Travels

No, this is not photoshopped!!!

I mentioned (somewhere in the very first blog post) that I've been to at least seventeen countries.

For no one's convenience, I will list them here, in no particular order, but starting with my home country:

United States

Canada

China

South Korea

Japan

Taiwan

Thailand

Vietnam

France

England

Germany

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Czech Republic

Norway

Italy

Austria

Hungary

Poland

Spain

A section of the Great Wall less traveled...on the east coast of China!

I traveled to most of these places on my own. Solo female traveler. Unfortunately I didn't keep an active travel blog, but I have many great stories stored deep in my memory bank. I had some nice friends to take me in at times, such as dear Jon who let me stay in Norway and Annie, my college dormmate currently in Warsaw. I also had my hand at trying CouchSurfing in Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna and Budapest. I definitely met some great people! When I wasn't staying in the homes of kind people, I found lodging in hostels. There wasn't much luxury for me, but I didn't need that to really enjoy traveling.

Following graduation from UCLA, I lived for a year in Seoul near Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu as an English teacher at an all-girls middle school. I miss my students. (Thankfully, some have been able to find me on Facebook.) As a result of my experience, I earned a great amount of respect for people who dedicate themselves to the profession of teaching. One does not merely impart knowledge about a particular subject, but also becomes invested in the well-being of her students. While I lived in Seoul, I dabbled in improv comedy with a wonderful group of expats, learned how to swing dance with a completely Korean club, and tried my hand at various Korean instruments such as the gayageum and the janggu.

I'm the girl behind the white lady!

After my year in Seoul, I spent another year in Beijing, studying Mandarin at Tsinghua University. While in Beijing, I rediscovered my love for the stage with the great Beijing Actors Workshop (a shout-out is in place). Additionally, I won first place with my group for a Mandarin speech contest when I acted as the murdering empress Wu Ze Tian. Oh. And I tried to learn Taekwondo (in China...and not Korea of all places) but failed miserably with my inflexible limbs.

Look at my sparkly tiara and Tang dynasty outfit!

I'll have more to write about later! But if you have any specific questions...feel free. :)