happy birthday dear buddha.

Buddha’s birthday was on Saturday, May 2nd this year. To celebrate, there was a Lotus Lantern Parade in Seoul in Jongno area. We missed the very beginning of the parade, but were not disappointed. Various groups of old men, children, middle-aged woman, foreigners, and others marched in the parade with elaborate costumes and colorful paper lanterns. Some lanterns resembled the traditional lotus flower (I made one of these when I did the temple stay). Other lanterns were more modern with contemporary designs. In addition to the lanterns, there were floats: huge elephants, Buddha replicas, lotus flowers, and even a fire-breathing dragon. The whole spectacle was quite impressive. Although my view was constantly obstructed by an old man waving an orange traffic-directing light in my face, I had a great time. Enjoy the photos, compliments of Emily Neilson :)

mother nature.

this weekend was my first time camping in korea! my friend emily and i had been talking about how we both missed going camping. finally, we decided to splurge and buy some camping equipment. actually, it wasn't much of a splurge. we got a 2-3 person tent (only 3-person if they are korean-sized people) for 29,000 won or about $21 USD. and we each got a sleeping bag for 24,000 won. we decided to "tough it out" and skip sleeping mats. we were able to find these great deals on gmarket which is a popular korean web site, like ebay, but usually without the auctioning aspect. sellers can sell any kind of product: electronics, clothing, food, cars, furniture, etc. just 2 days ago, ebay claimed that it would be buying gmarket for $1.2 billion. so i guess we'll see what happens...

emily and i chose mongsanpo beach as our first camping trip destination. mongsanpo is a beach on the western coast of south korea, south of incheon. the nearest city is taean. mongsanpo is part of taean national seashore (which boasts of 520km of shoreline and over 130 islands and was designated as a national park in 1978).

we left incheon early saturday morning and took a bus to taean. it took about 2 hours to get there. we wanted to take a local bus to mongsanpo, but could not find the bus stop nor anyone who would help us. we decided to take a taxi, knowing that mongsanpo was not too far away. it ended up costing about 11,000 won or $8 USD to travel the 7km to the campground. we did not (and still do not) know the exact rules of camping in korea. we wanted to just pitch our tent on a beach, but did not know if that was allowed. for our first trip, we wanted to play it safe by staying at a designated campground.

our taxi driver dropped us off at the campground and pointed out where the nearest mini-mart was to buy food. we were hoping to rent bicycles and explore the area, but realized that was wishful thinking. there was not much around this area. definitely no bicycle rentals. we first tried to find someone who worked at the campground, but we were unsuccessful. eventually, we found a woman who spoke decent english and she told us to just put our tent anywhere we wanted and that a man would come around later to collect money.

we picked out a flat-ish spot beneath some pine trees as close to the beach as we could get. later (when it got dark), we realized that we pitched our tent beneath a lamppost, but it didn't really affect our sleep. immediately, we noticed that we did not fit in with our fellow korean camp-mates. we had the smallest tent by far. koreans like to camp in style: huge tents, covered cooking areas, fancy chairs, endless cooking supplies/utensils, hammocks, cots, and even flat-screen televisions! i think we were also the only people there without a car. of course, all of this didn't matter, but it was interesting to see what the korean camping standard was. at least they didn't have RVs!

after we set up our tent, it was time to explore! we walked around the nearest buildings trying to find a bicycle rental shop. no such luck. i did happen to see two neon green kayaks collecting dust, so i thought we should investigate. the kayaks were outside of a minbak or pension. minbaks are a sort of mix between a home-stay and a motel. pensions are usually houses that are rented out (so you have several bedrooms, a full kitchen, bathroom, porch, deck. etc.). even though the weather is warming up, april is considered the off-season for any sort of camping or beach activity. for this reason, the minbak was deserted. however, we managed to find one korean lady who looked confused when i asked about renting the kayaks. she found another man who worked there and together they took a long time to tell us no. we weren't able to communicate fluently, so i'm still not sure what the reasoning was.

anyway, emily and i continued to walk. we headed along the beach, climbed over some rocks and walked toward the sound of music. we eventually stumbled upon a small octopus festival. lots of vendors were selling fresh seafood delicacies and other goodies. since emily is a vegetarian we opted to try some cinnamon bread thing-ys that tasted a lot like the cinnamon/sugar toast my mom would make in the oven.

we walked back to the campground and set out our "tarpaulin" on the sandy beach. we did crossword puzzles and played minhwatu (a korean flower gambling card game). we both dozed off at one point and woke up with rather pink faces (even though it was chilly and overcast).

we were hungry and decided to try the one restaurant nearby. of course it specialized in seafood. the menu was all in hangul, but i managed to read "kimchi jjigae." we ordered one as well as two bowls of rice. however, our order seemed to cause some confusion. there was only one other table of customers in the restaurant, an older man and his wife. the man had obviously been drinking and was way too enthusiastic to see foreigners. he begged us to come sit with him, so we did. he then bought us beer and later paid for our entire meal. his flirtatious nature was a bit odd, especially with his wife right there. but i think we all had an unspoken agreement that alcohol was to blame.

after dinner, we bought them ice cream as a thank you. then, the man bought fireworks at the min-mart and wanted us to go with him to the beach to set them off. we obliged one last time. it was actually quite fun. he had one big sparkler as well, that we all took turns holding onto and dancing around feverishly with. once the fireworks were all used up, we parted our separate ways.

it was really chilly, but i didn't think it'd be a big deal. i was confident since i'd been camping in much cooler weather. however, the entire night was quite a painful ordeal! the sleeping bags were not warm and the tent kept collecting water on the inside. it didn't rain or anything, so it must have been condensation from our breathing. needless to say, we didn't sleep well.

some noisy newbies decided to wake us up early by pitching their tent right next to ours at 7am. it was okay i suppose since we were so uncomfortable (cold and sore from no sleeping pads). i finished cutting emily's hair (i started the day before, but had to make a few adjustments). then we decided to walk along the beach again going the other direction. we followed a path in the woods for awhile that led us to a swampy/rice paddy area. it was quite nice since there were so many birds around (maybe egrets?). we made it to the nearest civilization where we bought some snacks. we sat down for a bit to enjoy them and then headed back to the campground.

we had seen what we wanted to see, so we decided to head back to incheon early (around 12pm). we managed to catch the local bus back to taean. only 1,000 won instead of the 11,000 won we paid for the taxi on the way there. the last stop was right at the taean bus terminal, so we bought our tickets back to incheon for 7,500 won. the bus time was 13:30. we hopped on the bus parked outside the incheon sign. we took our seats, #17 and #18, and the driver took our tickets (ripped them and returned the stub to us). we slept most of the way. 2 hours and 10 minutes later we expected to be in incheon. so we were quite surprised when all the road signs said we were in daejeon!!

sure enough. we were on the wrong bus. emily and i looked at each other, laughed, and waited for everyone to get off of the bus. we showed our ticket to the driver and immediately he noticed it said "incheon" not "daejeon." why hadn't he noticed this the first time when he collected our tickets?! arghhhhh! he seemed to get very angry at this point. not at us, but at the situation. emily and i sat on a bench outside and waited while he made some phone calls.

a short while later, an unknown man led us to a nearby bus terminal. he made more phone calls and eventually bought us each a new ticket. our original tickets were only 7,500 won, but these tickets were 14,400 won each! he did not ask us to pay for them. i still do not know who he was and i think he used his personal money to pay for the tickets. i am sure that the bus company felt guilty and responsible for the situation. however, we both felt really stupid and partially responsible as well. but what are the odds that another bus leaving at the exact same time as ours, parked under the "incheon" sign, almost-full yet empty seats #17 and 18 (that we were assigned to on a different bus) and identical arrival times!!!

everything worked out. as it always does. just 2 hours and 15 minutes later, we were back at the incheon bus terminal. it took longer than planned, but luckily we had gotten an early start to our day. all in all, we had a great trip. it was very relaxing to get away from all the hustle and bustle of the city and be able to breathe fresh air. even though we were a bit cold, we are already planning our next camping trip!

spring.

signs of spring can be seen all around. one of the most beautiful though is the blossoming of cherry trees.

taiwan

several weeks ago my students took a field trip on a thursday and friday. i got up the courage to ask my co-teacher if i really had to come to school and sit there all alone (contractual requirement). she said that the principal and vice principal would be going on the trip, so they would not be at school to monitor my presence. whooooooohooooooooooo! that meant no, i didn't have to show up at school!

so i booked a very cheap flight to taiwan for the 5-day weekend. i did some research beforehand and decided that i wanted to rent a moped so i would be able to drive around the north coast of the island. however, you are supposed to hold a taiwanese license to be able to drive. eventually, i found one guy who rented scooters to foreigners (all local shops will not). his name was jeremy and he's been living in taiwan for 18 years. he fell in love with the country and i can see why.

after flying in thursday morning, i met jeremy thursday evening. he gave me a quick lesson on how to use the bike and important traffic laws. for example, mopeds are not allowed to make left-hand turns in taiwan. so one must complete a hook turn. i was intimidated at first, but so excited that i quickly overcame my hesitations.

driving in taipei was a bit crazy. it is a city of 7 million afterall! and there are sooooooooooo many mopeds. most of the drivers are extremely brave and weave in and out between cars, bikes, and even buses. i took it easy and tried not to go over the speed limit. i really did not want to get a ticket. plus, i think i could've gotten in trouble for not having a taiwanese license. but hey, i love adventures!!

i just drove around taipei on thursday and called it an early night so i could get enough sleep before my big day on friday.

i lucked out and had gorgeous weather. taiwan is notorious for constant rain this time of year. i was sprinkled on once during my entire stay and it was actually quite refreshing at the time. so friday morning i headed out of taipei (which was more difficult than i imagined) and headed to the northern coast. i only had one map which was not very detailed, so i got lost several times. luckily, most roads signs are bilingual (chinese and english).

along the way, i stopped whenever something caught my eye. i saw some nice views of the ocean, a few bridges, and temples. my final destination was yehliu, a coastal park with unique rock formations. these rocks have formed after years of waves crashing against them. the rocks are made up of different layers of rock, each a varying degree of hardness, so some parts of the rock eroded more quickly than others.

after walking around the entire park for longer than i had planned, i had to head back to taipei. it already looked like the sun was starting to set and i had at least two hours of driving left in unknown territory. i took a different route home that appeared to be shorter. it cut through a national park (a mountain), so the roads were very curvy and steep. this would have been okay and probably even fun if it hadn't started raining. it was really foggy, so visibility was really low. i had a poncho, but no rain pants. that made for a bit of an uncomfortable ride. however, as i mentioned earlier, the rain was refreshing.

on saturday, i headed southwest of taipei. first, i went to pinglin. a beautiful little city in the lush mountainside. this area is famous for tea. i went to a tea museum and ate some green tea ice cream. i also was able to see thousands of trout. this area is famous for its fish. there are special regulations to keep the population high. it is so beautiful to look into the stream/river because the water is so clear that you can see the fish well. and on a sunny day, there are constant silver flashes as the fish turn their bodies and reflect the sunlight. very cool!

after pinglin, i headed south to wulai. this area is also nestled in the mountains and well-known for its 80m tall waterfall. it's a very narrow fall, but still beautiful. there is a gondola that takes tourists to the top, but i opted not to do that. this area used to be inhabited by aboriginal tribes, so there are a lot of funky characteristics. the street was lined with vendors selling food. wild pig was a staple for the tribes, so lots of shish kebabs with pork, onion, and green pepper could be found.

i drove back to taipei and went to the largest night market there in the shilin area. it was crazy! so many people! but very interesting to see the latest fashion styles and smell the unique aromas of the local specialities....like "stinky tofu!" i only purchased a few edible items and headed back to the hostel after having two long, tiring days.

on sunday, i had to return the moped around 12pm and get to the airport by 3pm. so i woke up early and explored some more sights within taipei. i drove to the taipei 101 building (currently the tallest building in the world, built to resemble a shoot of bamboo) but i couldn't go inside because it was too early. it was still great to see from the outside. nearby, there was a local art exhibit of cows. it reminded me so much of home and the cow display that was on state street in madison last year. perhaps they stole the idea...

i had an amazing time in taiwan and would love to go back. i was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful landscape, climate, and friendly people. there were not nearly as many foreigners around as in seoul. however, taiwan is becoming a m0re popular place for native-english speakers to find teaching jobs. i would definitely consider teaching there. or at least another extended weekend trip there to see the south of the island!

check out the rest of my taiwan photos here!!

Les éléphants.

Wednesday, January 21st

Before my trip, I did quite a bit of research to figure out what sort of activities I wanted to do while I was traveling. Due to my love of animals, I was sure that I wanted to do something involving elephants. However, I had heard horror stories about elephant camps in Thailand. Most just seek tourist dollars and treat the animals poorly. Finally, I found a place called Patara Elephant Farm located an hour or so southwest of Chiang Mai in Hang Dong, Thailand. Patara is unique because it is not an elephant camp (where elephants are forced to work) rather a farm where the focus is on breeding elephants. Since the natural elephant population is deteriorating so quickly, the main goal of Patara is to produce baby elephants, not make money. However, as we all know, money is an important part of any business/organization. In order to supplement their breeding program, Patara has created one-day to five-day elephant training programs. These programs are pricey, but allow interested people to get up close and personal with elephants. The elephants do not perform for tourists like other elephant camps (playing soccer, painting pictures, etc.). Instead the elephants go through a normal daily routine and the visitors are taught how to assist. The farm has no more than 20 elephants at a time and had 14 when I visited. Each elephant has its own Thai trainer who lives at the elephant camp. These trainers are so dedicated to their job; they work seven days a week and wake up at 3 or 4am each morning to begin feeding their elephant.

Upon arriving at Patara, visitors are given an introduction to elephant history in Thailand and told about the mission of the organization. Their motto is, “Extinction is forever.” Each visitor is given special clothing to wear; the clothes are familiar and comforting to the elephants. Then, each visitor is paired up with an elephant and its regular trainer. I was paired up with the largest elephant, Maekapov, and her trainer, Pa-tee.

We first were given a basket of bananas and mango to feed to our elephant. To see if our elephant was hungry (I think they always are), we had to hold up the fruit so the elephant could see it and shout, “Bon.” If the elephant made a noise, we could begin the feeding process. Feeding an elephant is quite simple. As for bananas, elephants eat the entire thing. No need to peel. You can put the food directly into the elephant’s mouth, which is easier but messier, or you can hand the food to the elephant’s trunk and it will grasp it and place it in its mouth on its own. The elephants are very gentle and will never chew your hand. One of the trainers was telling me that when the elephants are sick, they put medicine inside of the bananas. However, the elephants are very smart and know which bananas have the medicine in them because they’ve already been peeled. So the trainers will mix up the bananas that have medicine in them (maybe every 3rd banana), but the elephants memorize the pattern and spit out the bananas that have the medicine. Intelligent creatures.

After feeding the elephants, we had to perform a quick health check to make sure our elephant was in good condition. The first thing to check was the elephant’s mood. A happy elephant will swing its tail regularly and flap its ears; a solemn elephant will not make such movements. Next, we had to check for dirt spots on the elephant’s skin. An elephant that has had a good night’s sleep will have patches of dirt on each side of its body from lying on the ground. A lack of dirt patches means that the elephant did not lay down and most likely did not sleep (a sign of sickness). We checked the elephant dung next. First, you must count the number of poops; six or seven indicates a healthy appetite. Next, you must smell it. It does not have much of a smell if the elephant is eating a typical plant diet. You can tell how old an elephant is by looking at the size of the plant fibers in the dung. The longer the fibers, the older the elephant. As the elephant ages, it does not chew its food as well or digest it as well. Finally, we had to squeeze the dung to make sure the elephant was drinking enough water.

All of the elephants were in healthy condition, so we proceeded to bathing. For protection from the sun, elephants cover their backs with a layer of dirt. First, we used leaves to brush off as much of the dirt as possible. We had to use commands to get the elephant to lie down. Then we led our elephants to a small stream near the farm to rinse and brush them. For some unknown reason, elephants love to poop when they go in the water. So it was interesting trying to clean the elephants in a small stream flooded with poop. However, some of the trainers had nets to scoop the poop out of the water. But you can imagine how much elephants poop and when you have nine of them it adds up quickly.

Anyway, after washing our elephants, we posed for some pictures. The trainers secretly positioned us so that the elephants could spray us with water using their trunks. It was cold (and dirty) water, but we got the elephants back by splashing them!

After the bath, we learned three techniques to get on the elephant. The first was to tell the elephant to lie down and simply climb up on it. The second technique was to tell the elephant to lift its leg while standing and use its leg to hoist oneself up. The third technique was to tell the elephant to lower its head and trunk and climb onto its trunk and over its head. I opted to try the second technique. It was not as easy as the trainers made it look, especially since I had the largest elephant to climb on top off. Later in the day, I tried the third technique and it was so fun and easy!

Once we were all on our elephants, we rode bareback through the mountainous, jungle-filled area for about an hour and half. Then we arrived at a stream and waterfall where the elephants were able to swim and play in the water (and of course poop in it). We enjoyed a delicious Thai lunch and fed the leftovers to the always-hungry elephants.

Finally, it was time to head back to the farm. We let our elephants eat independently for awhile so we could let our bodies rest (it is physically draining to ride an elephant for so long). Then we mounted our elephants one last time and tried riding them with our legs dangling down their trunk instead of tucking them in behind their ears. This position definitely required more trust that the elephant was not going to lower its head and cause you to slip right off.

View my other photos from Patara Elephant Farm here!!

winter travels.

Greetings everyone! I am freshly back from my two-week winter vacation in Thailand and Cambodia. I had an amazing time and will never be able to relay all of the incredible experiences I had. However, I will do my best to give you a day-to-day synopsis of my adventures and share some of the most memorable moments with you.

Sunday, January 18th

I left the Incheon airport around dinner time and arrived in Bangkok at 9:10pm. The airport is quite large and only two years old. It was crazy thinking about the protests that tied up thousands of travelers for days that happened only several weeks ago. It was nice as far as airports go, but I would not want to spend more than a few hours there.

As soon as you collect your luggage and go through immigration, you are immediately swarmed by taxi drivers and other seemingly nice Thais who want to offer you a ride. I was headed to Sukhumvit On Nut Guesthouse which was about 30km away and I had directions with me. I wanted to try to take the public bus because I knew it was much cheaper than taking a taxi all by myself. This task was not as easy as I had hoped it would be. Finding the bus stop itself was a challenge. Everyone I asked simply offered me their own service or pointed me in the direction of the 150 baht express airport bus (which is about $4 USD). That bus was fairly cheap, but I knew the public bus would be even cheaper and more adventurous! I stopped at a little convenient store to buy water because I was already feeling the sweltering heat. At the checkout, I asked the clerk about the bus stop and she gave me the information I needed. I headed back outside to the correct bus stop and waited about 30 minutes for the free airport shuttle. This shuttle would take me to the nearest bus terminal. It was confusing because I was not sure where to get off, but it became clear once we arrived at the terminal. I was the only foreigner riding the bus, but it didn’t bother me. The Thai passengers were friendly and seemed happy to share their transportation with me. Upon arriving at the terminal, I knew which bus I needed, 552, but it was not there. I tried to ask a man working there if another bus would be coming (it was after 11pm at this point). We weren’t able to understand each other but his profuse head nodding and finger pointing led me to believe another was on its way. Forty minutes later the bus finally arrived. However, I had to sit on the bus at least another 30 minutes before it even left the terminal! The bus driver had surprisingly good English and knew exactly where I needed to get off. The bus ride was at least another hour, but only 34 baht ($1 USD)!

Luckily, the guesthouse that I was staying at had 24-hour reception. When I arrived, it was almost 2am, so I just wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, my roommates had the same idea and were already fast asleep in the dormitory we had to share. This meant I had no light to change, so I just crawled into my top bunk and slept in my clothes.

Monday, January 19th

I woke up bright and early, ready to go. Why change my clothes now? I just had more traveling to do after all. I took the public bus back to the airport for another 34 baht. This time I had a one-hour domestic flight to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai is the 2^nd largest city in Thailand, but much less crazy than Bangkok. The atmosphere is completely different; the people are more laid back, the air is clearer, there are fewer traffic jams, there is greenery within the landscape, and gorgeous mountains surrounding the area. Originally, I wanted to go to Chiang Mai to visit Bo Sang during the annual umbrella festival. Later, I found out that I missed the festival by 2 days, but I am so glad that I still went. Chiang Mai is an amazing hub for mountain trekking and other outdoor adventures. The first day I was there, I decided to go to Doi Suthep after checking in at the hostel. I walked toward the mountain and eventually got on a red truck taxi, known as songthaew, which is basically a covered pickup truck with benches. They are cheaper than regular taxis since they can accommodate more people at the same time. The fare was generally around 20 baht (maybe $.60 USD).

Doi Suthep is a beautiful temple on top of the mountain. The drive there was rather long and all uphill and windy. I was the only one on the truck so it was a nice private tour. The driver dropped me at the top and told me to meet him back at the truck in one hour. It was enough time for me to climb the 309 stairs up to the actual temple, look around, and visit the many vendors selling goods in the area. The temple was built around 1383. It was quite a change after seeing so many Korean temples. Although both Korean and Thai temples have Buddhist roots, the colors and architecture are drastically different.

I got back to the hostel (Spicythai Backpacker…the best hostel I have ever stayed in) around dinner time. I talked to two Irish guys sitting outside in the hammock and we decided to hang out for the evening. We took a songthaew to the famous Night Bazaar where we ate spring rolls, green curry, and pad thai. There were so many vendors and items for sale. It was a bit overwhelming and since I was with two men, I didn’t actually buy anything. I just browsed and thought about what I might want to look at the following day. We ended the evening by having a drink at a local bar. I ordered a Mai Tai, but it was really strong and did not taste good. I should’ve gone with a beer!

Tuesday, January 20^th

I had not made any previous plans for this day, so I decided to book a tour through the hostel. They set me up on a one-day trekking adventure with Panda Tours. It was about 1,500 baht for the whole day, including lunch and all transportation. I was picked up from the hostel and told that I would be alone for the morning and meet up with others later. So my driver, who called himself “Number 1,” and I set off. Our first stop was the orchid and butterfly farm. It was not nearly as interesting as you’d think it would be. There was no entry fee, but the people there try to get you to buy overpriced souvenirs. The butterflies were lacking, but the orchids were quite impressive.

Next, we drove to see the Karon Longneck hill tribe. You have probably seen photos or watched a documentary about these women who wear brass rings around their necks. As they get older, they add more rings to make their necks appear longer. However, research has shown that the necks are not elongated, rather the shoulders and rib cage are pushed down, creating an illusion. These rings are not only worn for decorative purposes, but also as protection. Some women also wear rings beneath their knees, which served as protection from snake bites.

The area we went to was known as an “eco-agricultural zone.” As I understand, the area is owned by the Thai government, but is neutral land for hill tribe peoples. Many of the Longneck’s, for example, are from Burma. They do not have Thai resident status, but are able to live in this particular area and are protected. I asked my guide if he thought these people were happy. He said that he thinks they are since they do not have to worry about being kicked off this land, civil wars, etc. I do not know if I believe him though. All of the hill tribe people looked so solemn and were passive. The children did not laugh and play as most children do. They simply stared. Or tried to sell their hand-woven goods.

Throughout my trip, I had to get used to being approached by all sorts of people wanting my money: children without shoes, blind women, homeless families, people crippled by landmines, and so many others with various conditions. It is such a complicated dilemma: to give them money/buy their goods or just pass them by. It is a double-edged sword; if you do not buy something, they will continue to suffer and search for money in other, less desirable ways. If you buy something, you help them temporarily, but reinforce their behavior of using tourists as a crutch. I constantly had to ask myself which was best and I have yet to give you the correct answer. I did decide though that these are people who at the very least want attention. So many tourists are rude and completely ignore these sellers. Some even yell at them, curse, or say unnecessary things. I understand their frustration of being constantly approached to buy things that they do not want or need. I tried my best to be polite and compassionate. Rather than just telling someone off, I would ask them how they were doing or why they were selling their goods or what their name was. This approach worked well for me. When I told them I was not interested in buying their stuff, they more respectfully took my response and appreciated being treated like a human. I had some very interesting conversations with several vendors and even played games with street children selling books. At one point, I had a group of about 6-8 pre-pubescent teens around me playing “Johnny, Johnny” laughing and not even thinking about selling their stuff. They were able to act like kids again.

Back to my one-day trek. After visiting the hill tribe villages, Number 1 and I stopped at Tiger Kingdom where I was able to pet/play with tigers! For 500 baht, I was able to spend 15 minutes in a cage with 4-6 month old tigers and 15 minutes with full grown tigers. This facility has only been open for a year or so and they have a reputation for treating the animals well. I was hesitant to visit a place that used animals as a tourist attraction, but I was impressed overall.

Next, Number 1 and I drove to our trekking spot. We parked the jeep and "trekked" to the meeting point. After so much hiking in Korea, I felt prepared for the hike. However, it was simply a downhill walk that was a bit of a let down. The scenery was gorgeous though. We met up with some other tourists who had visited Maesa Elephant Camp in the morning. We ate a home-cooked thai lunch and prepared for the afternoon. First, we went whitewater rafting. It was fun, but not as thrilling as I had hoped. The water was quite low so the rapids were only class I and maybe II. As soon as we finished the whitewater rafting course, we got off the tube and hopped on a bamboo raft. I wasn't anticipating the bamboo rafting to be so exciting. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It's a really relaxing way to float down the river and take in all of the beautiful flora and fauna.

Lastly, before heading back to Chiang Mai city, we stopped at another hill tribe village because the people I met up with hadn't visited the one I stopped at earlier. It was a typical hill tribe village, living a fairly normal life, but also trying to sell endless souvenirs to the passing tourists. I bought a small bracelet from the smallest woman. In general, Thai people are short, even compared to Koreans, but this woman took home the grand prize.

23.

the big two-three. i made it. my special day was
not forgotten even though i am far from home. my first surprise arrived in the morning as i was preparing for camp. some of my 2nd grade high school students came to my room with a cake made out of chocolate biscuits. mmmmhmmmm! they also gave me some soap they had made and handwritten letters.

later in the day while i was teaching one of my camps, some of my 3rd grade students surprised me with an ice cream cake! it was so delicious (and of course thoughtful)!

my co-teacher invited me to his house for dinner. once again, i was surprised with a cake. this time it was a green tea flavored cake from paris baguette. something unique. however, bo and his wife also prepared an amazing dinner...fried sweet potatoes, grilled shrimp, baked scallops, yogurt fruit salad and battered lotus root. it was a special treat. his children also taught me how to play some new games. what a great birthday!!

this past weekend, i went to lake hwacheon for an ice fishing festival. i had a wonderful time playing in the snow, hiking up a slippery mountain, ice skating, and sledding! please take a look at all of my latest photos.

• sk6 (random winter shots and my trip to kosu cave)
  
• sk7 (street art around hongik university in seoul)
  
• sk8 (more random winter shots with new korean friends)
  
• sk9 (ice fishing trip, winter english camp, my birthday)