congratulations! your success of job hunting. Congratulations! your success of job hunting. I read your article about your family and your recent situation. You have a happy, good and warm hearted family and your wonder dog, Nick. It is very impressive that you and your family live with your Nick as a life companion. I also like my dog which live in my hometown very much. It is certainly that your father in your photo,"My Dad and Me" is very gentle, kind and very intellectual. I felt A American family that I saw thru this blog is very sound, healthy and shinny like sun. frankly speaking, I respect you and your life. in spite of your young age, you have your own wide and accurate viewpoint about your society and the outer world.
please, understand my poor English writing. this is big brother in South Korea. thanks!
serendipity on the internet it takes a certain type of person to spend time in beijing. to be frank i think it's changed the way i lead my day to day life. my travel bug has bit me again, and as i recounted some of my past trips i stumbled along your blog quite accidentally. i was simply searching for pictures of guo mao and fulicheng, and one of yours popped up. it was from inside the classroom, and i instantly recognized "real life".
i attended the school, which must be now two years ago, to take mandarin classes. i believe you had jsut started there. you are a very beautiful woman and i recognized you immediatley.
i read through more of your entries and am very happy to see the passion for travel in your writings. i just had to write you a quick comment to ask you to continue documenting this time in your life. i'm hopeful that one day i can say i've "seen the whole" and mean it. it sounds like you're on the same path.
oh and keep playing the piano. it brightens the soul. send me an email if you're bored someday.
Wow, what a trip! It sounds like you had one heck of a time there; good, bad, and silly. I'd say that's a complete holiday right there! As usual, your writing is wonderfully engaging and your sense of humor def. put a smile on my face with. By the way, props to Reid for kicking the pigeon!!!
Bravo! your life! I read your two week Italian odyssey with a great excitement and somewhat jealousy.
Your itinerary gave me a bundle of good information about Italy that can be use as teaching materials(your pictures) in social studies or science class. It is very chuckle-some that the scene of the English-Italian conversation between an Italian maitre'd, a fluent English speaker and an American, you, a best Italian speaker. You can speak your language, American English, Chinese and Italian. you are trilingual. You are very great! you recalled your grandma, Ruth in the concert played at an small church. It is sure that your grandma, Ruth is still alive as your guardian angel in your heart. Your open letter to your grandma made me touch. and your conclusion of this itinerary is very meaningful and impressive words. I agree to your opinion. Thank you very much. Your articles in this travel blog world are like the twinkle of stars in the night sky.
The rest of the blog Merritt, Thank you for that wonderful description in digital and word pictures. If I ever get to Italy, I feel as if I would recognize the people, the places, the streets, from your lively descriptions.
I think Reid is a man after my own heart! I traveled through England with Evelyn Lawson and was horrified at the way the people loved and fed and interacted with the pigeons. One of Evelyn's favorite things that she told everyone about the trip was Martha walking through the plazas and muttering through her teeth, "Out of my way! I kick pigeons!" I never did, though. So I really admire Reid for doing it. The only thing better than reading your account of it would have been to see it in person.
Your life is shining and bright! It was a good news to me when I received an e-mail that you loaded your new article in your blog. I couldn't read your writings for a long time. as your preface of this article. I was very wonder what happened to her? what troubles made her stop writing articles for a long time?
Your life is very progressive and very independent life! you really made an great effort to catch your good job with your own abilities and your careers. In South Korea, Due to the depression of South Korean economy, A great numbers of college graduates couldn't gain their good and regular job. many college graduates work for part time job. to worst case, some young men and women give up their job hunting. your life is a good example of job hunting challenge and effort for Korean young men and women.
Your life is "shining" and "bright" like your writing. You are in the spring of your life. I hope you will load your stories and articles without stop. Thank you.
Bravo! This may sound crazy, in view of your employment challenges, but you are an exceptional writer; able to capture feelings and insights and write them down. As one who made his living as a writer for many years, I really appreciate this talent in you. People who don't write have no idea how much work it is. So Bravo for your writing and best wishes in your job search. I hope you will continue to post to your blog as things progress.
Lucky break! I couldn't read your stories for last three months. I was very wonder whether some troubles were happen to you or not. very glad to meet your new story again in this post. YOU are lucky lady, because the fire didn't damage your parents' house and your grandma rescued safely. as you say, really, your situation looked like a part of movie "Terminatorb". I could imagine your disturbance due to a gas line crack which made by a incautious gas crew. it seemed that Your Nick, Your dog was very calm and clever in that emergency state. I am expecting your stories continued. Thank you, My English guru in Travelblog. if you possible, Could you do visit my blog. I like watching baseball game on TV. Korea national baseball team of World Baseball classic arrived America to join round#2 of this match. I wish my country team and your country team will fight with each other in semi-final or final round.(^.^) This is Big brother in South Korea.
enjoyed your blog........ i enjoyed reading your blog. made me reconsider many things i usually take for granted. but hey, i do like the quiet life from time to time too!
Congratulations! You did it! I read your article about your presidential election. It is maybe that you are a democratic in your country when reading your article about "My First Real Brush With Democracy". the democratic party gained new governmental authority for next 4 years thru this presidential election. It must be that your country will be changed by Obama's government. Congratulations! You did it! and I hope that your new government will make an effort to establish a peaceful relationship North Korea and your country, US. and In the relationship of My country, South Korea and Your country, US., I hope that both countries win in world trade, foreign affairs, global security and human right with co-operation. This is Big brother(Lee Dae-Hyung).
Although my written English is not perfect, please, understand me.
Looks like you had a good view that morning despite the all the people there. Now imagine how it would be on National Day...let's just say I won't be doing that again. You should've started handing out autographs while they were staring at you as well.
Hmm..those T-shirts would be great for family and friends. By the way, those jiaozi's look great!
Great summary of short trip to Korea Most of the guidebooks seem to assume that one will spend a few months seeing everything. So I enjoyed this short summary of somme highlights. In Cheonan I saw the Arario Museum so I plan to see the Arario Museum in Seoul, too. Has anyone out there been to the Arario Museum in Beijing? Hans Bakker van Guelph
Wow your trip sounds amazing! I'm sure the pics don't do it justice, but it looks really nice there. Now it hurts even more that I wasn't able to go to Korea a few weeks back..thanks :-P
By the way Dunkin' Donuts is from Boston! They have awesome coffee and of course donuts.
Rain & Storms Everywhere That sounded like quite the storm, like what has happened in the U.S. Midwest recently. Ten inches of rain has fallen in Merritt's home town in the U.S. in last 10 days! There is major flooding in several states in the Midwest. Changes due to global warming? One has to wonder...
Enjoyed your entries! Hey Merrit,
Great blog you have there. I stumbled upon it accidentally googling BLCU, as I'll be doing a language course there as well. As I'm thinking about doing about the same thing you did, learning Chinese/teaching English, I have to thank you for sharing your experiences. You have a very contemplative and personal writing style, and I'm sure that if you could use this to your advantage, should you ever embark on a writing career.
Cheers, keep up the good entries!
From the looks of it, it looks like you had the UN over for your birthday dinner. So are you studying AND working with the UN?? :-)
You make a very good point on saying how "human suffering is a shared tragedy"...couldn't agree with you more. I, too, hope that everything in the end works out....don't we all?
Well, keep these coming!
That pic of you should be your profile pic on facebook :-P You should reconsider retiring in a tropical area..hehe.
With a few months left, you'll be learning a lot more than these past few months...but I have no doubt you'll be enjoying yourself and making the most of it. In the meantime, stay out of the sun
:-)
Didn't know you Madisonians were crazy jaywalkers too. We Bostonians are the same way as those Beijingers...even the cars (yikes)
You've basically summed up every foreigners experience in this entry. You really don't know what to expect with culture differences being the total opposite of the west. As for those up and down moments...you got that right :-)
I, too, wish others are able to experience other cultures. As always, I enjoy reading your entries and keep them coming.
We are so proud! A parent starts out believing that their training and influence will shape their child's life, but, the fact is, the child ends up shaping the parent's life more than the parent shapes the child. Who you are and what you have done have made Dad and me more than proud--you have shaped us in countless ways for the better. And not only Dad and I have benefited, but also complete strangers on street corners. You are literally a life-saver and a life-shaper!
Love,
Mom
A very moving tribute. Grandparents are all very special people, I was so moved by this letter and appriciated everything you wrote within. When my own Nan passed it set off a load of changes for me, now Im here. But youre right, they are with us in spirit at all times, with thier spirtual backpacks at the ready for any eventuality WE may run in to. Thank you for sharing this with the world.
I hope that this blog of my experiences living and traveling abroad is able to facilitate multicultural understanding for those who don't have the time or opportunity to travel. If I may make one small difference in the world, I hope it can be one that helps us to understand that the multitude of small things we have in common bind the world so much more tightly than the seemingly bigger things that currently divide us. Our individual cultures and history should be celebrated--yes--but difference of opinion should never be the source of conflict. Rather, it's an opportunity to learn and grow. ... full info
Bigbrother
Lee DaeHyung
congratulations! your success of job hunting.
Congratulations! your success of job hunting. I read your article about your family and your recent situation. You have a happy, good and warm hearted family and your wonder dog, Nick. It is very impressive that you and your family live with your Nick as a life companion. I also like my dog which live in my hometown very much. It is certainly that your father in your photo,"My Dad and Me" is very gentle, kind and very intellectual. I felt A American family that I saw thru this blog is very sound, healthy and shinny like sun. frankly speaking, I respect you and your life. in spite of your young age, you have your own wide and accurate viewpoint about your society and the outer world. please, understand my poor English writing. this is big brother in South Korea. thanks!