Big announcement folks – the #magic is real! It all starts with a bathroom phone at the #Hilton in central #china
Just dial 0 and a whole new world opens! Not sure if it works for all phones or just this one. . . But ladies and gentlemen the truth is out. Magic is just one phone call away! #travel #abroad #humor #travelhumor
Courtesy of the hospital here in China. If you stop by, you can visit the Blood Chamber, Urine Chamber, Cell Chamber, Ultrasonic Knife Teetment Center, X-Ray Perspective Room, and the Ultrasonic Scalpelout Room
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You know you drink too much soda when . . . the gas station cashier gives you a free bottle of water and looks disapprovingly at your drink selection. All the while telling you, “tsk tsk . . . water have more power.” 0_0
Hi everyone! Sorry for being such an absent friend recently. Honestly, packing and preparing for the move was absolutely crazy ~ 6 weeks of garage sales and two weeks of all-nighters packing and cleaning and preparing items for storage. Even so, I don’t think things actually got real until the girl walked away with my bed. Then for the next week, I was living off the floor ~ sleeping on pillows and makeshift blankets. Between that and no internet since July 31, I was soooo ready to hit the road 🙂 It has been just mind and body-exhausting! 0_0
We finally finished everything after 72 hours straight working on what was left and we headed out of Iowa City at 4:06 in the morning. Lol, we were so exhausted we kept having to change drivers to keep ourselves awake. . . we were playing a question game and it took my mom 16 minutes to think through “What is your favorite flower” even though she’s worked with them all her life. 😛
Then, after an 8 hour drive, we arrived yesterday in Fort Hays, Kansas at the local Sleep Inn. It’s a lovely hotel, has a swimming pool, hot tub, and we even got a room with a lovely little sitting area ~ perfect for finishing up the last minute law and personal chores before leaving the country.
One of which includes finding out how to get my medication (got too busy to buy it before). Anyone know whether you can buy Zantac (Ranitidine), Claritin (Loratidine) and Benedryl in China? If not, I’ll just pick some up in Wal-Mart tomorrow or the next day. 🙂
On a related note, you should see how much we brought with us still. The pile is so enormous, I took a picture for posterity! 
We finally moved down from a filled 3-bedroom home to a truck full coming from Iowa to Missouri. Then we met up with my aunt and further compacted everything into a jeep. Now, I have to figure out how to narrow it all down to just two suitcases and a carry on.
A little worried about the carry on, since we are flying with Air China which has a 11 lb limit on the carry on. I’ll probably be over, but I’ve been told that they are not as rigid about that rule as long as you can pick it up and fit it into the overhead container. Here’s to crossing our fingers. . . . 🙂
We were very happy to get our VISAs and Passports on time last week; several members of the team have yet to receive theirs and they are slowly panicking. We’ve been told though that everything should work out. Apparently, a whole bunch of people supposed to prepare and sign the papers for the VISAs went on vacation and it took a little longer than expected to get everything working again. Still, mom and I have ours so we are ready and raring to go!
We leave Hays, Kansas on August 22 and take a bus down to Denver. Then our Flight Schedule is:
If you look at a flight map, you’ll see that our DC-Beijing flight actually goes over the Arctic! Mom and I have tickets that are a little unique from the rest of the group since they ran out of space for four of us on the plane that the majority are taking on the evening of the 22nd. So the four of us get to spend the night in a hotel and then start off early the next morning which should be pretty nice.
Can’t wait for the exciting moment of stepping onto the plane! I’ll post photos and keep everyone updated! 🙂
One of the Professors in Japan
If you are interested in Studying Abroad or if you have Studied Abroad in the past, now might be a good time to look at how it can help expand your Résumé.
One of the simplest ways that you can use your Study Abroad experience in your Résumé is simply by listing it as part of your education. There are multiple ways you can benefit from this. First, if you are new to the career field, then your Résumé might be running a little thin on information; use the “Studying Abroad” experience as a filler/lengthener. Sounds silly/cheap, but everything counts in the job search. More importantly, if you list the foreign college that you studied under, it adds to the depth of your educational experience. It shows that you have studied under Professors coming from different backgrounds or ways of thought. It adds to the fact that you might bring in unique or different ideas to their work. For example, I have studied the Law in Civil Law nations and Common Law nations. That means that simply by stating that I studied in China and the United States, my interviewers can tell that I understand ways different people view the law and how it can be applied in alternative ways. It strengthens the fact that I stand out from the rest of their applicants.
One of the things you are going to need on both your Résumé and your Cover Letter are key terms, skills, and/or character traits. You will frequently be asked to name your strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. Or perhaps you just need to show them what you can offer their team. If you Study Abroad, there are many helpful terms that can now be applied to you. Some of those you might use include: Continue reading
Irish Parliament, nearly identical to US White House
When traveling, it feels kind of amazing when you stumble across a little bit of home clear across an ocean.
Maybe it’s a person. A Toronto native bumps into a San Franciscan in China, and suddenly they’re next door neighbors separated since birth. Immediately it’s all, “oh have you ever been to Chicago, why yes I went when I was 2–oh my gosh, I was there when I was five, how’d you like it?!?”
Familiar brands can also catch your eye, a McDonald’s, Marriott Hotel, or Motorola. Even when you never actually bought them back home, they seem a little comforting. Personally, I never buy from Cold Stone Creamery. My mother’s parents used to own an ice cream store, and we’ve all eaten our fill of the heavy cream desserts. Too much, and it gets a little sickening. So instead, whenever we eat Ice Cream we make our own. But I used to hang with a group of friend who liked to stop there. So on a hot day alone in Korea, Cold Stone Creamery seems awfully comforting. Purely because at that very moment, someone I know might be doing the same thing.
It’s the felling of connection that matters. Homesickness isn’t a craving for home, it’s a craving for the connectedness of home. Despite what many non-travelers think, we usually aren’t really wishing we were at home instead. We don’t want to abandon our trips abroad or regret taking off on an adventure. Really, it isn’t home we’re looking for at all, it’s just that sense that you are bonded to the world around you that gets lost sometimes. The feeling that you matter, that you are part of the events around you instead of just a stranger wandering through. That feeling that, if needed, home and friends are just around the corner. You don’t want to go back to home, it’s just that home needs to be brought to you. Usually, what we really need is a sign that home can still be found right were we are.
For me, this summer that connection was a little flyer I picked up in Japan. I’d been there nearly 3 weeks and I was starting to miss home and family a bit. On my way back from school, I ran across an ad for the theatrical version of Kuroshitsuji in a Gas Station.
You may not recognize the name, but Kuroshitsuji was an anime my best friends and I used to watch in college. Whenever college or finals or life got to be too much, the four of us would all get together and watch whatever episodes were out. If nothing new was up, we’d watch re-runs. It got us through deaths, failed classes, broken hearts, lost jobs, family fights, and 21-credit semesters. It’s actually a surprisingly angsty show, which allowed us to get all teary-eyed and dramatic without looking like idiots in real life. But it also had characters like the insane, safety-scissor waving, cross-dressing death god who we all adored. I actually watched a lot of anime in college, but I never met anyone in Japan who recognized my shows or saw anything talking about them. So to find this little ad for Kuroshitsuji meant a lot to me. Admittedly, it was Japanese in nature, but to me it connected Japan to home. I ran to the hotel and messaged my friends all about it, and for a little bit I got to squeal with them about something we all recognized. I felt reunited, just enough to remind me that home wasn’t really that far away. In fact, I could still find some parts of it as far away as I was.
So for those of you who are travelling abroad, and are reaching that point where you just need a home-sized hug, look around you. Maybe you aren’t looking for something in the U.S. (or whatever nation you’re from); maybe you just need to find something familiar. Think back to what made you fall in love with the idea of visiting this country? Don’t focus on what you don’t have. Focus on the one think in your life that lives in both locations. You will always be able to find something that looks at you and screams: “You Know Me!” It’s the familiarity that matters.
Random photos from my trip to the Seoul’s Grand Park Zoo! Great place to take your kids 🙂 Just make sure you have run and play clothes cause the kids like to hit the fountains, play areas, etc.
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Subway Stop: Seoul Grand Park
Subway Directions: Take Line 4 to the Seoul Grand Park stop (i.e. toward Oido) and follow Exit 2.
If you look at the subway map here, it is the 7th stop after crossing the river.
ONWARD TO THE ZOO!!
When you take Exit 2, you will see a long walkway in front of you. All you have to do is go straight until you come to the big fountain and the building behind it that says zoo.
There is a little ticket booth at the big building, where you buy a shuttle ticket for 1,000 Won. Go through the gates and get on the shuttle; the zoo will be on your first stop. Check out the map below for directions.
Shuttle Yay! So Exciting 🙂 Hard to miss the big tiger at the entrance.
From there it’s all fun and games and pet-the-animals 🙂 After you enter the zoo grounds, there are red, yellow, blue, and green lines painted on the paths. Each one is a different route, and you can pick and chose which you want to follow via the maps. I ran up the Blue and Green paths, which took me past the big wild animals (Bear, Tigers, Elephants, etc.), ocean/marine animals, and a few other odds and ends. Plus I got to hit the HUGE ski lift which carried me down the mountain over the tiger/cheetah/lion exhibits and some gardens; an amazing experience. I am seriously going back there just to ride the ski lift again. I also like it cause it gives the kids something fun to do on the way down without making them walk all the way back down the mountain when they’re tired. With my undying distaste for anything snake related, I always avoid the reptiles and birds weren’t really high on my list; however that all available as well.
After a great deal of time and effort, we have put together this great resource for anyone working with foreign languages. Whether that be while traveling abroad or when dealing with non-native speakers in your own backyard. “Traveler’s Lodestone” is a point-to-speak book. It uses picture-based communications to cover the basic things a person would need when conversing in any foreign language. The idea is that when the words aren’t at the tip of your tongue, the pictures are at the tip of your finger. Everything from groceries to clothes to hotel amenities to weather, directions, and more is available instantly with this easy to use book. It’s quick and universal!
Right now it’s out on CreateSpace, but coming soon to Amazon and other booksellers near you. At 5×8 and 100 pages, it’s small enough to stick in your purse or bag and carry around, easy to pull out and use. Check out this great universal translator! Now tested in Korea, Japan, and China–it worked perfectly! (the Bathroom/Toilet pic is apparently very popular 😛 ) Trust me; I’ve tried the dictionaries, translation books, etc. and this is the best tool I’ve found so far.
Pick up Your Paperback Copy By Clicking Here
If you are interested in the E-book Version, that’s available here. The e-book is actually broken up into 3 short Volumes for easier use.
We’re also working on a Android/Apple app. As soon as I figure out how to attach buttons to links, we’ll be adding that.
I make no bones about the fact that I am a very, very poor law student. And by poor, I mean macaroni & cheese eating, ramen-guzzling, hold off on air-conditioning until 100+ degrees poor. So when I have the opportunity to travel abroad, I get down on my knees and thank God for the money to pay for the hotel. I’m incredibly lucky if I can pick up a few presents for my family and friends, but souvenirs. . . not real high on my list of what is worth spending money on (like food, and, you know, museum fees).
Then there’s the fact that I’m moving in less than a year, hopefully abroad, and that means GARAGE SALE! Woot, woot! I get to get rid of all my stuff/treasures or figure out how to pay for a storage unit for it all. Adding to the stuff I have to get rid of is hardly an incentive when looking at the prospect of buying souvenirs. If it isn’t worth keeping in a storage unit; it’s not worth buying in the first place.
And none of this takes into consideration the issue of packing. . . . I’m a professional packer. No, seriously, people should pay me to pack for them. I came home last summer with 1 suitcase at 49.3 lbs and the other at 49.7 lbs on a 50 lb. free luggage limit (the guy at check-in was incredibly impressed 😛 ). This summer, it cost me a pair of holey shoes, a few underwear-related items, and a buttload of beauty products but I got my suitcase through at 48.8 lbs. But I’ve had a friend who insisted on buying so much stuff she had to leave some souvenirs behind and it broke her heart. So I’m always a little cautious about buying things that will either break in transportation or weigh too much entirely.
Instead, I’ve stumbled upon the beauty of postcards. Usually people buy postcards to give away or to mail back home, but I actually like to keep them. I have a few rules before buying a postcard:
I’ve actually been collecting postcards for several years now, and each one has a special memory attached to it. I’ve got everything from the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, to one of the churches in Savannah, Georgia, to a dolphin I saw at the zoo in Seoul. I have cards from the whirlwind tour my aunt, mom, and I took when looking at colleges where we covered the greater East Coast through Texas in 2 weeks. There are cards of the trip my mom, aunt, and I take on their birthday (they each have one in the same week) every year (we’ve gone all over the US). I have some from China, and from the temples of Japan.
Here you an see some of the places I visited in Japan and China. I actually really like the hand-painted ones! 
The bottom and top left are temples in Kyoto; while the top left is the Tienanmen Gate in Beijing 
I walked the path between the bamboo forest here, and I’ve stood on the lake of the Golden temple. 
It took forever to find the fire-lit emblem on the mountain seen on the top left, but it was definitely worthwhile. And the gold statues on the bottom left me in utter awe for several hours. Each is entirely different from any other. 
Here are some of my favorites from the US and Ireland. The Texas one is from the college tour I took with my aunt and mom when piking colleges.
But I don’t just collect post-cards; I also save some small gifts that I’ve been given during my travels. For example, the Red, yellow and blue fan was a present from a tourist-helper on a particularly hot day when I was dying of heat. There is a small, pocket-sized good luck charm someone gave me before my exams in Japan when I visited a local temple. There is also a sheet of paper I was given at the book expo in Seoul; the guy hand printed it with a replica of the world’s first movable type printing press.
Note my name up at the top; a lovely Chinese man spent 20+ minutes helping me find my name in the list. 
You can see the bears from the Teddy Bear museum in Seoul, artifacts from the Seoul National Museum, and the Boat that I visited in Yokohama Japan. 
These fans are dear to my hear. One is a traditional Korean fan; one is traditional Japanese. Both are beautiful and connected with my love of history.
I’ve been working on this wall for 4+ years now, and finally I have completed one portion of the wall! You can’t really see it, but I’ve filled up the rest of the wall with some hand-outs I’ve gotten from temples, a timeline of Korean history I got at a museum, etc. None of it cost me more than $3; many were gifts. They are flat and easily transported when I move; and they connect so carefully with all of my happy memories of these places. I hope to continue gathering my collection until I can fill up all 4 walls of my room. Each one a great memory; reminding me of the best of my trips and encouraging me to carry onward in the future.
A traditional South Korean Band playing at a Red Cross Conference in
It seems counter-intuitive, but the art of being a good traveler is disappearing nearly as fast as globalization increases. Having extensively traveled abroad in recent years, I can safely say that I no long wonder why tourists often rank amongst the most disliked people in the world. But it isn’t just the tourists; it’s the students, the businessmen, the soldiers, and the politicians. There is something about going abroad that causes many people to leave behind all the manners and rules of civilized behavior they would normally adopt at home. And we get it, it’s nice to just abandon all your reservations and let loose once in a while. But people forget that they aren’t just representing themselves abroad; they are representing their entire nation and culture. Even if nothing they do ever comes back to their families, the locals will remember “that idiot from ***** country”. And when the locals have to watch over and over while the travelers repeat the same ignorant, reckless behavior, it becomes a stereotype applied to all traveler’s from that background.
“Oh, stop being such a sourpuss!,” the excuses run. “We’re just having fun.” “We’re paying good money to be here.” “Who cares what they think?” Well, serious travelers care, for one. I personally am sick and tired of being brushed with the “stupid, rude, careless, obnoxious, disrespectful, American tourist” stamp. Over and over, I enter a new country only to find that the travelers before me were wildly and Continue reading
“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city” ~ Roman Payne
Language Translation
Deceptively Blonde 