Finding my way

The first temple I stumbled upon in Taiwan

I've been in Taiwan a full week now, and I am feeling more settled. This is relative, as I still use a photocopied map with lots of scribbling on it to find my way around, hah. I've been lucky, having coworkers willing to walk me across the city to find a plant for my cavernous apartment, to loan me a cell phone, to take me to their favorite restaurants, and score me a free week-long trial at an awesome gym. These are huge in learning my way around this new city.

Now that I'm spending more time wandering by myself, I do a lot of walking, so street names and spatial understanding are vital. If you know me well, you should realize that this means I spend a lot of time mildly lost. Things look familiar and places stand out to me, but I am not sure which way is right or what street I am on exactly. But, every day I feel a little more confident and come home with the spoils of my success - a baguette, a pasta strainer, stationary, or paper towel... these may be simple, but every success is worth appreciating. 

Welcome to Hsinchu

The view from my bedroom window, 6 am with a typhoon possibly on its way. To be fair, this could be anywhere. Really, it isn't even that aesthetically different from Daegu. Even on my third day in the country, however, I know my life here will be much different than it was in Korea. 

I feel humbled and embarrassed to realize that I've forgotten so much of the history and language lessons I spent so much time memorizing in university. I need to study up on the culture and language, to meet new people and make friends, to learn my way around this new city.. all of the little details that are taken for granted in a grounded life. But these challenges and struggles are what I love about life abroad. I am more aware of my surroundings and am much more in tune and present in the moment. It is my "this is water" moment, only it lasts for months. And really, that is why I am here. 

One year later...

Hello, my old friend,

I've been gone about a year, and in that time my blog has been quietly reaching some big goals. It surpassed 20,000 views! And it has had a steady stream of visitors from all over the world. Pretty exciting stuff, I think. I hope what I had posted helped travelers and wanders with their own adventures. My blog has done so much to help me - securing me a position with the Daegu city government, helping get opportunities to write for Daegu Compass - I am pleased to think it might be helping others as well.

As for my blog's direction moving forward. I have some changes in mind. DIY projects, cooking adventures, sewing, embroidery, etc. will be included to a greater extent. My fashion obsessions and music favorites might be showing up more often as well. I'll be sporadically including photography from this year's past adventures - including backpacking central Europe, traveling the US, volunteering in disaster relief, and of course, Alaska. But most of all, it will showcase my life in Taiwan. I am intending to be less image-heavy and focus on more poignant shots that capture the feeling of a place. My habit of incorporating useful information for future travelers, like train schedules and trail guides, is not going anywhere. The new title, Focus on the good, is my mantra lately. It seemed fitting.


Presently I am on the very last moments of a contract in Denali, Alaska. I have been living a mile from the Denali National Park and working at a hotel here. It has been interesting. I've been given the opportunity to see so much here, its truly overwhelming.

Denali National Park from a generously comp'ed flightseeing tour with Denali Air. This is the life I never imagined I would have. 

My time here is short, just days at this point. I am about to head to Michigan for a brief visit, then move to Taiwan to start a new contract. Yes, yes, I am back to Asia. I couldn't be more thrilled. Time to re-download skype on my Grandma's computer, to order a year's worth of shoes and carmex, to say the hard goodbyes.

A post on leaving Korea

I think back to my first few days, weeks, and months in Korea, and it seems like it happened a lifetime ago. When I moved to Daegu, I had taken a huge risk and was rewarded with the ultimate gift - change. I fell in love with the temples, the beautiful countryside, the ease of city life. At times it was a struggle, but I was truly happy for a great deal of it.

Somehow, though, the negative parts started piling up. I didn't appreciate the drinking culture that allowed crimes to be dismissed or ignored (link). I struggled with watching friends, some as close as family, leave to return to their home countries. Life abroad is not easy.

Eventually, though, I became comfortable, complacent, happy enough, For me, this is a sign of a stagnant life. The challenge of living abroad no longer loomed over me, energized me to make the most of every weekend, or pushed me to try new things. I started considering other options, and eventually began applying for jobs outside of Korea.

And I was lucky for it, reaching the application deadline just in time. I was accepted into the 19th Class of AmeriCorps NCCC. I spoke to my boss, who was understanding, gracious, and supportive. We set an end date, and I prepared my heart to leave Korea.

Korea is the first place I was a legitimate adult - I moved straight after college graduation. It is the place I learned about myself and my own culture. I wouldn't trade my two years there for anything. Experiencing myself - my thoughts, actions, and decisions - in a new, completely different setting gave me a new outlook on life, a new perspective on the person I want to be, and a new set of tools to cope with people from all over the world.

If you're reading this blog because you are considering moving, traveling, teaching, studying, working, whatever-ing abroad: stop second guessing and go. There is no better time to start a great adventure than today.

For those interested in teaching in Korea, I suggest finding a handful of recruiters. They are paid by the school, so contact a ton of them and only sign a contract with the school that best suits you. Don't like bad recruiters convince you to take a less than stellar contract. Make sure your contract has at least 2 weeks of vacation, pays into the pension plan, promises insurance and severance pay. Only agree to a school willing to pay for your flights in and out. Make sure its written fairly and you feel comfortable, because you are only given so many rights under an E-2 visa. Get on facebook and find a group set in the city of the school - ask around, because foreigners are all in it together.

Kayaking and Beaching

For summer break, I went on a lot of adventures, such as vertical caving, rock climbing, kayaking, and sailing. It was a great end to my time in Korea. 

This is Namhae, which I have always loved, you can see it in the spring here. Mike, Eoin, and I went back there to go kayaking in the ocean. The area is around these smaller islands, and you can watch the waves crash into their rocky shores... it was really beautiful, especially for someone like me, who love rocks. I didn't bring my camera into the boat, though so these are all taken from shore.

For more info, check out their super helpful site! dumotown.com or call 010-8500-5863

We went to Busan's Gwangalli beach, which was unsurprisingly crowded. Korean beaches in August are really packed, but it was nice to lay out (under an umbrella, per Korean culture). 

The last day of break we went sailing with Pat. I wish I had taken some pictures of that adventure, but let me just say it is awesome. If you want to rent a dinghy to sail (one or two people boats), go to Dadaepo beach and walk over to the very far left. It cost us 20,000 for three hours, including life vests and wet suits. They did not offer to help set it up at all, though, so make sure you know what you're doing!

Vertical Caving in Danyang!

You may remember a post about Danyang, a city farther north known for its numerous caves and beautiful national park, Sobaeksan. I went to Gosu dong-gul and got some beautiful pictures in a show cave - one open to the public with nice walkways and railings. I loved it. BUT, it wasn't a challenge. My friends Pat and Michael invited me to do some hardcore vertical caving and I had to accept. It was an adventure!

Michael standing over the opening to the cave, about to go down and set the rope. He is wearing a harness with the rope secured though a device that allows him to rappel down at his own speed. As he goes down, he needs to pay attention to the rocks. The cave entrance twists and turns, and at certain points the rope will rub against sharp rocks - a safety hazard. Michael will attach rope guards, or fabric to protect the rope, at those points. 

At the top of the cave, Pat makes sure everything is going well. From the entrance to the starting cavern, it is about 10 stories underground, so there is a lot of yelling and listening carefully to make sure Michael doesn't run into any problems or need any additional gear. 

A couple of hours later, we are all in the cave! Initially I didn't realize how blurry the pictures were, but once we did, we started using all of our head lamps to focus light for the pictures. They will be more crisp in some instances because of that. Bear in mind that this is not a lit cave, the only source of light at all is on our helmets. 

Michael led the way, I stayed safe in the middle, and Pat followed in the rear. This kept me safe from potential serial killers or falling down a hole into a cavern. It is a bit freaky thinking about how far underground we were and how badly things could go. 

Pat is crawling on his arms here, but a few moments ago he was on his stomach-  see the stalactites? We had to be extra careful to protect the integrity of the cave, since its features were in pristine condition. This meant crawling, face in the sticky clay in the smallest parts of the cave. Gross, but all worth it to allow the next caver the chance to see such an amazing sight. 

A special thanks to Pat, who provided all of the gear, from the helmets and harnesses to the jackets and over-sized jeans. Not only did it make the trip possible, it also saved me hours of cleaning. He's a good friend.

Some rooms were really tall or big, others were tiny. 

As the quality of the pictures improves, I made the images larger. If you want to see beautiful, pristine images of a cave nearby, please look at my post with pictures from the show cave, here. They have lights installed and they turned out more true to color and clear. Of course it is in less pristine condition and less awesome.

Would you want to crawl through this tiny, dark opening? Its a bit intimidating! 

To get out of the cave, we had to use two ascenders attached to the rope. This is basically a handle that the rope goes through, then one is hooked up to the harness, while the other is hooked up to a foot loop. You put your weight into your harness and slide the ascender hooked to your foot loop up, then stand and put your weight in your feet. Next, slide the ascender hooked to your harness up. This process repeats over and over. I counted the first two hundred moves, but wasn't even out of the main cavern. Needless to say, its a workout! 

Vertical caving is easily in my top ten experiences in Korea. I couldn't recommend it enough if you have the proper equipment and an experienced guide to help you safely explore a cave. 

Rock Climbing in Korea

Since I last posted about climbing, I have done quite a bit of it. Don't get me wrong, I still don't know what I am doing. I scamper up the rock, and hope I don't bust my knees or face up too badly. I often make it to the top, albeit after falling once or twice. I've tried climbing in a gym, which is all of the struggles of climbing without the freedom to pick your own holds or the beautiful scenery to make it worth it. Not my thing. But, outdoor climbing is enjoyable. I think I've gotten a little better, though I really should consider things like technique and building muscles to improve. Maybe I will take a class on it at some point, but for the moment I am enjoying meandering around on some rocks. 

We took Mara out for her first climbing experience at An Nam in Busan. She did really well!

I've also learned out to belay, which is vital. 

This is in Yeoung Yeoung on Palgong Mountain in Daegu. It is set up with lights so you can climb at night. 

Back at An Nam!

It is really getting too hot to climb now, but I hope to go at least once more before heading out of Korea!