along to relate to!! Turns out, I LOVED IT!! Since then I've been rock climbing with him at the outdoor wall in our little city, Gohyeon, every Wednesday night after work. There is a great group of Koreans who welcome us every week to climb with them. They are very encouraging and it's fun to share a sport, cross-culturally and encourage each ... read more
Geoje
Geoje
Geoje

Asia » South Korea August 4th 2010

At my 5 1/2 month mark of living in Korea, I was lucky enough to have my family come to visit. It had been one year and one month since I'd seen Cameron, due to him being in the Peace Corps. So, after spending a week in Japan, Nana, Mom and Cameron came to visit me here in Korea! They took a ferry over from Fukuoka, Japan to Busan, South Korea. I was working, so unfortunately I was unable to meet them in the city, which left them to the task of getting down to the island. Now, Japan is extremely travel friendly, but Korea on the other hand takes some getting used to. Somehow, we worked it out and I met them in the first mainland city off the island, Tongyeong, then took the bus ... read more
Geoje
Geoje
Geoje

Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Boryeong July 18th 2010

Boryeong is known for it's mud. Mud you ask? Yes, mud! And, they have an annual mudfest known worldwide to celebrate the natural qualities of their famous mud! There are also many skin products sold throughout Korea that are made using Boryeong Mud. Now, a little history on how this Mudfest came about. In order to promote the Daecheon beach area's mud, Boryeong city started a festival where they would bring in mud for people to experience for free. Somewhere along the way, some foreign teachers started to attend the festival. As it turns out, the foreign teachers love the idea of painting themselves with mud, jumping into mud pools, sliding down mud slides, and/or taking their chances with some mud wrestling. Before long, word got around that this is THE festival to attend for anyone ... read more
MUDFEST
MUDFEST
MUDFEST

Asia » South Korea » Seoul » Insadong May 16th 2010

It was mid-week and a pretty average one at that, when my friends Amy and Austin told me that they were heading up to Seoul over the weekend for the long awaited Lotus Lantern Festival. I knew nothing about it, so looked up some information both to better understand and to decide whether or not to join them on this adventure. I was hesitant, because we'd be heading up very early Saturday morning on the 4 1/2 hour bus ride to Seoul, then coming back on the Sunday midnight bus, meaning we'd arrive back to Geoje at 4:30am Monday, then have to be at work a few hours later. Austin was particularly enthusiastic about this festival, saying he'd been looking forward to it since before even coming to Korea. The Lotus Lantern Festival is a celebration ... read more
Seoul
Dos Taco
Seoul

Asia » Japan » Fukuoka » Fukuoka March 20th 2010

Between Japan Visa Run # 1 and #2, all that really happened was that I became a teacher. I have gotten more and more used to my role as the classroom leader and now, I am loving it. So, I went to school one Monday and was told that I'd be heading to Japan on Thursday morning. The school had received the visa issuance number that I needed to obtain the proper work visa and since I had been illegal for almost a month, the news was a relief. Apparently the Tongyeong school had a brand new English teacher who would come and teach my classes, as opposed to him having any actual training. This worked well for me, because I figured I had to at least be a better teacher than him with approximately 2 ... read more

Asia » South Korea » Gyeongsangnam-do » Geojedo March 4th 2010

My palms were sweating and I was racking my brain for how I was going to fill 40 minute class periods all day. I had no idea what I was doing. I had some cd's of childen's music that my friend Laura had given me, so I was very grateful for those! I also had workbooks for each class. But, with no idea what exactly I was doing, I knew I would have to think on my feet. 11am came far too soon and it was time for my first class...seven 4 year olds! They came flying into the room and excitedly took their seats. I introduced myself as Kailie Teacher, as they do here in Korea, then proceeded to name them. Twins John and Julie had already been named by their father, but the rest ... read more
Beyond Advanced
Beyond Advanced
Beyond Advanced




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