The Great Escape

I got this from the EPIK group page on FB that one waygook did. thought it was really fun and most of them I can understand bc I've been through it. Some I've heard from my other friends. Living, even visiting Korea, and you can bet that you'll come across some of these happening or seeing it happen. The comics are from RoKetship. Anyways, like the guy wrote, please don't take offence to any of these. <3

"Silly stereotypes, please don't take offence. It's with love. Enjoy and here's to another great year of comprehending the incomprehensible!"

- Pedestrians share the sidewalk with automobiles and motorcycles...

- Restrooms don't have tiolet paper or paper towels...

- Every child you pass on the street will say 'hello' to you...

- Children love arm hair...

- Every city bus will have at least 2 teenage boys sitting in each other's laps and playing with each other's hair...
- People think you should board the train first before allowing people to get off...
- You leave the house almost every day with the hem of your pants soaking wet...
- Cell phones are meant to always be turned on...
- People love to know your blood type...
- Growing a beard ages you by 20 years...
- Kids and non-smokers are invincible to second-hand smoke...
- Trash can fires are not just for the homeless anymore...
- You are at risk of being hit by a car the second you walk out of your apartment...
- There are more oscillating-fan-related deaths than shootings...
- Other foreigners fascinate you...

- People think that it is really nice to meet you once again for the 300th time...
- Most laws are merely suggestions...
- All food is "delicious" with no exceptions...
- You never shut your bathroom door for fear of drowning...
- You only hear Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga's names twice a week now...
- The school bell makes you crave ice cream...
- The apocalypse has not arrived... it's just some guy selling fish...

- You carry your empty coffee cup for a long time after you finished it...
- The smell of kimchi, garlic and soju is an aphrodisiac...
- Every woman under 30 is incredibly good looking...
- Everyone is fascinated by their own face and like to take lots of pictures of themselves...
- You need to start making a schedule of your laundry waiting period...

- Fish and rice belong at any breakfast table...
- Walking backwards in a circle is a great way to exercise...
- It makes sense to remove your face mask if you need to sneeze...
- There is no pornography anywhere but there's at least 5 brothels in every small town...
- There are only 2 languages ever spoken - Korean and English...
- Little kids traveling alone on public transit is nothing to be concerned about...
- Loud construction workers are Korea's answer to the alarm clock...
- Any decent men's tie should sparkle...
- Animals love to advertise their own consumption....
- Everyone, including 7 year olds, has a nicer cell phone than you...

- Even if you are fast asleep on the subway or city bus, you won't miss your stop...
- There are 3 shower settings - boiling hot, luke warm, freezing cold
- At least once a week you crawl across your apartment floor to get something you forgot after putting your shoes on...
- You will buy ANYTHING with English instructions…
- All food comes either in a single serving or a convenient 30-pack…
- No matter where you are going, an old lady's always in your way…

- You’re beginning to think Cass is the taste of Vitality…
- You wince every time you turn on your bathroom faucet…

- The schoolgirl uniform fantasy has been forever ruined for you…
- Someone is always watching you…

- All you watch on TV are Korean game shows and K-Pop music videos…
- You expect to be startled at least once a day by someone sneezing loudly…
- You finally realize that you should not lean backwards against an elevator door…
- You wish the country would import cows…
- You hit the switch language button on your keyboard more often than the space bar…
- All protests contain a song and dance…

- When the department store opens, the staff will kindly bow to you just before they are nearly trampled…
- Sometimes you feel that the whole city is just a giant school…
- Curiously, you are a little excited about the yellow dust season…

- Facebook and Skype is the only thing keeping you sane…

- You actually prefer bowing to saying hello…
- You buy the product with the prettiest girl on the front…
- If you had a wish, you would make every person taste a Western pizza…
- You realize that once you lose something… it is gone forever…
- People only need to walk one block to reach a convenience store or PC room…
- People politely start public trash piles rather than littering everywhere…
- Students love to sharpen pencils…
- You find yourself disappointed in the equipment offered at the free public park gyms...
- You still have no clue how the garbage/recycling system works here...

- You've given up on the rice cooker and now proudly own a microwave...
- Who needs a janitor when you have a school full of kids?
- Costco is your favorite holiday destination…
- A trip to Burger King means 3 Whoppers…
- You’re already losing your motivation for templestay and learning fluent Korean…
- You actually think you’re starting to blend in…
- You actually believe that you are really handsome…
- Everyone is very impressed with your chopstick skills and kimchi-eating ability…
- A single bar of soap can kill the bacteria on the hands of 1000 people…
- You’re getting used to fruit flies buzzing around your head.
- You’ve stopped wondering why all your cardboard disappears the minute you throw it out.
- Half of your furniture IS cardboard.
- You get at least 3 CoolMessenger pop-ups for every slide on your PowerPoint.
- You’re ashamed of your arm hair.
- You’ve lost some respect for the US Army.
- You look over your shoulder for your kids every time you buy booze or cigarettes.
- You love buying food in the supermarket that is scotch-taped to something else.

- You love getting free toothpaste after an impromptu relay race or volleyball match
- The wait staff likes to cook your food and feed it to you.
- You cross your arms in an X every time you say NO or disagree about something.
- You think you’re back in university after hearing loud drunks stumbling home at 4am on a Sunday morning… but then realize its 50 year olds wearing suits.
- You start telling people they should “take a rest.”

- Every class has a “pig” in it
- Kids think your office is a great place for “hide and seek” with their friends.
- 1980s American popular culture is catching on here fast.
- Koreans seem to be able to find anything from “www[dot]daum[dot]net” but you’re not even sure what kind of site it is.
- A broken bone requires 6 weeks of hospital stay.
- “Free samples” means “feed your entire extended family” (even if they’re not there).
- You feel like you’re playing Frogger every time you walk to school or have lunch in the cafeteria.
- Blue eyes can put others into a state of hypnosis.
- Parking a car means turning off the engine.
- You need at least 3 pairs of shoes to go to the gym and must store them in separate lockers.
- You find yourself chopping vegetables on the floor or on top of the fridge because there is no counter space.
- Your fate is often determined through a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
- The elderly are scarier than teenagers.
- Tom and Jerry is back, complete with all the 1950s hidden stereotypes.
- You can’t be trusted to teach regular class alone but if it’s after school, they’ll expect you to teach multiple grades, levels, and gender groups alone for hours.
- People just love to watch your groceries go through the checkout.
- Chocolate pies are currency – who’d have guessed that?
- You understand that your chalk will break and your whiteboard marker will give out several times in one class.
- Cleaning your teeth at the dentist’s office sounds like a war zone.
- When kids actually draw penises and reproductive organs on their desks because they’re studying for their science tests.
- Clerks in the stores stand at attention and ready to pounce on you with customer service.
- Dishes and ironing are taking up too much of your spare time.
- You’re getting used to walking on brick after brick after brick.
- You’ve resigned yourself to the fact that the copy machine will need to be reloaded countless times to avoid paper jams.
- You can pronounce over 20 of your students Korean names perfectly but none of them can pronounce yours.

- The gym has equipment for every possible useless exercise you can do and they’re being used regularly.
- Drinking water is a covert affair.
- School sports day has nothing to do with sports.
- Wearing your gym clothes to class every day after running in circles is comfortable and hygienic.
- Pens are only used to write on your hands to identify your girls’ posse.
- You’ve-ah started talking like-ah this-ah
- The perfect sidedish to pizza is a bag of pickles.

- Food allergies are non-existent. You should be able to eat anything and give the kids whatever you want.
- Even when your spine is twisted all to hell, you can push with the best of them.

- I wear my sunglasses at night. And when I'm welding.
- Only fools move furniture up a stairwell.
- The doctor is reviewing your x-rays in the waiting room.
- The security guard at the bank will help you pay your bills.
- On overnight school field trips, six highly intoxicated chaperones are just as effective as one sober one.
- Kids better be on the bus when we leave because there are no head counts.
- On field trips, the kids are perfectly safe being let loose on their own in a public place while the teachers have a picnic.
- It makes perfect business sense to open your cell phone or jewelry store right next to 20 other stores that sell the exact same thing.
- Your apartment's peephole is useless because it's always covered with a restaurant or grocery store flyer.
- Everything from kimchi to school uniforms to Olleh! stores are considered a part of Korean traditional culture and you should speak carefully about them.
- The staff will guide you when walking and save your life by alerting you of approaching cars that are 50 feet away.
- The push/pull signs on doors are often blatant lies meant to embarrass you.
- The Internet is reliable.
- Pizza and hamburgers are snacks; not meals.
- You can wrap your umbrella when entering a store - this is genius!
- Koreans are in a rush to go everywhere... except when they are standing on escalators or moving walkways.
- It's impossible to flirt through eye contact because everyone is looking at their phones.
- There are more bags of recycling taking up space on public transportation than baby strollers.
- Flashing red and blue lights are more effective at controlling speeding than actual police cars.
- The KTX smells like a multicultural apartment building in New York City.
- Koreans have made condescension an art form.
- If foreigners can’t understand Korean, then they are obviously clueless to body language and gestures as well.

- Sometimes the only thing more annoying than Koreans are other foreigners.
- You are more likely to run into another foreigner at McDonalds than at the immigration office.

- Many Christians do not distinguish between Santa Claus and Jesus Christ.
- Just mentioning Germany will produce a laugh.
- You receive health advice from 10 year olds.
- Easy-open packages are definitely not easy to open.
- Uniforms make jailbait easier to identify.
- You have not had to change a light bulb since moving in.

- The most uncomfortable experience in the world is standing in line at a water park.
- You are not even sure that you could imitate the hacking sound Koreans make when they spit. It's all in the pronunciation.
- The elderly have more active lives than you do.
- Time zone difference + big game = drinking in the morning.
- You like 2 of the seasons. The start of Spring and Fall are more anticipated than Christmas.
- Your hands are cold all winter. You can’t stop sweating all summer.

- 10 won is of less use than a penny.
- Your work visa and ARC are renewed through the use of magic marker.
- It’s a tradeoff between using the toilet and staying warm.
- There is no better browser than Internet Explorer.
- No matter what page it’s on, the word search will be completed first.
- Mechanical pencils break after each letter but students love them.
- A cutesy pencil case is an elementary girl’s most prized possession.
- A lot of food comes with 3 layers of packaging.
- Fresh air is more important than comfort.
- Mosquitoes and fruit flies are more resilient than cockroaches.
- Nothing says I love you better than a cheap candy breadstick.
- As a kid, you hated getting socks as a gift. That hasn’t changed.
- Your medical exam is like a relay race.
- Even if the cab driver has no idea where you want to go, he will spend 10 minutes pretending that he does.
- Broom handles are needlessly short. Now you know why their spines are so twisted in old age.
- You’ve never seen so many ladybugs and praying mantis in your life.
- Kids go crazy for leading a wire rim across the ground with a stick and throwing arrows in a bucket.
- The most used feature on the phone is the mirror.
- Middle school girls practice their dance routines at the subway station.
- You can conveniently buy thermal underwear on the subway. Its use will also be demonstrated for you.
- Your school evaluation may include parents’ observations of your purchases at the grocery store.
- No one is trying to steal your wallet, kidnap your kids and shoot you in the head.
- Matching outfits show a committed relationship.

- Men in business suits puke in the street. Seems classier than home.
- Your non-smoking hotel room smells suspiciously like smoke.
- Your school’s English section is decorated with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
- You can often make purchases by swiping your card, without entering codes or signing anything. You feel very secure about your finances.
- You never know how to dress. It might be school picture day or you might be going on a staff hike up a mountain. You just never know.

- Little children will pee wherever they are.
- People are respectfully quiet on public transportation.
- Korean women can do anything in high heels.
- Koreans have more public places to squat, than places to dump their trash.
- Koreans are terrified of being caught on CCTV.
- Koreans love freebies when they go shopping. Especially when they’re given out by young women in short skirts wearing headsets.

- Everyone plays guitar, violin or piano.
- Koreans actually read newspapers regularly.
- Koreans know that the only professions that exist for them are in medicine/business/computers or law.
- Seoul is less confusing than Daegu.
- Foreigners just don’t know how to replace their ARC cards, open a bank account or find The Fountain on their own.
- The P.E. teacher is better dressed than you on school picture day.
- At least 1 student has gotten your phone number somehow.
- At least 1 student has discovered where you live somehow.
- One of the double doors is always locked. They vary which one each day to confuse you.
- The treadmill is for practicing reading and texting while walking.
- Honeymooners will only go as far as Jeju Island.
- For English teachers, foreigners use the non-existent word “deskwarming” a lot.
- You now own 50 pairs of socks and 40 towels.
- There is nothing more embarrassing than a Waygook flash mob.
- Many Koreans think genitals are digitalized pixels.
- Nobody better mess with your kids!
- The dirt in the space between the sliding doors builds up faster than you can possibly control.
- Who are they to take away your God-given right to be an asshole?
- Harold & Kumar are not as funny as you remembered them.
- If nothing else can cure the boredom, trolling always works.
- The only thing Chinese about a Chinese restaurant is the name…
- You are now always ready for anything to happen…

....and last but not least:

- YOU SEE THESE ROCKS?!

An hour from Cheongju city stands Beopjusa Temple. Although the magnificent temple is dedicated to the worship of the Maitreya Buddha, it was built with the hope that ancient Korea’s Three Kingdoms would be reunified. Sadly, Some 14 centuries later millions are still hoping for a unified Korean peninsula.

It is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It is situated on the slopes of Songnisan Mountain.

The founder, Uisin, named the temple Beopju (‘Residence of Dharma’) because he brought back a number of Indian sutras (scriptures about Dharma) were housed there.

From the bus stop we followed the road and eventually lead us to the Orisup Trail. Pass the Orisup trail, through thick pine trees, and we came across the main gate of the temple.

fresh makeoli

There is a large rock with a hole in the middle beside the main gate. You can drink spring water that comes out of the hole.

Inside the temple you can see Palsangjeon Pavilion which is a wooden building shaped like a tower. Palsangjeon, a five-story pagoda, is the only one of its kind left in Korea.

Then you can visit the Seokryeonji Lotus Flower Pond. As the name suggests, the pond is made of stones. At the back of Palsangjeon Pavilion, there is the Ssangsajaseokdeung (Two Lion Stone Lamp), and, again as the name suggests, the two lions uphold the stone lamp.

The Golden Maitreya Statue of National Unification was built n 1990, at a cost of $4 million, the 33-meter-high, 160-ton Buddha was erected. Covered in gold leaf, the Buddha was made possible by over 30,000 donations.

The main building is also fascinating. It is two-stories high, and very stately. In addition, Beopjusa Temple has Ma-aeyeorae-uisang carved into a rock. Uisang refers to a sitting Buddha, and this particular Ma-aeyeorae shows Buddha sitting on a lotus flower.

It was the weekend of Buddha's birthday.

Walking back to town to grab some lunch.

This is a special walkway which is said to offer a quick test of your health. Those of you who have heard about reflexology know that pressure points on the feet can give some valuable clues. The walkway 100m long is made of little clay beads. Walking on them if you are in top shape is supposed to be a joy. I ended up walking on it only half way...

Delicious lunch

Korea's most famous tree: Jeongipumsong Tree. It stands in the middle of the street and is estimated to be about 600 years old. Legend has it that the tree was granted a ministerial title when it reportedly lifted its branches in order to let King Sejo’s palanquin pass in the mid 15th century.

Back on the bus

Crowds celebrating Buddha

Sangdangsanseong was the 1st landmark I visited after coming to live in Cheongju.

Sanseong history:
Korea is called "a country of sanseong (mountain fortress)." Korean ancestors developed unique defense facilities by using the natural environment of the Korean peninsula where mountains and hills are abundant. There are 2,400 sanseong sites all over Korea. In Chungbuk (my province), there are 212 sanseongs.

Sangdangsanseong history:
Sangdangsanseong was a fortress located at the center of traffic and defense of Korea's central region. A large-scale stone fortress on the slopes of Uamsan (Uam Mountain), there is no record of when it was actually built. However, the initial building dates to the Three Kingdoms Period. It went through nine stages of repairs, as it was designated as an army post. The present structure is the one rebuilt by King Sukjong in 1716, after its restoration in 1596 from damage during the Japanese invasion. There are now three main gates, east, west, and south; two plain gates; three turrets; and three waterways. Within the walls lies a small tourist village that has several restaurants.

My trips:
I've made 2 trips to Sangdangsanseong and both have been drastically different. There are 2 ways to climb this fortress. You can 1) drive to the fortress' main gate, park your car and walk the wall and 2) park your car at the bottom of the mountain, hike up to the fortress gate and then walk the wall. The latter is a lot harder!

The 1st time was with Mrs. Han Su Hwan, her 2 daughters (Hee Rang and Chae Won) and Hee Rang's friend. Mrs Han, Chae Won and I ended up hiking while Hee Rang and her friend stayed in the car. Mrs. Han drove to the fortress' main gate and we walked around the fortress wall. It was like a long walk in the park. Nothing too strenuous or anything.

We bumped into some of the workers coming back from lunch and they let us play with some of their props and costumes. ^^

The 2nd time was during the school picnic. Each major department had lunch at different places of the city that was relevant to their major. For example: aviation department had their picnic at the Cheongju Airport where they sometimes have their classes. The group I went with ended up going to Sangdangsanseong. In my head I was thinking of the 1st time I hiked it. I was completely wrong. We parked the cars at the parking lot off the main street, gathered the students (I'm thinking we were gonna take a bus up there), and then everyone just started walking towards a path along the street. This path eventually lead to an actual path on the mountain (Uam Mountain). This hike got a bit intense at times with what looked like unending stairs and long inclines.

There was even a rope to help propel yourself up. This was the most intense mountain I have had to hike so far (this is nothing compared to hiking Chil Bo San I hiked a few months later). Thank goodness they had benches placed along the trail.

They had a block of ice somewhere along the trail, it was to cool your hands. I think...

We eventually got to the actual fortress and of course we had to walk the entire circumference of it before we can walk down to the 'park' area of the fortress to eat lunch. Note to self, bring your own lunch when you go to a school picnic. Luckily Koreans love to share food so I didn't faint because of the lack of food and water when I was starving and dehydrated. Lesson learned.

I never imagined I would ever live in another country, much less a country whose native language isn't English. Here I'm the outcast, the minority, the FOB, the foreigner.

Living outside your comfort zone can teach you a lot about yourself. You become stronger through your experiences but also become more vulnerable to the things people most often take for granted. This year I experienced loneliness like none before. It's a completely different feeling than the loneliness you feel at home. This loneliness is on a whole different level than that. In a country where you don't speak the language, aren't familiar with the culture and have to build friendships with people who are intimidated with their English abilities, you unwillingly get dragged into this emotion of always being alone. You lose contact with friends and family from back home. You go day to day living the same routine. But while all this is happening, you become stronger and learn a lot about yourself and other people. You adapt and people surprise you. You find comfort in the smallest of things. You learn how to live in your new home. You realize your own self worth along with how worthwhile you are to people in both homes. Friendships become distant while others become stronger. Family means a great deal more to you than ever before. So many emotions and experiences while trying to figure out life. Christmas and birthdays aren't the same. FB and Skype are the only things keeping you sane sometimes. It's a whole new world out here! Most EPIK teachers like to use the term "epik" to describe things. To us, "EPIK" means both the company we work for (English Program In Korea) and (according to dictionary.com) heroic; majestic; impressively great; of unusually great size or extent. When theres something we cant explain with words, we just say: that was EPIK.

Being in Korea has truly been, for the lack of any word(s) not being able to describe this feeling: EPIK!

I've learned a great deal since coming to Korea. And I am ready for year 2!

Dynamic Korea: nothing ever goes the way it should and some things just happen when you least expect it. In the spirit of being 'dynamic', I am going to blog about the places I've visited while in Korea in no particular order. =]

Paestum

The last place we visited before heading back to the US. it felt like you were walking in past, somewhat true

i had to do this, it was so tempting

the temples were in magnificent shape! i dont know which temple is dedicated to which god/goddess but the ones we saw were for athena, hera, poseidon

once we were back in Naples, we were so hot from being outside that we decided to make Halo Halo! it was perfect for the weather. we had BBQ steak again that night =]

the rest of the day we slowly started packing

------------ the next day

packed the rest of our things and tried to figure out how on earth we were going to pack all of the wine mom bought... afterwards, we went out to eat our final dinner in Italy

Peppe O' Russo Restaurant

this restaurant was really nice. we were some of the first people in the restaurant so we got one of the best table in the place. our dinner consisted of: a 3 course appetizers, fries/salad, main course, dessert, unlimited wine and lemoncello shots = 30eu each. not bad for what we ate. it was so good! i got pretty sad knowing that i might never come back here...

after dinner we went back home, slept and the next day drove to the airport and was on our way back to the US. after stopping in PA for a short while, we were back in CA.

italy and germany, i shall miss you!

Rome

This was the main place i wanted to go to. i wish we couldve stayed longer to enjoy the sights and to really appreciate it but i cant argue with being able to see pretty much everything! we took the train from Aversa to get to Rome.

the 1st thing we did after getting off the train was to find a double deck tour bus

the line to see the caravaggio was insane! i wanted to see it too but wasnt ready to waste half a day standing in line. good thing i saw that on the bus!

after the bus we got dropped off at the Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele 2º. this building was pretty! it also has the tomb of the unknown soldiers

next stop on our self walking tour where i and kat were the tour guides was: what i thought was the spanish steps. but isnt. it was the basilica di santa maria in aracoeli

roman coliseum: where you can spot some 'roman soldiers' and take photos with them for a few euros. the line to get inside the coliseum was also pretty long

this was next to the coliseum. somewhat reminds me of the l'arc de triomphe in france

a map of the land that was under roman rule

roman forum and palantine hill right in the middle of the city: where excavations are still in process

picking our next destination

Cesar? Cesarean soldier?

Bernini's Fountain of the four rivers, piazza navona was one of the top piazza's i wanted to see

Castel Sant'Angelo: really wanted to see this after reading angels and demons

Vatican City

Saint Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square

lunch: mcdonald's on the streets of roma

mom doing 'as the romans do' which she shouldnt have done. needless to say: the next day, her tummy wasnt too happy...

Fontana di Trevi

Piazza di Spagna: where the REAL spanish steps are =]

other photos of buildings i dont know the names to...

after a looong day, we decided to take the bus tour one last time to get a view of everything we just saw. then headed back on the train to naples.

visiting pompeii was one of the places i realllllly wanted to go to. it was pretty cool seeing the streets and the ruins still standing.

what made it not so fun was the huge amount of tourists everywhere, but i guess that was to be expected.

not only that but pompeii is so big that you cant see everything in 1 day. our tour guide showed us the main attractions where it was convoluted with people.

we went inside one of the houses

i wanted to see everything but… seeing the shells of the people who perished with the lava made it worthwhile i guess.

we ate at the bottom of pompeii, again i had pizza. =]

after that we headed to mt vesuvius where we would climb it! lulu and i climbed it all the way to the top. my mom stopped where the crater was and so did kat. lulu was disappointed bc she thought there was gonna be lava! LOL! silly girl! i can honestly tell people that i climbed an active volcano! =D

9am - woke up and got ready to head back to Naples. goodbye florence! you were hot and humid but i enjoyed walking around downtown and seeing all the statues, cobbled pathways and giant buildings! i will especially miss seeing the david and zeus statues.

10am - back on the road

1pm - stopped by to grab some snackies considering we havent eaten all day! i grabbed a crossaint and finally a magnum gold ice cream bar! it was delicious! the “gold” chocolate looked like paint and it was so thick!

3pm - welcome home naples! max and roxie were super excited to see us. they were running around everywhere.
- the rest of the day was spent unpacking, making filipino food, and just relaxing from all the trips
- not being up and about makes me feel uneasy… i just get the itch to do something. maybe its because im far from CA and in another country thats halfway around the world. i feel like im wasting a day that could be filled with adventures/explorations and instead im sitting on a swing in my sisters front yard typing my stories while watching max biting a piece of stick. yes its nice to relax but seeing all these vespas/mopeds/motorcycles go by and i cant help but feel like riding in one of them and having a crazy adventure. but i guess those only happen in the movies… -____-

dinner with kat and derrick’s friends donna and jared. they were the ones who looked after their house and doggies while we were gone. for some odd reason italians love to set off fireworks any day. so of course derrick had to set some off. roxie gets scared of fireworks, her safe haven is her kennel. thats where she hid. its funny how the neighbors in front of us started clapping and cheering at us for having set some fireworks off. i just dont get how they can enjoy fireworks so much…

afterwards lulu and i were gonna walk down the cafe thats 2doors down but i ended up helping derrick fix their internet connection problems. of course everything was in italian so i was fixing things blindley. luckily i managed to fix it and now their internet has been constant instead of going on and off

-------------- The next day

today was a relaxing day. derrick had to go back to work so us girls went to the naval base and explored/bought stuff. we went to Medici, its equivalent to an indoor mall with a supermarket. my mom bought a lot of wine…. i dont know how shes gonna be able to keep within the 50lbs limit of the check-in luggage…

when we got home we ate and later kat gave max and roxie a bath. apparently max enjoys taking baths. he looks so fluffy now…

--------------------The next day

the naples tour was pretty cool.

went to this fancy looking building and saw david again.

we went to this church that had underground ruins. it was like a 3 story building built underground. the first floor was when the greeks were living in naples. then the romans decided to build on top of that street and homes and so the 2nd story became roman streets and homes. then the current inhabitants (napoli-ans) built on top of the roman streets and homes. and thus came about the 3 story underground city.

other photos from the naples tour

it might have been the sun but i decided to hug this pillar bc it was super old. from 300bc

our tour guide took us to this mom&pop pizzeria where they sold pizzas for 1euro. it was soooo good and big and cheap! fried pizza!

i cant believe how narrow streets are from each other. its like you can literally see into your front neighbors house!

6am - woke up, so earrrrrrly!

7am - left Germany, slept on the car. man, i miss my bed!

1pm - arrived in Pisa
- crazy vendors everywhere!!!
- sadly there was not much to see and do…
- the only thing is the leaning tower and after you have seen it, taken a photo of it, theres really nothing else but look at what the vendors are selling.
- we literally stayed for like 30mins and then looked at the vendors, bought some gelato bc it was SUPER hot and then left.

soooo funnnny!

2pm - left Pisa

330pm - arrived in Florence
- checked in to our hotel rool which was basically an apartment. it was pretty cozy. there were 2 rooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom. my favorite part was the balcony. they had the scariest elevator ever! it was soooo old and you can only fit 3 people with duffle bags at a time! and if you dared jump while its going up, im pretty sure the elevator wouldve crashed to the floor. yea, prettty scary

- after getting all settled, we all went to sleep! hahahaha yeaaaaa

- i tried to sleep but i just couldnt bc it was in the middle of the day. so instead i uploaded the photos to my laptop bc i needed to start going through allllll the photos!

6pm - kat and derrick decide to wake up and we 3 go to the market in search of food. we’re going to make use of the kitchen. =]
- we sorta got lost but we eventually found our way to the market and got some food.
- before heading back to the apt, we stopped by this dessert place and kat bought helllla dessert

8pm - by the time we got back, lulu and mom were awake, so we cooked dinner and then ate

9pm - left apartment and headed for downtown Florence
- first time riding a bus in europe! it was pretty cool. you have to buy your ticket elsewhere, derrick bought ours at the tabaccheri, im guessing tabacco store? and when you get on the bus they have these machines that stamp your ticket. lulu and i stamped ours. but i guess you dont have too if the bus driver doesnt tell you to, you can keep re-using it. we didnt know. -___- but youre supposed to stamp it. man, everything in italy is lax. no one cares how fast you drive, no one cares if you stamp your ticket or not.
- we got off at the top of this hill and there was this huuuuuge statue of david. it wasnt the real one but still!
Piazzale Michelangelo:

- the view from the top was pretty cool. you could see all the famous sites.

- we basically did a walking tour of downtown florence. we went to all the piazzas and the giant basillica. at one of the museums, there was some random guy singing and he had a big crowd just listening to him. the nightlife was alive! there were so many people out and about, it was crazy. it reminded me of when we were in Verona.

Ponte Vecchio

Duomo di Milano

Uffizi Gallery

The next day -----------

9am - woke up
10am - left the apartment
- headed for the main market
- bought some wine and more groceries for dinner that night
- bought some souvenirs
- super hot out
- saw a car show
- ate some gelato
- visited a park
- saw darth vader

430pm - came back to the apt
- uploaded some more photos
- napped
- made dinner
- packed
- watched a soccer game

12pm - woke up. talk about sleeping in!

town of Garmisch

- we ate breakfat/lunch at McDonalds. it was pretty sweet McD’s. super clean and they brought your order to your seat. the one thing i dont understand is why they dont put lids on your drinks… that was weird but i guess it works. it sucks that you have to pay extra for ketchup. =[

- the town was pretty quiet, we didnt find out why til later and that was bc there was some religious holiday that day.
- the entire street was made of cobblestones

- almost all the houses and shops had paintings on them. it was fun to look at

- this town reallllly likes christmas. there was a whole 2 story store dedicated to christmas and every shop we went in sold christmas decor

- before heading back to the hotel we decided to stop over at the next town and just sight see. they had really pretty houses!

town of Lermoos
- quiet and quaint. i swear its like living in one of those old european movies. so country. but its so pretty
- on our way back to the hotel, we got a speeding ticket. i guess cops do their jobs here unlike in italy. lol

5pm - Edelweiss
- went back to the hotel. everyone napped except lulu and i. we went and explored the hotel some more. and took pics bc we were bored

6pm - carriage tour of Garmisch
- pretty much went to the downtown area where we explored earlier that day. it was cool bc we were on a horse and carriage. haha

7pm - Riessersee Hotel
- we had some downtime before dinner so we went to the sister hotel of Edelweiss, the Riessersee Hotel. it was nice and they had a lake. basically if Edelweiss is full, they house everyone else at Riessersee.

730pm - The Golden Angel Restaurant
- this restaurant was recommended by our tour guide. it has real Bavarian food. and OMG it was meats galore! the service was pretty slow but i guess its ok bc there were only 2 waiters. the food was fantastic though!

- after dinner all we wanted to do was sleep so thats what we did.

3am - leave rest stop for Germany

before entering Germany, we passed through Austria. didnt really see much except the snow on the mountains reflecting off the moon.

5am - arrived at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, Germany, military base. it was/is used as a mid-way meeting spot for soldiers and their families who are stationed in other countries.

- after unpacking, we picked who was in which bed. i dont mind the couch so i picked the couch. turns out it was a pull out bed so i ended up sleeping on a bed all to myself =]

530am - breakfast buffet. the bacon made me sad since it wasnt crunchy or fatty. it was just stale-ish. everything else was pretty good. i drenched everything in maple syrup. =]

7am - after breakfast we decided to sleep again. talk about having an unusual sleeping pattern…

1pm - went on base to gather some essentials (umbrella & snacks). it was pretty cold being up in those mountains.

130pm - leave for Neuschwanstein Castle!

2:30pm - arrive at Bavaria
- before heading to the castle, we stopped by to get some food. i had my first bratwurst in germany! how freaking cool is that?? lol. i also got this soda called mezzo mix and its cola with orange soda. sounds weird and nasty but it isnt all that bad…

- we took the shuttle up to where we had to walk the rest of the way up. while walking that mile up, i couldnt stop thinking about how people back in the days got up these woods! it must have taken them hours to reach the castle!
- finally we got up the castle and OMG! its HUUUUUGE! and to think this castle was never finished! too bad the tour only lets us see the finished rooms… =[

4:55pm - tour Neuschwanstein Castle
- Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty Castle (Disneyland Castle) off of King Ludwig II’s castle. The story goes, King Ludwig was only 18 when he ascended the throne. Having lived at Hohenschwangau Castle (his dad’s house), he dreamt of how he would build his own castle.

He found the perfect spot, it was within his view from his father’s castle. Construction started when he became King but it was only 1/3 done. The King died a mysterious death 20 years after construction had begun. He was diagnosed by his docter as having a mental disorder. King Ludwig was found dead with his Docter near a lake but no traces were found of him having drowned.
- i couldnt believe i was inside the castle. it was so overwhelming. i didnt even know what to say or think at the moment. just looking at all the paintings and gold! it was pretty intense being there. i couldnt even form words, i was just in shock. King Ludwig’s bedframe alone took 14 wood carvers 4 years to make!! seriously… to be rich back then…
- after grabbing a cappuccino from the cafe in the castle lobby, we headed back down to where the car was parked. we decided to walk the scenic downward path through the forest. walking there reminded me of beauty and the beast when belle was looking for her father and stumbled upon the castle.

- by the time we arrived at the car, it was slightly sprinkling again.

6pm - leave Neuschwanstein Castle
- i was a bit sad having to leave the castle. i wanted to stay longer and explore the rest. princes and princesses rarely exist nowadays but its nice to think that they onced walked the same stone paths i just walked.
- Germany's countryside is so breath-takingly beautiful!

8pm - we arrived at edelweiss and once again we were hungry. we had a dinner buffet at the hotel and i was starving! derrick bought me hefeweizen and it tastes so much better here! it was so flavorful! im no beer expert but drinking it made me actually like beer!

11pm - after dinner we headed back to our rooms and everyone was ready to sleep. not me. lulu and i went downstairs and decided to roam around for a bit. then we headed back up and went to sleep.

6am - woke up, had breakfast, counted our Euro and said bye bye to Max and Roxie

9am - left Naples for Montepulciano

Random things I saw/learned:
1. there are a ton of random ruins everywhere along the freeway
2. tons of rolls of hay
3. unspoken rule of the road: if someone is going faster than you from behind, get out of his way. If you dont get out of his way, you get yelled at. Breaking does not exist in Italy.
4. cops dont care how fast youre going
5. mom thought Rome was its own country. lol

12pm - arrived at Montepulciano, Tuscany region

- this town is set wayyy up on a hill and the scenery is filled with trees and more trees. majority of the trees being olive trees.

- walking down the narrow streets felt pretty amazing. its like i was living back in the olden times. its crazy to see cars zig-zagging their way through pedestrians.

- it seems like everything is made of bricks and stones.
- we stopped by a pizzeria for lunch and the pizza tasted so good! i learned that their sitting fee is equivalent to our tips. but if you think your waiter deserves a tip, you can tip as well.
- passing by the stores, something caught my eye… it was hello kitty. what the heck is she doing all the way up here?!
- we walked up to the very top and saw the church were they filmed New Moon. it wasnt that exciting but there were posters of it at every so often building.

- we stopped by to use a bathroom and MAN! the outside was like from medieval times but the inside was alright. creeped me out just a little bit…

- after roaming around the narrow streets, we figured we had seen as much of Montepulciano as we could, so we headed back to the car. after we bought some wine of course! =]

3pm - leave Montepulciano for Verona
caught some zzz’s along the way

7pm - arrived at Verona

- Verona is such a beautiful town. its lively and the buildings are exactly what i expected. cobblestone paths and narrow streets buzzing with tourists.

- our first stop was Juliet’s house. i had a few letters i had to leave behind. =] the entrance to Juliet’s balcony was COVERED with notes!! too bad it was closed so i just left the letters in the mail.

- After that, I bought my first GELATO! i forgot what flavor it was…. it was a really random/weird mix but it was good.
- downtown Verona is basically a shopping center. think santana row but 10x better!
- again theres hello kitty. shes everywhere!
- Piazza dei Signori was filled with tourists/natives just hanging out and enjoying the warm weather. the streets were alive! it was amazing.

- while walking through the streets, we passed by some pretty creepy if not awesome looking tombs. it belonged to the most famous family from verona.. i forget who they were… -___-

- after that my camera decided to die, so i ended up using lulu’s for the rest of the night
- we walked to the bridge to kill some time before our dinner reservations. we took pictures and graffitied our names on the stone bridge like every other tourist had done before us. the bridge is a huge hit with teens just hanging out with friends and smoking.

- we ate at this family owned restuarant. it cost us 15euro each which included a 2 course set meal of our choice from the menu. i was pretty surprised to see horsemeat and donkey in the menu along with chicken and veal. none of us ordered horsemeat or donkey. lulu ordered the veal though. i stuck to the safe side for this one and ordered pasta. i also ordered a cappuccino since i’ve been pretty much nocturnal the entire time i got to europe. the only time i actually do get some sleep is during the drive to towns. sometihng about the constant mur mur of the car that lulls me to sleep. one thing that did surprise me a lot was the toilets in the restuarant and around Verona. the toilet is basically a modernized hole in the ground. for the love of god, i can not squat that low and would rather hold it in until we got to an Autogrill or the hotel.

11pm - left Verona
- on the ride to Germany, lulu charged my camera with her remaining laptop battery.

Midnight - we stopped into a rest stop for 3hrs of snooze time. being the nocturnal me, i ended up watching the blind side with subtitles. dang that cappuccino! lol

My older sister, Kat had been living in Naples, Italy for 3 years and would be moving back to the states. With that in mind, my mom, lulu and I (dad couldnt get the days off) decided that it would be the perfect time to visit. Kat found these really cheap roundtrip tickets, we had our own personal tour guide(s), a house to stay in for free and a driver/car.

After pulling an all nighter, we left home at 4am-ish
4:30am - arrived at SFO, said our goodbyes to my uncle and cousin Angelica for dropping us off
checked in, went to our gate and waited for our flight

7:15am - SFO to Charlotte, NC
3pm (NC time) - landed, had lunch, wandered around til we had to check in. There was free internet but no where to charge our laptops =[

6:15pm - CLT to ROMA
9am Italian time (midnight PST) - landed in Rome (Roma). I must say, the food was not good at all. The salad was acutally my fav food from that flight which is pretty sad. You also had to pay $5 for earphones. No way would I pay that. So instead I just watched Sherlock Holmes and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 without sound, both of which I had already watched.

Derrick met us at the airport. No he didn’t have a sign but he was pretty easy to spot. He’s about 6ft2in… My mom is in love with Italy already because of all the greenery. She kept saying “the land is fertile here”. lol
The way Italian toll works is pretty cool. Just like before you enter a bridge, you pay for toll. In Italy, you get a ticket and you pay for it when you exit the freeway of your destination.

Random things I learned:
- cops are useless
- red SOS signs are like our call boxes
- instead of having a bunch of resturants at rest stops, there is only one that offers everything you need called Autogrill

- fire cars and fire trucks. I found that sorta weird
- electronic speed radars (no useless cop sitting at the side of the road pointing a radar gun), apparently these don’t work bc Derrick said he’s gone beyond the speed limit and nothing ever happened.
- speed limit signs are of no use, they go by the flow of traffic. i guess cops really are useless here…
- there are carabienari (main police/mafia), polizia locale (city/town police), finanzia (finance police, for illegal immigrants)

- the use of the horn is very normal
- you have to expect to get your car scratched otherwise you’ll never get anywhere, driving wise

11am - Arrived at my sisters house and met her 2 doggies Max and Roxanne =]
Max is a rotweiler and Roxie is mixed. Max is so playful and friendly, he’s only just a puppy. He likes to shake hands, dig holes and eat ice.

The house is beautiful! There are large windows, sliding kitchen doors, high ceilings, everything is spacious! The bathroom comes with a toilet and bidet. Kat said she uses the bidet to wash her feet. lol. I was a little confused after having used the toilet because I couldn’t find the flusher. I had to ask Kat and she told me it was above the toilet. Turns out you can’t miss the flusher. It’s this rectangular white box looking thing and you just push it. I like it better than the American flusher.

After unpacking and touring my sister’s house, we went to the Naval Base that is 5 mins away to change our currency and rent a bigger car for our trip to Germany/Austria. My mom wanted to stay at home with the doggies and nap. They rented a Citroen Picassa.

2pm - Kat took Lulu and I to Cafe Bar. It is literally 2 doors down. I had my first Italian cappucino and there were these ice cream bars called Magnum. I thought that was funny.

Played with the doggies some more and then re-packed for Germany/Austria. All throughout the day it randomly rained and the next minute it would be super sunny.

5:30pm - Derrick took Lulu, mom and I to Aversa, a town 5mins from the house. He wanted to get some mozzaralla di bufala so we went to Caputo. I had NEVER seen so much cheese and such huge ones! I took a photo of their meat and one of the workers called me over. Of course, I got scared. He was waving for me to come and then pointed to something on the wall. There was a sign and I can’t read Italian… I thought he was telling me to delete it… but he was acutally pointing to the TV thats next to the sign. Phew! It was showing this big barrell that had some white silky thing in it. Grennaro (the man who called me over) kept pointing at it and said “Mozzaralla di Bufala”. Dingsay Ding! It was the cheese Derrick just bought! Then Grennaro pointed to the back indicating that the video I was watching was from when they had made this certain cheese. I guess my face was in awe because he chuckled. lol. All I could say was “WOW”, nod and smile. Then I was called over and I had to wave goodbye to my new friend. I will come back to Caputo before I leave Italy. =]

On our way back I saw:
- people randomly sitting by the side of the street chit chatting
- a lot of people wearing purple
- there are absolutely no rules regarding driving
- a lot of houses here are 3 stories tall. Some even equipped with an elevator. A house can have 3 floors (1st floor with a living room and kitchen), 2nd floor with the bedrooms, 3rd floor with the laundry room or extra room.

7pm - Derrick is BBQ-ing t-bones, veggies, potatoes and corn while Kat made caprezi salad with the mozzaralla di bufala. We had Fragolina which is strawberry wine. It was so light I drank 3/4 of the bottle. I’d like to thank Derrick for “accidentally” pouring that much into my cup. lol. We also shared Max’s first time eating a bone. =] What’s funny with the 2 dogs is that Max loves to be outside and hates being in the kennel but Roxie likes being in the kennel but hates being outside alone.

9pm - everyone is getting ready for bed since we have to be up early in the morning but as for me, its movie time! :D

For some time I've been wanting to start a new blog. I was under the impression that Tumblr would suffice but now it just seems like all anyone really does on there is: reblog.

Like most people I have dreams of travelling the world and experiencing as much as I can. Like even more people, those dreams always seem a bit more farther than I'd like them to be. Travelling always requires a few necessities with the biggest hindrance of all: money. Up until a few weeks ago, I was playing around with the idea of traveling alone. *GASP* More hesitant that I thought I would be I decided to ask 2 of my girl friends, whom I met here in Korea and have traveled alone, about their experiences. They gave me a lot of feedback and I became filled with more confidence than I expected.

Reading countless of blogs, forums and any useful information I can get; I now have a rough backbone of my soon to-be first solo trip to Japan.

But before I talk about that, being the chronologically OCD-ed person I am, I want to backtrack and talk about the traveling I've managed to do in the past. It's not much but that's my OCD kicking in =]

Countries:

Italy

• Rome, Verona, Pisa, Montepulciano, Pasteum, Naples, Florence, Pompeii

Germany

• Garmisch, Neuschwanstein Castle

Austria

• Lermoos

USA

• CA
• Alaska
• North Carolina
• Nevada
• Washington, DC
• Virginia

Korea

• Seoul
• Busan
• Cheongju
• Tong Yeong
• Jincheon
• Beopjusa
• Jeonju
• Gangwon