Letters/32

His favorite place to sit and watch me do my hair and makeup in the morning.

Dear Zeke, yesterday you tried to jump in the shower with me. Then after I was out you proceeded to crawl into the shower and lay down in the water. You are a cat right? Dear Kindi student, today you came into class and asked me to sing you a song. I tried to play charades to explain that me singing would make you cry but you just gave me a confused look and said 'never mind, I'll sing you a song.' Good idea. Dear heartache, this week you came when I saw this photo of my niece in the hospital. It's times like these that I hate being so far away and would do anything to be there.

How cute is she! Even with the IV tube on her arm.

 Dear bet to self, once again were playing the little game of 'how long can we last until we use the heat.' Although I must say we're slightly cheating with our heated bed blanket but I'm ok with that. Dear pseudo nephew, on Sunday you turn ONE! I can't believe how much you've grown. I still remember pacing the waiting room floor waiting for you to arrive. I remember celebrating all of your big milestones this year like sitting up, laughing and most recently walking. This is what it is to have an expat family. You make my heart melt.

Dear Christmas wish list, never would I think that floss, coffee creamer and tacky glue would make it on the list but I guess being an expat makes you want weird things in the mail. Dear hubs, this weekend we get to take our Christmas photos and hopefully decorate our tree. I love that you actually enjoy these sort of activities (or at least pretend to enjoy them for my sake).

 

For those of you celebrating Movember

Anyone else's man participate in No Shave November? Hubs actually did his a little early and grew out a nice 80's worthy stache in October. But to commemorate this wonderful yearly tradition I tried out a little DIY project that I have seen floating around. This is an easy craft to do and would also make a great gift!

I grabbed two porcelain mugs, a permanent marker (I hear the more expensive markers such as Pebeo Markers work better and also the design stays on better) and printed out a mustache from online. 

I traced the stache shape onto the mug and colored it in. Next, I popped them into the oven at 350 and baked the mugs for 30 minutes. Allow them to cool completely before washing or using. Note:do not try to wash in the dishwasher, the design may smudge or come off, it is best if you only hand wash the mugs)

I hope everyone is having a great week and is getting excited for December and holiday celebrations!

Travel Tuesdays-Thailand

Just a little something to cure your wanderlust for the week.

 Patara Elephant Farm-Chiang Mai, Thailand

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them. - Dalai Lama

What to Wear

As we headed up to Seoul two weekends ago, I was faced with a slight dilemma. What do you wear when you are going to be traveling for hours but want to look somewhat put together when you arrive so you don't have to change before you go out?

My number one rule of travel is comfort. You can never be sure just how long you'll have to travel or how much you'll have to walk. That's why I was so excited for this outfit, comfortable enough to ride in a car for hours but I don't feel like a slob when we get to our destination and go out for dinner or drinks.

.long coat-(TJ Maxx) it both hides the bloat from all the gas station snacks (my favorite are the gummy peach rings) and adds another layer for when your friends decide to play the freeze out game in the car.

.well fit dress-(Target) this is not only one of the most comfortable dresses I own but it is also extremely easy to dress down with a jacket or dress up with heels.

.slip on boots-(Steve Madden) anyone else hate taking your shoes on and off? Unfortunately, I picked the wrong country to live in. One of the hassles of traveling is footwear. You want something comfortable but don't want anything that too difficult to take on and off for when you go through security or want to take them on and off in the car.

What's your go-to outfit for traveling?

Letters/31

Dear Thanksgiving, we jammed in over forty people into one apartment last weekend. We had food from over eight different countries. We had not just one, but two very large and delicious turkeys. I think it's safe to say it was an amazing holiday celebration. Dear kindi, this week you asked me to stay as a teacher next year and also teach science. You do realize that I know virtually nothing about science, not to mention how to teach it right? Dear Sartorialist, I was so excited to see that my favorite street fashion photographer was in Seoul recently. I loved the outfits that were chosen and think it really hit Seoul's overall fashion on the nose. 

Dear comfort, you come in the from of movies in bed and our heating pad we've been using every night. Dear Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, you were the pride and joy of our household last year. Hopefully we will be able to find another one of you in the mountains this weekend.

Dear Student, you asked me how to spell CD. It was a sad day for ESL teachers everywhere. Dear hubs, words cannot express how excited I am for our Christmas Day this weekend. Decorating, movie watching and homemade barbecue chicken (doesn't exactly scream Christmas but the recipe looked too good to pass up) Dear random adorable kid, when you saw me you jumped, pointed and yelled, 'Oh! Waygookin!' Roughly translated 'Oh! Foreigner!' Man, just when I thought I was blending in with my blonde hair and blue eyes. Guess not.

While you're overcoming your inevitable food coma might I suggest heading over to ModCloth to check out the massive sale they have going on right now? The ModCloth 'Tis The Season Sale is today through 11/25 and they are offering 100s of styles at 50% off! 

If you haven't ever checked out ModCloth, I would highly recommend it! I have recently started shopping there and I must say, the quality is better than I ever imagined and the fit is always perfect (a huge bonus for online shopping!) I take a risk shopping there since it has to be shipped overseas and therefore returns are not an option. But I have never been disappointed and the size guides are right on! And this weekend they're having great sales for Thanksgiving! Go check it out!

Perspective Series-Life After Korea

This week I’m happy to introduce Andrea from World Walk About for the next installment of the Perspective series. This is a series about expats sharing their experience of living abroad and how it inevitably changed their perspectives on life. When I first found Andrea's blog, I was shocked at how similar our stories coming to Korea were (we both were married and moved to Korea within the first 5 months of marriage) and had to contact her right away. Since then, I have loved hearing her viewpoints and stories from living in a small town in Korea. Not to mention her always beautiful photos! 
In other exciting news, I'm posting over on Andrea's lovely blog today. About what you ask? How I feel about living abroad. This could get interesting. Go check it out at World Walk About.

We originally just wanted an adventure. When Matt and I got engaged, we decided we wanted our first year of marriage to be unique, and honestly, we just needed a change of scenery. So, we decided to move abroad. Since Matt is a high school science teacher, he initially applied to some international schools around the world, and to the U.S. Department of Defense schools that are present on most U.S. bases around the world. But it turns out all of those types of positions are extremely competitive, and having only a couple of years of teaching experience wasn’t enough.

So we turned our sights towards teaching English, and in turn, to Korea. One of Matt’s best friends from high school had been living in Korea for the past two years, and he convinced us to apply. So we did, and three months after our wedding we were boarding a plane for Korea. We spent a year teaching, learning to read Korean, finding our way around a strange place, and eating new foods. 

After our contract finished, we decided instead of renewing we wanted to travel around Asia for a few months. We’ve been on the road for about a month now, and this month away from Korea has given us the following insights about our time in Korea:

      1.)   Korea is a very isolated place. Because of the devastating Korean War, and before that the Imperialism by Japan, Korea has only started to receive a steady stream of tourists and foreigners. As a consequence, foreigners are sometimes still seen as a novelty in parts of the country. Getting stared at, pointed at or even hearing or witnessing blatantly racist acts was not uncommon for us in Korea, especially in rural Korea. While living there, we grew accustomed to our strangeness, and learned to live with the pointing. But for the last month we’ve been in Southeast Asia, where tourists from all over the world roam the streets, and I have to tell you, it has been so nice to finally feel like we can just blend back in.

      2.)   Overall, the level of English in Korea is low compared to other Asian countries. I’ve heard the same about Japan and China. Places in Southeast Asia rely on tourism to survive, so most people know English to interact with their customers. We were always pleasantly surprised when we would meet someone in Korea who was fluent in English. Of course this is changing—most people our age or younger know English, but living in a small town where most restaurants and shops are run by older people, we barely ever had any English interactions outside of school. In a way, I think this was good. It forced us to learn Korean and use it. However, I do think the lack of English in Korea contributes to its lack of tourists.

      3.)   We liked Korean food, but the thing about food in Korea is that most Korean food uses similar spices and seasonings, so a lot of it tastes the same (to us at least). Similarly, there isn’t a lot of food diversity in Korea…Western-style fast food is popular, but there aren’t a lot of food options from other places in the world. Since leaving Korea we’ve frequented world cities like Hong Kong and Singapore, places where you can easily find food from anywhere else in the world. It’s been a welcome change!

      4.)   Lest you think everything about our time in Korea was negative, one thing we miss already is our friendships. We made some close friendships with both other expats and Koreans, and saying goodbye to those people was emotional. It’s always hard to say goodbye to friends, especially friends in other countries—you never know when or if you’ll see them again. Leaving Korea cause me a lot of mixed emotions—excited for the future, happy to be moving on, devastated to say my goodbyes. 

      5.)   One of the best things about Korea was how safe it is, and how trustworthy people are. We never felt like we were being ripped off by taxi drivers or salespeople (that kind of thing just isn’t common in Korea), and there is so little petty crime in Korea that you never have to be especially careful or protective of your belongings. As I write this, I’m sitting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia…a place where you definitely need to watch your belongings carefully and be on guard for schemes. Sometimes we miss the honesty and safety of our little town in Korea!

      6.)   Public transit in Korea is amazing. And efficient. And cheap. Most of the places we’ve been since Korea have cheap public transit, but nowhere has the underground system been as easy to understand or efficient as in Seoul. The subways in Seoul are named, numbered and color-coded, the stops are listed in Korea, Chinese, English and sometimes Japanese, and boards tell you what car is the best one to be in depending on where you want to transfer. I miss knowing where I am and how to get where I want to go—something made easy in Korea.

So there you have it—some observations of life after Korea. For now, I am happy to move on, but I very much look forward to the day I return to Korea so I can see how much this ever-growing country has changed!

BIO:

Andrea Sherrodd is a writer, filmmaker, digital media enthusiast and world traveler from the United States. She has a degree in Journalism and a Masters of Communication in Digital Media, both from the University of Washington. In July 2011, she finished graduate school, quit her job as a marketing writer, got married, and moved to South Korea with her husband to teach English. She and her husband are wandering around Asia. Follow her adventures at World Walk About on Facebook and Twitter @andreasherrodd.

If you have lived abroad and would like to be featured, shoot me an email at lostintravelsblog{at}gmail{dot}com. I would love to hear from you!

Check out the other girls from the series

Shireen from Eat, Play, Love that Top

Michaela from Michaela Rae

Caitlin from My Korean Adoptee Story

Seoul Food

Seoul is by far one of our favorite cities in Korea. A major part of this love is the food that is available. Our island is fairly westernized and we are able to both buy and eat a lot of the food that we crave from back home. But this is still nothing compared to the vast assortment of foreign foods available in Seoul. We went to visit last weekend and therefore spent about 48 hours gorging ourselves on all of the delicious availability.

Breakfast restaurants are far and few between in Korea, especially restaurants that don't overcharge and you can leave feeling full. Oh how we miss Denny's. We did however find a new breakfast spot that wasn't outrageous (although still much more expensive than prices we are accustomed to back home) and had large portions. Suji's is located in the neighborhood of Itaewon and offers a wide selection of delicious breakfast foods at a reasonable price. The french toast we had was 12,000w and the eggs were 15,000w.

We opted for the french toast which came out with massive Texas toast slices topped with bananas and walnuts. There was also the free of charge option of other toppings such as blueberries.

We also got my favorite, eggs benedict. Neither choices disappointed and both the hubs and I left feeling very full. A feeling that the hubs does not often encounter here in Korea.

We look so happy because we finally get breakfast food.

One of our favorite eating experiences of the weekend was at the Copacabana Grill which is an amazing little locally owned Brazilian Steak House (similar to Fogo de Chao). The owners are a sweet couple, she is from Brazil and he is from Korea. On the weekend, the all you can eat buffet was 30,000w per person but we were told it is cheaper at lunch during the week. 

They have a fantastic buffet complete with rice, salad and various authentic Brazilian dishes. 

The waiters came around to each table offering different options for meat and would slice it off for you at the table. Each type was only cooked with salt and I can honestly say each one was delicious. I know because I tasted every.single.one. Oh and we never got a picture of it because it disappeared too quickly but for dessert they brought around pineapple cooked and sprinkled with cinnamon. I would have never thought to combine the two but it was absolute heaven!

How full we felt afterwards...so.worth.it.

One of the most amazing streets in all of Seoul. This little street is lined from beginning to end with different restaurants from every nationality. You won't be disappointed. This street is located just behind the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon.

Our last morning was spent at the Flying Pan, also in Itaewon. This place has very unique dishes but it is more expensive with smaller portions compared to Suji's. (The french toast was 15,000w compared to Suji's price of 12,000w). They used to have a great early bird special where they offered a dish along with coffee for 10,000w but they have recently stopped offering this. We split the french toast which may have just been the best french toast I have had. It was made out of a type of flaky pastry bread and was topped with strawberries and ricotta cheese. YUM.

We're already planning our next trip back.

Letters/30

Dear Seoul, your landscape this time of year is breathtaking. You even had the hubs commenting continuously about how beautiful the trees were. Dear America, Black Thursday? Is this really necessary? Just when I thought that it was bad to open at midnight on Friday, you take it a step further. I like the good ole' days when all of Thanksgiving was dedicated to family, friends and seeing how much food we can consume.

Dear Seoul, you also have the largest leaves I have ever seen in my life. Dear Zeke, you love the vacuum and will sit and stare at it with no fear while I use it. Yet, you are terrified of a toothbrush. You're a weirder cat than I thought. 

Dear Korea, thank you for the most amazing holidays. Case in point, 11/11. Also known as Pepero day. Or a day when kids give friends and teachers one of my favorite Korean candies.  Dear hubs, thank you for initiating must needed date nights, or in this week's case, date day. It's always my favorite thing to look forward to. Dear Thanksgiving, you're coming early this year and being celebrated on Sunday. So thankful for a family of friends overseas to celebrate with. We'll even have a turkey...even if it is $125 a pop. Dear hubs, you have been a rockstar at complements this week. You have no idea how much it means to me especially knowing it's not your love language and therefore does not come naturally. 

 

Haute Travel Accessories by Stephanie Johnson

I am in love with Stephanie Johnson’s Malibu Collection travel and beauty accessories in raspberry! The inspiration behind this fashionable collection is all about the laid-back California lifestyle. The travel bags and covers are little luxuries for the girls who like to make a statement when they pull things out of their travel bags.

The crinkle patent bright and breezy iPad and makeup case is a conversation piece along with my favorite passport cover. And the brightly colored luggage tag will make your bags stand out at baggage claim!
  What's your favorite travel accessory?

Something to Chew On

Getting Zeke has provided so may additional challenges than I first expected, both good and bad. I didn't grow up with pets (unless a fish counts) and even when my parents finally caved and got a dog at the age of 12, it was a family dog. I've been reading up on how to train cats (if that's even possible) and asking cat loving friends for advice. But nothing could prepare me for his obsession with chewing on paper and whining at your feet to be held. Although, I do admit, the latter is just cute. 

One challenge, however, that I signed myself up for was making toys. Yes...making. As if Korea hasn't already made me into enough of a Martha Stewart wannabe with my homemade crackers and Christmas decorations. Animal toys are readily available here and for a decent price but I figured it would be almost just as easy and cheap to make them myself. Especially since they didn't have to be anything too elaborate seeing as how he is easily entertained with a wadded up piece of paper. So I scoped out Martha Stewart's site and found a felt feather toy that seemed simple enough. I was right, and within half an hour, Zeke was being happily entertained. Here's what you do:

Gather two colors of felt, a belt and string

Cut out two leaf shapes, one smaller than the other

Make fringes in both pieces

Make a separate small loop with the string around the bell. Then tie the bell and both leaves together!

Told you it was easy.

Travel Tuesdays-Thailand

I've decided that I would add a new section to the blog. Each week I will be featuring a photo from a place that we will be visiting on our next trip along with a quote about traveling. Our next trip is planned for Thailand so get ready for lots of pictures of markets, temples and my favorite, elephants. Just a little something to cure mine and your wanderlust for the week.

Bangkok Floating Market

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. - Mark Twain