tmp545

Poverty and Boredom should not be combined in extremities.... After coming home to small Hocomo from the hip college town of Columbia MO, I was becoming desperate for adventure. It was almost eating at me like the raven maddens Poe....I had to do something. I had to make plans. What were my plans? What was I going to do for a whole summer? I need to pay bills I need to get out of here I need to stop wasting my time time time time is wasting wasting wasting I cant be bored I cant waste a summer I will go mad mad mad mad mad mad mad... Every second of changing my mind was making it worse, increasing the tension, increasing my madness.... Where and what could I do that would get me out of ... read more

I'm dedicating this entry to Dennis because he deserves at the least that much. I didn't know Dennis that well before we had plans to go to Korea. He was always at the same parties as I was and we had mutual friends. We knew each other because we went to the same school. We hadn't talked much but I had always wanted to because I thought he was really cool and he had an awesome motorcycle. When he found out from Bekah that we were going to Korea, Dennis immediately became a most kind and helpful friend, even buying us dinner as he helped us find and book our hostels and our flight and ferry tickets. Our flight to Seoul took one hour and we were in a different country entirely. Austin, a really cute ... read more

I was saving 20 US dollars for the visa, but turns out I guess we didn’t need one. We hotel desk hopped until we found a place that was “on promotion” for 500 baht a night. (About $15 dollars a night, the cheapest around Patong Beach from the airport.) We got in a van for 150 baht each that took us straight to our hotel. Our hotel is a fairly good walk to the beach, so they run a shuttle every hour to the beach or Batang Road. After checking in to a very cute bungalow room with a deck and a great view of Phuket, we tried to make the walk to the beach. We dropped of some laundry, made use of an internet café, then finally got some food. I can’t wait to ... read more

We took the bus to Siem Reap at 7:30 am the next morning. It was the greatest views of the countryside we had had yet. We arrived in Siem Reap at about 1:30 pm or so and were taken by tuk tuk to our hostel, the Queen Angkor Villa. We met Yadira and Angelou at their hotel “The Villa” and went for fruit shakes at the Khmer Family Restaurant. A group of boys selling postcards followed us into the restaurant. They were really clever and had a great marketing tactic. “Where are you from?” A boy would say. “The United States.” “Capital Washington D.C. Where in the U.S. are you from?” “Missouri.” “Capital….Springfield? “No, but so close!” “Where are you from?” Says another boy. “Canada.” “Canada, population 3 million, minus one.” “Minus one?” “You!” “Want ... read more

Sunday my invitation led me to an area where Dandong and North Korea are separated by a very thin part of the river and where Dandong is bordered by the end of the Great Wall. Eager to begin my mission, I was the first one to the tallest part of the Great Wall. From that amazing view, I scoped out the area. I studied the geography of the land. I planned my non-military, non-aggressive tactic. I located an area of a thin river and could make out stepping stones across the river. Bekah joined me as I ran back down the Great Wall and followed my plan of strategy. We crossed under a Great Arch, passed the fruit vendors, passed the village, and quietly walked past the white picket gate and followed it down the ... read more