Well. This is it.

March 31, 2010, originally uploaded by Parker Fitzgerald.

My adventures continue here-

Wondrous Wanderlust

Stories, photos, and randomness from a crafty teacher travelling the world with an amazing companion.

If you are looking for advice on Korea, visit www.teacheslkorea.com. They'll take care of you.

Currently listening to:  Hide and Seek, Imogen Heap.

pouring.

If you insist on being rainy Berlin, I'm going to spite you and enjoy my day listening to this and having a cozy weekend in the confines of our apartment.

And staying in my pajamas.



Amidst the hurry

Before I landed in Berlin, Brendan and I were able to spend sometime in these wonderful places...

 Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina 

Manhattan from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.

Central Park. 



Manhattan from our hotel room.

New York is more magnificent than any book, movie, story, poem, etc. could ever begin to express.

While North Carolina might be hot and humid, it has a lovely Southern charm

that I can't wait to spend more time with.

I wish somebody would tell Berlin that it is July, not October.  I'm pining for a cozy sweater, warm boots, and my box of scarves in my dad's attic.  We only have two weeks left here, and despite the insane schedule and sad weather, it has gone insanely fast and I'm dreading the day we have to leave. 

Dear Berlin,

Please find some sunshine for the rest of our time here.

Love,

Alex

Currently listening to:  Video Games, Lana del Rey.

Ich liebe Deutschland.

 (The bells from the church almost made me tear up.  Honestly.)

Berlin. 

Currently listening to:  I'm too busy doing homework to listen to anything! 

Dispatches from Montana

Being home is a total whirlwind as usual.  So many things to do, so little time. 

I had a lovely party.  Went to a citizenship ceremony (go America!).  Went to beautiful Missoula.  Saw some deer.  Ate some delicious sandwiches (twice!). 

I also had a yard sale (not a picture from my yard sale).  I got rid of a whole bunch of stuff and had a whole bunch of fun with my awesome friends and family!  Plus, I made a little extra cash which never hurts.  I've done a million other things that I just didn't take pictures of, like the yard sale for example.

Well Montana, we only have a week and two days left together this time around.

I promise to take more pictures. 

Currently listening to:  A Praise Chorus, Jimmy Eat World.

lilacs and deer in the yard

(source)

I'm stateside for a bit.  It is kind of amazing.  I do miss Korea, but not when I go to the grocery store full of chocolate soy milk and shops full of turkey sandwiches.

Currently listening to:  Feeling Good, Micheal Buble.

Use it like it was supposed to be used.

(source)

I love this!  Print it.  Use it.

Currently listening to:  This is The Life, Two Door Cinema Club.



So longs and see you laters

Today was brutal! Saying goodbye to those little faces. I held it together until I had to say farewell to the fabulous Korean staff I've been so fortunate to work with.

And so begins the next chapter!  Hello America! 

Currently listening to: Rocky Mountain High, John Denver.

The people I have found.

I'm not sure where the time has gone, but I have less than two weeks left and I'm feeling so many things! This song just about sums it all up for now.

P.S. I'm pissed I missed Elton John in Billings! Honestly! Couldn't he have just waited a few more weeks!?

Children's Day

Holy adorable.

Currently listening to:  Out of Style, Out of Touch, The Eulogies.

템플스테이

Brendan and I did a temple stay at Beomeosa in Busan (info).  Some go looking for balance and rest.  Some go looking for the meaning of life.  I basically had an extreme curiousity to fill.  I got that curiousity all taken care of.  While the temple was stunningly beautiful...I'm going to go ahead and put the temple stay curiousity behind me.  As much as I would love to post pictures of us in our little temple outfits, I'm afraid I just can't bring myself to do it.  I encourage anyone to go who wants to see what everyone is talking about.  However, I doubt anyone can find themselves in less than 24 hours, especially when being told the path to enlightenment through a volunteer translator.  The 108 bows are nothing compared to the amount of time you spend sitting on the floor which gets surprisingly painful. 

We took what we learned from our time with the monks and headed straight to the Wolfhound in Haeundae for some much needed fish and chips!  We had an awesome weekend! 

Almost 3 weeks left in Korea!

Currently listening to:  Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Sufjan Stevens.

(source)

Currently listening to:  When I Grow Up, First Aid Kit.

honestly.

I seem to have been coming up with extra projects just to avoid organizing and packing (no thanks to Tumblr, my newest addiction). 

Handpainted cards.

Heart bokeh filter...

 

 which still needs some practice.

 Finished my Matroyshka dolls!

 Worked on a bouquet made of felt for an amazing bride.

 Oh and plus I spend most of my free time thinking about this place.

(source)

 And this place.



I'm so busy!  I swear!

(I didn't even mention studying German, working on CELTA coursework and watching the Real Housewives the second a new episode posts online...)

Currently listening to:  Let's Start A Band, Amy MacDonald

no scooters for you.

My pictures from this weekend were going to be of things like this:

(except I'm blonde)

But they ended up being mostly like these:

Renting scooters in Gyeongju did not pan out as planned.  However, there were still plenty of things to take pictures of, even if none of them involved adorable pictures with a scooter and retro motorcycle goggles.  Oh well.  Next time.  It was still a glorious weekend!

Currently listening to:  Animal Tracks, Mountain Man.

blossoms on Sunday

Spring in Korea is especially beautiful this year.  It is so nice to have a warm breeze in your face instead of the icy, driving winter wind.  I can't wait to spend my last 7 weeks (yikes!) taking in what Korea has to offer this time of year.  I'm sad another fantastic weekend is over, but only five days till the next one!

Currently listening to:  When I Grow Up, First Aid Kit.

blackbird singing in the dead of night

 I spotted this little guy in an amazing Japanese megastore.  It has a cage case.

I had to have it.  It came today (thank goodness!  I needed a little surprise today of all days!). 

Check out all the colors it can come in plus the amazing picures people take with it!

http://www.superheadz.com/bbf/

I'm boring and picked white. 

As soon as I get my film developed, I can contribute to this group-

http://www.flickr.com/groups/830027@N25/

Yeah for springtime!

Currently listening to:  Little Marriage, Lia Ices.

the weekend blur

My weekends have been such a race against the return of Monday.  It seems like they go from Friday night to Monday morning in less than 24 hours.  This weekend will be no exception.  I need the weekend though.  Really, really need it.  No matter how short it may seem. 

I also feel like I was the last person to know that Liz Taylor died.  Where was I yesterday that I almost missed that?!  Also on that note, there is the most amazing link to 100 photos of her that gave me goosebumps-

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/100-beautiful-pictures-of-elizabeth-taylor

Look at her rock the Dior "new look" and kill it in bikinis all day!

Currently listening to:  Starlight, Walter Meego.

I kill plants.

So I made these instead!

It's almost spring in Korea again.  Bring on the yellow dust, blossoms and the rain!

Currently listening to:  Mr. Blue, Catherine Feeney

long exposures.

I took my tripod outside to take pictures of the moon.  None of those really turned out, but I caught a few others.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to be out at night with my tripod, laying on a sidewalk trying to get the perfect shot, without being questioned.  A lady came out to see exactly what I was doing. 

So I showed her.  She seemed impressed. 

She gave me a thumbs up.

Currently listening to:  Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Nickel Creek.

Having my fill.

A few things I can't get enough of lately.

#1.  This amazingness.

#2.  Chamchi gimbap.  I just love it.

source

#3.  This amazing chocolate cake from my baker.  It is the closest thing to homemade cake I've found in Korea.

#4.  The new tiny babies at school!  They are just so little and adorable I can't stand it.

#5.  Thinking about this summer.  It is going to be truly spectacular.

I have so much to plan for as I wrap up my time in Korea.  I have three months left and so much to do.  I still have a short list of things to see/do here.  Who knows.  It may not be my last time.

Currently listening to:  The video you should have just watched.

puddle jumping

Korean shoe stores are some of the most painful places for me to visit.  First of all, I don't really like shoe shopping.  Second, you have to haggle and fight for a pair of shoes that are probably going to fall apart anyway.  On top of all of this, every shoe store in all of Korea ends up having the exact same shoes.  There is little variation beyond material and heel height.  I have no idea how these stores differentiate themselves. 

So, when I needed pink heels in October for my Halloween costume, not a single store had anything lighter than a shade of beige.  "No pink!  Not fall color!" is all that I heard from store after store.  So I gave up and wore my Nikes (which are awesome, but my Barbie costume needed heels!).

At the moment, I'm trying to find a pair of wellies.  I hate. Repeat HATE walking to work in the rain.  My shoes and pants end up all wet and I'm a terrible clutz and I often end up slipping at least once.  Usually twice.  I recall a time, not too long ago, when every shoe store had at least seven pairs of wellies on display.  Now, after two weeks of looking, I've not found a single pair.  Not one.  I'm not giving up.  I'm not letting Korean shoe stores defeat me once again. 

However, if I do give up, I'm ordering a pair of these.
http://www.hunter-boot.com/

Probably in red.  Or pink.  Sigh. 

Currently listening to:  Ballerina, Leona Naess.

The dentist. Korean style.

Going to the dentist in Korea is a special experience.  It is a lot like your dentist in America minus the gloves, warnings about things about to happen to your teeth, and trashy magazines in reception (well these might still be there but they are in Korean).  However, since two dental visits have been free for me so far, I'm thinking you have to take the good with the bad.  My dentist is a former student's father so he says "Aw.  St. Louis teacher.  Service scaling." (service means free in Korea).  However, my tooth restoration was not free, but still reasonable (I had some exposed, super painful roots).  It was painful and I kind of made a scene in the office.  Which was lame because the lady three chairs over was having half her upper teeth removed without a flinch...

So, if you're living in Korea, go to the dentist!  Or don't.  The no gloves thing is a little hard to handle.  I'm also pretty sure an ad like this could still run in Korea.  Seriously.

My little black book.

One of my Valentine's gifts was a Moleskine I didn't even know I had always wanted.

I can't wait to make all kinds of fun German notes in it!

Korea has had the most radical weather.  Sunday was beautiful and sunny.  Monday, it dumped snow.  Wednesday, it rained.  Today, it is beautiful and sunny.  As long as the weather holds out for our Ultimate Frisbee game on Sunday, I'll be just fine.

Currently listening to:  Apologies, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals.

Nothing says love like veggies.

Last year, Brendan bought me a book of vintage Valentine cards.

This one is the best.

I love Valentine's Day.

Currently listening to:  At Last, Etta James.

Hey! Let's go to Japan!

Nagasaki Peace Park.  Beautiful.  Painful. 

Hundreds of thousands of paper cranes.

 Beppu monkey reserve.  Sheer awesomeness.  Plus check out what my lens can do!

 Japanese sunset.  Perfect.

 Japanese trains are super slick.  I mean the KTX is cool and all, but it doesn't have wood floors.

Nagasaki Chinatown lantern festival.

Burning wishes and making sacrifices for the gods at the New Year.

Cutest restaurant ever in Fukuoka.  It had a tiny hobbit door.

Japan is nuts.  Super efficient, clean and things made so much sense.  They have sinks with built in hand dryers.  Come on.  That is as efficient as it gets.  We did so much in five days, it was an amazing whirlwind.  I'm so glad I got to experience it while I'm this close and it is just a ferry ride away!

Currently listening to:  Something Good Can Work, Two Door Cinema Club.