Hello from Hyundai World (or at least a dormitory belonging to Hyundai)

So my first week of camp went really well. My best student did cry at the end of it though. I think she told me goodbye ten different times, and even said she would "miss me".  That was humbling enough, but she was a great kid, and some of the other ones were wonderful to teach as well. Everything went very well though last week. We even took a tour of the Hyundai factory and learned a little history as well.

This past weekend I got to have some time with Grandma and Momma Koo.  Grandma got the Tylenol and instant coffee that she had been longing for.  I now have to get three bottles of Tylenol and more coffee for her though.  She's been sharing with others, so I don't mind too much. I get some good bonding time with a grandma, and that's always fun to have.

Momma Koo and I talked for a few hours at the kitchen table on Friday night about almost everything.  She asked me plenty of questions about Miss Annie, and even explained some things that I didn't want to hear.  She was surprised though at how young Annie looks compared to her age. Most importantly, (not really) I did get a wonderful home-cooked meal for dinner and breakfast. I did deliver the family's gifts from my previous travels that I had been holding onto for a few weeks as well.

(Battery is low, so more of this post will come later). 

Hello from the compound

Sorry, for no updates in the last few days. I've been busy, for once. This camp job is a real 8-5 plus some, which is wonderful.  It definitely helps me sleep really well at night.  I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll give a  little description of my life for the next few weeks.

I'll put it this way for the moment. This is what I sent in a message to my cousin recently:
  this place is interesting

i work out at the hyundai health room, eat every meal at the hyundai cafeteria

get a special hyundai bus that takes to the building for camp

live in a hyundai dorm with hyundai sandals

and a fat LG TV

the parking lots have only Hyundai and Kia cars as well.

Every morning as our bus is taking us in to the office building we see thousands of cars that are waiting to be shipped all over the world.  There is a ship yard near the plant, and there is a different ship each day responsible for shipping the cars as well.  I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.  I've been spending tonight editing and putting together a four to five minute video for the Tucson class.  Each classroom is assigned a Hyundai car name.  We also have country names too, which we use for studying the different cultures of those countries.  

BTW -- no worries about the bad weather related things that are happening in other parts of the country. In Ulsan, where I am things are fine at the moment.  

Take care and I'll keep you all posted.

Stuck in the Big D

So today I had a flight canceled because of terrible weather in Chicago.  Due to that cancellation, I am not on my way to Korea either.  Due to the changes, I was rerouted from Memphis to Dallas. In 80 minutes, I'll be going from Dallas to LA.  90 minutes after that I will be going to Seoul from LA.  So instead of arriving at 4pm, I'll be arriving at 4 am on Sunday.

Here's to my weekend!!!

I guess I could have at least bought a book or something, but I've been trying to tire myself out walking and searching for places to find free wi-fi here in DFW.  Instead I bought a CAT-5 cable and hooked it up to a little charging station, so I wouldn't be too bored out of my mind.

Back to Camp

So after an eventful 2 1/2 weeks which included some bonding with my cousin, best friend and big Sis, I'm on my way back to Korea as of tomorrow morning (Friday). Next stop is the big metropolis of Ulsan, the 7th biggest city in the country of Korea. The city's population is about 1.1 million people. I will be working at a camp that is sponsored by the Hyundai corporation.

Ulsan is home to the world's biggest shipyard, oil refinery, and the largest automobile assembly plant in the world too.  I am super glad to be going back to work, and most importantly seeing my little lady.  I will be back to normal, in terms of daily updates starting on Sunday, July 24th.  Tomorrow morning I'll be flying Korean Air from Chicago straight to Seoul, Korea. Then I get a two hour bus ride to Cheonan, where I meet Miss Annie, and then we'll head on to Gongju together. I gotta pick up my clothes there, then I can head to camp on Sunday.

Anyway, check back soon for updates.  Welcome back!

A little Happy Birthday Shout Out to:

a lovely lady, and a super great kid.

First of all, since it's already past July 13th in Korea, let me say Happy Birthday to Miss Annie (my girlfriend).  Since I'm a gent, I won't disclose her age, but she definitely does not look her age.  She's a wonderful woman, who finished her evening early, and came to her workplace just so we could chat on Google Talk.  It was only about 2:30 am her time when we started, and we finished about 4 am her time.  Happy Birthday Annie. I miss you a lot and can't wait to see you very soon.

                                             Yours truly with the birthday lady.

Next, Happy Birthday to my little buddy Ethan. Better known as my sister's wonderful little boy, or my nephew.  Ethan was in some pain yesterday and has a little infection in his hip, but he's a tough kid.  He and I bonded a little bit after his fun time at the doctor yesterday. Ethan loves his Mom, and his dog George.  Anyway, I'm glad to be able to spend some time with the little man on his 4th  birthday.

                                     Yours truly with Little E, while watching some Toy Story 2.

Interesting Calculation

So the following calculation shows the distances I traveled during that 5 week period from July 2nd to July 8th. If you see an l, that stands for layover. Besides that, the list of cities below is where I stayed/visited during that time frame. 

Seoul to Ghangzou (l) 1280

 Ghangzou to Hanoi 493

Hanoi to Da Nang 377    

Da Nang to Saigon 375

Saigon to Hanoi  707

Hanoi to Moscow (l) 4190

Moscow to Sofia  1110

Sofia to Athens 332

Athens to Rome 665

Rome to Cairo 1330

Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh 301

Sharm El Sheikh to Cairo 301

Cairo to Rome (l) 1330

Rome to Boston 4080

Boston to Memphis 1140

Total miles traveled via Bus or Airplane from June 2^nd to July 8^th – 18,011 miles

Some Egypt and Boston

                                         I was able to wake up and see the pyramids

                                               view from a restaurant window

                                                    Egyptian Beer

                                           Hotel room in Sharm El Sheikh

                                          View of one swimming pool at the hotel in Sharm

                                          Egyptian fast food

                                          Picture from a boat on the Red Sea

                                                      Need some help, need some 'roids?

                                             Egyptian rest stop

                                              My boy Jeff and his Norm Burger

                                               Cousin Michael with his food

                                            About to wear our burgers OUT

                                                   An AUTHENTIC meatball sub

                                             Modern Pastry

                                                    Gate at Harvard

Some shots from the travels

These are just a few of the shots from Vietnam, Bulgaria and Rome

Back in Memphis

So I am back in Memphis for a short time. . Boston was definitely a good time, and I'll have to post a few more pictures very soon.  I enjoyed being with my best friend Jeff, and my young cousin Michael as well. The food was wonderful, the people were nice, and the scenery was impressive too.

I really enjoyed eating in Little Italy.  The restaurant menus there are all very seductive in their own little ways. The place where we ate was excellent. All three of us cleaned up our plates entirely. We decided to stop at a place called Modern Pastry before we walked across the bridge to Bunker Hill. If you go to their website (www.modernpastry.com), you can see just how great it was.

The Cape Cod area was super nice, though the beaches there were a little different. We'll definitely have to go back to the Cape area sometime in the near future though. We only spent about five hours on Thursday there, due to some rental car issues.

I wasn't sure what to expect of Boston, but it's definitely one of my top cities to visit in the USA. It always helps when you're walking to the hotel on your last night, and assisting some folks from Korea with their luggage on the way to your room.

BTW -- the humidity in the south is a little rough right now, but at least I'm getting some rest.

Some Pictures from Beantown (aka Boston)

Boston Pops and more. . . .

So Monday in America was the 4th of July, also known as Independence Day, or better known as America's Birthday!!!  I have been in Boston so it was only right that Jeff, Michael, and myself celebrated the 4th of July in America's first city. We walked on The Freedom Trail throughout the day on Monday seeing different sites that relate to the start of America, such as the first public school, Paul Revere's house, and a cemetery where some famous folks from the Revolutionary War era are buried.

Monday evening we joined about 800,000 other people for Boston Pop's, one of the biggest (if not the biggest) 4th of July celebration in America. There was some excellent music by Martina McBride, as well as the Boston Symphony, and some very, very impressive fireworks. We were able to sit on the curb and just watch the musical festivities as there was a very large screen right in front of us.  Then when the fireworks started we moved just a little towards the Charles River, and got to watch a spectacular fireworks display.

We had no problem getting onto the subway with all the other people, as the MBTA did some great planning for this event in all regards. We bought week passes for 15 bucks to ride the subway, buses, and ferries all around Beantown, and that was a great idea.

Yesterday, the boys were pretty tired, so we didn't even leave the hotel until almost 1 pm. We went down to Fanueil Hall, which is a really cool area to watch street performers, eat good food, and do some shopping as well.

Jeff and I ate some clam chowder and lobster bisque that were both wonderful.  We then found an Ned Divine's Irish whatever, and ate a pretty decent late lunch there. When we finished lunch, we watch another street performer and walked on over to Paul Revere's house.  There's not much to see at Mr. Revere's house, but it's cool to read about the history of it, and it is well-preserved also.  His house is in the Little Italy area, so the boys and I found some Natural Italian Gelato. I ate Pistachio and Banana flavored Gelato and it was very, very good.

When we finished walking in that area we headed off to Fenway Park, for of course, a Red Sox game. Fenway Park, a national historic landmark -- or at least it should be if it isn't one.  It was pretty cool to say I've now been to Fenway.  The game went quick, and had an incredible ending to it. The seats we had weren't the greatest, but I haven't been the best planner this year, and I'm sure we could have gone some better ones if we wanted.  I get stuck doing all the planning for these trips, so I can accept blame for the bad seats.

Hello from ...... Boston and

Happy 4th of July everyone. . . I'll post a few pictures from my journey later though, that have been on my IPod.  I am in Boston, with my best friend Jeff and my teenage cousin Michael for a few days right now.

A New Month, and the End of A Journey

. . .. well sort of.  It's 2:45 am, as I am sitting in the Cairo International Airport waiting for a 3:50 am departure to Rome, and then I'll be flying into Boston from there. So my last full day of fun was a good one yesterday.  I spent the day doing some snorkeling in the Red Sea.  Kind of felt like I was in Finding Nemo.  I wore myself out, but enjoyed seeing all the coral reefs, and the beautiful fish as well.

So, over the last 31 days I will have been in four different continents, six different countries, ridden on or in planes, boats, buses, motorbikes, taxis, and have experienced quite a bit to say the least.

Some observations over these past 31 days:

1. Traveling with a cousin always makes for a fun time
2. Vietnam -- that's a cool place to visit, especially since it's so cheap
3. Best hotel staffs ever -- In Vietnam and in Egypt
4. I missed my girlfriend a lot
5. Best food -- Bulgarian food
6. Vietnamese people are super friendly, if you say no thanks, then that's just fine with them
7. Bulgarian women -- WOW!! 
8. I can now say I've spent the night in an airport (makes you appreciate some things in life for sure)
9. The airport in Moscow is SUPER DUPER expensive (not just because I'm cheap either)
10. Beano's Cafe in the Cairo Airport is good stuff
11. Bulgarian food is awesome, and their restaurant service is great too
12. Oh yeah, Bulgarian Wines are incredible too
13. Spring rolls (enough said)
14. I've experienced some pretty good plane landings lately (Aeroflot, especially)
15. The Russians and Koreans both love some duty-free shopping (Russians for the Vodka, Koreans for anything)
16. Korean food in Saigon is pretty good
17. It seemed like I couldn't get away from Korea no matter where I was (even spotted a group of Koreans in Sofia one day)
18. The Euro sucks
19. I've been screwed over by "tour agencies"now
20. If only I'd checked my spam, no. 18 would not have happened though
21. Egyptians will do ANYTHING for a tip (especially at the Cairo Airport)
22. Sleeping in a cabin in the outskirts of Rome was pretty cool
23. MT. Sinai, Sunrise (enough said)
24. Egyptian food, and me don't always agree
25. I miss Korean food a little bit 
26. I had some killer Gelato in Rome
27. I saw the pope
28. I wish to show some of these places to my girlfriend one day 
29. Cairo is a crazy city (1.8 million cars, enough said)
30. Rome is AWESOME
31. Athens NOT SO AWESOME, but the Parthenon is cool
32. Sofia = a green, green, city with some wonderful people
33. My hostel experience in Sofia was amazing
34. I've met some pretty incredible people with some amazing stories and amazing lives, compared to mine
35. I've been humbled by the respect I've been shown throughout this journey
36. KEEP GOING (right Annie?)
37. I really love flying planes that are non-American because 75% of the time, they aren't full.  I've been blessed with legroom on these flights.
38. Security is interesting in these different countries.
39. Most interesting airport- I might say Rome for now.
40. Place(s) I'm super ready to go back to: Sofia, or Sharm El Sheikh