Hello...Hong Kong?!?

Sorry all of these blog entries since coming home have taken so long to write! Between the first few weeks of my new job, catching up with friends, family and life (still have yet to catch up with everyone/thing yet!!) they have been slowly coming. I last left off with my flying to Hong Kong, where I was to have a layover (8 hours) before boarding my Virgin Atlantic flight to Sydney, via staff travel. 

Before I continue, I should take a second to explain a bit about staff travel. My friend Colin works for Virgin Atlantic, I am very fortunate and lucky to be on what is known as his staff travel list. This allows me to fly on Virgin Atlantic operated flights, without him, for very little. My ticket from Hong Kong-Sydney (around 8 hours) was around $70 for me. The only drawback is that you have to fly standby, meaning you go if there are empty seats. Colin has access to flight loads, and is able to see how many seats are left and thus my chance at getting onboard any given flight. The Hong Kong-Sydney flight unfortunately only goes once a day, but I didn’t think it would be a problem because of the number of available seats (around 30). The check-in process is much like a regular check-in process, except that you are waiting around until most other passengers have checked in, before you know if you get a seat. The other factor to take into consideration is the stand-by list. I am what is known as a Category C, which essentially means I am behind anyone who works for Virgin who is flying standby, and any immediate family members or spouses of Virgin crew, but above employees from other airlines and their family members. Because of the above factors, I really was not worried about the flight. Previously flying standby, Colin and I have come up with contingency plans (i.e., fly out of NYC instead of Boston, take a later flight etc…), but no such contingency plans were hatched this time around….what a nightmare that would later turn into.

I arrived in Hong Kong around 1 pm, and my flight wasn’t until 8 pm or so later that evening, but I decided it would be best to hang around the airport, re-arrange my luggage that I had frantically re-packed when I had been forced to check my largest carry-on in Seoul, and wait out my next flight without having to deal with finding a place to store my luggage, figuring out the city and etc. I was pretty disappointed flying in that I wouldn’t be spending anytime in Hong Kong, as the city looked amazing from the plane! I even thought how I wished I had time to spend there…words that I would later eat. 

My day passed surprisingly quickly, I repacked, got lunch, got a 20 minute massage, cleaned myself up a bit, and passed the time on my Korean cell phone surfing the internet and texting Colin. A few hours before the departure, I strolled up to the check-in desk, ready to check-in. I was informed I would have to come back 45 minutes prior to departure (I was there three hours ahead, as I had been instructed to do). I thought this was VERY strange, as this had never happened before, and I knew there were around 30 empty seats available. I killed a few more hours, and like clockwork, went back at the time I was instructed to do so. I really didn’t think anything was wrong, and was expecting to check in. They then told me to come back in 15 additional minutes, that there were some weight issues on the plane. At this point, panic set in.

One of the fellow standby passengers was a Delta employee, and hence a seasoned standby traveler. I was panicking quite a bit, but he reassured me there was nothing to worry about, it was typical (especially for Hong Kong) and that if either of us were getting on the plane, it was me, because I had a higher boarding priority than him. The minutes ticked away, and soon there were only 20 minutes to go, and the gate agents were closing up their kiosks and getting ready to leave!! Without having said ANYTHING to us regarding our boarding status…not a good sign! The Delta employee and I approached two different people. I walked up, asked about boarding, and was told due to a weigh restriction, I was denied boarding. Apparently, even though there were around 30 available seats, the cargo weight was too heavy and thus they would not be taking any additional passengers. I couldn’t really believe what I was hearing, I could hear them telling me that I didn’t get on the plane, but it wasn’t really being processed in my brain. I walked away, and approached the Delta employee. He goes, “Ok, ready to go back?” holding up his ticket. I was like uhhh; no I didn’t get on the flight. He was very confused, and said, “There has to have been a mistake, if I got on, you had to have gotten on, you have higher boarding priority.” He asked one of the gate agents, and even offered to take a jump seat (people flying on staff travel can do this if all seats are full). They explained it wasn’t due to seats, but a weight restriction. I had no idea WTF was going on and how he got on but I didn’t, but they clearly weren’t going to do anything to help me. Bewildered, I walked away towards a ticketing counter as I was directed to do, “if I wanted to rebook my flight for tomorrow.” The Delta employee was just as confused as I, but nothing was to be done.

I sent Colin a text explaining what happened, but as he was in the air, I knew I wouldn’t be hearing back from him for quite some time. I went to the ticketing agent, explained my situation, handed over my boarding pass, on the verge of tears trying not to cry or panic, and waited. All of a sudden she was like, “you can go now.” So freaking rude! I walked away, pushing all 150 pounds of my luggage, not having a clue where to go, what to do or how I should proceed.

For a few minutes, I was just completely frazzled, there was no Plan B. I was never not getting on this flight; there was plenty of space. I had no contingency plan regarding Hong Kong if I didn’t get on; there were plenty of seats so it wasn’t a concern for neither Colin nor I. I sort of paced and panicked for a few minutes; I was map less, I had no Hong Kong money, I had no where to go, it was dark out, I had no where to go, and my cell phone was almost completely dead and had no way of charging it because I had no converter for the Hong Kong electrical system.

I willed myself not to cry. After a few minutes I thought to myself, “COME ON KIMBERLY!!! You can do this!!! This is NOTHING; you were born for crazy ass shit like this traveling!!!! Buck the fuck up!!!” After my mini pep talk, I bought something from a coffee stand to get 15 minutes of free internet in order to find a place to stay in the city, figure out how to get there, and see if I could potentially change my ticket home from Sydney-Seattle, to Hong Kong-Seattle. The gate agents told me the same thing would, “most likely” happen again tomorrow, and I was freaking out. I had a reward ticket with miles for Sydney-Seattle, and there was a ticket I could change it to leaving from Hong Kong the following night, but no more for a few days. All sorts of possibilities began to swirl in my head: Was I going to even be able to get to Sydney? If it takes three days to I get on the flight, should I even go? (Colin only had so may days off at the onset of the trip). Was I going to have to pay for a normal, last-minute ticket to Seattle from Hong Kong, and was it going to be ridiculously expensive?!? While I panicked, I booked a hostel, got directions for how to get there from the airport, went and got Hong Kong currency out of the ATM, and then went and bought an adapter so I could charge my cell phone ($40 later for a 50 cent piece of plastic that I already had but had shipped home in a box….). I walked out of the airport sort of in a daze. I was utterly exhausted (I had been at the airport over 12 hours and had traveled at this point for over 18 hours already) and was venturing into a city (which was freaking hot, dark and unfamiliar) without a map or a clue of how to get around. Not to mention, I was lugging around all of my luggage which was EXTREMELY difficult to navigate alone. I finally figured out the correct bus to get me into the city and after dragging (and dropping) all of my shit onto the bus, I sat down, put in my Ipod, and settled in for the 45 minute bus ride.

Between the exhaustion and subsequent adrenaline, I was wiped out. As we were driving through the city (which was huge and overwhelming and I couldn’t really comprehend what I was about to do) I was almost laughing. It was like, OF COURSE. This wouldn’t happen to anyone else. Who gets stranded in random cities halfway around the world, without a guidebook, map, plan or general idea of WTF to do next? Me. I went back and forth between exhaustion, insane laughing and on the verge of tears. Pretty sure the entire bus thought I was insane, but hey, what’s new? My stop eventually approached and I (painfully) gathered all of my stuff and stepped off the bus into the unknown. 

Hong Kong was overwhelming. No, bewildering. It was bright and loud and in your face. There were people everywhere, and it was around 11 pm. I appeared to be in an extremely shady neighborhood with tons of Indian guys trying to get me to go to their hostel. Eventually a guy pointed me in the direction of where I was supposed to go, and after a 12 story ride in the world’s oldest elevator, I found my hostel. When I got there, they couldn’t find my reservation, the front desk guy spoke NO English (this has never, ever happened at any hostel, around the world for me) and I just wanted to sleep. At this point though, after the chaos that had ensued, this seemed like nothing, hardly fazed me and was almost comical on top of everything else. Nothing was going right today!! Thankfully, there was space and I got a new reservation. I got into my room, and immediately left for some bottles of water. I spent about 30 seconds in the scary neighborhood near the hostel, got water, and went back upstairs.

I spent HOURS (literally) on Skype with Continental (either on hold or being transferred) trying to figure out my options for changing my reward ticket for the following evening if it would even be possible, if I didn’t get on the flight again. I decided to wait to make any changes, but decided that if I didn’t get on the Sydney flight, I would immediately change my ticket, and leaving a few hours later on a flight(s) bound for home, via two stops in Germany. Around 1 am, and nearly 24 hours of being up, I tried to figure out clothes for the next day (my bags were packed for colder weather in Sydney, and Hong Kong was HOTTTT), which turned out to be very difficult and involved almost complete unpacking, then repacking, to get to the summer clothes at the bottom of my bag. I packed everything up, set out my outfit and toiletries for the next day, and set my alarm for a mere 6 hours later, so that I could make the most of my day in Hong Kong.

The alarm went off seemingly minutes later, and I was completely exhausted. But, I wanted to get up and see as much as I could in the city that I had wished from the plane that I had the chance to explore. I hopped down from my bed (which I didn’t manage to get hardly any sleep in due to assholes coming in around 4 am, turning on all the lights and making unbelievable amounts of noise). I went for my neatly stacked pile of clothes and toiletries on top of my suitcase to get ready…only to find them and my bag MIA.

It was dark, I was tired, and thought maybe I put them somewhere else (the room was full of bags) I was trying to feel my way through the dark (being courteous of the assholes sleeping whom were not courteous of me), but couldn’t find my shit. I was in a room full of guys, so was very confused as to where my shit could have gone. After awhile, I had no choice but to turn some lights on and start moving shit around. I started finding my stuff, piece by piece, and found my bag. But, I couldn’t find my pants, which were skinny jeans. Nobody (especially not guys, would steal or hide them, right?!?). After about a 15 minute search, I finally found them, UNDER a guy’s bed, shoved all the way in the corner, with all of his shit in front of them!!!!!!! WTF?!?!? Well, whatever. It was very strange and didn’t help my mood, but I thought FUCK IT! I am going to see HONG KONG!!

I asked at the front desk where the double decker bus tour left from (I decided this would be the best/most economical way to cover the most ground while in Hong Kong). He had no idea AND they hostel had no maps. For those who have never stayed in a hostel, this is VERY strange. Hostels usually have tons of brochures, free maps and the workers are usually very knowledgeable about the city. I left my bags in the lobby, and set off into the unknown.

The city was still asleep. There was really no one around. I had no map. I had no idea where I was going. So, I just set off, like any normal person would do, LOL. I found a Starbucks, and figured someone in there would know something. Thankfully, I found a fellow tourist, and she knew where the buses left from. I found my way there after a Starbucks breakfast (I was trying to have a very authentic Hong Kong style breakfast, obviously, LOL), and went off on my tour! Part of my tour included those famous boats that people associate with Hong Kong, so I started with that.

The harbor in Hong Kong is BEAUTIFUL! The city really was amazing. Hong Kong was under British rule until 1997 I believe, for nearly 150 years or so, so the architecture is a very interesting/strange mix of British architecture and very modern, contemporary buildings. I really didn’t know a lot about Hong Kong, other than the fact that there is a Disney park there and there is excellent shopping, neither of which I had the money/time to indulge in, unfortunately. As a result, I figured whatever I saw, would be more than I would have. I ended up seeing a ton of stuff in the city. I took a catamaran ride, took a trip up this mountain overlooking the city via an awesome cable car ride, saw the famous “walk of stars” (it has a famous Bruce Lee statue) and seeing all of the famous buildings. I didn’t get to the “Ladies market” that has lots of shopping (of all price levels.) But, oh well, maybe next time I get stuck there!!

Around 5, I headed back to the airport, very badly sunburned. I had worn a one-shoulder tank all day, and had spent the vast majority of my day atop an open bus, and thus had a very red burn, but only on one of my shoulders, and part of my face. My sunglasses gave me a very intense red raccoon burn, and I now had a white triangle on my shoulder/chest where the one side of the tank had been. I officially looked like a freak, but what else is new?!?

I left the city feeling great about having had the opportunity to see Hong Kong, which turned out to be an amazing place. It also had turned out to be one of those life-learning experiences, where I realize how far I’ve come as a traveler, since starting my adventures over five years ago. It turned out to be a very good (albeit chaotic) 24 hours. I headed to the airport feeling confident that whatever was meant to happen, would.

Much of the same ensued over the three hours prior to departure that happened yesterday, EXCEPT that Colin (who had been very angry that I was denied boarding over a Delta employee the day before) had called the Hong Kong ground staff manager, and as a result I was “explained” the situation. She claimed that only Virgin staff were put on the flight above me (not true) and that a Delta employee would NEVER be given boarding before someone on Virgin’s staff travel list. She said I was simply, “confused” and must have, “seen and understood things incorrectly.” No, bitch, he was from Georgia, was American and worked for Delta. I didn’t want to push the point as I wanted on the flight today and she had the power to say yes or no. So, for three hours, I stressed and hoped and continually checked in, and finally, FINALLY. 25 minutes before DEPARTURE, was told that I had gotten on the flight! I was ecstatic, but then immediately started to panic. I had 25 minutes to check my bags, have my ticket issued clear customs AND security, and make my way through the airport to an entirely different terminal. In the end, it all worked out AND I flew Premium to boot!! I have never, in all of my days, been so happy to step onto an airplane, and I thoroughly enjoyed my free champagne.

After an amazing meal (gotta love premium!) and more free bubbly, I dozed off for my 8 hour overnight flight to Sydney, where I would be FINALLY seeing my Colie!!!

After many phone calls and emails exchanged between Colin and staff travel, no real resolution/answers came about for why a Delta employee was given boarding priority over me. But alas, it is just a part of the perils/adventures of flying standby!

Stay tuned for my Sydney adventures! ( :

Good-Bye Korea...

Ok! I know it has been weeks since my last blog update, but between a week of English camp and 14 hour days, traveling and adjusting back to life here, I have been busy! This will be a very long update; I have a lot to cover!

I have been back a full week now, and things have been going great. I am loving being home, seeing all of my friends and family, being in a familiar environment, eating good food, it has all been great! But, before all of that…

My last full week in Korea was spent at a regional English camp, staying at the university where the camp was held. There were four other native English teachers and although the days were insanely long (around 14 hours) my friend Rebecca, helped keep me sane! I am pretty sure everyone there thought we were actually insane, as we both are very silly and crazy at times. Some of my very favorite girls were there from my school (five schools were there, and only the best English students from each school were there, a total of 50 middle school students), and I really enjoyed getting to know other students, all of whom wanted to be there and spoke much higher levels of English than the average student. They were the, “good” students. It was really interesting because it was a mix of girls and boys, and because I’ve only ever taught girls, it was interesting to see not only how boys act, but how they act together! It definitely created an interesting dynamic, some flirting and things like that, but much less than I would have expected. It was fun to have a last hoorah with a bunch of students, teaching only fun lessons. I taught a lesson on the US, how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (peanut butter is NOT  big in Korea, and I had students literally gagging because they had never had peanut butter!) and a few other fun lessons. We had a homeroom and had to prepare them in creating a skit and song/dance. We (I, lol) chose the song, “Baby” by Justin Bieber (lmao!) and I choreographed an entire dance for them! At the performance at the end of the week, I was like a stage mom I felt like, because I was in view of them, doing the entire dance so they wouldn’t forget anything! Camp was overall fun, other than one crazy Korean teacher who was leading it, and one stupid annoying native English teacher, but no one liked him, so no big deal! It was nice to have my last week Jang-free! One night in the dorms, Rebecca and I made PBJ sandwiches for tons of the girls with the leftover supplies that we had! It was a fun time that I will remember (mostly) with fond memories.

After my week of English camp, I had my last weekend in Korea. I was leaving Korea on Tuesday, and had one more day of work left on Monday, and I did the weekend up in a good way! It happened to be the Mud Festival, which is a festival of…well mud. It is like clay-ish mud, the kind you would have put on your face in a spa. There are inflatable toys, slides, mud wrestling and other such insanity, all in mud! I had been told this was the, “best weekend in Korea” so was really excited! I left early Saturday morning with some friends and we arrived bright and early. My friend Molly had the most ingenious idea ever! No bottles of any kind were allowed into the Mud Festival, including water, so she bought and filled up a huge squirt gun with SOJU!! She (and the rest of us) took turns squirting people and drinking from it. Such an awesome idea! The first thing we did was go on this very tall, inflatable slide. I got to the top and looked at my friend Sarah, and was like, this is REALLY steep!!! She was like just go!!! She went, and I followed, very hesitantly (I have a moderate-severe fear of heights, though it has never stopped me from doing anything, but is has resulted in a few tears, LMAO!!) and began my descent. In my panic of sliding down a mud filled, very steep slide, my natural reaction was to stick my arms out to stop/slow myself. BAD IDEA. But, I was scared and wasn’t thinking. My right arm and right leg got caught where the slide folds up…but the left side kept going. I spun around, eventually became free and landed at the bottom. I was lying in mud, and all I could feel was intense pain in my shoulder, it felt like it potentially could have been dislocated. It was clear right away to the people manning the slide that I was hurt, but I was just thinking, “get up, GET UP GET UP!!!” You know, when you have hurt yourself, but not enough to overshadow embarrassment? That is what I was experiencing. I willed myself up and as soon as I stood I realized my knee was very screwed up too.  Fortunately, after a few hours, my shoulder was back to normal, and my knee after about a week or so. Unfortunately, it turns out I sprained my hand (I went to the doctor a few days after I got back) and it is still hurt! Oh well, all in the name of MUD!!!  After the slide, we did some like partner hugging thing where you are on a bungee, attached to the wall, and have to run to the middle and hug your partner (also on a bungee) and then let go and fling back!! Remember, everything is wet and muddy so you slide pretty damn fast! It was really awesome. Then, we went to, “Mud Prison” where you are in a prison and mud is flung at you. Was great…until it got in my eyes while wearing contacts! Mud Festival is NOT for the faint of heart, apparently, thank god for SOJU!!! After that, we decided to get painted. There was colored mud and people painting for free! We waited a good while and the Americans in the party (the majority) were very embarrassed by the very crass  and obnoxious (and drunk) American military people around us at 10:00 IN THE MORNING! We survived them and all came out painted! It felt sort of strange on your skin, sort of drying, so after not too long we all went for a very cold swim in the ocean! It was cold, but AMAZING! I ended up in and out all day and stayed for long periods of time. It was amazing to just be out in the water again, I love swimming! 

The novelty of Mud Festival wore off after awhile, and that combined with drinking in the sun for many hours, we were all tired and wanted to head back. We had originally planned to stay with a  friend who lives in the town where the festival was at, but decided because we were leaving so soon, we would just change our train tickets and head back early. The only problem: our friend was MIA and all of our stuff was at her apartment!! We had very unwisely each only brought enough money to get us in and buy ourselves lunch, because we were worried about losing money. We didn’t have cell phones, credit cards, or anything. Not the smartest move on our part! After hours of not seeing our friend, the three of us decided she had probably gone home, and we would go to her apartment. Only problem: No address and we didn’t know where she lived!! We found someone else who knew where she lived, and told the cabbie. We arrived to her apartment, a bit forlorn at this point to find that she….WASN’T HOME!! At that point, panic set in. Full on, absolute panic. We had used up the majority of the money we had left together to get to her apartment, had no way of contacting anyone else, and had almost no money left. We were starving, and so went to the convenience store and got some ramen for around $1 each…as that was all we could afford, lol! We took it back, ate it in her hallway and tried to figure out WTF to do. We ultimately decided we would take the train back (about 90 minutes) because we had a friend meeting us at the station with tickets he got for us…and would have to come back in the morning. We used literally the rest of the money we had left to take a taxi to the station. We were still muddy, hadn’t changed (or showered) and Molly didn’t even have a shirt! She did have a Rambo headband and a squirt gun full of soju though, and I mean, what else matters in times like these? We hung out at the station like a bunch of muddy hobos for a while until our friend with the tickets showed up. He had talked to our friend (where we had planned on staying/where all of our shit was) and she was back. It was decided that Molly would go back (she had no return ticket for the morning, Lindi and I did, and they were all sold out) we would stay the night and bring all of the stuff back in the morning. Everything ended ok, but for many, many hours, we were literally homeless and had almost no money! It was an experience, very stressful, but I can laugh about it now! I found some face wash in the bathroom at the train station and used it to wash my face…lmao. That is how desperate the situation was! It wouldn’t have been a proper send out had Korea not provided one last crazy ass night for me.

Monday rolled around, and my last day as a teacher in Korea had finally arrived. I had been counting down for so long, that I hardly expected it to ever roll around, but alas, it did. I went to school and saw Mr. Jang for the first time in weeks (he was in the hospital for over a week with high blood pressure, and then I was at English camp), and let me tell you, there was no hugging or hand holding! I had nothing to do for the day except send my money home (it was payday) and close my bank account. I was leaving in the evening for Seoul on the train. I spent the morning playing around on the internet and watching some TV, and then after lunch headed for the bank to pay my final bills (my coteacher escorted me and THEN asked for the receipt as proof) so that my school would pay me my salary. After that was finished, and there were some awkward pictures with the principal (who speaks no English) and my shitty co-teacher, I was told I had been paid, could not only go to the bank, but could leave early! Woo Hoo! My coteacher had told me (all throughout the day) that I had to clean my room (my apartment) that it was my duty. I understood completely (although when I got my apartment, it was NASTY, I mean absolutely disgusting) and was tired of him saying it constantly. When I left to go to the bank, he handed me a small, hand-written note. I thought, could it be? Could there be perhaps words of thanks? An apology for being a dick? Or perhaps him telling me to fuck off?  None of the above. Instead, it said, “you must clean your room. It is your duty.” OMG, at that note, I was like THANK GOD I am done with this POS man who is a horrible human being!! Off I went to the bank, practically skipping with joy! Until…I got there. No money! I hadn’t been paid. The transfer is instant, we have the same bank and I have access to the money usually five minutes after they do it, and it had already been over 20. I called stupid Mr. Jang…and of course, no answer! I kept calling and calling and finally called the area supervisor and explained my situation. She called the school and then he called me, said it had just then been paid, at this point; I had been at the bank over 30 minutes. I waited a bit, checked after while…and…NO MONEY! This process would be repeated for two and a half hours. Keep in mind, I had to send my money home THAT DAY, because I was leaving the country early the next morning. Business hours were closing in, I was actually starting to panic that they were going to completely screw me. Finally, at 4:25 (the bank closed at 4:20, but allowed me to stay and finish my transaction) they made the transfer (the bank kept checking their end, since they have access to see my school’s account, and they didn’t do it until 4:25), this was over THREE hours after they initially said they had made the transfer. I was LIVID. Just another reminded to me why my school is shitty. But, I got my money and was able to transfer it, so all was well in the end!!

I went home (ran home, because I was so late) finished packing, and met some people for one last dinner. I had kimbap, Korea’s version of sushi, one of the only Korean foods I ended up liking. After dinner, Rebecca helped me carry my ridiculously heavy luggage to the station. She waited with me until the train came, we said our goodbyes, and then I was off!  Last time on the train in Korea! I got to Seoul, and had to find the airport rail link, which involved some walking. My backpacking backpack on my back was causing me excruciating pain, and I couldn’t figure out why. It felt like my shoulders were going to fall off. The journey from the train-subway (about a five or less minutes walking) was probably the most physically difficult five minutes I have ever walked, it ended up taking about 20. I finally got on the train and realized that my bag was adjusted for the tallest setting (I need it on the shortest) and as a result, no weight was being displaced to my hips. I was carrying 55 pounds on my shoulders only! I fixed it and it was much better! I got to the airport, and before getting picked up by my hostel to be taken where I was staying for the night, I had to weigh my bags. I was flying Thai Air to Hong Kong, and could only check 44 pounds free of charge. Every kilo above and beyond is $7, which could potentially add up very quickly! I weighed my bag and it clocked in at 54 pounds!!!!  I lugged them out of the airport, and went to the hostel.

I arrived and knew I had to completely repack, AGAIN, for the third time. I emptied out every suitcase and bag, and started a mad, crazy getting-rid-of-shit-athon. I got rid of tons of clothes, pretty much all toiletries and other crap. I could hear my friend Kristina and my sister in my mind (they have gone through this with me, forced me to get rid of shit) saying, “Really? A half used bottle of hairspray? THROW IT AWAY!!!” So, I did. I was sort of blindly getting rid of shit for weight purposes, and there are a few things that I wished I hadn’t gotten rid of, but oh well, it is just stuff.

I left bright and early for the airport and checked in, dreading what my overage charges would be. My bag was still overweight, but they charged me NOTHING!!! I was shocked. And very happy. Then sort of pissed off because I had just thrown out seven pounds of shit for apparently, nothing. I said, oh well, just be happy it was free! I went towards security, and a security agent pulled me out of line and made me weight my carryon suitcase (which of course was overweight and I knew it was, but I have NEVER, EVER, had it weighed in all of my travels) and was told I had to check it!!! Now, I was flat out panicking. The cost was going to be exorbitant, and I had stuff in the suitcase that couldn’t be checked (some glass vases and other items), so mad rush to repack/reorganize #4 commenced. I approached the desk and low and behold, they didn’t charge me again!! I was overjoyed at that point. I raced through security and immigration, was told that I was canceling my visa and wouldn’t be able to come back on the same visa if I did this, and they asked if I understood, and it took all of my power to not say, “I am never coming back!!!!” I practically skipped away towards my gate and boarded my four hour flight to Hong Kong. This would be the first four hours of nearly 27 hours I would fly in a week! 

I flew away from Korea, very happy, ready to get to Sydney to see Colin, knowing it was putting me ever closer to home and my friends and family! Although I will miss the friends I made in Korea dearly, I was so ready to leave. I am glad I went, I learned a lot about myself and had a good time outside of my job, and it just wasn’t the situation for me!

To be continued…

Wrapping Things Up

This may be one of the last blogs I write from Korea! That is 100% okay with me!!!

My time is winding down here, day by day. I have about a week and a half left in Korea, my last full week of work (next week) will be spent away at a university, teaching English camp with four other Native English teachers and AWAY from my co-teacher, the Jang, yay! I am actually really excited for this because it will be with only good English students that WANT to be involved, it will be fun lessons and I will be with people who don’t ignore my presence at school! Yay all around!

This past week at school hasn’t been too bad; it is my last week of normal classes. I have been showing the movie Tangled in class, so not even teaching! Also, Mr. Jang has been MIA all week and found out only yesterday it is because he was hospitalized for high blood-pressure. Took three days for people to even think to bother telling me anything! Oh, Korea. So, my week has been pretty painless!!

I had to change my trip to Australia a bit, unfortunately. I am on my friend Colin’s flight list (he works for Virgin Atlantic and is on a year exchange with Virgin Australia, thus the reason I am going to Australia.) Anyways, the plan was to fly stand-by/pay next to nothing for flights throughout Australia, HOWEVER, another Australian airline is striking, and the stranded passengers are taking up the seats on the Virgin Australia flights! ) : Sad times. Someone on standby with a low boarding priority (IE: Me), doesn’t really have a chance to get on board. Colin suggested I buy full price tickets, but with the increase in demand and the last minute-ness of it, the flights are just too expensive. I was already concerned with money because I of having to pay back my flight money to be released from this god-forsaken place, so am out of pocket about $1,200 USD. Oh well, very worth it. So, now I am going to be in Sydney and the surrounding area for a week! I am very excited to see Sydney and take day trips around. Planning on seeing the Blue Mountains one day, and going on a wine valley tour that includes wine, chocolate and cheese sampling, and a breakfast on a wildlife preserve with koalas and kangaroos! What an amazing combination! Wine+chocolate+cheese+koalas+kangaroos+Australia=Amazing! Perhaps one of the best combos there ever was.

I will officially be home Tuesday, August 2! I was able to change my ticket for free (reward ticket) and now I am flying through Vancouver, BC and have an EIGHT hour lay-over in Vancouver. So, I will go out and explore the city a bit (I’ve been before, but why not?!?). The flight from Sydney-Vancouver is FOURTEEN HOURS!! Officially my longest flight yet. At first I was like oh no! I can’t watch movies! I am landing in Vancouver at 7:30 AM, so will need to sleep if I am going to go out…then realized I could have TWO nights of sleep on that plane. I can watch like 3 movies and still get an entire night of sleep! Gonna be a loooong traveling day. I get into Seattle around 5 PM and can’t wait to give my Mom a HUGE hug!!! Very excited to be home and see everyone!!

Speaking of flights, I was able to get ALL of my flights (Seoul-Hong Kong, Hong-Kong to Sydney and Sydney-Seattle) for $190!!! I used miles for the Seoul-Hong Kong sector (I am flying Virgin Atlantic HK-Sydney for $70 thanks to Colin!!!) and miles for Sydney-Seattle. In total, if I don’t fly premium on the HK-Sydney sector, my flights are currently valued at over $5,000!!! Sweetness! If I fly premium (cross your fingers!) they are worth A LOT more! Gotta love practically free airline tickets!!

This Saturday, I am headed to what is known as Mud Fest, for the day with my friend Rebecca from my town. The following Saturday, my last weekend in Korea, I will be spending the weekend there again with friends from orientation. Tear. I think it is a great way to go out, as I have been told Mud Festival is one of the “best weekends” in all of Korea. It is a giant festival where they bring in or make mud or something with all of these supposedly good minerals for your skin, add in big inflatable things like slides, and mud wrestling and whatnot and a shit ton of alcohol. The result? Possible one of the best combos ever: mud+inflatable toys for adults+alcohol=Amazing. Will it be better than the Australian chocoloate+wine+cheese+kangaroos+koalas combo? I will weigh in after both and let you know! Needless to say, I am super psyched for some mudness! If interested, just google Korean Mud Festival for some pictures of what I am going to encounter! Psyched! Insanity will for sure ensue.

I went and saw the final Harry Potter Wednesday night with some of my friends here. We are all crazy fans and we even had a mini-marathon Saturday, which involved more theoretical discussion on the World of Harry Potter than watching, but it was fun! The movie was AMAZING. Simply…amazing. I LOVE the books. I was waaay late to the game (started them two years ago) and have read them twice. LOVE THEM. I’ve never really been all that into the movies, saw them, but didn’t ever LOVE any of them. I LOVED this movie. It was great. I wept…for an hour. Yes, an entire hour. At first, Korea wasn’t going to be releasing HP until DECEMBER here! The Harry Potter-philes here that I know were just as outraged as I was! Well, turns out they changed their minds and decided to release it even before it was being released in the states! Korea for the win! Wow…did I really just use Korea and for the win in the same sentence? Why, yes I did! Thanks, Korea! Go see it, soon! Especially if you haven’t read the books and also haven’t had the end ruined for you yet, you will not be disappointed. I will probably see it again in Australia!

As my time winds down here, I am packing and packing away, yet I still seem to have a mountain of stuff to pack. I brought over approximately 160 pounds of luggage between checked and carry-on baggage (yes, I am insane). No matter how much I travel, I cannot get ride of the compulsion to pack too much shit. I have gone through a lot of my stuff here (brought over a lot of toiletries that weighed a lot and are gone), have gotten rid of a lot of stuff or am leaving it here and I have sent a lot of stuff home, but I still have to deal with Thai Air’s 44 pound weight limit for checked baggage. It is crazy! I figured I could just check a bag for an extra $70 or maybe $100 at the most and would just deal…but no. They charge $7 per extra KILO of checked luggage over 44 pounds (a kilo is two pounds-ish.) It can get very expensive to check anything above the 44 pound allowance if you have a lot of additional weight. My bag is most certainly going to weigh more, but I am trying to not spend more than $50 in overages…we will see. There might be (probably will be) a frantic throwing shit out moment. Oh the joys of Kimberly traveling.

I thought I would share my crazy ass morning with you, because well, it is funny now that it is over. So, I have too much shit as I just told you, so I am sending stuff home. I have sent a few small, heavy boxes home already, but was waiting until near the very end to send a very large box, full of much lighter weight stuff home. I have this box, it is about 2 feet by 2 feet, a pretty large box, but I didn’t think it was that heavy, so figured I could carry it the ten minutes to school. As soon as I started walking I knew, that this was a bad, bad decision. I had to stop constantly because it was so bulky and my arms were killing me. It wasn’t super heavy, just so large that is made it very difficult to carry. I decided as soon as I saw a taxi, I would get in it and go to school. Of course, when you need a taxi…they are MIA. So, I walked and stopped and readjusted and continually did this. After about 15 minutes of walking, and only being about half way there (it was taking me way longer to get to school) a guy on a motorcycle stopped and was seemingly asking me if I needed help and where I was going. Through a lot of wild gesturing, I figured out he wanted me to put my box on the back of his motorcycle…the box that wasn’t taped up because I ran out of tape for the top. I show him my badge of where I work when he is asking (in Korean) where to go. He takes off, and I start running my ass off trying to keep up. Oh and PS, during this whole debacle, there are many teachers from my school passing me, in a CAR, watching me struggle with the fucking box. Nice, eh? So, I am running, sweating my ass off and I lose the taxi and am just praying that 1) the box doesn’t fall of/all my shit fly out into the street and 2) He understood where to take it. I arrive at school breathless and literally soaked in sweat. I take the box from him, thank him profusely and struggle across the parking lot with the box that is now falling apart and all of the tape is falling off of due to the extreme humidity. Again, all the teachers watching me struggle. Finally, the PE teacher figures he should probably help me and takes the box and puts it on his shoulder. I think he underestimated its weight because he made a crazy sound when he was walking with it. He lugged it upstairs for me and set it down. Now, the sad box sits atop my desk, practically dead. I am either going to take a taxi to the post office during lunch, or have someone drive my ass there. Not going to attempt to carry that beast again. Why does this shit always happen to me?

As my week has wrapped up here at school (it is the last week of the semester), I have gotten three very sweet, very kind and touching notes from some of my favorite girls. The first one I found on my desk yesterday after a day of teaching, it read:

             To: Kimberly

Hello <3, I’m Sujeong. I’m 3 grade 2 class, I’m so sad that I heard that you go back to the U.S. You are the best teacher I’ve ever met. Because you are very kind and try to very much. Teacher, don’t forget me! I’ll miss you.

The note had lots of little drawings, it really touched my heart. I didn’t know who the student was, but had a pretty good idea. Today, through the help of the most kind/helpful English teachers here, I found out who she was and was able to thank her, give her candy and a hug!

My first class of the day (one of my two favorites, filled with the majority of my favorite girls), I got two additional notes, one from my favorite student. It read:

             Hello~Kim Berley

             You will going to the America…I’m crying… ) ; ) ; You and me saw movie at Cinus. : D I want you to don’t go to the America. Sorry…I can’t describe. You      are angel (picture of angel drawn). I love you!! I’m many teacher of I very love ^ __ ^ I’m missing for good… T __ T

Sorry T^T

I can’t finish but please read this!

She (Kim Da-In, pronounced Kim Die-ing) happened to be sitting in front of me during Harry Potter the other night (at a movie theater called Cinus)…love this girl! She came up to me last week and was like, “Kimberlyyyyyyyyyyyy you go to America, WHY?!?!?!” I told her I missed my family. Then she put her head on my shoulder and was really sad…such a sweet moment. The second letter I got was from her and her friend (who is a really good English student, and I think had a hand in writing this one, it reads:

             Love Kimberly.

             Hello, Kimberly teacher!

             We are Da-In and Ye-Eun! We don’t want you will go America~

             We are so sad!

             (Da-In part)

             I was really excited because you taught me. So really and really thank you!

             (Ye-Eun part)

You taught me one month ago, because my English contest. I think your class is really fun! I feel good with your class. Really thank you! I saw you 3 months ago maybe~You went Dae-Jeon. I went there too! I didn’t have brave than. ^ ^; So I can’t talk with you.

             (Together)

             Please don’t forget us. We are miss everyday, Kimberly!

             TGIF!

             Ye-Eun-Today is my birthday~! YEAH!

So cute! They added in the (parts) LOL! Love it. Just really, really love it. Sending me out with good thoughts and feelings of most of the students here!

Even though there are things here that I will miss, I am so looking forward to going home; I am actually ok that I will be in Australia for less time because I am ready to be home! Very excited for seeing Colin and Australia, but really ready to see my family and friends, and also so excited to leave Korea. It will be slightly bittersweet, only because of the friends and some of the girls that I am leaving, but everything else, I am overjoyed!!!

So over/ready to be done with: my stupid ass co-teacher, the crazy humidity, marble sidewalks with tons of rain resulting in falling, the slowest/worst internet I have ever experienced anywhere in the World, people staring/pointing/clearly laughing at me, rude teachers at this school, the smell of kimchi/kimchi BO, the psycho students at my school, being disrespected by co-teacher on a regular basis…and so much more.

Looking forward to: My family and friends!!! Can’t wait to see everyone, but also, access to good, vegetarian food all the time, restaurants with good food, no humidity, my comfortable bed, a dryer, being able to take baths, my nice ass gym/the classes at the gym, TV in English, being able to drive, the radio, my new job, being in Seattle during the summer, wine, Trader Joes, no scary ass weird colored spiders, a country that doesn’t smell bad, being able to be understood/being able to communicate…and so much more!

Even with all of the things that I am looking forward to leaving behind, I am still definitely going to miss all of the amazing friends I have made here, the efficient public transportation on trains, cheap ass alcohol, some of the students and a few of the teachers I taught with at my school…other than that….nada!

Just ready to be home. Two and a half weeks until I am home!!! A week and a half until Australia!!!

See most of you VERY soon! Those in Korea, hopefully I will get a chance to say good-bye to you all at mud festival!

Laters! Kimberly

The Aftermath, Straight Hair and The DMZ

This is going to be a long update, so hold tight ( : A lot has happened in a week! And by the way, A LOT of people read my last blog update! I was shocked! Over 100 people came to the entry the first day, alone! Apparently quitting in Korea interests a lot of people! Thanks for reading ( :

Let’s start with the Aftermath that was quitting my job.

I told you all that I expected the absolute worst to happen considering how the past months have been with my co-teacher; I was so worried I might be fired that I actually had packed some stuff over the weekend! I went and first had a meeting with the coordinator for our area (a young female, who speaks great English) and she told me she couldn’t really do anything, but that she understood and wasn’t upset. Armed with this information, I went back to school, dreading the minutes as they counted down to when I would have to tell the Jang.

I planned to tell him after he was done teaching classes, but then all of a sudden after he was done he is like, “we have English teachers meeting, come.” I was like shitttttttttt, I can’t go to a meeting and pretend I am NOT quitting! So, I said, “Mr. Jang, I really need to talk to you, it is very important.” He ignored me (of course) and just said come again. He walked away…so I followed him down the hall and in the middle of the hall handed him my letter (lol! I had no other choice) and said, “Mr. Jang, I am quitting.” He just kind of looked at it and read it again and again and didn’t say much. His first words out of his mouth were, “When will you return to Korea?” For fucks sake! I just QUIT! I of course didn’t say that, instead I used language he understands, one of his favorite phrases, “No, it is impossible.” He then seemed to understand and as he did we walked right into a meeting with all 7 other English teachers. Awkward!!! Well, at least it killed 8 birds with one stone. I had letters in envelopes all ready to go…but whatever, TIK. He announced in Korean (I assume this is what he said), “She is quitting” and there was a collective gasp. I apologized and said I had a personal family issue to attend to back home and I must go home. Turns out that the entire meeting was about an English camp that they decided to have that I would be running…well the meeting was quickly dismissed as I won’t even be here when it happens…LOL. They all wanted to know why, specifically, but I said it is personal. Everyone understood and respected this except…guess who?

After the circle of truth, we went up to the principal. Again, I was expecting the worst. Instead, the principal gave me a 10,000 won (about $10) gift certificate. Ok?!?! Wasn’t expecting that, but whatever. At this point the Jang started in on his three day tirade of continually asking me if I will stay, or if I can come back next semester. Here are some samples of things he has said to me and our conversations:

Jang: “"I have heard, it is difficult to get a job in America, it is my opinion you should consider your resignation because it is so hard to find a job. The principal and me and the vice-principal think it is better for you if you stay.” (I didn’t tell him I had a job)

Me: Sigh.

Jang: “It is my opinion that if you find no job, you come back here to Jochiwon Girls Middle School.”

Me: “It is impossible.”

Jang: “What is the problem? Tell me.” (As he popped his face literally into mine)

Me: “No, I told you, it is personal.”

Jang: “Tell me. Is it money problem with your family?”

Me: (very irritated and angry at this point) “I TOLD YOU, IT IS PERSONAL AND I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU SO YOU CAN STOP ASKING.”

Jang: “Drink green tea.”

Jang: “Next month, you come back and teach here.”

Me: “No, it is impossible.”

Jang: "Mr. Sok and I (another male English teacher, also a dick) loved you like a daughter." (Then, he laughs.)

Me: I say nothing, don’t even look at him.

Jang: “Kimberly, stay a little longer.”

Me: “No, I bought my plane ticket.”

Jang: “Oh you have very serious family trouble.”

Me: Sigh.

He has tried to bribe me with ice cream, going out of his way to be nice to me, offering rides home and other random stuff. No amount of ANYTHING could get me to stay with him longer than I have to. I am so happy I now have 10 working days (not counting this one) left with him!!! The final full week of work for me I will be at an English camp, away at a university, with the Jang NO WHERE in sight!!!!

In none Jang related news. I got my hair chemically straightened last week! I’ve had a few friends here do it, and I thought what the hell! It was less then $150 USD, so why not?!? I have pretty straight hair, but it does require a straightener to make it pretty and straight and get rid of the poof. So, I headed to Cheonan where Lindi and Molly live (both have had this done) and together we were able to mime and string together words for them to understand us! They both had gone with our friend Sarah who speaks Korean…so it was a bit easier for them, lol! The initial price was going to be around $180 USD because of my length, but then I asked what if I get a haircut? She said the haircut was “service” aka free, and she would knock off 20,000 won! It brought the price down to 160,000 won, which is less than $150 USD! Sweet! During the straightening process (which took about three hours) I got a FREE hand massage for about 10 minutes on each hand and a short shoulder massage. Gotta love Korea and their free services! It was a good day. I didn’t even care that I had to wait 40 minutes for the next train or got home super late, because I had STRAIGHT ASS HAIR!!!! The straightening is supposed to last for the life of the hair that had the chemical on it. So, as it grows out, that hair won’t be straight, but I should have pretty straight hair for about 8 months or so! I probably also will have brain cancer, but oh well. Yay for straight hair!

On Friday, I headed up to Seoul by myself to spend the night so I could be in Seoul for a 7 am departure for the USO DMZ tour!!! DMZ stands for “de-militarized zone”, which is along the border between North and South Korea. Each country has 2 km on either side of the border in their possession. Most tours just take you to this tunnel that was discovered years ago by the South Koreans that the North Koreans had dug to South Korea and the northern most train station in South Korea, that is supposed to (someday with re-unification) unite with the Northern Korean railways. These tours are cheaper and easier to make reservations for, but I had heard from many people that the only tour worth spending any money on is the USO tour through the US Army because you get to go to the JSA (Joint Security Area) along the border and inside the “Blue Room” the room that the two countries have joint possession over. One door leads to the South, the other to the North. So, I opted for the much more expensive USO tour, and I am SO glad I did!

I stayed the night in an area of Korea known as Itaewon because it was very close to the departure place. Itaewon is known (or infamous) for Americans in Seoul and all of Korea. Why? There is a US Army base there. Because of the base, Itaewon is the place to go for all things American. It has a foreign food mart, most any major fast food places you can think of (including ones that are hard to find in other areas of Seoul) and tons of international food (Mexican, Indian, sushi, Greek etc…). Most people either love or hate this place, or have both feelings simultaneously. I only have been to Itaewon during the day for a visit to the foreign food mart, English book store and to eat Mexican food. I have been warned that Itaewon is in fine form at night though, when all the American GI’s come out. I am sorry to say everyone was right. Pretty much every negative stereotype foreigners have about Americans are all over Itaewon. “Ugly Americans” are about in full effect. It is unfortunate, but true. But, what can you do? Pretend you are Canadian.

I got Coldstone Cake Batter ice cream mixed with yellow cake for dinner (lol) and got a Quiznos veggie sandwich to eat for breakfast and lunch tomorrow on the tour. I also found Diet Coke in a convenience store (very hard to find here) and American gummy bears! Yummy! I was a happy camper. I went back to my hostel and proceeded to talk with other travelers.

I want to talk a moment about traveling alone. My traveling alone elicits varying responses from people. I went on the DMZ tour alone because I couldn’t find anyone that 1) could go 2) hadn’t been or 3) wanted to shell out the money. So, I went alone. It is something I really wanted to do before I left, and I don’t let something little like being alone stop me! I was really surprised at how many people (people who moved across oceans to live alone, in another country lol) were completely shocked that I was going alone. Wasn’t I going to be lonely? Who was I going to talk to? Who was going to take my pictures? Who would I eat lunch with? These are all actual questions I was asked, lol! They amuse me a bit, because I am very used to them by now. The first time I traveled alone was on a trip to Disneyland during December of 2007. People just couldn’t fathom that I would go alone. Why?!? Since then, I have come to expect these types of questions and know how to answer them. Don’t get me wrong, I would prefer to have a traveling partner, but I refuse to let it stop me from experiencing what it is I want to experience. I also understand people’s hesitations to go alone. I used to be freaked out to go eat dinner at a restaurant alone, now I have no problem. I don’t even need a book or whatever to pretend I am busy, lol. Some people don’t have personalities that can just jump out and be like, “Hi, I am alone, be my friend.” Which is exactly how I work. I have many friends from countries all over the world, met in various countries, precisely because I was alone. It is not that you can’t make new friends when you aren’t alone, but you don’t seek it out as much because, well, you don’t have to. I just straight up walk up to people and ask their name, where they are from, why they are here etc… It is definitely a skill I have honed over the years, but there is really no where I wouldn’t go alone. If you wanna do something, but don’t have a buddy, just go. What is stopping you? I am about to embark on my Australian Adventure largely alone. Colin will be with me part of the time in Sydney, but the rest? All on my own. Sometimes it is the best way to go!

Case in point: In the hostel, I met two very interesting guys from Hong Kong and Singapore. They spoke great English and were very young, 18 and 19. The guy from Hong Kong happened to be Gay, and we talked for over an hour about his coming out to his family, and his Christian family rejecting him and the aftermath of that. It was like he just opened up and spilled to me. It was amazing. We talked about the Bible and God and our thoughts on both and what being Gay means in Hong Kong, America and our perceptions of what Koreans think of it. Such a fascinating conversation. Never would have happened had I been traveling with someone else. I also had a great conversation with the guy from Singapore; he is currently studying in Australia so we talked at length about that. We also talked about our experiences being a foreigner in Korea and how people have treated us. Again, just great conversations. It is moments like these where I love traveling alone.

I ended up only getting 5 hours of sleep due to my conversations with the hostel-mates, and at 6 am when my alarm clock rang, I wanted to die. LOL. I got out of bed knowing Quiznos (one of my favorite things) was waiting for me to be washed down by Diet Coke!! (another favorite thing of mine). I went into the bathroom as people were coming in from a night of partying (LOL) and another girl was getting ready in the bathroom. I asked if she was going on the DMZ tour as well (because why else would you be up at that Un-Godly hour in Itaewon on a Saturday?). She was, with her brother. They were Australian, she is working here in a shipyard as safety inspector for an Australian company that is building an oil-rig for Australia, and her brother is just visiting. Again, we talked about Australia, they talked about the deeply spiritual moments they had at Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia (where I am going) and we bitched back and forth about all things that living in Korea entails. Great conversations again!

We arrived and we were split up onto different buses. I was the last to board the bus and there was only one seat left, next to an older man, so I plunked myself down and immediately asked him where he was from, his name etc…Turns out he was from Norway!! My uncle (Aunt’s husband) is from Norway, so I just happen to know way more about Norway than the average person, lol! He was fascinated that not only did I know so much about Norway, but I had eaten so many Norwegian foods! He was surprised because he said, “Us Norwegians, we are not known for our kitchens.” LOL. If you have ever met a Scandinavian abroad they all have one major thing in common: They speak PERFECT English. It turned out his daughter and niece were on the other side of the aisle, and his daughter has studied in the states, Ireland and a year at an international school in Korea, so speaks English as if she is a native speaker. I never would have guessed she was Norwegian, she had a slight Irish accent, it was cute! The girls were both 19. He works in Korea, again on an oil-rig being built in Korea for Norway (apparently it was the day to meet foreigners working on oil rigs for their respective countries, lol) as an engineer.

We traveled by bus for about 90 minutes to the border, and went through a zig-zag maze along the highway through cement barriers where we were met by an Army guy on base. He de-briefed us on what we were and were not allowed to do, take pictures of etc… The dress code for this tour was very strict: No shorts, no capris, no writing on shirts, no tank tops, no dresses, no open toed shoes. Don’t want to give the North Koreans a reason to strike apparently, LOL!

We drove up to the JSA (Joint Security Area) and were able to see North Korea! I could have literally thrown a rock into the country; of course I wasn’t allowed to, I wasn’t even allowed to point, motion or wave at the North Koreans. We could see North Korean guards! However, we were allowed to take pictures…weird, but ok. After snapping some photos outside, we were allowed into the Panmunjom aka “The Blue Room”. This is a building (which happens to be completely blue inside and out) that both the Americans/South Koreans and North Koreans have possession of. It straddles the line of Demarcation along the DMZ. It literally is in two countries. The room had ROK (Republic of Korea) soldiers inside, protecting the door to North Korea. We were allowed to pose with them, but our Army guide warned us not to get too close. If we got too close for comfort they would grunt and throw their arm up as a way of saying, back off, or else. If you didn’t back up, they stomp their feet and grunt more. He said we didn’t want to know what happens next. So, I kept a distance, and my friendly Norwegian friends took a picture!

I have officially stood on North Korean soil! Pretty exciting if you ask me. The logical question is: Do I get to count this as a country I’ve been to?!? LOL. The wood tables in the room have obvious foot prints all over them. Apparently, though cleaned daily, the Americans/South Koreans can’t get the footprints off. The North Koreans (when in possession of the building) take off their shoes and socks and stand on the tables, with backs to the South, as a sign of disrespect. Apparently, they put something on their feet to make a permanent mark on the tables. Strange, but whatever floats your boat!

After the Blue Room, we headed out to various look-out points, one of which we were surrounded on three sides by the North Korean border. Again, could have thrown a rock into North Korea. We also made stops (but weren’t allowed to get out) at the Bridge of No Return and in front of “Propoganda Village.” Both Koreas were given the opportunity to have a village on either side of the border within the DMZ. The South Korean village is a fully functioning village, with schools, farms etc…people actually live there. Apparently, no one lives in the North Korean village (you can see the village) and the Army guy said the buildings have no floors; there are lights at the top, and they become dimmer and dimmer as the “floors” go down, meaning no floors, just walls. Very, very strange and so secretive. I thought this whole experience was just so fascinating. Who knows when the countries will be reunited, maybe sooner rather than later? Who knows when there may be no more DMZ?

After the first part of the tour, we moved on to the areas all other tours take you on (only the USO tour gets to see the aforementioned sights). We stopped at the DMZ tourist center and got to walk down one of four tunnels that have been discovered by the South Koreans. They are/were infiltration tunnels dug by the North Koreans, into the South. We went 450 meters down, it was pretty cool!!! At the end of the tunnel we got to see directly into the North Korean side of the tunnel (which was blocked off except for a very small window)…creepy. It was all very eerie and strange feeling.

After the tunnel, we headed to Dorasan station. AKA the last station (furthest north) in South Korea. It was constructed in 2004 as a symbolic gesture for re-unification of the two countries. The hope is that someday the peninsula will be re-united, and with reunification, the tracks will also be brought together. The station is fully functional and has two trains daily that go to and from Seoul, but not North. There is even an unused customs area. Very, very strange and quite amazing to see. I even got to stand on train tracks! I have always had a weird fascination with being able to stand on tracks, but clearly haven’t ever been able to because…well you know, TRAINS.

I left with more respect for Korea. I have at times been very critical of this country and culture. The DMZ was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had traveling, it was really amazing. If anyone comes to Korea, or is living here, I highly recommend spending the money to go on the DMZ tour. It is just such a unique opportunity that most people just don’t ever have. I have decided that although Korea isn’t my favorite place on the planet (by a long stretch) it definitely has its good points. I love Seoul. I feel alive in Seoul. Most foreigners that go to live in say, Arkansas, probably don’t much like their experience, but I am sure they enjoy NYC. I just have to keep that in mind, where I live is not the entirety of Korea nor my Korean experience. I am so glad to have done something that I enjoyed so much to tip the balance of my feelings towards this place. I highly, highly recommend doing this!

I think that is about it for now; I told you this would be long! I have been slowly packing and coming to terms with the fact that I soon, (NEXT MONTH!!) will be HOME. I can honestly say, I have never been so excited to go home, from anywhere, ever. I just am ready. In the meantime, I am trying to enjoy my remaining days (20!) left in this country.

Today (and in the states now, too) marks the 4^th of July. I realized the other day that this is the first 4^th of July that I have been out of the country. I have been out before, and shortly after, but never during. I am not an overly patriotic person (or at all, lol), I have even been called Un-Patriotic and Un-American at times, but this holiday gets to even the biggest skeptics of us (me). I just feel the need to hold a sparkler in my hand while smelling a BBQ and eating a red, white and blue cupcake. There is always next year. I will be thinking of you all, when in about 18 hours you start lighting off fireworks and partaking in good old American BBQ and watching the fireworks from the Space Needle go off (for the Seattleites reading). Someone should save me a sparkler! Lol.

Have an amazing (and safe and hopefully not too wet) 4^th, everyone.

See you all soon!

Love, Kimberly