We fell off the face of the earth for three weeks...

... and ended up safely back in Ulsan, drinking Maxim coffee (it's like crack) and eating dog...

The things we discovered, saw and experienced in our adventures (in no particular order)

1 - Jess is now addicted to the sugary instant concoction that Korea passes off as coffee (Maxim Black and Maxim Gold)

2 - Anytime is the best candy of all time, anywhere! (Green tea candies are a close second)

3 - Meeting random people is a goodness. So is being stranded and delayed by fog (sometimes).

4 - Beds in Asia are hard.

5 - Jessica is still terrified of squat toilets even though she has been traveling throughout Korea and China for three weeks.

6 - Always carry Kleenex.

7 - Contrary to popular belief, pandas don't just wander the streets in China.

8 - The Great Wall sure is great! (and steep, dear lord is it steep)

9- Sometimes, when you order by pointing to the food on the table beside yours, you end up with wonderful, wonderful mutton!

10 - Jessica is queen of haggling. Katrina is too nice.

11 - Everything in China is really big, except for the stores, which are really small.

12 - The DMZ is a wonderful magical place, where butterflies make landmines go away.

13 - Koreans have to make everything supercute. Everything.

14 - The internet in China is effin' slow.

15 - Katrina's principal did not let Jess come to class with her, as he was afraid of mass pandemonium with the 1700 students in her school. Katrina's principal was probably wise in making this decision.

16 - Jessica and Katrina are beautiful. Or so say everyone in Korea and China. Including cab drivers, students and random other people.

17 - Asian babies and children are the cutest cutest cutest things ever!

18 - We love heated floors and heated subway seats.

19 - Everything in Korea is shiny.

20 - Nobody in Harbin speaks English or understands hand gestures.

21 - People candy way more than just apples in China, and the candied strawberries are delicious. So are the candied bananas...and the mystery fruit...really it was all good.

22 - Seoul shopping was made for Jessie...

23 - Beijing is cheap, from pumas to seven jeans to food and drink.

24 - Taking money out in China is nearly impossible, so we advise if you ever find a bank machine that accepts your card, jump on that shit and take as much money as possible!

25 - Making jokes about eating dogs is fun for the look of horror on dog lovers faces.

26 - following fireworks will lead you to Tiananmen Square at night.

27 - Lonley Planet phrase books suck...

that is all we can think of for now. we are off to enjoy some dog stew. xoxoxoxoxo

photos to follow...

all 1000...all 1000...sigh...

back to school

Back from vacation now, and I'm a little bit tired. It was all amazing. Will post photos soon.

Today's the first day back at school - I am in the same desk, but none of the other teachers are... the wonderful teacher who sat beside me is now sadly at another school but they've moved an english teacher beside me... she's superfriendly and superhelpful, so I'm pretty happy about this development! About 1/3rd of the teachers are new - so it's going to be a fun and interesting adventure!

I'm a bit miffed that I'm not teaching today - we could have continued traveling today, tomorrow and Sunday - but such is life...