Blogs from Taejon, South Korea, Asia

Remember how I said I wanted to thank Mandy by taking her out to dinner? Well today was that day. It started out like any other day here. Though it was a Saturday, I braced myself for another 12 hours of classes with breaks in between only for lunch and dinner. I got to class on time (thank god, because they really keep tabs on us!), and managed to stay awake until lunch time. Lunch time came. There was curry rice, beef, kimchi (as always) and rice noodles... all things I absolutely love. After my roommate and her friend, Ronnie, scarfed down lunch, we decided to explore the area around campus for the first time. Actually, if you read my first blog, you'll know that it was technically my second time (F*#%ing cab driver!!!!). We went ... read more

Before I came here, a lot of people told me I was "brave." I shrugged it off, thinking, "What's so brave about staying in another country for a while?" Well, I think I found out today... So the flight from Austin to San Francisco was about 4 hours. I thought... not bad. In the layover time between San Fran and Korea, I got some lunch/breakfast. By the time I found a place, got my food, ate it and paid the bill, it was 15 minutes until my flight! I ran to the gate just as they were announcing that all passengers should be on board for my flight, and they were about to close the gates. I was the last to enter the plane. I was relieved, but also pumped with adrenaline, which did not help ... read more

Yesterday I bought a blue trucker hat with "California 39" sparkling on the front of it. There were even two little stars. It was in this moment that I realized this was a cry for help. I was homesick and I bet you anything if there had been a bag of feces with the word California on it, I would have bought it. Thankfully, it was just a hat that went out of fashion like 10 years ago and will always be connected to Ashton Kutcher. As if that sounds any better... I'm digging into the recesses of my mind in an attempt to find a summer that I haven't spent in California. There isn't one. There was the summer of '07 when I went backpacking through Italy and Greece, but I still spent the end ... read more

Hot air balloons. Like 'em? Cuz I sure as heck do! It was an incredible weekend of long walks along the Gapcheon River, paragliding, movies & binging, mask making, and best of all: hot air balloons. This weekend was the 6th annual Daejeon International Balloon Fiesta. It was a 3 day event filled with paragliding and hot air balloon competitions, free balloon rides, night shows, and cotton candy. On a warm Saturday afternoon, Chantelle and I walked along the Gapcheon River towards the area of Expo Park, where the event was being held. We knew we were getting closer when we started to see colourful paragliders zooming around the river. We spent a good amount of time watching paragliders attempt to successfully get off the ground, laughing when some failed (yes, we really are jerks) and ... read more

Finally. On a particularly cool autumn Saturday with the occasional spattering of rain, Chantelle and I finally decided to conquer Zooland...our first original exploration destination. We caught the 315 from Timeworld which led us straight to O-land. O-Land is the cumulative name for the combination of Zooland and Flowerland. We started our adventure off with riding Daejeon's infamous african safari by piling into a yellow lion-shaped bus. Seated amongst a bunch of eager children between the ages of 4-6, I was surprised at how enthusiastic I began to feel as we crowded around the windows to spot close-ups of the elephants, lions, ostriches, antelope, indonesian bengal tigers, and other assorted african safari animals. The black bears were quite amusing as they would sit up and wave their paws at the children as we passed them by. ... read more