myretroperspective

Dear Hiking, although you're not my favorite thing to do in Korea (hiking in Korea is like a buns of steel workout, straight up stairs to the top) I'm glad we've started exploring more of the mountains and gorgeous views on our island. And maybe I'll even get a little booty out of it instead of the flat backside excuse that I have now.  Dear Inner Martha Stewart, pinterest has brought you out once again but I just can't justify doing any more DIY projects when this is not our permanent home. I need to stop!   Dear Students, this is how your latest speaking test went. Me: what did you have for breakfast? Student: yes...7 o'clock...breakfast. Me: close enough. Dear Apartment Hunting, this is the 8th move in 6 1/2 years. You would think I would be used to it by now but when you're moving from a place you love and trying to choose between a huge place that dark, dirty and old or a brand new place that just barely fits a bed...it's not so fun anymore. Prayi...

I was off fairly early this morning to drive in to visit the Folkston Funnel.  The Funnel is a very busy place for trains.  All the trains headed from Savannah to Florida, or coming from Florida to Savannah and points beyond have to funnel through Folkston, GA. Folkston is a mecca for train lovers.  70 trains a day funnel through this small Georgia town.  I was hoping to understand why people watch trains by talking to them at this train viewing platform complete with picnic tables, a bathroom, a charcoal grill, and internet access. Yesterday I visited the Chamber of Commerce and was given a train schedule.  I chose to come this morning before nine so I could be prepared to see the Tropicana Express from Florida bringing oranges north from Florida.  I was hoping to see the white cars which I assumed would have oranges painted on them.  I was also told a local train enthusiast named Cricket would be there on his cart. Well folks, no one was at...

This week I'm happy to introduce Jess from  the blog  More Adventurous , for the next installment of the Perspective Series. This is a series about expats sharing their experience of living and traveling abroad and how it inevitably changed their outlook and perspective on life. This lovely lady was a fellow foreign English teacher in Korea so it automatically makes me feel like we have a deep bond. She writes hilarious stories about her travels in Korea which I can so  relate to! Check out this  post or this   for some good laughs from an expat living in the land of kimchi. -------------------- I’ve always loved traveling. I was lucky enough to visit both Korea and Australia by the time I was in Middle School. That’s when it became real: I needed to experience other places and other cultures. It was this weird feeling of being simultaneously entirely out of my element but so incredibly comfortable. While I knew that I loved traveling, I wasn’t ever su...

Holy Moses, we’ve had a lot of rain!  My guess is about 5 –6” in the last four days.  Emma and I only made short forays out the door so she could relieve herself yesterday.  On the positive side, we really needed the rain and it was a great rest for my hip. Emma and I were able to sit outside this evening, and while we were doing that Connor, the biology intern, came to tell me that he had spotted some guests taking up residence in my rig.  Thankfully, it wasn’t mice. The view out his window is of the driver’s side of my rig.  He had noticed a couple of Carolina wrens visiting the space under the front slide out.  I went to take a look, and here’s what I found: I pulled out this rather large nest that they had built in the protected area where the slide arm goes in.  No eggs yet, so I yanked it out.  Male wrens usually build several nests, and the female chooses which one she likes best.  I’m guessing she liked this one and would ha...

Just a little something to cure your wanderlust for the week. via Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

As often as this Florida girl has complained about the cold to some northerner, I've been encouraged to enjoy the snow, and all that a winter wonderland has to offer. Thanks to R having president's day off last week and our wonderful CLO (community liaison officer) organizing a little trip, we finally were able to embrace the arctic. R gives a thumbs up as he careens down the hill (granted it looks quite flat in this picture) We headed back out to 期盘山 QiPanShan, home to  the Shenyang Ice Festival  for some "snow play" as we called it for the kids. Because R has only ever snowboarded and because it was only $24 (150 RMB) to ski or snowboard for the day, I thought it could be a good time for me to try to learn. The few other times I've been skiing, I've never wanted to give up the opportunity to ski to just fall on my rear end over and over again, so I've never snowboarded. With little at stake, I decided this was my chance- Winter X-games, here I come! R on...

I didn't know what to expect before going to Bangkok. I heard mixed reviews of people either loving it or hating it. Wanting to move there or find the first flight out. We arrived late on Saturday night and were greeted with much welcomed humid air, smiling faces and a friendly cab driver who, though his stifled laughter, still couldn't seem to get us to pronounce 'hello' and 'thank you' in Thai properly. We eventually got better with the 'sa wat dee ka' and 'khaawp khoon ka' with time. It was a warm welcome from the city I was so unsure of. In this site seeing mecca, we hit the ground running the next morning and saw as much as we could in the short 48 hours we had there. Here are my top picks of how to spend even a short time in this bustling concrete jungle. .Markets, markets, markets. One thing I love about visiting other countries is looking through the local markets. Buying or just looking are equally enjoyable as you peruse stall upon sta...

After four days of work, I’m ready for a few days off.  Three of those days were split between roving and working the VC, but that floor in the VC is still doing a number on my hip.  We are entering the busier season for visitors, so that helps with the boredom, but I still prefer the roving assignments.  They not only get me outside, but I also enjoy the interaction with visitors on the trails and nature drive. Winds were absolutely calm this morning after last nights thunderstorms and rain.  Alligator pond was very reflective, and if you had a pair of binoculars, you’d see a gator on the far bank. I thought I’d include a picture so you can get an idea of how the Honey Prairie fire of 2011-2012 resulted in stands of totally burned out upland forest.  That fire, which lasted a year, burnt through over 80% of the refuge.  While it looks rather devastating here, Mother Nature knows what she’s doing, and the swamp will come back rejuvenated. As we ...

As I write this post tonight, there’s a nice moderate rain going on outside.  The swamp needs it badly.  Over the four months I’ve been here, I’ve noticed the water levels drop.  Ponds and borrow ditches are drying up.  That’s not a good thing.  Rain has been forecasted for the next two days, and I, for one, hope the forecast is correct for a change.  I would also much prefer to have rainy days on the days I have to work, so it can rain all it wants for tomorrow and Sunday. Yesterday was supposed to be a day of training about the environmental programming we do for schools.  The morning almost went as planned, and our volunteer/intern group followed along as fellow volunteer Barry led us on a hike to discover those things that most people wouldn’t notice along one of the trails.  He did an excellent job pointing out things you’d normally just walk past. The afternoon didn’t go as well, as there were a couple of unexpected emergencies.  On...

I hear there's a nasty ice/snow system criss-crossing North America. While winter is melting away here in Shenyang I thought I'd give you an update on all those books I've been reading in case you're hunkered down for the weekend. Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple If you need to laugh out loud (as I did four weeks ago sick in the dead of winter) please read this book. I'm pretty sure it is an all-time favorite for me. Maria Semple was a writer on the popular tv show Arrested Development, but in this new novel writes of a typically dysfunctional family in Seattle. She pokes fun at helicopter parents, Seattleites, and microsoft, all while discussing creative genius, keeping you laughing out loud and engaged to the end. It's hard to put into words how great this book is so quit reading my review and just go read it. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn This was a prime example why I love book clubs (have I mentioned we have a little consulate book club here? it r...