Cultural Embrace Travel Tidbits

In Oprah We Trust...But Wait, There's More! ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-05-26T00:56:00.000-05:00

It’s peak busy season in the office as we’re preparing for summer departures; plus I’ve picked up additional workload to organize our popular Asia and Latin America placements due to a Coordinator leaving early for her pregnancy. Needless to say, my days are busy and full of ‘adventure’. Yet, knowing that it was Oprah’s last show, my team and I took an hour this afternoon to watch her final episode.

We all know how dedicated, inspirational, and powerful Oprah is, and how much of an influence she is to our culture. She’s got the Midas touch. Everything she touches turns to gold. Let’s think about it…all the books that have been featured in Oprah’s Book Club turn in to instant best sellers; any product or service that makes it on Oprah’s Favorite List becomes a must-have in the market; all featured guests that she brings on succeeds to their own independent stardom (ie: Dr. Phil, Bob Greene, Suze Orman, Dr. Oz, and much more). How does she do it?

I can’t claim to be a true die-hard Oprah fan. I don’t watch much television so I’ve probably only watched a few episodes through the years. I have subscribed to her O magazine several times in the past, but with time constraints and attention deficiencies I usually half-heartedly flip through the pages at airports or wee hours before bed. But, there is something about her that makes me want to listen, read, and hear what she has to say. Admit it--you feel it too, right? C’mon, um, millions feel it.

It’s all about the connection. As Oprah explained, “Something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. I became your surrogate—to ask the questions, deliver the answers, learn, grow, expand my thinking, challenge my beliefs and the way I looked at the world. I listened and grew, and I know you grew along with me…Sometimes I was the teacher, and more often, you taught me.”

Isn’t that the what life is supposed to be about? Connecting ourselves to exchange ideas, love, opinions, beliefs, experiences, and so much more. To teach and learn. An opportunity for us to Discover the Similarities and Share the Differences.

So if in Oprah we trust, who does Oprah trust? Who does she turn to and how did she get so successful? Although I may have missed four thousand five hundred and sixty episodes; this one answer pretty much highlighted her 25 years on air for me: “My team and Jesus. Nothing but the hand of God has made this possible for me. I know I've never been alone, and you haven't either. And I know that that presence, that flow—some people call it grace—is working in my life at every single turn. And yours too, if you let it in. It's closer than your breath, and it is yours for the asking…Even when I didn't have a name for it, I could feel the voice bigger than myself speaking to me, and all of us have that same voice. Be still and know it. You can acknowledge it or not. You can worship it or not. You can praise it, you can ignore it or you can know it. Know it. It's always there speaking to you and waiting for you to hear it in every move, in every decision. I wait and I listen. I'm still—I wait and listen for the guidance that's greater than my meager mind.”

When I think of my experiences, I have to count my blessings because God has been good. When I think of who I turn to for support with Cultural Embrace, I too rely on my team and Jesus. I am by no means Oprah. But I think it’s pretty cool that God shares His unconditional love equally. No matter who you are. It took me a looong time to realize and acknowledge it, but once I did, life feels so much more peaceful, richer, and easier. In fact, taking an hour this afternoon, or the time to write this blog (which by the way wasn’t anywhere near my list of things to do, but I can’t ignore this whisper in my ear) didn’t really phase me. I got enough work done to call it a day, hit the gym, and connect with friends. There is more work, sometimes I don’t think it ever ends, but that’s the gift that keeps on giving, and allows me to look forward to my inbox each day.

Turkey, the "Land of Dreams and Wonders" - by C.E. Coordinator Casady Monroe

2011-05-19T17:10:00.002-05:00

Cultural Embrace is launching a new Childcare Program in Turkey. I anticipate that several prospective Au Pairs might look at Turkey the same way my mother did when I invited her on a trip there in 2009. My mother had just come back from visiting Egypt, and she was expecting something similar: areas of great impoverishment, the need for armed guards to accompany us, men bartering camels in exchange for the women in our group. The great thing about travel is that is destroys our preconceived notions of what a place looks like and how its people act. Turkey is incredibly modern, hospitable, safe, and it offers everything that a young person could dream of. It’s one of the only countries that straddles two continents: Europe and Asia!

My Mother & I with Turkish College Students on Bosphorus River

One of the overwhelmingly wonderful things about Turkey is how friendly its people are. While on a tour of the Bosphorus River, a group of college girls approached me wanting to practice their English and teach me traditional Turkish folk dancing. My tour group visited a local school, and the students spontaneously serenaded us. The corner store cashier was patient as I tried to mime my need for shampoo (my Turkish vocabulary fell short). And several times I was invited into strangers’ homes to have dinner. Dinner in Turkey is no simple affair: it’s a several-hours-long ordeal with veggies (or ‘wedgies’ as the Turkish say), cheeses, soup, salads, breads, lamb, chicken, borek (phyllo dough with potatoes and other stuffings), fish, kebabs, dolmas, and at least two desserts. Everything comes with lemons on the side, and even if you refuse seconds, you’re bound to receive them anyways. (I later learned a technique for balancing my spoon on top of my bowl and cups to indicate, “No more!”) One night when I was just too full to consume my fair share, my tour guide knocked on my hotel door later with a platter of meats, “just in case” my appetite picked up later in the night. That is how much the Turkish wish to keep you well fed.

This is just the salad course!!

Cappadocia

During our trip, we visited Istanbul, Antalya, Cappadocia, and Ephesus. Istanbul had great shopping and wonderful night life in addition to the historical buildings one would expect (the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace). Antalya offered beautiful beaches and warm weather. In Cappadocia, the ground was covered in snow. Ephesus was full of ancient archaeology and religious sites. Turkey offered a bit of everything in terms of weather, climate, and things to see and do.

Antalya

I’m thrilled to introduce our participants to Turkey—a land known as the cradle of civilization and home to a huge number of ancient cultures, yet bustling with youthful activity. All of our families for childcare placements are English-speaking, modern families who live in large cities. They offer a weekly stipend, plus a bonus at the end of your term, private room, all meals (Yum!), wi-fi in the home, and pay the cost of your visa and residence permit. Participants will also have the option of taking additional part-time employment as a daytime nanny, one-on-one English tutor, or ESL teacher in a school. Cultural Embrace's Childcare Program is a great way to earn money and live in Turkey, the “Land of Dreams and Wonders”.
-Casady Monroe
Childcare Coordinator for Cultural Embrace

National Holidays and Stuffed Cake ~ by Abby Goldstein

2011-05-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

Sorry its been so long, I have been very distracted as of late. My computer broke, I lost friends, I gained friends, I went swimming… I smell something burning.
Moving on, last week was pretty much a blur, a lot of new work and training. I am now learning our Tibetan routes, as I started sales today (yay!). I have been offered a post grad job here for a few years. Definitely something to chew on. Speaking of chewing on, I had pizza this past week, it made me delirious. It was a Chinese national holiday similar to the American Labor Day. So we went to Richard’s country club for swimming, pingpong, and badminton. I also tried new foods this week… chicken blood, eel, sea creature of unidentified origin (Manny and I couldnt pinpoint what it was and have taken to calling it sea creature). We went to Hot Pot with a girl named Olivia who was in from Shanghai, she was a total sweetheart, and we walked all the way from dinner which was on the north west side of town, to the clubs on the south east side of town (it was a surprisingly refreshing walk). We stopped along the way to pick up a dress for 20 quai for me which looked fantastic with my sneakers, and a shirt for Manny to replace the oil splashed one he ruined at hot pot ( I suggested we just rub some mud and other weird stuff on it to make it look like part of the design). Either way, we had a blast (and a free bottle of champagne, oh how I love being foreign).

On Saturday Manny, Florence, and I did 6 hours of ktv…. straight through. It was awesome. We did everything from Elvis to Lady Gaga. This was all for only 15 RMB per person, non-alcholic drinks included! I was a little shy at first, but I was belting out by the end of the first hour, I was belting it out like I was possessed by Whitney Huston herself. My companions’ enthusiasm is contagious. I met a bunch of local girls, which was nice. Apparently, we hit it off enough that they were asking Manny for my number. Ah, if only I was that popular with the opposite sex. C’est la vie.

I met a ton of foreigners, many of whom I will be seeing at a concert tomorrow. I met a dance crew who was in Step Up 3 who were here from Holland for an international dance competition (apparently they liked me enough, I was sought after when they went into CC.) They are also the reigning champs in their competition, so mazel tov to them . I was given an oven too… a toaster oven, my boss is like you can cook cakes in this right, I shook my head and said I would try my best. I have mosquito bites up the wazoo, it totally blows, but I got them being outdoorsy so I am okay with it. I hit the mountains to the south of Chengdu this weekend with some friends, the views were breath taking, I need to start remembering my camera, its a really bad habit of mine to not have it. I will upload some new pics at some point, let me acquire more first.

I met my Chinese tutor, we have set up our first few meetings. My co-workers have gotten especially busy as it is peak season now, and don’t have time to teach me anymore. She seems very nice and has friends at Sichuan University. She works in a company that specializes in tutoring. Isabella referred me to her, she seems to be a very powerful woman, Isabella, that is.

I will keep you updated on other things as they happen, starting with a concert tomorrow. May is a month of new beginnings I have decided, and as such, there will be a lot of changes made. Social, academic, health-wise, and breaking bad habits. Sadly I am not much of one for making New Year’s resolutions and am beginning making some just a bit later in the year. With that strong note, I leave you for this evening.

A pleasure updating you all, as usual.

Soooooooooooooooooooo much love,

Abby
Cultural Embrace Intern in China 2011

United We Stand ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-05-03T10:50:00.000-05:00

I am still getting goosebumps reflecting and re-reading the text from Obama’s public statement that Osama Bin Laden was killed…

“On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family…”
The 9-11-01 attacks impacted Americans and the rest of the world in so many ways. There were the obvious physical changes such as sending our troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, increased airport security, restrictions of carry-on items, etc. There were mental setbacks to many Americans as a result of being violated and defenseless on our own soil. There were emotional changes that impacted many of us to take a deeper breath to understand the meaning of life.

September 11, 2001 was a pivotal turning point for my life. In fact, it was the catalyst of making me start Cultural Embrace. I was working in the hospitality and tourism field and many companies were nose-diving or shutting down doors as a result of cancelled trips due to the public’s fear of travel. On the contrary, I felt compelled to start a business that would help others regain the trust, love, compassion, and joy of humans, cultures, and the ‘other world’. I wanted to create opportunities for people to travel safely and to be exposed to the authentic lifestyles abroad by immersing them within the communities they are visiting. Traveling does not always have to be a Disney moment yet there are plenty of ways to experience the 'magical' moment because…it is a small world after all.

Now that we have reached a monumental turning point with the death of Osama Bin Laden, where does that leave us? I’ll leave the politics, military defense, and global economics to the world politicians; but for me and my vision…it drives me to continue to serve others so we are able to learn to embrace one another and our various cultures so that we may create a global community. Discover the Similarities – Share the Differences.

And what better way to end my thoughts than through the concluding words of President Obama…

"And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people…But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Making It Happen ~ Haley Price Volunteering in Guatemala

2011-04-26T12:36:00.001-05:00

Ever since visiting Mexico a year ago, I’ve had the itch to go back to Latin America, this time, with a purpose. I looked into studying abroad, and everything related. Financial restrictions did not allow for study abroad. Thus, I was left with other ways to make my adventure happen. I looked into the Peace Corps, and other opportunities available to students for the summer, or even after I graduate from the University of Texas.

One day, I was at a favorite study spot on the lake with my best friend, studying Spanish. He said that the only way I will become fluent is to immerse myself, and live somewhere with the language. Well, with all my restrictions, how is that going to happen? A man that was also on the patio chimed in, and told me about how he lived in Spain. Then a woman named Emlyn then also chimed in talking to me about Cultural Embrace, and how there are many options for me to make my dream happen. I met up with her later and viola, now I am a marketing intern here at Cultural Embrace, in which my work will be returned with a trip to Antigua, Guatemala, where I will help the community, reach fluency in Spanish, and provide in depth blogs and videos for Cultural Embrace to use in the future. Internship, and my Latin American experience? Talk about killing two birds. Some things just work out, and I’m starting to believe I’m meant to do this! If my friend had not said anything, and that random guy never chimed in, then where would I be! So, I am on my road to Antigua.

As of now, I’m planning the dates, working hard at my Spanish skills, and already thinking about what to pack! June can’t come soon enough sometimes. Summer in Austin is one of my favorite things in the world, but this experience is going to be the highlight of my college years. I’m just bouncing with excitement thinking about it.

However, my nerves are definitely on end. Travelling alone can seem extremely risky to me sometimes, but it’s nothing I haven’t done before! My parents are supportive, nervous wrecks, but supportive! They are going to buy their tickets to visit when I have dates set.

So, where to go from here? I guess I should start doing my research about Antigua, and find more about my living arrangements.

Right now the internship with Cultural Embrace in Austin has taught me soooo much. Way more than classes have, but everything I learned about marketing, advertising, and communication has been very useful. I work on various marketing projects, as well as social media and online communications. I even got to use my fitness expertise also!! :D

I enjoy the things I do here, and am really grateful for this experience, as it has been one most valuable.

I love to write and hope to have fun with this blog, expect a lot of pictures...and some rambling here and there :)

Hasta Luego,

Haley

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Jennifer Campbell

2011-04-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

Although I had A-Ha! moments coming out of my ears the first time I traveled abroad alone, there’s one in particular that keeps me motivated to go after even my “wildest” dreams.

I’ll preface: Remember the spin-the-globe-to-see-where-you’re-going-to-live-when-you-grow-up game from when you were a kid? Well, that’s how I discovered Tasmania. It seemed so exotic and fantastical and I can remember scheming my future escapades in my tree fort later that afternoon. I held on to the dream
of one day experiencing Tasmania for years but considered it a near-impossible mission that only wealthy world travelers, enamored drifters who could afford a one-way plane ticket or Looney Tunes cartoon artists were able to experience. But, as it turns out, I was wrong.

My A-Ha! moment came last year as I stood in Wine Glass Bay, Tasmania staring out from the white, powder sand beach into the crystal clear blue and green water. I did it. I’d sorted out a work and travel Australia visa and a plane ticket, saved enough from my paychecks working in Sydney to afford the trek to Tasmania and convinced two friends to come with me and live in a (tiny) hired car and exist on canned beans for nearly the entire trip to make our travel funds last. My mind started rolling… if I could make this thing happen, man, I could do anything. Traveling the world and submersing myself in foreign cultures and lands didn’t seem so far-fetched anymore… it was absolutely achievable.

That awesome moment led me to unearth a majestic gratitude for life and all of its opportunities and permanently disabled the part of my brain that filters seemingly ridiculous ideas and dreams. …Anything is possible. Just, make it happen.

Jennifer Campbell
Cultural Embrace Work & Travel Australia 2009/2010

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Abigail Goldstein

2011-04-22T14:27:00.000-05:00

My A-ha! moment was definitely in the middle of last semester. I was feeling homesick....for China? I then expressed my need to travel back here to my parents. I figured it would be a great internship opportunity, as well as a great way to learn Chinese. I also think its a good way to gradually enter into the "real world" and experience things on my own. What a great decision it was! I absolutely enjoy it here, I have made many new friends and acquaintances, which is always refreshing especially if it is something you accomplish entirely on your own. That aside, I landed in the perfect office. Soon I will begin training to learn how to do basic travel sales, and it sounds like I will soon be putting my advertising skills to good use. This is one a-ha moment I will never regret or forget!
Abby Goldstein
Volunteer in China 2010
Current Intern in China 2011

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-04-21T13:24:00.000-05:00

Traveling through eighty countries has provided me with plenty of A-Ha! travel moments. But undoubtedly, my time teaching English in China taught me many of life’s little lessons. Besides the fact that this was the first time living and working outside Maryland, or that I was a naïve 22 years old, the exposure I received changed my life.

I was raised as a first generation Chinese-American in a middle-class, multi-cultural suburb outside of D.C., so I felt pretty exposed to ethnic, social, religious, and cultural diversity. When I went to China in 1995, most of the 1.2 billion people seemed to look alike. The food was delicious, plentiful, and cheap…but I bowed down on my knees when they opened a McDonald’s about an hour away after eight months of arriving, and when I saw a Pizza Hut in Beijing during a holiday break, it was my new Temple of Heaven. Most of the buildings were drab, dull Socialist styled cement buildings, which didn't gain any appeal under the polluted skies. Vehicle variety consisted of millions of bikes, yellow breadbox taxis, and honking buses that stopped at every street corner to squeeze another dozen plus people.

Embracing the pushy crowds, loud talking, spitting, chugging bai jiu, learning to hover and squat over Chinese toilets, and claiming a spare seat on a hard seat train ride were just basic examples of a mile long list of A-Ha! travel moments in China. But the best lessons that I learned while teaching abroad was how easy and fortunate my life was in America.

It was an average teaching day and I started my class with an open discussion topic. I asked my students what their goals were and their plans upon graduation. When I asked for voluntary students to respond, Dove stood up and answered that she would return back to her home town, live with her family, and work at the local factory until marriage. I thought Dove was joking since she was a bright and ambitious student, as well as the class clown. I tried to get her to think broader and answer the question seriously of what her plans would be, but Dove scratched her head and said that was the truth. This was her plan and path.

Most of my Chinese students were assigned what college they would attend, what major to study, and what job they would have upon graduation based on their test scores and government control. Only the most prominent or smartest Chinese would be able to change their hukou (a national residence card) and obtain jobs to live outside their birth city. Living in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai were big dreams for them; and visiting a Western country like America was an unrealistic fantasy. Fortunately, times have certainly changed, but it's amazing this was just twelve years ago.

What would my life be like if I had a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment and was born and raised in China?

Meeting and getting to know other people from all walks of life has taught me to put myself in other people’s shoes. It has given me a new perspective and compassion for others, but more importantly, an appreciation of the opportunities and freedom available to me. Now, the question isn’t what am I going to do with these choices, but how am I going to respond to them.

New People, and Panda Palooza ~Abby Goldstein

2011-04-19T10:02:00.000-05:00

My absolutely, unequivocally, beloved readers,

So sorry its been such a long time. First, I got extremely side-tracked. Then my computer decided we would not be friends for a few days (we have made up since then). Here are the highlights of the last two weeks, I have gotten a few inquiries about when my next post would happen. Once again I am extremely sorry that its taken so long, and am humbled and honored by those of you who read my blog.

Moving on to lighter things, here is what shennanigans I have been getting myself into lately. Last weekend, I went out with Britt on Friday, we had an absolute blast at Club Muse, minus the fact that we kept losing two of Brittney’s friends, all of whom were extremely nice. I got to see Liangliang (to which I would have formerly said hurray, but due to certain circumstances is no longer the case). I’ve moved on to greener, more English-speaking pastures. The night was pretty fun and at the end of it, we finally found Megan and Sarah… holding different body parts of a mannequin trying to hail a taxi (by the way this was absolutely hysterical to watch, still brings a tear to my eye when I remember it).

I spent all day Saturday with Britt and her new puppy, Ribbons. We decided to have a picnic. We went food shopping at Walmart (definitely a new experience), and bought the ingredients to make grilled cheese using fish oil (Had a corn-ish flavor). Because the weather was so lovely, we sat out on the little sixth floor garden of Britt’s appartment complex. We had our afternoon tea, and I went home at around 4:30. I then hung out with Amy, a new friend, who goes to university in Michigan (I cant remember which one exactly I will ask her again when I see her next weekend). It was a relatively tame night, and I met some other foreigners as well, like Sam, who I have since run into since our initial encounter (he seems to have it rough, no details on that now though), and Halstene, an awesome girl from Hawaii.

On Tuesday, I was surprised with Pandas, Tina, and Isabella (my previous boss and housemates from my last trip to China) it was absolutely wonderful to see them. I forgot my camera but we spent a good deal of time catching up. They are both doing well. Isabella’s son is almost 4 now. I learned that many of my friends from my previous trip are either in China or have recently been back to China (we all seem to have some unexplainable draw to the place). It sounds as though I may see them again before my trip is over (yay!).

Wednesday I finished my first official job at work (reading, editing, and reworking the website). However, Richard was in the hospital for the last couple of days due to pain in his head, and so I get my next job assignment on Monday. It sounds as though I will be trained in doing sales as well as reading and editing my co-workers’ e-mails to their English-speaking clients. I was told I will also most likely be in charge of my parents’ trip to Tibet (insert evil laugh here).

Yesterday, aka Friday, I went out with Britt after I bought groceries for the weekend. And thank god I did, my wallet was stolen! Luckily, I still have my phones and passport. But that happened after a pretty wonderful night. I met up with some American clients for dinner, and then went over to see Britt. We went out to Club CC where we met up with Matt (from Orlando), Bruce Wayne (who didn’t tell me his real name, but I learned is from Vegas. He also has a personality that is strikingly similar to those of Pat and Fred, two of my good friends from back in high school), and Kid Pande (native Chinese), all of whom work there and hung out with us throughout the evening. I met a nice girl named Amanda (from Ohio…. I think). I met a ton of other people as well, even picked up a few phone numbers for my Chinese phone (yay!). Tonight I had dinner with a boy named Josh from Colorado, nice kid I met a while back.

Anyway, I will make it a point to keep my posts consistent from now on, again my apologies!

Ciao ciao,

Abby

Eggs, Octopus, and Other Delicacies by Abby Goldstein

2011-04-15T14:31:00.000-05:00

So its Friday and we all know what that means, its time to make the second post of the week.

On Wednesday, April took me out for my Chinese lesson, it was not huge, we just went for a nice little walk and went into a home furnishings store and she pointed things out and told me what was what. It was a relatively short lesson, and when I got home, it was dinner time, which was literally just a bowl of steamed carrots, I talked to Dan and Britt on skype. Britt and I decided to go for substantial food instead, and went to the top floor of Ito Yokado and got some sushi. We ordered California rolls (which you would think would be a safe choice), and were in for a bit of a surprise. The roll consisted of some sort of vegetable, covered in ketchup and mayonnaise (ewwwwww). After that we went downstairs to look at a dessert shop, and i got some jello-esque concoction and Britt opted for a dry piece of cake. We went out to have a nice low-key celebration of her receiving her first paycheck. We went to Jiû Paí street that Richard and Kiki took me to my first day here. There I met a bartender who was not there during my previous visit, Matt, who came from Orlando, Florida. We sat and chatted with him and Chinese co-worker “Kid Panda”. We got up on stage and danced with some students from Culinary Institute of America (just 2 hours away from Syracuse). I found out that we had a mutual classmate (super small world). Then I played the dice game with Liangliang who I call Mr. Bartender. After we made our attempt at chatting with each other, Britt and I headed out to a different part of town. There we met some more foreign students. I chatted with a girl from Sri Lanka, and we met two other Americans, both boys, one from Los Angeles, the other from Massachusetts. We got in around 1 a.m.

On Thursday, I finished editing more than half the English on the website, just a few more pages to go (woohoo!). I had no set Chinese lesson, so April took me out to experience some more culture. We went to a “hot pot” restaurant. It was sooooooo delicious. I ventured out of my comfort zone a bit. I tried chicken neck, octopus, quail eggs, lotus, and some chili peppers. The food got progressively spicier the longer the pot simmered (go figure). We were so full after splitting the huge pot between the two of us (which came out to about 100 RMB total). We headed down to a Club called Babi different from the first Babi club I saw. We sat down and had a beer then headed down the street to Club Seven, where we played the dice game for a good hour. Following that, we went to a roadside stand and got some BBQ I decided to go for quail eggs again (what can I say? They are my new fave). Then we headed home at around midnight. I received a text message from Liangliang, which, by the way, made me happy. He had to use a translator to figure out what I was saying. Apparently I forgot to tell him my name originally so he had me listed in his phone as “Lovely Girl” (insert your “awwww” here). He wished me a happy holiday (I am guessing he meant good evening).

And today, I have been working for the majority of the day, I am about to go for my Chinese lesson earlier than usual, right after the lunch break ends. I will fill you in on everything else next Monday.

Much, much love,

Abby

A Day in Queenstown, New Zealand

2011-04-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

Right, let’s just get straight to it and talk about Queenstown, one of my favorite places in New Zealand so far. The first official day there dawned bright and early. After having to get up at 6 or 7 every day for the last couple of days, I was sort of in that schedule already, so I don’t think I slept in later than 8 o’ clock. Apparently there was a free breakfast offered until 9 in the kitchen, but since they didn’t tell me about it until after the fact, I didn’t get that until the next morning.

First a little Maori legendary background about Queenstown. Yeah, I know. Indulge me. So Queenstown’s on this big body of water called Lake Wakatipu (which was carved out by a glacier) with the Remarkables on one side and rolling hills on the other. The Maori tribes of the area believed that a monstrous giant named Matau once abducted the chief’s daughter and was then burned to death in his sleep when the Maori hero came to save her. The lake is then in the shape of his body in the fetal position, curled up like an ‘S.’ Queenstown is about where his knee supposedly was. The rise and fall of the lake with the tides is said to be his heartbeat, which didn’t die with the rest of him. There you go, local history in just a paragraph this time.

The legend, as shown in a statue

So since most of my friends were still asleep or doing other things that day, I set off to explore the city a bit and get something to eat. I decided to start down by the waterfront since it was the most obviously scenic place to start and worked my way around the lake. It’s funny because Queenstown is supposed to be one of the biggest hotspots of the South Island and is one of the few “cities” in the area, and yet it was completely deserted first thing in the morning. It’s really more of a mountain lodge kind of place rather than a metropolitan center with lots of people and traffic. I think it’s really popular for the things it offers and for its scenery, but its appeal didn’t really make it overly crowded, which was nice. That changes a bit in the afternoon and evening because it has quite a vibrant night life with lots of clubs and bars, but even then, it’s not impossible to navigate through the town and meet up with someone.

See what I mean? Empty

I strolled around the downtown area for about half an hour, taking pictures of various buildings and just browsing some sites. Even though it was about 9am by then, there still weren’t many people out except the few people getting coffee or taking morning walks. A few gung-ho paragliders were soaring up above the mountain early in the morning, and it was cool to watch them navigate the crosswinds over the lake. I also discovered the infamous Irish Bar Pog Mahones, which is where it all happened on Saint Patrick’s Day, but I’ll get into that a little later. I felt a little bad about one thing, though. As I was sauntering along, taking pictures, a guy ran out of a building a few feet away from me, trailing white smoke behind me. My first instinct was to go, “Oh God, the building’s on fire. I should call the police or something,” but then he was acting so calm and ambivalent about the whole thing, and I sort of convinced myself that they were just fumigating or something. Not five minutes later, cops and fire trucks were swarming all over the street. Opps. Guess I should’ve called after all. Looked like it wasn’t too serious, though. Just a little smoke, from the looks of it. After that, I thought I’d make myself scarce and head back to the water.

More of the downtown area and...whoops?

I went down to the dock area first and was greeted with a thick layer of fog rolling off the mountains and over the water. Considering that it wasn’t exactly dawn, I was very lucky to see that kind of effect and lighting hanging low in the foreground. No one was really around that area, so I took my time admiring the lake and lining up some nice shots. Then the archway honoring the dead of WWI caught my eye and I started heading that way. Most people end up hanging around the main area of town more than any other place, so it’s hard to believe that a place as beautiful as the Queenstown gardens isn’t more widely known. I followed the footpath off to the left and starting out towards that hill, but before going all the way up, I stopped at this quaint café on the water called “King George V Coronation Bath House” made up of just a large circular room overlooking the lake and with a big crown on top of the building. I had intended to just stop in for a quick bite to eat and a coffee, but once I was there, it was so cozy that I just ordered a full meal. And oh my God. Best breakfast EVER. I took a seat next to the fireplace and browsed through the newspapers there until they brought the most delicious pancakes and chai latte I’ve ever had. They were buttermilk pancakes perfectly fried to get that crispy golden ring around the edges with real blueberries inside. Then, instead of syrup, there was a thin layer of passion fruit pulp swirled around the bottom of the plate so that you could dip your pieces in it. A dusting of powdered sugar on the top and a sampling of cream on the side finished the presentation. Absolute heaven. And the chai latte was just superb as well. The only downside was that it was about $18 altogether for only three pancakes, so I wasn’t completely full. But still, it was worth the luxury for once.

Area down by the lakefront

My breakfast stop with the view included. Yum.

I would’ve stayed there longer, but I didn’t want to waste the day away. Continuing my original quest, I went further up the path to the gardens. And found a Monet painting come to life. Seriously. I can’t believe no one mentioned the gardens to me before arriving in Queenstown, because they’re frickin’ awesome. The first thing I saw coming up the path was a simple gazebo ringed by maple trees and flowers, but then I kept walking and discovered a duck pond, bridges, fountains, and a picturesque view of the lake through the trees. The pictures really don’t do the whole thing justice. If I had my other, higher resolution camera, you might have an idea, but you’ll just have to make do with what I had to work with. I strolled around there for quite a while, deciding to just cruise around and not rush anything that day. I ended up couched under a sycamore tree with my copy of 1984 and lazily watching ducks swim past for the better part of an hour. I would have stayed longer, but my camera was running out of charge, so I decided to return back to the dorm, get a few bars into it, and then attack the afternoon.

A taste of what the gardens were like

Oh, I should mention that I took the long scenic route out of the gardens and passed through some redwood groves reminiscent of back home and passed a few ladies playing tennis at the courts there. The place is pretty large, so you could easily go for a jog, play croquet, go skateboarding, and watch a basketball game in the same afternoon there. It took only five minutes to walk back into town from there, so I did what I’d planned to do and put my camera on the charger right away and then left to get some lunch. That plan took a little detour when I met some of my Stray friends down in the lobby. Apparently some of them were going to go up in the gondolas and take advantage of the luge track up there. The rest were separating off to do other stuff, but the four of them considering the luge extended the invitation to me as well. I figured, eh, why not? After all, I had no further plans for the day aside from walking around and looking at stuff. It worked out perfectly because we all needed food and time to do other things, so we decided to reconvene in about an hour. That gave me time to get lunch and get some charge on my camera.

More prettiness from the gardens before we continue on

I ended up going to a place called Devil Burger, a place in competition with Ferg Burger with an underworld kind of theme going for it and then returning to meet up with them. It was basically me, Lindsey (another very tough American guy. Where are they coming from?), Nathan (crazy Australian guy), and…a girl who’s name I can no longer remember, but she had a very strong fascination with Nathan. That was a nice, small number for a day of mindless fun. Tracey (very sweet Irish girl) and a few of her friends tagged along for the walk up there but then separated at the gondola. They just wanted to look at the view and weren’t interested in the adrenaline part of the day. After the stuff that I’ve done here, I honestly didn’t see the ride in the gondola or the ski lift after it as even particularly unsettling. It didn’t even cross my mind that some people might get creeped out by it, so I was a little surprised when Nathan and his love interest started freaking out a bit. Apparently she’s afraid of heights and he’s claustrophobic. The Americans had it together, though. For some reason, they were the ones facing the city while we had to stare at the hill, occasionally leaning out to take pictures of sheep on the hill below. An offer to switch seats in mid-ride was met with horrified silence. Which was kind of funny, actually, since Nathan has done some spectacularly fearless things like jumping off bridges.

Looking down at Queenstown from the gondola

After we were safely (?) on the ground and ready to go, they calmed down considerably. I had planned to take the gondola up there, do one, maybe two luges, and then go back down, but they convinced me to get the special price that required five luges, so that gave us a lot of time on the mountain. Now, when you think of “luging,” what first comes to mind? Is it of a guy lying down on a skateboard and rocketing down an ice chute? Is it of one particularly bad accident that occurred in this last Olympic Games? Is it of speed and hairpin turns and adrenaline? Yeah, that’s what I though, too. What I was actually greeted with was a sort of go-cart looking contraption and a race course down a hill to the finish line. I was both relieved and disappointed to discover that because on the one hand, I didn’t want to die at something I had never done before, but on the other hand, it was like going to watch The Dark Knight in the cinemas and getting Adam West instead. Oh well. It still looked like fun, and we had the whole afternoon to get good at it.

The view from up there was absolutely incredible, and every couple of minutes, another paraglider would jump off the mountain behind us and float down over the city. I was sorely tempted to try that, but I wanted to save my money a bit. Since the Nevis is pretty expensive and the ferries to Milford Sound and Stewart Island were coming up soon, I didn’t want to be short. I think I’ll try that next time. Keep an eye on that large, golden-brown hill to the west that keeps popping up in the shot. That’s Deer Park Heights, and I’ll have more to say about that place for Day Three. We stayed up there and enjoyed the scenery for a while, and then we took the ski lift up the rest of the hill to try out the luging. Nathan and…can I just call her Sally? Yeah, that’s just easier. So Nathan and Sally partnered off and got very involved in getting the perfect couple pose on the lift going up because apparently there was a camera rigged up to take photos of the moment. Lindsey and I didn’t really care, so our photos are just us talking and using large hand gestures instead of looking at the camera. He was telling me about how he does street racing and stuff for fun, so he knows how to make cars drift and turn on a dime at 70mph. Yeah, okay, sure. Needless to say, I didn’t even try to compete with him on the luge. I let the boys have their little race instead of getting in a Mario Kart scenario where I go spinning off the course.

Behold the awesomeness. See the paragliders?

Since we had five tries at the luge each, we took our time about it. We had to do the first one on the “scenic route” course, which is designed to let you practice and figure out the controls first. Then, if you feel confident, you can move up to the standard course. There really isn’t much of a difference. The scenic one is just slightly less steep in some parts. The controls are fairly straightforward as well. To turn, you just lean your body in one direction and shift your weight that way. To brake, you pull back on the handlebars a bit to get some friction going. And to go fast, you obviously do nothing at all. I was a bit understandably occupied at the time, so I’ll steal some promotional pictures from Google to give everyone a taste of what it was like. Like I said before, the boys were out of the gate like the honor of their ancestors was at stake or something, but the girls trailed back to actually figure out how to operate the controls. Sally was pretty slow, so I lapped her without much difficulty, but then I had some trouble rounding a few of the corners at a decent speed. I think the first sled I got was a little bit faulty because it didn’t turn very well unless I through my entire body into a good two seconds before actually turning. The other ones weren’t as difficult for the next four runs. There was one borderline scary moment where I underestimated the curve and nearly went straight into the wooden divider, but I managed to overcorrect it at the last moment. I mean, we had helmets, but I had instinctively tried to stop the cart by putting my feet out, and that’s a nice way to twist an ankle. After that little hiccup, I got the hang of it pretty well.

The luge track, according to Google

The boys were completely at ease, of course, and insisted on going straight to the standard course without any more practice, and we just sort of rolled our eyes and did the same. Each time was a little bit smoother as I got used to the course, and by the last two runs, I was pretty much flying down the course without a whole lot braking. They take your picture at the finish line so that you can purchase it if you want, but we didn’t really have much interest in that.

Right between the fourth and the final runs, Lindsey had the idea of hiking up the big hill behind to try and find the spot where the paragliders launch from. It was a lot steeper than we had first reckoned on, so that was quite a workout. We finally did find them way at the top of the peak and sat around watching them casually walk off the edge. Sadly, I have no pictures, but it was nice and peaceful up there. It was about mid-afternoon by then, so we quickly made our way down, had one final attempt at the luge, and then took the gondola back down into Queenstown. This time, Lindsey and I faced the drop-off while the love birds talked about their romantic photos.

I don’t really recall the rest of that day after the ride back down, so I’m going to assume that I just chilled out at Nomads and went to bed at a decent hour. After all, big day tomorrow with the bungy and all. Ha ha. Look forward to the Nevis, the third highest bungy jumping platform in the world, next time y’all!

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Tracy Guthrie

2011-04-14T10:42:00.000-05:00

For me, traveling to Africa on a volunteer service trip was something I dreamt about for years. But due to limited resources, time and money, I didn’t think it would ever happen. However, in February of 2010 I was laid off from my job which gave me the availability to go to Kenya for an extended amount of time but made the money part even harder. I immediately started to pray asking God that if His will was for me to go that He help get me there. About two weeks after my prayer, my Dad called and said he got a random check in the mail for the amount of $1350. The money actually came from a savings account my Grandmother set aside before she died in 2003. No one knew about this money. The plane ticket to get to Kenya was $1400. That was my “A-Ha!” moment. I knew God was leading me to Kenya, so I took the leap of faith and spent six weeks volunteering WWB orphanage. It was the most amazing time of my life.

Tracy Guthrie
Cultural Embrace HUG Kenya 2010

April's A-ha! Travel Moments ~ Luan Ly Lierman

2011-04-13T11:17:00.000-05:00

I knew I needed to see the world and I love travelling. I fell in love with China especailly after I had studied abroad for a semester with Seattle Pacific University (SPU). Now, my husband and I are happily working and living in China, almost 3 years!

I've always been very interested in people. Cultures, food, religion, customs have always fasinated me. China for one, has such a deep culture and long history. Since my heritage is part Chinese, I find it even more important to know my roots.

Life back home in Tacoma, WA. is surrounded with people from different walks of life. I grew up with Tacoma, a good size city south of Seattle. I love my home for many reasons. Diversity in language, culture and life. All my friends have such unique stories. That's where education starts; is by getting to know one another. That's when we grow as individuals and a community. Being open, patient, and non-judgemental is crucial to getting to know others.

I did take a leap of fatih, a big leap when I decided to come to China. At the time, by myself with limited language ability. But what kept me going was my determination to learn, to grow in myself, and to expand my future. My risks, no return! Travelling abroad is huge risk, especially when you have no idea (for me) how to teach, or what to expect. My A-HA moment was the time I told myself, "I'm here. I got myself this far. No turning back!" I pushed myself and it has it rewards. Another A-HA moment was, "I can't believe I'm living in China." Now, I see China as my second home. A place I can always come back to with open doors and great opportunities.

Luan Ly Lierman
Cultural Embrace Teach in China 2008-present

Tomb Sweeping Day ~Matt Wiersen in China

2011-04-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

I decided on sunday morning to go to Yangshuo. I kinda went to yangshuo out of necessity but I definitely was excited to head back to my old stomping grounds! Because of the holiday the trains were packed so I had to wait an hour to catch one of the slowest trains to Guilin. It was mildly frustrating but I still managed to get there. So then in Guilin I wanted to catch the express bus which left from the bus station a few minutes down the road. For whatever reason I couldn't find the station, to only find out that the last express bus left at 6. the exact time when my train pulled in. So after wasting away an hour I ended up taking the normal bus that left from the train station. I finally arrived in Yangshuo at around 830 and made my way to the school as fast as I could. It was really exciting to see all my old friends back at the school. So from there we went to the grand reopening of the Stone Rose. It was pretty fun seeing how different the place looks from before. The weekend in Yangshuo wasn't the most exciting but it was just good to spend time with the people there. I also talked to Isabella for some time about my options for staying in China longer. So that was a very useful conversation. On that note this is something I really have been thinking a lot about recently. I am really enjoying my time here and could see myself here for a year. The school really wants me to stay and I would get paid more. But if I did stay that means I would miss coaching cross country this fall, something I really really enjoyed last year. Right now I am siding on staying longer because I feel once I leave China, It will be quite a long time until I come back. Also, I think I'll need more time to work on the language.

So my return trip was kinda funny, looking back at it. On the bus back to the train station I sat next to this chinese girl, and I talked to her for a few minutes but then i dosed off to sleep, waking up about 5 minutes from the station. So just before we arrive, she does a totally chinese thing. She gives me her phone and says "can we make friends" okay, she wants my cellphone number. But when I was talking to her she said that she lives in Nanning. So will I ever talk to her again? no. Regardless I gave her my number anyways and I have hers, never to be used. So I go to buy my ticket at the train station for the train that leaves in 15 minutes, a woman comes up to me trying to sell me her ticket. I look at it and it seemed legit, but I didnt want to buy it from her because you never know. I don't know why I didn't pull the "i cant speak chinese, I dont understand you" card. Anyways my ticket ended up being a standing room only ticket (the lady's was too). So when I got on the train I wandered around for a bit and ended up sitting on a step. This wasn't all that bad since this was only a 2 hour train back to liuzhou. So I arrive home and call it an early night, exhausted from the long weekend of running around until the wee hours of the morning.

So this week was a 3 day week which was awesome. But one of the most terrifying things happened to me in class on friday (actually its the week before but i'm telling it to you now). So I'm teaching my lesson and then all of a sudden my phone starts ringing. Not too loud, or anything and typically this is NBD but then a group of girls start laughing in the corner. this meant only one thing THE STUPID GIRLS HAD MY CELLPHONE NUMBER. This had potential to be one of the worst things ever. I had no idea how they got it and they wouldn't tell me. But I do have a pretty good theory (they went through their written english teacher's phone).

Okay, so I now that i'm up to speed I will explain what tomb sweeping day is. Tomb Sweeping Day is a holiday where Chinese family go visit the tombs of their ancestors. Of course, they light off firecrackers (to scare the bad spirits away). At first I thought this was just a pretty basic holiday, but then on the train ride back to Liuzhou I was thinking about what if we had this. To make a point of going to visit the ones who have passed before us. Then I realized that I have never visited my Grandfathers grave. He died almost 5 years ago and the last time I was there was at his funeral. Yeah, it's about a 6 hour drive away but Chinese people will take train rides that are exponentially longer just to clean the tomb of their ancestors. Just some food for thought.

Okay, to cap off this blog I think I'm going to try to change the tone of it a bit. I think I will write more about chinese culture and traditions and so on. I felt this blog post was mostly about nightlife and whatnot. I am doing a lot more than that, but it just feels like more day-to-day things like going running, teaching lessons and stuff that just doesn't seem to noteworthy. but its in these day-to-day things is where I really experience the regular culture. I will try to think of things but If you have any specific questions about things you want to hear, let me know!

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Jerzy W. in Guatemala

2011-04-11T10:18:00.000-05:00

I have been living in Guatemala for 3 months now and have observed a great many things. Some differences are quite obvious and others more subtle. It has been interesting to try and get deep enough into the culture that I am able to actually see things from their perspective. I can’t say I’m there yet, but I can say that I’ve realized some of the initial thoughts I have are pretty hasty. The cultural differences only seem so strange because I am living in a foreign land with the same set of eyes from my homeland.

I noticed right away that coffee is far more popular than in the US. Nearly everyone drinks coffee everyday and it is not unusual to drink it at every meal. I’m not a coffee drinker myself but have found myself drinking a little here simply because it’s in constant supply. At dinner the question asked is “¿Quieres café?” not “¿Qué deseas beber?” It is as if it is assumed that coffee is standard with each meal. I have observed this in far more places than just my host family and have been told it is common here.

The other day I finally made a comment to one of the teenage daughters in my host family because she had just served coffee with sugar to a six year old per the child’s request. Yes, even children of six years of age here are drinking coffee. I told her that it was crazy in the US for someone of that age to drink coffee. I have been astonished by this since I noticed this phenomenon while living with various host families. The teenage daughter responded with the simple question of “¿Por qué?” I opened my mouth to explain as my brain quickly generated the response…except nothing came out of my mouth. It suddenly occurred to me that my explanation was not sound. I was about to respond that giving caffeine and to a kid of that age is not a good idea. But before I released that thought from my mouth I processed the other side of the equation. What do we give our kids to drink in the US? I didn’t like the answer I gave myself but it was the reality. I know PLENTY of elementary school age kids whose parents allow them to consume soda and candy on a regular basis.

Suddenly my case was lost, before I even spoke. It was this moment when I realized the differences are only odd to me because they are just that…differences. Different doesn’t mean weird; it just means you are not accustomed to it. This was my revelation of the month. It is unfair to evaluate what you observe in a culture or society from the standpoint of a different culture. I will be away from my culture for several more months and I am very curious to see what I find strange back home once I return.

Jerzy Wasilewski
Cultural Embrace Participant
Teach in Guatemala 2011

Happy vs Obedient ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-04-10T22:44:00.000-05:00

I have read dozens of books, blogs, and Oprah magazine articles on this subject; watched movies and documentaries addressing this theme; taken workshops at spiritual retreat centers to discover the meaning; and discussed this topic with most of my close friends and family members to share an opinion or two. What am I talking about?...of course, the meaning of happiness.

Sorry, this blog is not intended to define what happiness means. I wish I could. But according to Wikipedia, "Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources."

Yet how do we measure happiness? How would we react if there was some formula that could measure it? Would we be happier knowing where we are compared to others on the happy scale? Or be more competitive? But then who would we be measuring and comparing it too? I often think of the impoverished areas that I have visited around the world and what drives me to travel and serve others. For example, the villages that I recently visited for Cultural Embrace's HUG projects in Guatemala and South Africa are so poor with very little resources yet the people and children seem happier in comparison to a general community in the States.

Happiness means different things to different people. Some people are happy with consumed goods like cars, jewelry, homes, clothes, shoes, food, wine, etc; some people only need their family and loved ones; some embrace happiness through spirituality; some through activities (ie: sports, music, arts, traveling, etc). Do we need it all? A little bit? A lot?

I guess we should only grade our happiness within our own scale and terms. I am learning that I am happiest when I am obeying God’s direction. There are times that I slip up and make mistakes to think that God wants me to be ‘happy’ versus ‘obedient’. Yikes, it happens. It’s called being human. Y’know, those times when we rewrite the rules and think that God’s answering our prayers, and then realize…it’s actually an act of self-interest. No way?!...Not me!...Then who?

Like everything else in life, to obey and listen to God takes patience and practice…even God’s will. I wish it was as distinctive as hearing James Earl Jones’ voice in the Lion King; or having Morgan Freeman appear like in Bruce Almighty. But until I am able to tune out all the noise, distractions, and voices (especially my own), I will do my best to listen and obey God’s direction.

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Whitney Washington

2011-04-08T10:52:00.000-05:00

My study abroad experience significantly shaped my life, and the lyrics from my favorite singer perfectly describe my experience--“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tightly closed in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.” I took the risk of going abroad and was rewarded with an enhanced perspective beyond the tight bud of my American lifestyle.

By studying and living abroad, I became accustomed to the typical life of a “Sevillana”, or a native of Seville, Spain. My day began with a light breakfast followed by a beautiful walk to catch the metro or bus. On my way to school, I saw people catch transportation to their jobs beaming with the optimism of a “siesta”. Many nights ended with socializing and eating “tapas” in the streets of Seville.

My study abroad experience significantly shaped my life by allowing me to emerge from the tight bud of American lifestyle and also the tight bud of my family ties and expectations. First, my family had always expected that I would fulfill all my goals and dreams—as long as I achieved them within the state of Texas. Thus they did not expect me to follow through with my seemingly lofty desire to study abroad. As the youngest, I was expected to remain within the care and reach of my loved ones. Also, despite my interest as an International Business major, I was hesitant to study abroad and abandon the comfort zone of my close-knit family. While I feared being homesick in a foreign land, I broke free of my comfort zone to live in Seville.

Embracing my new life as a “Sevillana” significantly shaped my life because it afforded me with the opportunity of living with a host family, learning the art and history of Spain, and traveling throughout Europe. I especially enjoyed the journey of building lasting relationships in a different language. For example, while
abroad I befriended my host mom as we spent many hours talking about family, religion, shopping, school and traveling. My personal bond created through the Spanish language encouraged me to seek the further
opportunities to enhance my fluency.

Whitney Washington
Studying & Living in Spain

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~Haley Price

2011-04-07T12:16:00.001-05:00

Guanajuato

Admit it, you're a Tourist.

Last summer I travelled through Mexico. My plane landed in Leon, then traveled to Guanajuato, San Miguel, Bernal, and Queretaro. As my first time ever outside the US, this was an experience I can never forget. Many times throughout the trip my prior assumptions of Mexico were deconstructed, and my perception of the culture, people, everything, changed.

As a gringa in Mexico, I automatically felt out of place, and that feeling that I need to adapt and try to fit in, immediately set in. I didn’t want to be noticed, or have any special attention to me drawn. At first, the only comfortable and familiar place was at the airport because there were couples from Texas on the plane as well, and we all stuck together trying to figure out our way to the baggage claim and passport verification. But that's what adventures are for! That invigorating, almost uncomfortable, surreal feeling that makes you realize you are doing something you have always dreamed of. Looking back, I can't believe I felt that out of place and intimidated.

So, the second day I decided to embrace my tourist gringa self, and be confident in being a visitor and experiencing as much as possible. It’s the same idea as when people visit New York, they want to be a New Yorker and so they act like they know the subways perfectly and refuse to look at a map. Yet, you can always spot a tourist in New York because they are constantly looking up.

I challenged myself to practice my Spanish, ask questions, learn as much as I could, and basically to not be shy! By doing so, I realized that people are more welcoming and willing to help a tourist more than you think. Locals of Mexican cities have a pride for their city that they want to share. I admit, I was the “quiet girl” at some moments because of the speed the language was spoken in and sometimes I just couldn’t keep up. If you want to get the most out of your travel, talk to people and at least TRY. That is my only regret of the trip; I didn’t speak up enough and get to know everyone I met better.

Keep in mind that if you are a US tourist in Latin America, you may be targeted. I mean this in the way that if you ask how much something is, they will overprice you. So, negotiate! Understand that the cultural difference is a great experience, but can also teach you to recognize the reality of differences and take necessary actions to watch out for yourself.

I travelled to Mexico when it was starting to be a turbulent time with the drug trade. On a four wheeling trip into the countryside, we passed through small villages I couldn’t imagine living in. There was an unconscious man being carried by his friends, and a man just chilling in front of a gate with his gun in his hand. This opened my eyes to the severity of the quality of living in impoverished areas of Latin America, and sparked a desire to volunteer more. If I have the ability to travel, I want my trips to have a purpose, which is to me the greatest experience.

After this trip, I fell in love with the culture and learned so many new things. The one week I spent in Mexico sparked a desire to continue exploring Latin America.

Don’t be afraid that you wont be as accepted, be confident as a tourist and get the most out of it that you can, don’t be shy, and always ALWAYS try to ask questions. (and practice the foreign language if there is one wherever you go!)

~Haley

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Tam Le

2011-04-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

I'm a business major at The University of Texas preparing to graduate in May. When I started my last year at UT, I was ready to get my senior year over with and then rock it in the corporate world. I was starting my fifth internship in the fall, this time with Cultural Embrace (CE). I would get all the experiences I needed to round out my killer resume and then interview for lucrative professions all over the United States. I had the extracurriculars, the work experiences, the leadership roles, and even the study abroad component. I was good to go.

There was just one snag in my plan. As I was interning with Cultural Embrace, a large part of my duties included maintaining the CE blog. As I read about participants’ experiences in France and Australia, my heart would continually break. I would physically ache inside when I saw pictures of the participants painting with French children or when I thought about the freedom of taking a year off just to work and travel around Australia. The pain was unbearable and I missed Europe so much (I studied in Bath, England the last semester of my junior year). The thought of waiting years until another visit made me want to cry at times.

Then I had an “A-Ha!” moment. I always thought the people who took these long trips abroad had awesome jobs that allowed them to leave for months at a time and that these trips just worked with their vacation schedules. I thought once I have an awesome job that gave me months of vacations, I’d go back to Europe. It never occurred to me that I am approaching one of the best times in my life to participate in a Cultural Embrace program. I will be graduating and I don’t have any commitments to a long-term job or company or family. I could do something that I learned from the British; I could take a “gap year.” I could go abroad for an extended period of time and then come back and start a new stage of my life: fulltime work. This would make me look like a competitive and unique candidate for jobs and I'm confident that this experience would not hurt my chances of landing a great fulltime position. Being an au-pair or an English teacher in Europe would provide me with free food and housing; it's the most cost-efficient way of staying in Europe that I can think of. Suddenly I had no more excuses. I had to do it.

After that moment, my heart finally stopped breaking. I'm ready to graduate and will head off to France to live with a host family and teach them English on Cultural Embrace's France Language Exchange. I can't wait!

Tam Le
Former C.E. intern; Future C.E. Language Exchange in France participant

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments ~ Casady Monroe

2011-04-05T13:38:00.000-05:00

As our plane descended into Charles de Gaulle airport, panic set in. I had studied French daily for the past three years, and in my Oklahoma City middle school classroom, I was a whiz. Yet here, with a bird's eye view of Paris growing larger and larger, and my parents and sister eagerly awaiting me to wow them with my interpretation skills, I panicked. The flight attendant's voice sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher wah-wah-wahing, and the words became indistinguishable. I noticed, perhaps for the first time, how quick and fluid the French language was, the words melting into each other.

Despite the anxiety of this moment, it is a scenario I keep at the forefront of my memory banks, and it remains a big motivation for my travels. No matter how much I think I know about a language or a culture, my lack of preparation and the sheer difference between expectation and reality only becomes apparent once I touch-down in the country. Speaking the local language in my slow, halting, twangy accent takes guts, but being in-country is a more in-depth learning experience than I can get anywhere else. Throughout my travels, I've found I can survive anywhere--whether butchering the pronunciation of a town when ordering train tickets or blindly pointing to a menu item written in an alphabet I can't decipher. I know that getting out of my comfort zone has given me way more confidence to move through life, and I'm so thankful that kindness and desire to help others are universal principles.

Casady Monroe
Cultural Embrace International Programs Coordinator

Hang Gliding and the West Coast of New Zealand

2011-04-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

My last day in Abel Tasman started out pretty sweet – with hang gliding! Yup, I’ve done that now, too. We had the option of doing that the evening that we first arrived as well, but I was sort of tired from the long drive, and the cloud cover wasn’t the greatest at the time. The morning that we left was much better. I managed to drag myself out of bed and climb off the top bunk without waking Elwin, which was quite a feat considering that there were no ladders or ledge of any kind to ease down onto, and hauled all of my stuff down to the bus. Since the handful of us doing the hang gliding were getting picked up along the way, we needed to make sure that we hadn’t left anything at camp. Barney came out to curiously sniff our things and help out in his own way, but I guess we weren’t exciting enough because he returned to bed immediately afterwards.

We didn’t have to wait long because the van came to pick us up sometime between 7 and 7:30am. The gang included me, Alec, and an Irish married couple who mainly kept to themselves and didn’t say a whole lot. Alec made up for them, though. He’s deathly afraid of heights, and yet he’s done both sky diving and hang gliding in the short time that I’ve known him. While I was quizzing our driver about the varieties of grapes and hops that are produced in the area, he was just staring out the window like a condemned man, occasionally muttering unflattering things about our sanity under his breath. Poor Alec. It’s hard being a middle-aged bald guy with common sense on a bus full of post-college kids. He fit in quite well, though.

We reached the airstrip just after sunrise and were greeted by some truly friendly folks and their dog. They offered us free coffee and toast, which I helped myself to without protest, and did a great job of welcoming us. Apparently, they’ve only been running the business for a few years, but they’ve managed to attract attention because of their reasonable deals and cool attitudes. To put it in perspective, they do a gradual ascent by pulling you from a motorized glider and go higher than most companies for a lot less money. In places like Queenstown, they just toss you off a mountain, so you don’t have much time to appreciate the scenery, and they charge you more for it. Plus the view over Abel Tasman in the morning is just beyond belief. Almost biblical. Stray heard about them and decided to check them out since they’re the only one of the three bus companies that goes out to Abel Tasman, and ever since then, they’ve made sure to send customers out their way.

It was quickly established that I would be the first one in the air, which was nice because I was able to get the most out of the post-dawn lighting. By the time the others got up, it was already a different kind of view, so I feel like I lucked out with that. They made sure to get me all bundled up in a heavy-duty jacket and thermal gloves and gave me a pair of sunglasses to protect my eyes against the wind. Then they zipped me up into this sleeping bag thing that made me look more like a caterpillar than anything else. I think I still pulled that look off. The guy that I ended up flying with was a Canadian who had only been working there for a few weeks, but he was an old pro and very nice about indulging my questions. Just like anything I do, I end up chatting the guide’s ear off by the end of it. When you watch the video of me later on, my lips are just constantly moving as I pester him about various landmarks. At least I wasn’t a boring customer.

There wasn’t much hesitation between getting strapped in and taking to the air. They wanted to move us along so that the bus could pick us up on schedule. I was more than happy to get right to it, and before I knew it, we were hooked up to the back of the plane and being pulled down the runway. I think there’s something really idiotic about that whole principle – think of some kid tying a rope around someone’s bumper and then riding a skateboard behind it and you’ll get the general picture – but they had it down to a science at that point. The whole takeoff was very smooth, and there was no point during the flight where I felt like we weren’t in complete control of the situation.

I think I’ve said this before about sky diving, but hang gliding is pretty much tied when it comes to the feeling of flying. With sky diving, there’s more of the illusion because you’re not attached to any metal and can move around more, but with hang gliding, you can actually soar and take in the view below you at your own leisure. It’s hard to say which one is better because they’re both awesome. I loved the whole experience and would do it again in a heartbeat. You can watch the actual video for the view because I don’t think any description will do it justice. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos to go with any of this, so video will have to do.
Go here --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2G9oafo7KI

One of the really cool parts of the experience was being able to steer the thing myself. Once we had detached from the plane and were gliding on our own downward spiral, he allowed me to take over the bars and do a few spins, which was amazingly fun. Apparently we did nothing but fly around in circles, as people told me on the ground later. As we got nearer to the ground, however, I relinquished control back to the professional because I had lost sight of airport and wasn’t too keen on landing in the forest just because I’d gotten carried away with the acrobatics. It was a good thing that he, at least, knew where he was going and hadn’t lost track of our position because he guided us right to the landing strip. Once we came in to land, it occurred to me that the only things keeping us from going face-first into the tarmac were a couple of wheels at the bottom of the glider. So we were nearly eye-level with the ground when we landed, which was a little extra rush.

After that, I just got to relax, have some more coffee, and watch the rest of them have their turns. Alec was particularly amusing because his video pretty much consisted of him staring straight ahead and keeping his mouth in a thin line, absolutely not talking or relinquishing his death grip on the handle. After everyone had landed and gotten everything taken care of, we just shot the breeze with the nice folks there for a while longer, and then we got a call from Caas. After a somewhat late start, they were finally on the road and parked outside a Warehouse store, loading up on supplies. The hang gliding people offered to give us a ride out there, so we hopped back in the van and drove out there.

Once we arrived at the Warehouse, we were informed that we had just over 20 minutes to find a costume in the theme of “lame superheroes.” Let me explain: our next stop for the night was in Barrytown, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The only thing there is a bar that Stray has partial ownership of, so it’s a tradition for the Stray bus to stay there and do pretty much whatever they want. It’s kind of a “What happens in Barrytown stays in Barrytown” kind of place with everyone partying until late and dressing up in strange outfits, depending on the theme. Apparently the vote had been for “lame superheroes” while we were out hang-gliding. I’ll admit that I wasn’t too psyched about this particular stop. I’m not much of a party person, and when I do go out, I tend to just enjoy myself for a few hours and then go home at a decent hour. I don’t like getting wasted and staying out until the early hours of the morning, so I wasn’t crazy about going to Barrytown.

Nevertheless, I didn’t want to be a buzz kill and not participate at all, so I went into Warehouse to throw some sort of outfit together. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something like that, so I just bought a pack of glow sticks and a rather colorful mask for the bare minimum. I would figure out some sort of name later. Some people really got into it, though. There was The World’s Worst Traffic Controller with a guy decked out in the outfit and a six pack in the other hand, there was a group of girls who did some sort of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle thing, complete with war paint and fake shells, a guy dressed up like a woman, and so many other ideas. Natalie went as Flower Power Girl, decked out in ‘70s style, Alec dressed up as G.I. Gay, wearing commando pants and a white wife-beater but also wearing blush and mascara. There was a One-Winged Bat Girl, Captain Underpants, and Caas put an elaborate costume together that culminated in him walking around in a giant, home-made beer can. Just insanity.

Left to Right: Flower Power Girl, G.I. Gay, Captain Underpants, and...I have no idea

Also: World's Worst Traffic Controller, Bat Girl, and Caas, the Trash Can Man

Before all of that, though, we had to actually get to Barrytown from Abel Tasman. That was quite a long, boring day. It consisted of being on the road from about 10:30 until around dinner time, just staring out at the winding road and cloudy weather. We went way up into the mountains and twisted through the forests there, occasionally stopping to take pictures. We took a break at a riverbed around lunch time, and then we checked out some seals in the afternoon. One place that was kind of interesting, though, was a place not far from Barrytown called the Pancake Rocks. I guess the way that the wind and water hits this particular beach has caused the rocks to erode away into these distinct shapes. I’m not sure if they really looked like pancakes, but they still provided good photos.

The river we stopped at for photos

Seal watching and a little reminder of how far we are from home

The Pancake Rocks

We finally pulled into Barrytown and signed into our cabins. Since Stray owns the place, it was just us in the entire camp, so we didn’t have to worry about rooming with other people. We didn’t even get keys or anything to lock the doors because it was just us. Then we were treated to some very nice dinner – I ordered a chicken burger that was absolutely amazing after that long drive – while other people made their own dinners in the kitchen. At around that point, I thought it might be a good idea to raid the costume shed while everyone else was busy, and I happened to find this truly rockin' neon purple wig, and inspiration hit. You guys ever see the movie Kickass? Well, with the wig, the weird mask, a matching top, and glow sticks for effect, I was Hit Girl on LCD. Problem solved.

It's like a car accident. Just...can't...look...away...

More shots from the party

After that, the night was fairly predictable. Most of the people there were in the party spirit, so everyone stayed up really late and consumed quite a bit of alcohol. I had fun for a little while, but then, like I said before, I got a bit bored with the whole thing and went back to my room early. Right in the middle of this, though, I had gone online to briefly check my email, and I had seen a breaking news update on Yahoo about a big earthquake in Japan. That made really worried, especially since no one seemed to know any details, just that it was really bad and involved Tokyo. You guys know that I have a lot of friends in Japan, so my first response was to try and find out more about what was happening there. Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been worse, because there was only one computer in the place, and it charged $2 for 15 minutes. I didn’t have enough change to go on long enough to check with my friends, so I just had to log off and resolve to check first thing in the morning, after the media had had time to find out more information. That was what really killed the party atmosphere for me. I just couldn’t get into the spirit with that going on, so I went to bed.

Unfortunately, it got even worse in the morning. News had spread by word of mouth that it had been an 8.9 quake and that a tsunami had hit Tokyo. No one could say how many were confirmed dead yet, but it really, really didn’t look good. Plus, there was a warning in effect for the west coast of New Zealand. All of that combined really put me in a bad mood all day. We were stuck in Barrytown until 11:30 because everyone had to sleep off the night before, so there was nothing for me to do all morning except sit around and worry. The one computer was locked up in the bar, so there was no way to check online, and no place in town sold newspapers. It was literally the worst place to be for outside information. When we finally loaded onto the bus to head towards Franz Josef, I was in a completely different mindset than the day before, and I didn’t really talk to anyone all day. Natalie, of course, noticed and made sure that I was alright, and I was quick to assure her that it was nothing to do with her or anyone else on the bus. I just needed some space because I wasn’t in the road trip mood that day. Luckily, people seemed to get it and left me alone until I was over the worst of it. I was eventually able to get in touch with my friends when we arrived in Franz Josef, and I was very relieved to learn that they were all okay. The footage on TV was really hard to watch, especially since I had been to some of the areas that they were showing, but I felt slightly better knowing that my personal contacts were out of harm’s way. Still, it’s so horrible what’s going on there now.

Okay, changing subjects now. I’d say that Barrytown was, personally, the lowest point of the trip, so everything got better after that. A lot of people enjoyed themselves there for obvious reasons, but it was my favorite stop on the West Coast. The day after that was another long travel day. We stopped in a place called Hokitika for a couple of hours because there was supposed to be a big World’s Food Festival going on there, but it ended up being a bit of a bust. I had really wanted to go to that the day before because Caas sold it as an event where you could eat really strange things like fried crickets and various animal testicles after paying a small entry fee. I shied away from the testicle part, but I thought that it would fun to try some weird food and be able to brag about it later. When we got there, Caas asked if anyone was interested in stopping for it, and I got off the bus with about four or five other people. The rest of the bus decided to skip it and go hang at the beach for the afternoon. We were supposed to meet up with them in about two or three hours. But then we got to the entrance and discovered that the entry fee had gone up to over $40 per person, which didn’t even include the food, just the entry. There was no way I was going to pay that much money for a small curiosity, so I decided to skip it after all. Since the bus had already driven away, however, there was nothing to do except tour around Hokitika and take some pictures. The one bright spot of that town was the fact that everyone was dressed up in bizarre outfits with no distinguishable theme. After being in Barrytown the night before, it was a kind of déjà-vu experience, and snapped lots of pictures of various groups. I guess the food festival used to be a big excuse for people to get drunk all day and party all over town, and it’s gradually fading out to become more respectable, but that culture is still there and people take advantage of it to dress in odd costumes. Like a really twisted Halloween party.

Downtown Hokitika

The beach

Ninjas, school girls, pigs, bumble bees...and a sumo wrestler looking at me like I'M the weird one

I explored the town with another girl from the bus, but we eventually got bored and went straight to the beach, where we found everyone crashed in the sand. I walked around by the surf, hoping to find pieces of greenstone (jade) in the sand – apparently Hokitika is famous for it – but I didn’t have any luck. That was pretty much it. Not especially exciting, but not everyday can be amazing. The important thing was that we made it to Franz Josef glacier that evening and that I was able to finally access a computer. Once I was feeling a bit better, I was able to enjoy myself a bit more and look forward to the next day – walking on a glacier! I’ll save that for the next post because it’s a bit long for this one. Sorry for the slightly depressing entry for this day. It kind of went downhill after the hang gliding, but I promise I’ll make up for it with the glacier hike. Here’s a taste of it to curb your appetite until then. See ya then!

Zooming in on the glacier from afar

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments (Julie Dean) ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-04-04T13:04:00.000-05:00

The first quarter of 2011 is finished and April is here--wow! Doesn't it seem like the Earth rotates faster these days--making weeks, months and years fly by? I watch my grade school aged nieces and nephews cram homework in between nights and weekends filled with soccer, basketball, and piano lessons. I hear my retired neighbor complain that she doesn't have enough time to tend to her garden, or visit her grandchildren in San Antonio (an hour drive from our neighborhood). I must confess that my work days can easily exceed 12-15 hours a day and even if I'm not in the office, my Blackberry keeps me work accessible at all hours of the day. I am fortunate that I usually don't feel like work is work. Cultural Embrace is my hobby. My passion. My purpose.

Of course there are hardships of owning a business particularly with the pressures of a volatile world, or traveler's mismatched views of cultural and travel expectations, etc; but I hope never to lose insight of the essence of traveling. Thus, I am dedicating April to the A-Ha! moments of why we need to stop, take a fresh perspective of the world (our own and others), embrace other cultures, and travel.

I continually ask staff, past, current, and future participants to share their A-Ha! Travel moments, and will be sharing a daily collection of what transformed their mind, body, and soul during their travels. If you wish to share your story, please send my your A-Ha! Travel moment to travel@culturalembrace.com. I hope you will take a few minutes out of your day to read these blogs, and to reflect on our purpose of being a global citizen.

My A-ha! Travel Moments normally occur in the most innocent and innocuous of times while abroad, often resulting in a bit of embarrassment for yours truly. One of the first moments I distinctly remember was after a long flight to Brisbane, Australia. I asked an airport taxi to take me to a hostel and while the driver loaded my bags into the trunk I decided I would be friendly and took a seat in the front so I could chat with him. I didn’t realize my mistake until I was frowning at the steering wheel in front of me and the driver took the other seat in the front and asked: “Well miss, where are you driving me to?” Yes, I knew Australians drove on the opposite of the road than I was used to but I just didn’t realize how that would translate into some of the most mundane and ordinary situations being so different. The driver and I laughed, traded spots, and I knew the adventure had begun! ~ Julie Dean

Flashback - "On the Hunt" ~ by Tracy G., Volunteer in Kenya

2011-04-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

Today Zach, the Manager of WWB orphanage, and I went hunting for a dairy cow.

Let me explain why. I raised money for the trip from my family, friends and church group (see list of donors at the top of my blog home page). And by God's doing and the generosity of my friends, I exceeded my goal. I promptly started praying and asking God how He wanted me to use the additional money. It is VERY important to me that I be a good steward of the money, which is really all God's money anyway. Yes, my friends and family were the contributors, but in my opinion only God can inspire someone to give money. About a week after I arrived, God answered my prayers.

Due to a lack of resources, the kids don't drink milk. Right away I knew that is where God wanted me to invest the money. As we all know, calcium is extremely important to a healthy diet. I shared my thoughts with Zach to make sure I was offering a hand-up not a hand-out. I have read too many stories of Westerners coming into a third world country and assuming they know what is best, but actually end up creating more issues. Zach was excited about the idea and said the only option was to buy a dairy cow. Not only would the heifer provide milk, but her manure could be used for their bio-gas system.

Our hunt began with a trip to meet Mr. Wachira, a very successful farmer in the village. Apparently, Mr. Wachira is the only farmer outside of Nairobi who has heifers producing 35 litres of milk a day, the amount needed for each kid to get a glass a day.

When we arrived to his farm, it became very apparent how successful he is. He owns countless cows, goats, pigs in addition to a fish pond. He also has his own bore hole, a car, a garage for his car, running hot water, 1500 chickens, advanced bio-gas system, 40+ acres of land and all the resources to keep the farm in working order.

Mr. Wachira was not at home when we arrived but his farmhands said he would be back very soon. We waited for what seemed like hours and were just about to leave before we heard is car come down the dirt road.

He sat down with us and listened to our needs. Unfortunately, he was not ready to sell his cows. He told us that they need to birth a calf first. Strike One. But he called a friend who had some for sale. Unfortunately, we were too late; he had already sold his. Strike two.

Mr. Wachira asked Zach some questions about how WWB takes care of their livestock now. After hearing Zach, he said he wasn't so sure buying a cow right now is the best option. He thinks we might need to get some operational things into place before we invest money in a heifer. I asked him to come to WWB, meet the kids and advise us on what to do. He said he would be at the orphanage on April 30th, 10am.

I don't know what to expect, but I am excited to find out.

Tracy
Cultural Embrace Volunteer in Kenya 2010

Abel Tasman : The Cancun of New Zealand

2011-03-29T10:47:00.000-05:00

First things first: Abel Tasman is the Cancun of New Zealand. It’s hard to describe just how clear or blue the water there is because the photos just don’t do the place justice. You just have to go there yourself to understand. I’ll start from the beginning. By the way, this post is going to be a little bit shorter than some of the other ones because it's mostly about walking and taking pictures. Not a lot of commentary needed for that. Here we go.

We woke up well after the sun had risen the next day. The opportunity to sleep in had been way too tempting to dismiss, so we took our time getting ready. At this point, now that several weeks have passed, I can’t quite remember what Elwin did or who went where, but I decided to do a scenic walk along the park. Yeah, that thing is humongous. I think attempting to scratch the surface of it would probably take two days at least. A lot of people end up doing the three or four day trek where they camp out overnight and do all of the little side hikes. I only had a day, so I decided to employ the use of an aqua taxi. You basically ask them to take you out to a certain point and drop you off so that you can walk back on foot. Or you walk out there and have a predetermined time and place in mind for meeting them to take you back. Either way works, and it’s much easier than trying to do the whole thing up and down yourself. I did it the first way, but now I wonder if it would have been easier the second way since you can just look forward to a nice trip home at the end. I guess it doesn’t really matter.

A good majority of the bus was doing a big catamaran thing where they got about 23 people together to rent out a boat for the day. It involved cruising, swimming, drinking, and barbecuing pieces of meat all day and then coming back around dinner time. I was tempted to do that as well, but it was only my second day with this particular group of people, and I didn’t want to be stuck on a boat all day without knowing if we were going to click or not. It’s never a good idea to be at the mercy of someone else’s schedule, so I decided to my own thing that day and do something a lot less expensive. It turned out to be a good call because they were fully booked out, and the water was too cold for swimming anyways. I think they ended up having a good time, but I’m glad that I made the decision that I did. Felt like I saw a lot more.

So I went over to reception and booked the next available bus to come pick me up, then I just hung out with Barney for the twenty minutes it took for them to arrive. The aqua taxis themselves are kind of cool because they have to be dragged out into the water by these gigantic tractors. The water is super shallow for quite a ways out into the cove, so a guy can literally pull the boat halfway out into the bay before having to turn back. I was way in the back of the boat, so I had a good, unobstructed view of the scenery behind us. The only problem was that it was a bit chilly that morning, and I was only in a T-shirt at the time, so I was pretty cold for the ride out there. It eventually warmed up later in the day and got really nice, though.

The tractor that towed us out there. Kayak.

Once we opened up the throttle and hit the water, it was pretty easy going. Our guide took us around the other way first to show us Split Apple Rock, which is fairly self-explanatory, and then circled around to take us all out to our scheduled destinations. A few of the other passengers on board were doing the drop-off and pick-up later in the day, so I was one of the first to get out at Torrent Bay. I had had the option of disembarking on the spot before that – Anchorage Bay – but the lady in the reception had told me to try Torrent because it was near Cleopatra’s Pool and involved a little extra scenery. If you look on the map, Torrent is just about one third of the way up the main track, and almost right next to Anchorage. You would assume, then, that it wouldn’t take long to walk from one to the other. Yeah, I’m not going to make any assumptions again anytime soon.

Split Apple Rock and heading out towards Torrent Bay

The boat pulled right up to the beach at Torrent and dropped me off, telling me to just head along the beach in a certain direction and to try and make it back to camp before dark. Sounded easy enough. This is where those amazing, postcard-worthy beaches come in. It was hard not to take a picture every few seconds because it was just that pretty. I decided to follow the reception lady’s advice and followed the map towards Cleopatra’s Pool. According to the signs, that would take me quite a ways out into the forest and add an extra hour to my hike back, but I was feeling pretty well-rested after all of that sleep. The trek out there was definitely memorable with trails winding in and out of the trees, always within sight of the water. One of the coolest thing was the fact that every campground was surrounded by little beach houses. People actually live – or at least vacation – in these bungalows right next to the water and have sailboats to go cruising every day. Sounds like quite a life.

Cute little houses on the water

This trail in particular went on for a good hour and a half through the brush, and when I finally found Cleopatra’s Pool, it was at a dead end. There was no way to loop around to the other side of the lagoon. The pool itself was pretty nice, but it was way too cold for swimming. Some people had that idea and were down there already, but I was fine with just watching – nothing like walking back home for five hours with wet hair. There’s one cool feature about this particular swimming spot in that it comes equipped with its own natural waterslide. One of the ledges juts away from the waterfall and slopes out into the pool at such an angle that it becomes perfect for sliding down. The rock has been worn down by the water over the last couple hundred years, so it’s basically smooth, too. I managed to go a ways further upstream for a few more photo opportunities, but the trail became all but impassable after a short distance. All I accomplished was some creative rock jumping and nearly sliding feet first into the river before having to turn back to the trail.

Trail on the way to Cleopatra's Pool

Area around Cleopatra's Pool, complete with water slide

As it turns out, that little centimeter on the map between Torrent and Anchorage is, in reality, fairly steep and winds all the way around the mountain. It took me over an hour to get close to the ocean again, and I was practically dead on my feet by the time I got there. Anchorage looked so nice and inviting after that ordeal that I, who hates sunbathing as a general rule and wear jeans 365 days a year, stripped right down to my swimsuit and collapsed on the beach for a good thirty minutes or so. It was sort of nice and peaceful to just lie there and work through the remains of my food supply, but it was cut short when I looked to my right and saw this massive spider trying to crawl into my backpack. Oh right, they like to hide in driftwood on the west coast. After that, I couldn’t really relax, and the water was still just above freezing, so I gathered up my clothes and continued on.

Sunbathing on the beach at Anchorage Bay

It was kind of discouraging to look at the map and see the depressingly small amount of progress made in two and a half hours, and I knew that I had at least four hours of walking to go, so I didn’t waste any more time from that point on. There were all sorts of signs leading off towards other cool spots like Cleopatra’s Pool, but I had to ignore them and stick to the main path. I think that’s how people end up spending days in the bush – checking out all of those locations. The path from Anchorage back to base was especially steep, too, so I was getting really tired. For any of you thinking of doing this at some point, that little stretch between Anchorage and the next marker is definitely the worse. After that, it’s all literally downhill.

The trail on the way back to camp

Just at the steepest point of the trail, I took a moment to breathe and drink the last swallow of water I had when all of a sudden, a group of familiar figures emerged right in front of me. My group of friends from Stray had managed to find me against all odds and suggested walking back to camp together. That was just awesome. Turns out that some of them had started out on the big party boat and gotten bored, and the rest of them had done the same thing as me, except that they had started later at Anchorage instead. Point is, we all ended up at the same place at the same time, so it made the walk back much more enjoyable. Natalie and Alec were the two that I ended up hanging out with the most, and they were just awesome. Natalie is a quirky English girl from outside Manchester and Alec is a 40-something gay guy who manages to pull of the appalled silence that comes naturally to British art connoisseurs in any situation. He was sort of the mascot of our bus, and Natalie was our morale officer. I miss those guys now.

Once you have someone to talk to, the time goes by a lot faster, and you don’t really notice how much further you have to hike. Before I knew it, we were within range of The Barn, and it was just starting to fade into sunset. I took a few last-minute photos for the road, grabbed a celebratory smoothie from the café, and then headed back to camp.

That night, we made ourselves some more sausages and potatoes under the stars and enjoyed the sunset lighting. There’s something very peaceful about being out in the wilderness, sitting around a giant camp fire, and just enjoying the atmosphere. We were treated to some amazing constellations that night, too, because of the clear night and complete lack of light pollution. I was able to recall my intensive astronomy lesson that I got in Napier and point out a few of the major southern hemisphere ones. Eventually, we all retired to our tents, dorms, and cabins for another day on the road. Most of the group had to be up and on the bus by 9am the next day, but I had to get up…earlier. I’ll tell you guys why in the next post. It involves the booking of another activity, though. Hmm, fun times. Until then!

Goodnight!

Journey to the South Island - Picton to Abel Tasman

2011-03-28T14:54:00.000-05:00

Wow, a lot has happened since Wellington. I really don’t even know how to start this next post because just thinking of all the things I have to catch up is giving me a bit of a headache. Oh well, best to start from the beginning, I suppose – the ferry to the South Island.

As I mentioned two posts ago, I had to catch the 7am Bluebridge ferry to Picton, so that meant a really early start to my day. Anyway who knows me can say that I’m definitely not a morning person and that I’m practically useless for the first few hours of the day, but I managed to drag myself out of bed, quickly get ready, and meet my shuttle down on the street by 6:45. Ugh. I hate going without coffee. So I chatted with the driver to wake myself up and ending up getting to the ferry building a few minutes before 7. Check in and everything was fairly simple, so it was just a matter of waiting for everything to get prepped. If I’d known that I didn’t really have to be there until 7:30, I might have slept in later, but oh well.

The plus side was that I got to watch the sun rise over the harbor, so that was pretty sweet. They eventually gave the call for boarding sometime before 8, and we all walked onto this truly massive boat. When I think of a “ferry,” I think of a little 20-seater run by a couple of guys with a radio, but this thing was like a cruise ship. I think I passed three or four flights on the stairs before I got to anything resembling the passenger area. Then that was two whole levels itself, not including the bow and viewing areas. They had a whole cafeteria, movie lounge, café, and reading area on one floor and a whole other seating area up above. Just insane.

Wellington Harbor at Dawn

Leaving Wellington

I had made a promise to myself to be outside at least 70% of the trip, though, so I went straight to the viewing deck in the front. It was exceptionally colder and windier out there, but I managed to persevere with extra gloves and a windbreaker. I’m really glad that I did stay out there, too, because the scenery is just breath-taking. I think it’s tempting to hide away in the main lounge, where it’s nice and warm, but then you miss out on the awesome views. It took forever to pull out of Wellington harbor, but we got a nice look at a few coastal suburbs and lighthouses on the way. When we were out at sea, I disappeared inside to read my book for a little bit (been trying to re-read a copy of 1984 that a German guy left behind lately), but I came out just in time to see the beginnings of the Marlborough Sounds. People have told me continuously since I first arrived in New Zealand that the South Island is heaps better than the North Island and that I should go there yesterday, but I was a little skeptical. I mean, the North Island is pretty awesome in its own right. The general consensus seems to be: the North is beautiful, but the South is just more. More wild, more overgrown, more…everything. From just that first glimpse of it on the boat, I can kind of see where they’re coming from.

My first look at the South Island. See the trees? Even New Zealand loves itself.

Okay, I’ve been on the South Island for almost a month now, and I’m still loving it, but I will say that there are pluses and minuses. Plus: Okay, really beautiful, like oh-my-God-I-need-200-pictures-of-this-from-every-angle beautiful. Minus: Really spread out. Like, “Oh, we just need to get from Point A to Point B today? That’s, what, a centimeter on the map? How long will that take? …Seven hours?!!!” Windy roads and mountain passes can do that. Plus: More rugged and authentic New Zealand. Looks a lot like how the country used to before humans interfered with everything. Minus: Sandflies. Enough said. I think that covers most of my bullet statements. Do I prefer one island over the other? Hmm, not really. Like I said, they each have their particular strengths and weaknesses. If someone put a gun to my head right now, I probably wouldn’t be able to make an honest decision. Back to my initial impression.

The sounds that we pulled into were definitely out-of-this-world. The water was a clear, picturesque blue, the mountains rose straight out of the ocean and just kept going up, and little boats were zipping around all over the coves. There were also a few tiny beach houses tucked right inside the bays, the only way in or out obviously the beach in front of them. That was pretty cool. How sweet would that be, to hop in your jet boat or sailboat and ride to town for groceries and supplies? I imagine it would get kind of old after a while, but it would be nice to stay in one of those little dock houses just for the experience.

More pretty pictures. See all of the houses on the shore?

We kept going towards Picton at a snail’s pace, and I took way too many pictures. We finally docked at the harbor there and made our way down to the cargo bay of the ship, where all of the cars and luggage trucks were kept. Once we were had all unloaded, a shuttle took a handful of us at a time over to the welcome center so that we could pick up our bags. The big, orange Stray bus was waiting for us right across the street, so that made it nice and simple for us to head over there and get on.

Docking at Picton

At first, I couldn’t figure out where the driver was. I thought that he’d just left his bus there on the side of the road and that we’d have to go track him down, but then this young guy standing a few paces away from me suddenly took charge and started giving everyone directions for loading their bags on. I still didn’t get the memo and just assumed that he was a very confident guy able to take control of a situation. Turns out that he was our driver, Caas. I have no idea how to spell that. Caz? Caaash? Think short for “casual.” Not an abbreviation for cashmere, as he informed us. And his name is so appropriate. I think he’s the most laid-back guy I’ve ever met. He’s a 20-year-old college student at Christchurch University majoring in Physics, and he’s been doing the Stray Bus thing ever since the earthquake there messed everything up. Apparently it’s something that he’s done on previous summers, so he was able to pick up where he left up while all the students were stuck wondering what to do. He’s very cool – definitely my favorite Stray driver thus far. I was impressed that first day especially because he had to organize three different drop-offs and pick-ups, collect money for various activities people wanted to do and keep it all straight, and then he had to cook a big BBQ for everyone at the end of the night. Talk about multi-tasking. I think I would have been stressed out to the extreme trying to keep it all organized, but he was Mr. Cool, just calmly asking for clarification over the speaker system and calling it in to headquarters as he was driving these super windy roads.

Our bus – “Richard,” it turns out – was equally awesome. We had a great group of people who really got on immediately, and there were quite a few entertaining characters on board. I felt like we were on a sitcom from the ‘90s, frankly. We had playboys, social butterflies, loners, overly-patriotic Americans, a crazy Jewish lady, and our token gay guy. Has anyone seen the movie, “The Boat That Rocked?” Yeah, it was kind of like that. I bonded very quickly with a small group of 5 or 6 and stayed with them all the way to Queenstown. I hadn’t really had the chance to make friends on the other Stray buses because I was only on them for a stop or two at a time, and I usually got on at a point when everyone else had already been together for several prior stops. This was different because most people had taken a few days to explore Wellington, so they were all mixed up again – hardly anyone knew each other from previous buses. Overall, it was just an amazing bunch of people. I kind of miss them now because I doubt I’ll get that lucky with a group again.

Back to Picton. We only stayed there long enough to pick up a few more people in backpackers across town, but it was a cute little coastal community. Not a whole lot there, granted, but just very quaint and pretty. We continued on towards Nelson and our destination for that night, Abel Tasman. Before we made it to either of those places, though, we stopped at a small winery on the side of the road for some wine tasting. It was only $5, so I figured it would be a nice diversion. I remembered my lessons from Henry and Nikki and was able to look like I knew what I was doing with the swirling of the glass and the breathing through the mouth thing. Overal, it wasn’t bad. I personally like super sweet wines, like Port and after-harvest Merlots, and most wines are a lot drier than that, so I knew that the chances of finding the perfect one were low. Oh well. We stayed there and walked around a bit more before hopping back on the bus with a pleasant buzz.

Wine tasting with my new friends

That eventually turned into naptime as the alcohol kicked in, so pretty much everyone was half-asleep by the time we arrived in Nelson. Before that, though, we made a little stop next to a bridge and looked down at the river. We were specifically asked not to jump off the bridge, but a few people went down in their bathing suits to swim. I thought it was way too cold for that, so I just stayed up on the shore and watched. Then we continued on to Nelson. It seems like a really nice, quiet town right next to the beach, so it’s a shame that we couldn’t stay there longer. I just grabbed something to eat from a bakery and a little money from Westpac before having to meet up with the bus again. The scenery as we left was just spectacular – lots of white, flawless beaches and people windsurfing all over the place. Again, wish we could’ve stayed longer.

The bridge we stopped at for a swim

Passing through Nelson. Sigh.

The rest of the trip to Abel Tasman was uneventful, but we got to see some nice, green hills rolling by out the window. Caas stopped at a supermarket on the way to buy groceries for our dinner – we all chipped in $10 for burgers and the works – and he also convinced us to try mussels fresh from the ocean. Surprisingly good, actually. I had a feeling that I would like them since they’re similar to clams, so that was cool.

By the time we pulled into camp, it was already getting dark. My day started at 6am, and I didn’t actually arrive at my destination until well after 8pm, so that was a long day on the road. It was good to be someplace to sit down. Our accommodation for the night was a place called The Barn, a cozy little site in a grove of trees that seemed like a fancier version of a campground. They had the whole set up with the atmosphere, rudimentary kitchen, and a few tents interspersed between the trees, but then we actually ended up staying in buildings and having hot showers. It was a nice tradeoff. Actually, because I was practically the last person in line, I managed to get an upgrade on my room for no extra charge. Instead of staying the dorms with everyone else, I got to sleep in a nice two-person cabin facing out towards the mountains. That was much quieter and a lot less hassle for me. Plus, I got roomed with Elwin, a guy who believes in a good night’s sleep and tries his best not to wake people up in the middle of the night. We were both exhausted from traveling all day, so we unanimously agreed to an early night.

Our campsite for the night

Just before bedtime, though, we all got around to cooking that feast of hamburgers, salad, mashed potatoes, mussels, and sausages. We had to work hard to keep it away from Barney the Goat, the cute family mascot of The Barn. He was very friendly and curious to meet everyone, and he took to head-butting my legs in particular. When he did that, I made it a point of calling him Barnabus, which he seemed to hate for some reason. And that was pretty much our evening for the first night. The next day was all about exploring Abel Tasman National Park, so we went to bed with the expectation that we’d be seeing some awesome beaches the next day. Don’t worry, I took plenty of pictures. Until next time!

Life in China Between Two Rabbits ~ by Jeff

2011-03-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

Well it’s the best time of the year, and im not just saying that because its my birthday, its March Madness. The only bummer is that im in China and that means late nights and early mornings to watch the games. For some reason I think I will manage.

As many of you know, we are on round two of rabbits. We bought a small gray rabbits down in the local night market only to be heart broken when it died. Peta lived for a good six days. We believe that he had a disease called Rye-Neck. He had all the symptoms. The highlights of his time with us were: chasing the vacuum, eating cilantro, running in circles around the apartment, and peeing on everything. He was a blessing to our lives and we are glad that he was able to spend a little time with us.

This semester has Robin and I working all over. We figured out that we are each teaching around 33 hours a week. Now this doesn’t sound like too many hours, but when you include travel time and prep it keeps us busy. Robin works nearly every night till 8 pm in the community next to our school called huang hai. She teaches at a Korean Art/English school. She teaches some of the cutest little kids alive over there. I have been teaching at a new school that helps to send Chinese students to school in America. The four girls I teach are fun and are really enjoyable to teach. I have to travel about 30 mins there and 30 mins back so my bus time has doubled this semester. On the weekend I teach phonetics to little kids at the school I found first semester. I like teaching little kids the best. Teaching is keeping us really busy, and giving us a good chunk of $$$ for when we come home.

In the little time that we have off we have been working to plan our wedding, along with getting helping Scottie and Angie. They decided to get their groomsmen suits here, because it’s so cheap. Today is a big day because Robin ordered her dress! She designed it herself and had the Korean Art teacher sketch it. I am so proud of her for designing it and cant wait till Aug 19th. She also put in the order for bridesmaid dresses. Things are starting to come together, next step is invitations.

We got a new bunny last week! We liked having the silly little thing in our apartment, so we decided to try again. This time we invested in bunny food and did our homework a little better. Rocky or Stinky is starting to open up to Robin’s apartment. He is a small little black bunny. He helps keep her company when I leave every night to go to sleep. She also enjoys when I come up in the morning and put him in her bed to snuggle with her. He is different then Peta, but an enjoyment to have around.

Only three more months and we are home. Time is flying!

Jeff
Cultural Embrace's Teach in China 2010/2011

20 Questions...at Least ~Robin, Currently Teaching in China

2011-03-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had class with a kid named Ken. He is a Korean kid that is maybe 12 or 13, I’m not sure. This was the second time that I had class with him, and what never ceases to amaze me about kids is how quickly they open up to you, even when they have only known you ten minutes.

What sets Ken apart is his ability to ask questions like he is getting paid for it. In one twenty minute conversation, these were the topics we covered:

I asked him how his week has been going, and what his favorite class at school was. He replied “PE.”

“Oh,what do you do in PE?”

“I play volleyball.”

“Oh cool, I used to play volleyball. Do you like it?”

“Yes, I do. Teacher, do you know who Evan Patak is?”

“Yes Ken, actually I do (after I spent five minutes trying to remember why that name was so familiar). He played for UCSB volleyball.”

“Oh, he plays for Korea airlines team, he is very famous in Korea.”

“Yea, I saw him play one time. He lived in the same town as me.”

“Really? That is cool.”

5 minutes later as I am correcting his homework

“Teacher is your hair two colors?”

“Well yes Ken, actually it is. I have been needing to dye my hair again for a long time. Do you know what hair dye means?”

“I think so, isn’t it very bad?”

“No you are thinking of die, like how you said your dog died two years ago. This is dye spelled D-Y-E. It means that my hair is really this darker brown color but I like to make it yellow so I put color in it. But I have been busy and my friend has been busy and I need her to help me change the color again.”

“Oh. So you think the brown is bad.”

“Well no I guess I don’t think the brown is bad, I guess I just like the yellow better.”

“Oh. In my Korean school, we aren’t allowed to have hair dyed. Your hair can only be black, and it has to be straight. You can’t have a firm.”

“A firm? What do you mean?”

“If you hair goes around and around”

“Oh, you mean a perm? When the hair is curly? You aren’t allowed to have curly hair at your school?”

“No. And if a boy’s ears are covered by his hair, he must to cut his hair too. And if you have any words on your shirts, you have to do maybe 30 or 40 pushups, I don’t know how many but it’s a lot. And the girls they can’t wear skirts. If they wear skirts, they have to do pushups but not the kind where you go up and down, just the kind where they have straight arms”

“Oh like a plank like this?

“Yes. And the girls at my school, they can’t wear their hair like yours, they have to wear it different.”

“Oh, you mean down? They can’t put their hair up in a ponytail?

“No.”

“Wow Ken, I would not last one minute in a Korean school. I have dyed curly yellow hair and I put it up, and I have words on my shirt.”

“I think it is too many rules.”

“Me too. Ok let’s talk about our book.”

2 minutes later

“Teacher do you have a car in America?”

“Yes Ken, I do.”

“What kind is it?”

“It’s a Toyota.. A Japanese car.”

“Oh, in Korea everyone has Kia and Hyundai. Are those in America too?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen them before but they aren’t as common. Toyotas and Hondas are very reliable cars, Do you know what reliable means?”

“No.”

“It means that it is a good car, that it won’t break down as much as other cars, hopefully. Anyways, Toyotas and Hondas are very reliable cars, so many people have them in America. But because they are so common in America, many thieves break into them. Do you know what a thief is?”

“No, I don’t”

“A thief is someone who takes stuff that doesn’t belong to them.”

“Oh yes, yes I know. Was he African American?”

“What! No, I don’t know. What do you mean?”

“Well in 1997 I saw there were a lot of African American people fighting in Los Angeles and I saw them leaving with a lot of blood.”

“Oh you mean they were bleeding a lot?”

“Yes, do you know what I am talking about?”

“No Ken, I don’t . (shoot I’m going to have to go home to google this stuff…) But sometimes in Los Angeles there are fights but it’s not just black people. It’s white people, and Mexican people and Asian people and other people. Everyone makes mistakes, not just black people.”

“Teacher why are there so many African Americans in America?”

(Does this kid ever quit?)

“Well a long time ago there was this terrible thing called slavery and many African Americans were forced to come over to America to work for white people. A lot of African Americans today are children from people who were slaves before.”

“But didn’t Abraham Lincoln set them free?”

“Well..yes…in a manner of speaking. (I did not want to have to explain what ‘emancipation’ and ‘proclamation’ meant).

“Well then why didn’t they go back to America?”

“Well it wasn’t that easy. It was very difficult to get back to Africa and very expensive and the trip was long and dangerous and many people did not have anything to go back to.”

“Oh.”

“Ok Ken let’s read Chapter 5 in the book now”

“Ok”

2 minutes later

“Teacher, what is your blood type?”

“I don’t know Ken.”

“Oh. Many Americans don’t know their blood type. Do you know Danica? She doesn’t know her blood type either. I bet you are an O.”

“Ok Ken, back to the book.”

“Ok.…..Teacher, what is it called when old people have this on their foreheads?” (pushes on his forehead)

“Wrinkles? Like this?” (I scrunch up my forehead and display the stair steps on my forehead)

No, like on your forehead like this” (he pokes his forehead a bunch of different times) “It’s red.”

“Oh.” Oh geez here we go again. Another kid I work with commenting on my skin. “That is called acne Ken.”

“Oh, is it bad?”

“Well no one really likes it but everyone gets it. It’s normal.”

“Oh. I don’t have that because I am young, but probably I will get it later.” How old does this kid think I am?

“Maybe, who knows. Ok, about chapter 5…”

I don’t know what amazes me more, how the kid barely pauses for breath between questions, the way his bright little eyes just want to know more, his insatiable curiosity, the extreme cultural differences, his preconceived ideas about what America is like, or the way he makes me think about things a little differently. I’m not sure.

But excuse me, I have to go brush up on American history and popular culture before our next class in a week.

Lord of the Rings Tour in New Zealand ~Jayoma

2011-03-22T10:24:00.000-05:00

Now I’m going to go into what was, quite possibly, the best day I’ve experienced in New Zealand so far. Yes, I’m talking about the full-day Lord of the Rings Tour all around the Wellington area. Eight brilliant, glorious hours of touring all around the city and checking out the exact locations used for the filming of the trilogy…I was in heaven. A word of warning to those of you who do not consider yourselves “fans” – I’m going to be spazzing out here. Feel free to duck and cover and wear a smoking jacket.

The guy running the entire operation was named “Ted” and was very, very cool. He definitely knew his stuff, but he was also super friendly and laidback – which made him seem less like a tour guide and more like a travel buddy. Since I’m pretty diehard myself, I already had a good idea where some of the scenes were filmed, and I was worried that he would just take us up to Mount Victoria and say, “So this was where they shot the Flight to the Ford. Walk around and take pictures for 20 minutes or so and then we’ll get back in the van.” Instead, he took us to the exact spot where the actors stood and provided photographic evidence in the form of movie stills and a laptop that he carried around with him. When we got to the right location, he would play the appropriate scene from the movie and then point out certain trees or rocks that lined up with the shot. So you knew for sure that it was legit.

First we started off towards the Dry Creek Quarry on the outskirts of town, where they built the sets for Helm’s Deep and – later on – Minas Tirith. The area appealed to them because there was so much natural rock in the area that they didn’t have to worry about manufacturing a lot of the look. They basically just built the set straight up against the mountain and used the cliffs as extra decoration. Then, when they had finished three months of night shoots with Helm’s Deep, they tore down parts of the set and rearranged other pieces to build Minas Tirith in the same place. So the front gate of Helm’s Deep was altered a bit in shape and became the gateway to the second level of Minas Tirith. There’s really nothing there now to show that any of it existed, but it was cool to be there anyway. I guess locals saw it going on for months and knew all about what it was for, but since it was such an unknown thing, no one bothered to take pictures of it because no one had any idea of how popular the movie would be. Then, when the movies came out, everyone rushed over to take pictures, but it had all been torn down by then. Shame.

What's left of the location

Helm's Deep from the movie

It was raining off and on all day, and the first burst came just as we were leaving the quarry. The next stop was the gardens of Isengard, which was a bit of a drive, so Ted kept us entertained with more stories and film clips as the rain continued to come and go. The bonus about the weather was that it created these amazing fog drifts across the hills, so that added an extra dreamy quality to everything.

The majority of Isengard was shot in Harcourt Park, just a ways up into the Hutt Valley. It was basically Ian McKellan and Christopher Lee walking around in costume and then the people at Weta Workshop superimposing the Tower of Orthanc and some mountains into the background. There are some very distinctive trees, however, that you can recognize from the film. The first one is right there in the foreground when Gandalf first rides up to the tower on a horse and Saruman is coming down the stairs. They set up a blue screen just behind the tree and had Ian McKellan (or maybe a stunt rider, not sure) go up to a certain mark to dismount. Then the rest was added in later. You can also faintly see the path that they created out of the grass for the horse to ride along. It’s just slightly different in texture in color along this one strip, so you can literally walk all the way from the bridge to the tower and follow the same path to the tree. The bridge itself was flipped on the screen, so it’s actually a miniature shot backwards to fit in with the rest of the scene.

Harcourt Park with evidence of the foot path

Then there’s another grove of trees just a ways off from that where Gandalf and Saruman walked while discussing the Ring being found. If I remember the featurettes correctly, I think that was Christopher Lee’s first day of shooting as well. It was pretty much just a few little trees and bushes off to the side of the track with a park bench in the front. They covered the bench up with a fake shrub for filming, but the rest of it is pretty distinct as the area they were walking through. That’s also the scene where Saruman pretty much accuses Gandalf of being a stoner on the “Halfing’s Leaf,” so there’s that, too. The cutting down of all the trees was also filmed near this area, but a fake tree was used for the actual shot. It was a hinged tree that could be pulled down and put up again over and over as they filmed the scene, and it’s actually only one tree for all of the ensuing shots. They just changed the angle of the camera and interspersed it with dialogue to make it seem like they were tearing down a lot of different trees. Ah, the magic of film making.

Saruman and Gandalf walking through Isengard

We stopped at Isengard for just a bit longer, and then we moved on to one of my favorite locations – the river where Aragorn washed ashore after the Warg fight. Now, that’s not exactly a huge, memorable scene as far as the trilogy goes, but I have personal reasons for being psyched about it because, well, it’s Aragorn. I’m allowed to fangirl a bit. The actual cliff that he fell off of is right across the water from Queenstown, and the river that he floats down is also in the South Island, but the beach that he washes up on is just on the edge of the Hutt River. They brought in some sand for Viggo to lie down on and roughed him up a bit in makeup, and then they had him lie there and look half-dead. Then the horse that played Brego did his thing of kneeling down next to him and helping him up. Naturally, I had to do the same thing. I couldn’t be in the same spot and not lie down for a quick photo. In the movie stills, you can see the same rock wall in the background when he’s lying there. Awesome.

Playing dead

Aragorn getting picked up by Brego. Notice the rock wall in the background.

Next, we were off to lunch and Rivendell. There’s a place called Kaitoke Regional Park about 12km north of Upper Hutt that’s home to some nice rainforest walks and flowing rivers. The rain was picking up again at that point, so we took shelter in a picnic area just down the road. I was absolutely starving after not having anything to eat for breakfast, so I devoured my lunch of Subway sandwiches, cookies, and juice. Luckily, everyone else was full after only two portions and I was able to get away with taking some more without feeling too greedy. Hey, they were going to throw it out anyways! Okay, so we hung out there for a while and chatted a bit about all sorts of various subjects, and then we got back in the van to drive further into the forest.

The actual location of Rivendell is signposted pretty well with all sorts of arrows pointing the way. I think it’s one of the best-known locations in New Zealand. Just as we were heading onto the path for “Rivendell,” Ted unloaded the van and pulled out what looked suspiciously like a bow and arrow. Hmm… What could that be for...? More on that later. While I was pondering that, we crossed a bridge and looked out over the river. It was harder to figure out specific markers used for the movie there, but walking around definitely reminded me of Rivendell in general. It was a good thing that we had Ted with us, because I would have had no idea where to look if I was there by myself. There’s a little sign in the wood with a plaque about the set, but there aren’t really any pictures to use as a reference. Then Ted busted out a humongous portfolio of movie stills and went BAM – evidence. See that little bush there? That’s that little bush over there. He’s kind of awesome like that. And the thing that we all got out of that particular visit was that Rivendell was frickin’ tiny as a set. You think of this huge, sprawling complex in the forest, but in actuality, it was just this gazebo and a few statues in the real world. A lot of the interior parts – like the famous Council of Elrond scene – were done on sets back in the studio, and the only a few bits were shot out in the elements. The best known one was the part where the Fellowship was getting ready to depart Rivendell in the Ring Goes South. In the film, you see Legolas prancing down the stairs to go get ready and then everyone gathered around their horses. I was able to find the tree used for the shot, just to Legolas’ right. He passed right next to it going down the artificial staircase. Then, as the Fellowship is leaving, Frodo mumbles to Gandalf, “One more time, Gandalf, is it left or right?” for comedic effect, but in reality, he had to go left because the right pathway goes straight into a river. There’s literally nothing there. So Frodo’s kind of an idiot.

The tree

The clearing...apparently

Okay, but I was even more of an idiot for doing what happened next. Remember that bow and arrow? Yeah, turns out that it had a purpose after all. Some of you might remember a certain promotional shot of Legolas that was on calendars and posters all over the country when the movies first came out. It’s basically him looking all prissy and elegant in front of a tree with his bow at the ready, yet it was never used in the actual films. Well, we found that tree. There’s really no question about it – it’s definitely the same frickin’ tree. And, oh, would any of us like to pose under it with a bow and arrow? Why, sure, that would be just dandy, thanks! Come to think of it, would you also like a cloak to wrap around your shoulders and some fake elf ears to make it more authentic? Cool! Even better! So there I was, nerd extraordinaire, standing in full fake-elf get-up with five cameras pointed at me and getting commands like, “Now, just give us a little pout. Make it sexy!” Which I utterly failed at. I held the face for about half a second before bursting out laughing. So nearly every photo is unusable. Oh well. I looked slightly better than the Austrian guy, at least.

Fail

What it's supposed to look like

The main feature of the second half of the day was Mt. Victoria – also known as the place where they filmed A Shortcut to Mushrooms, “Get Off the Road,” the Flight to the Ford, and a few snippet scenes of Aragorn and King Theoden at Dunharrow. That was the one place in the Wellington area that I knew, 100%, involved filming, but I’m so glad I didn’t try to go on my own. For one thing, it’s really, really far uphill and a good fifteen minute drive outside of the city center. On the map, it looks right next to my hostel, but that doesn’t take into account how high up the road has to curve around the hills. It would’ve taken me all day to get up there. And, secondly, once you get over the initial feeling of, “Yeah, those trees look familiar,” and, “I could picture some Nazgul chasing some hobbits through here,” it’s really difficult to place exactly which trees were used for the shots. They all look the same after a while. Luckily, Ted was prepared. First, he explained that the trees were actually very, very old pine trees that had become warped and jagged from all the wind blowing through that area. Perfect for that kind of suspenseful feeling of being chased. Then he explained about how the place was used for the very first day of shooting. I remembered that little tidbit from an interview on the DVD, but it was nice to be reminded. Before they did anything else, they loaded up Elijah, Sean, Dom, and Billy into the back of car, drove them over to a park right outside Wellington, and filmed a lot of those preliminary scenes with the city just on the other side of the trees. So that was a cool, inexpensive way to do it.

Arriving at Mt. Victoria and Ted doing his thing

First, though, he led is just to the edge of this cliff so that we were looking out over a small clearing with a rock wall behind it. Apparently Viggo and Bernard Hill stood right at the edge of the clearing, where there’s a slight rise looking down the mountain, to look down at the army of Rohan that had amassed at Dunharrow. In actuality, they were just standing there in front of a blue screen, looking down at downtown Wellington. But okay, sure, armies of Rohan. That’s why they’re professional actors, I guess. That rock wall behind them can be briefly seen in the shot as well, just where some of the tents have been set up.

Looking down at Dunharrow...or Wellington

Next, it was time for some hobbit action. I thought he was going to take us to the Hobbits Hideaway area because there was a sign for it pointing up the hill, but he led us down a little deer path instead, in the completely opposite direction. Then, just through the leaves and branches, he pointed at this one particularly big pine tree with a low-hanging, V-shaped branch just at ground level. That was the scene where Frodo was hanging out and smoking his pipe in the tree while Samwise did all of the work of cooking dinner just below. So it was time for some more dress up and role playing. Ted whipped out a couple of long-stemmed pipes and a frying pan with some plastic sausages glued to it, and people volunteered to be Sam or Frodo. Naturally, I had to be Frodo. No cooking ability whatsoever. We stayed there for a while – mostly because we had a much larger group for after lunch, and everyone wanted to play dress up for all of the role playing opportunities. I’ll just say one thing that I learned from that location: Elijah Woods is tiny. Like hobbit-sized. I was up in that tree and just barely fit, and I’m 5’5”. Very fitting role for him.

Being a hobbit

Just picture a giant fake tree above us

Like that

We stayed there for a while longer, and Ted explained a camera trick that Peter Jackson used for the wooded road when Frodo shouts, “Get off the road!” If you’ve seen the movie, the screen does this trippy thing where it zooms in and out at the same time to indicate something is coming. This was first used by Alfred Hitchcock in his movie Vertigo and then again in the movie Jaws, with the cop guy (I forget his name) sitting on the beach and seeing a shark attack. It’s great for adding drama and suspense. What they do is put the camera on a track at ground level and slowly pull it backwards from the shot while simultaneously zooming in. It results in a pretty cool thing called the Hitchcock Effect.

"Get Off the Road!"

There was only one thing left to see at Mount Victoria: the Flight to the Ford. This was the scene where all of the hobbits are running around in the dark, trying to escape the Nazgul and get to Buckleberry Ferry on the way to Bree. Ted led us back up to the place where we first entered the forest and pointed out some trees right next to the path. It looks way different in the middle of the day and from a different angle, but once you know where to stand, it’s pretty easy to picture Frodo and everybody hiding just behind those particular trees. Then he showed us what they’re looking up at. I think a couple of people might remember the particular shot used for the Black Rider up on top of a hill, looking down at the camera with some creepy backlighting behind it. That same shot was used for a number of promotional photos and made it on the cover for a specific edition of the Fellowship of the Ring book. I think Dad may have that version, actually. Anyway, it’s kind of a memorable shot, and what you don’t know is that the Nazgul is pretty much standing in the parking lot where we parked the van and looking down on the path used by bikers and pedestrians during the day. I wasn’t sure how we were going to recreate that shot without a horse, but Ted, as always, knew what he was doing. He asked for volunteers to create a silhouette, and I was glad to be excluded from that one, for once. It involved three people squashing up against each other and holding that pose long enough for a photo at the top of the hill. Surprisingly, it actually looks really convincing on camera. You could almost believe that it’s a horse and rider.

Our interpretation

Flight to the Ford

Then it was time to say goodbye to Mount Victoria. We had spent most of the afternoon up there, so we had to get over to Miramar on the other side of the bay to catch the Weta Cave before closing. I was pretty psyched about that because it meant scoping out actual props used for the movies and scoring some swag from the gift shop. While we were dricing out there, Ted kept us entertained with trivia and small talk. It’s pretty far out there, and most of the buildings in that part of the city look fairly nondescript. I guess the idea is to make the studios and workshops look as unassuming as possible so that no one really knows where they are or when filming is going on there. Apparently Andy Serkis, the guy who played Gollum, did some of his most famous scenes in this drafty little warehouse by the water, and neighbors from that area had no idea that any of it was going on. Ted said that there have been a few times when famous people have been walking along the street or have dropped in to check out the Weta Cave, and no one realizes that it’s them. Ian McKellan got recognized by someone on the tour a while back, and the poor guy got harassed by some crazy fanboy who wanted a job in the business, so Ted usually doesn’t point them out to people. I guess Elijah Wood was standing right next to a group in a goutee and beanie, and no one paid him any attention because they were all enthralled with the exhibits. I made Ted promise me that he would let me know if someone famous was in the building – I would be good, pinky swear. Unfortunately – or fortunately, however you look at it – that didn’t happen, and I wasn’t put in the difficult position of knowing and doing nothing.

One of the last stops was the studio itself. You could tell that everyone was really busy with getting the pre-production stuff together for The Hobbit because the block was packed with cars, and people kept disappearing in an out of the set. I would have loved to have gotten a glimpse inside, but, for obvious reasons, security was tight. No one in or out without a pass, apparently. We still got to watch and crane our necks for any sign of A-list actors. Most of the main cast aren’t really household names – Martin Freeman is playing Bilbo, and he’s mostly just done the British version of The Office – but some people like Orlando Bloom (Why??? His character’s not in the Hobbit!) and Ian McKellan are slotted to reprise their former roles. Also Cate Blanchett, Elijah Woods as a narrator, and a few others. I’m hoping for a shot of a younger Strider helping Gandalf track Gollum to Mordor, but we’ll just have to cross our fingers on that one.

Then it was finally time to head home and say our goodbyes. I made sure to give Ted a big hug and express my gratitude because he was such a trooper for enduring the nerd attack all day. I’m sure he gets that a lot with his kind of business, but it was still very nice of him. He dropped me off at Base, and then it was just a short walk back to Wellywood. Sigh. Such an awesome day.

Noodling with Taoists ~Abby Goldstein

2011-03-22T09:53:00.000-05:00

Dearest readers,

Today was day two of my epic adventure, fear not, eventually I will stop counting. I woke up this morning with a cut on my arm, from some broken glass at the bar yesterday evening. Ah well, such is life. We had a fabulous time getting to know each other as well as discussing business. Apparently, my foreignness is a total lure around here. I had drinks sent my way, and some Chinese lessons from my co-workers as well as the very handsome bartender (who gave me his digits, yeah, fear my awesome). But enough about last night.

This morning, I got the lovely opportunity to walk around with Sophia, the Chinese woman who found my internship, and whom I owe many thanks to for helping make this possible. We started our day off by taking two separate buses to get to a Taoist temple in the heart of the city. Once there, we paid 10 yuan to go in. That is after of course going through two bottles of orange juice (they just make the stuff so much better tasting over here). Sophia and I chatted while looking at the different parts of the old temple with a touristic flair (they had a gift shop, pfft). There is nothing I like more than the smell of something burning, and there was a prominent incense smell that was literally everywhere in the temple. We arrived at one building where we met a fortune teller who was noshing on some kind of vegetable, my guess would be tarot. So, I bent down on my knees and threw up a request for good weather from the statue (I am not big on prayer). I had to shake a vase of sticks with different writing on them and pick one. I picked a nice one in the middle mind you it was in Chinese, so I had no idea what it said. He used it to tell my fortune apparently my luck is great according to him as well as the Twister game from the previous day, so looks like I have some pretty damn good luck (go me).

Following the temple we went to a roadside stand, which had I been in change I never would have picked. We ordered some crazy good noodles, I am legitimately so glad she didn’t ask me where to eat. I then preceded to buy a Pepsi Max, they do not seem to believe in Diet Coke here, or for that matter diet anything. Since today was so gorgeous we decided to walk for most of the day. We stopped in some little park that looked kind of like a low-end amusement park, which was pleasant. We walked down to one of the oldest streets in Chengdu, and did some window shopping in the tea shops as well as buying a cute inexpensive phone strap for my Chinese cell phone (yes, I am now officially one of those tools who carries not one, but two cell phones every where I go).

We continued to walk down to an area with a place called Wide-Narrow street (that is how its translated anyway). An area that consists of three streets one wide, one narrow and one just right (go figure, Goldilocks was actually on to something). We decided to stop for some afternoon tea, which we took outside in a little pseudo-American cafe’s courtyard. We were once again exchanging words English for Chinese, I explained the different American dialects, she found Boston extremely humorous, as oh so many of us often do. As we sat there, I had a slew of well lets call them admirers, for lack of a better term. JBeibs, watch out I will be more famous than you, well in China at least. So after some not so stealthily taken pictures, and a good, not nearly-as-relaxing-as-it-should-have-been time soaking in some sun, we decided to hit the street, hail a cab, and head on home.

As it is only just past 5 p.m. now, I have no idea what my evening will entail. I am hoping to go out, being around people is kinda my version of retail therapy, only much less costly and/or productive. Perhaps I will give that nice bartender a ring, just kidding. Well, it has been a pleasure keeping all of you informed about my happenings, I am going to go see if I can go goad Kiki into hanging out with me tonight.

Hugs, Kisses, all that jazz,

Abby

Day One Venturing into the Vast Unknown ~ Abby Goldstein

2011-03-21T17:29:00.000-05:00

Hello avid readers,

My name is Abby, and I am here to create a blog about my adventuring into the vast unknown, aka Chengdu, China. I am originally a student from America now doing an internship for 4 months with a local Chinese travel agency. A few months ago, I decided to travel back to China for a second time with Cultural Embrace, because I fell in love with the country after only one month. I come back in hopes of creating just as many memories and opportunities as I had my first time around.

Today was my first day in Chengdu, well, technically my second day, I slept through the first. I am in the Sichuan region, which of course equals awesomely spicy food. I woke up at 4:30 this morning, all sorts of excited for the day to begin. It was the first day of my orientation, and thus I was introduced to the city by my very friendly and very helpful co-worker, Kiki. We set out at around 10 A.M. and headed towards the market.

Sidenote: I must say there is nothing nearly as riveting as being stared at as you walk down the street, I am going to assume its because of my dirty blonde hair, but who knows maybe they just saw my sparkling personality shining through.

Kiki showed me around two different market places where I could purchase anything from soy sauce to a leather purse, and then we headed off to Starbucks (I can’t resist even with all the new exotic places around me). After a refreshing iced green tea latte, a strange look because I ordered the drink iced, and a wonderful conversation with Kiki, we decided to go into the heart of the city. After taking two buses, each for 2 Yuan, we went into the Chengdu version of Central Park. There we played a game where we spun an arrow, similar to the one used in Twister, to determine our luck. I landed on the dragonfly, and Kiki on the butterfly, both of which bring good luck she informed me. She taught me little Chinese words along the way, and in return, I taught her some English slang. After walking around, and having my picture taken by several locals, we decided to stop and sit outside for some traditional Chinese tea.

We preceded to take a taxi down to the large shopping district in the heart of Chengdu. According to Kiki, this was the most upbeat, modern, metropolitan area. We stopped in a restaurant that catered to both foreign and domestic clientele based on their menu. I got the very basic spaghetti and tomato sauce platter (a safe choice, not sure my stomach is quite up to being challenged at this point), and she ordered the congee (a soupy dish made of white rice, with condiments on the side). We sat and chatted some more, wildly waving our hands in hopes of trying to convey our thoughts. After that, we went and walked around admiring the shops, and finally hailing a taxi to take us back to our little office/ my apartment. I then preceded to take a quick bath and prepare myself for my evening activities. I had dinner with the coworkers, a lovely meal of rice, spicy shrimp, fish, carrots, and lotus, and have since come back to inform you about it. Can’t wait for day two tomorrow, Sonam is taking me to see the Tibetan street and a few other as yet to be determined sites.

With love from China,
Abby

Cultural Embrace Intern in China 2011

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato Four...And There's More? ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-03-20T19:36:00.001-05:00

In 2009, Club Fitness reported over 45.5 million Americans had gym club memberships, Unfortunately, according to the reports about 80% of these gym memberships are rarely or never used. I’m not a fitness trainer, nor am I getting paid by a gym or home exercise machine company to talk the fitness topic up; but I am passionate about getting people to live a healthy and balanced life.

Traveling, serving others, and being fit are a few things that top my list of ways to obtain this type of lifestyle. It’s disappointing to learn that the average American watches 170 minutes of television a day, more than 9x the amount spent on exercise related activities (according to a University of California study in 2003). Firstly, the content and quality of what is on television is pretty appalling; and secondly, there’s a whole world out there—get off your bum and embrace it!

Of course I recommend that you to travel abroad (have you heard of www.CulturalEmbrace.com …okay, I do get paid if I promote that company—ha!), and will share more international + fitness insight in my next blog; but get off the couch and move around at home! Now that the days are longer with Daylight Savings, you have more sunlight to exercise after work. Walk around the block. Take the kids. Go jogging with your dog. Ask your boss if you can exercise during your lunch hour; or better yet, challenge your work or school mates to get fit together. It’s more fun to be in it together and hold each other accountable to reach your goals. Buy a treadmill or stationery bike so you can exercise while watching television. Most gyms have cable television (and some now have wi-fi) available in their clubs if you really can’t shut the world off…but c’mon, really?! If you’re on a tight budget, lift canned vegetables throughout your favorite show and do push-ups and sit-ups during commercials. Put YellowPages on your quads and do leg lifts (now you won’t feel guilty throwing them straight to the recycle bin anymore).

I encourage you to set small goals but be consistent. Start with 20 minutes a day for at least 3-4 times a week. Your clothes will fit better, and you will have more energy throughout the day. Keep track of your daily exercise and diet in a journal, or join Cultural Embrace’s fitness team through SparkPeople’s free on-line or mobile application that will record your calorie intake and exercise regime. Plus SparkPeople and Cultural Embrace’s very own intern, Haley, will share regular fitness and nutrition tips; and you can read, be motivated and inspired by others that want to improve their lives. I’m confident that you will feel better mentally and physically which will lead to a happier, healthier, and more balanced way to live.

New Zealand..."Sweet As" ~ by Amy R.

2011-03-17T10:05:00.000-05:00

"En Zed" as referred to by the locals can definitely be described by their favorite slogan, "sweet as!"....they don't say anything after the "as" probably because there isn't a comparison! It is known by many as the home of extreme sports, and to others as the filming location of Lord of the Rings....both of these generating quite a bit of tourism for this small country....but I am happy to report that it is SO much more than that! New Zealanders take great pride is preserving the country's natural state and therefore take extreme measures to keep any foreign animals, plantlife, or even soil from crossing their borders. This diligence pays off, as they have the bluest waters, the cleanest air, and the greenest forests/fields I've ever seen.
My journey started in Christchurch, which is on the east coast of the South Island, and pre-earthquake. Christchurch was a quaint city with a small central square, housing daily markets, and surrounded by parks. I stayed in a hostel right on the outskirts of the city center at Around the World Hostel. I immediately found that hostels in NZ have more of a family-feel to them, and the travellers I met here referred to themselves, and were quick to include me as "la familia." We would eat meals together, go on our own whimsical "city tours" together, and of course went out together. I was only here for a few days but found that this new group of friends helped ease any homesickness that had begun creeping in after being away for so long and traveling on my own. Cheers to "la familia" wherever they all are now!
I left Christchurch on the TranzCoastal train, traveling up the east coast along the ocean up to Picton. The train's cars were set up almost as booths in a restaurant so your seat is at a table facing other travelers sitting across from you. The couple across from me was not especially interested in communicating with me or each other so I followed the others out of our car to the "viewing car." In my mind, I pictured the viewing car to be a lounge type car with windows all around to take in the ocean side view. What I found instead was an open-air car resembling a cattle car! The wind was strong and it was difficult to hold steady to get pictures, not to mention you were never sure when we would pass through a tunnel and you'd be standing in pitch black for a few moments. As shocking as this was, it was also incredible! I really admired the NZ way of relying on locals and travelers alike to use common sense in all situations. They don't bother to tack up warning signs or safety nets in fear of a lawsuit, they live with the mindset that if you choose to go somewhere or do something, you do so at your own risk...so be careful and use your common sense!:)

Picton is located at the very north end of the South Island and has one main street that goes right up to the water. Just to give you an idea of how safe it is over there, when I checked into my hostel for the night and asked about my room key, I was advised that they didn't lock the rooms but they would be shutting the front door by 10:30pm so not to worry.....and I didn't because that is just the way of life there. It was brilliant!

I caught the InterIslander Ferry from Picton to Wellington and enjoyed the view and the sunshine from the top of the ship deck. In Wellington I stayed with family friends who took especially good care of me and made sure I saw all the sights! We went up to the top of Mt. Victoria, checked out the local museum in the city, and even went camping in the Wairarapa Mountain Range and hiked up to the Pinnacles. It was a fabulous weekend with an incredible family that I will never forget!

I flew down the Queenstown, home of all the extreme sports, but between low funds and bad weather I passed and just enjoyed wandering around the town and meeting the locals. Queenstown reminded me a lot of an American ski resort town like Breckenridge, CO. I caught the Intercity bus north to Franz Josef Glacier. I would highly recommend this bus in lieu of the tour bus companies due to reasonable prices and flexible scheduling. Our bus driver did pull over to a few sightseeing spots, such as the Thundercreek Falls and a great overlook point of the Tasman Sea.

It was on this bus trip that we heard news of the earthquake in Christchurch. We were in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception and unable to notify friends and family that we were okay. We also didn't know the magnitude of the quake or the extent of damage done. That evening, after arriving to the glacier, located on the west coast of the South Island, we heard that they had also felt the shaking earlier that day. We all gathered around the television and watched as the city many of us had either just left or had planned to return to crumbled. I reached out to the "la familia" and was releived to know that they had all fared okay and just had to evacuate due to the damages and lack of water/electricity. My heart goes out to all of the victims and their familes.

On a lighter note, the glacier, despite the rainy weather, was absolutely amazing! I did the hike up right up to the base of the glacier and then a separate shorter hike to a reflection pond which was something you'd see on a postcard! It was gorgeous! It wasn't until the day I left and the weather cleared that I could see the glacier clearly from my hostel. This was definitely a trip I would recommend doing!
Due to the damage from the earthquake I wasn't able to take the TranzAlpine train back across the south island to Christcurch so I altered my plans and stuck with the InterCity bus up to Nelson. I made up my mind then and there that you just can't go wrong when traveling NZ. The west coast view from the bus was just as diverse and beautiful as every other mile of my trip around this country and one I'm glad I got to see! I flew from Nelson to Auckland and then back to Sydney.

This was the final leg of my trip and I spent the last weekend staying with my adopted extended family who will forever have a special place in my heart! We didn't waste any of our time and spent my last wekeend traveling to a few local beaches, hiking, and kayaking. It was a blast! I even saw a kangaroo--right in the city!--on my last day in Australia while walking Jaffa through a local park, we spotted him jumping down another trail...what a sendoff!

Will write one final blog to reflect on the trip as a whole and let you know how it is to be back home!
Take care!:)
xoxo
Amy
Currently on Cultural Embrace's Work & Travel Australia

Teaching in Liuzhou ~ by Matt W.

2011-03-16T15:03:00.000-05:00

So when I left off last time I wrote about my final few days in Yangshuo. I really enjoyed my time there. But now after my weekend in Nanning (which I will get to later) I really think the people are what made Yangshuo so great. I feel that the route I took with Cultural Embrace's Teach in China program was an ideal transition to life in China. Getting training and starting in Yangshuo was great. It is a very Western city by Chinese standards, so it allowed me some time to transition from Western culture to a full-on Chinese culture that I have here in Liuzhou. So yes, here a more of a rundown of the past two weeks to finally get up to speed on my blog.

On Monday morning, the 28th Mr Meng drove me to the Yangshuo bus station to take a bus directly from Yangshuo to Liuzhou, where someone from the school would pick me up. So everything went smoothly until I actually got to Liuzhou. When I got off the bus I was expecting either the headmasters of the school, who I met a few days prior, or someone with a sign with my name on it, like when Tina picked me up at the airport in Guilin. But of course neither were there and I was given almost no direction on where to go or do. So I just stood... and stood... and stood. For about an hour. While I was standing countless taxi and tuk tuk drivers were asking me where I wanted to go, and that they could take me. One even had the gall to ask for 100 kuai for a ride. I declined. So I figured I probably should call Isabella. I of course only had Isabella's phone number on my computer which I didn't want to pull out in the middle of a busy street in china. So I made a plan. I was going to go to a noodle shop, open my computer there (where fewer people would see) and then go back across the street to where there were several phones that you could pay several kuai to use. So I started proceeding with my plan. While I was in the middle of eating my noodles this guy comes up to me, starts talking really fast in chinese and so I didn't understand him. I figured he was trying to sell me something so I started repeating "wo bu yao" (i dont want it). Then he pulls out his cell phone and calls someone and puts the phone to my ear. On the other end is Joanna, the foreign teacher coordinator at my school. So this was my guy. Apparently he was walking around for an hour trying to find me, which I don't know how that happened because I was standing outside the bus station for an hour, and the bus came right on time. Regardless I made it and everything is good.

So when I arrived at school I was quickly introduced to all of the other foreign teachers, Stephen from Ireland, Freda from Ghana, Elana from Latvia, and Laura from England. All are pretty nice people as usual. So after meeting them I was shown my apartment. I was pretty surprised because the place is pretty nice in comparison to the dorms in Yangshuo. Granted, I don't have the same view but the amenities are a bit nicer (I have a two bedroom to myself so if anyone wants to stop by YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME!!!). So, my first night the teachers take me out to eat, a nice gesture that I was very appreciative of. So the next few days were all pretty similar because I spent time observing classes, which to me seems pretty uneventful and very similar to my training classes because I just spent about 10 minutes each class introducing myself and answering the kids questions about America. Now this reminds me of something. The school I'm at here in Liuzhou, is like the Taj Mahal compared to the school in Yangshuo. In every way this school is nicer. I guess the school in Liuzhou has more basketball courts. So if thats how you want to measure a school then, I guess yangshuo is better. I haven't taken any pictures here of Liuzhou yet, but I'll make sure to take some of the school. It's really nice.

So events that have happened in Liuzhou... On the 3rd day a Chinese teacher comes up to me and tells me that Stephen is going to his friends house tonight to eat dinner. I was slightly confused by this because I had never met this teacher before but if Stephen was going it probably was legit. So, that night Stephen and I hop in a cab to his friends house. It was really fun just hanging out eating dinner in the way they do social dinners, Hotpot (i think i explained this already). So after eating dinner for like 2 hours, I'm told we're going to the city center for a few beers and that we're not going to be out that late. Well "not that late" turned into 3am. Luckily I didn't have class until 11. The next night Stephen and I start doing the same routine but we make sure get back early because we both had early class. So on friday me and Stephen decide to go to the city center with his girlfriend where there is this massive pool hall where they charge for tables by the hour. So we play for an hour or so and then we decide to go to a bar, but something more low key. So Stephen knew of a spot so we went there. But after about 15 minutes one of Stephen's Xhinese friends came and told us to come with him. So we followed him and he leads us to a KTV bar where he has a room rented. So KTV for those who don't know is karaoke, but where you rent private rooms so you only embarrass yourself to your friends rather than an entire bar. So we spent our evening there which was a pretty good time. After Friday night, my weekend went very slow. I slept in really late on Saturday and didn't really get out until 3 in the afternoon. I basically went running and went to dinner with Stephen and Xiao Liao.

So I'll talk about running some, because my blog is titled running through china. So. Running in Liuzhou actually has been suprisingly good. I live really close to a very large park called Longtian park. Its pretty big and has several miles of roads which makes it a decent running spot. The main problem is that the park can get really really busy, particularly around lunch time, when its most convenient for me to run. So I have to do a lot of weaving. One nice thing about the park is that I've notice the air is significantly better in the park than on the regular streets so thats better than breathing the polluted air of typical Chinese cities. An intersting thing about the park is that the Chinese love putting little carnival things everywhere, gokarts, bumpercars, boats etc. It was like this in Yangshuo too. But Longtian park touts itself about being undeveloped but it has all this stuff.... I don't really get it. Also, this is nothing new but chinese love trying and failing at being discrete at taking pictures of westerners, particularly when I'm running. They'll pretend to be taking a picture of something (most of the time is like a tree which gives it away) and then turning their camera to me at the last second. When I catch them doing this I usually try to make some sort of face to show that I know what they're doing. They also love yelling hello to me.

Okay, I'm tired. I didnt sleep much last night in Nanning, and I promise I'll get up to date tomorrow.

Flashback: Thanksgiving Leftovers ~ by Robin, Current Teach in China Participant

2011-03-15T23:10:00.000-05:00

I just realized I wrote this a long time ago, but never posted it. So here goes...

Well, we successfully pulled off Thanksgiving in

China

with flying colors, which is no small feat considering our shopping selection and the kitchens we had to work with.

I hosted the dinner party in my apartment so my day was spent cleaning and rearranging furniture to accommodate 12 people, and teaching my two classes. Jeff has no classes on Thursdays so he did the grocery shopping and got to work on his creation early. Jeff signed up for sweet potato casserole, and I said I would make apple crisp and the stuffing. I returned home from class to find Jeff sitting in a chair in the kitchen, elbows deep in sweet potatoes. The two of us spent a lovely afternoon cooking in a kitchen equipped with one burner, a microwave, an oven that closely resembles an Easy bake kids oven, and limited counter space that comes up to about mid thigh height (thus the chairs). I have seen bathroom stalls larger than my kitchen. Even though it was cozy, and at one point we had pans stacked on top of pans in the oven because there aren't enough shelves, we got it all done on time! Also, I could not believe how much butter goes in stuffing!

So our friends Van, Luan, Mike, Joni, Eric, and Katie all came, and our Chinese friends Wallace, his wife Hanna, and Jane made up the party. It was pretty close to a traditional dinner, we were just missing cranberry and turkey. Instead we had duck, chicken, stuffing, three kinds of sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, jello with fruit, salad, egg rolls, mashed potatoes and some Chinese soup stuff. It was soooo soo good and we were all stuffed. I made everyone do a Thanksgiving trivia quiz, luring them with the promise of a surprise. So everyone got really competitive because they thought that it was going to be some American import or something, but really all it was just a box of Chinese mooncakes.

Mooncakes are China's version of fruitcakes. They have mystery stuff inside them, and Chinese people regift them like crazy. We were given one box during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Jeff and I experimented our way through them. Even then, that took us like two months to eat eight of them. Those things are dense, probably because they are composed largely of lard. We had a second box because we met a random man on the street who needed help figuring out the title to an English story. He invited us to his house and we tried to explain what "8 pieces For the Left Hand" meant (no idea....). He seemed happy with our help though, so much so that his wife demanded that we accept a box of mooncakes from her...Great. We just got rid of the last box! So naturally, in the spirit of things, we decided to regift them to the winner of the Thanksgiving Quiz.

After the quiz, and multiple helpings of everything, we busted out Catchphrase. Now this game is fun on its own, but throw in a couple non-native speakers and it is a whole different ball game. Another thing about Catchphrase is that it brings out a side of people that you don’t always get to see. People emerge as extremely eloquent, or absurdly competitive, or somewhat frantic as they struggle to beat the buzzer. Wallace, our Chinese friend who serves as our coordinator here at SIBT (who is a life saver ps) speaks English very well, but was still struggling a bit with the game. Highlight of the night: Wallace chooses his word and is practically bouncing off the seat with excitement: “ok ok, it is the place where the ships go at night!” to which his teammates respond, with gusto “ocean!” and “barn!” Luan and I make eye contact trying to figure out how the heck Eric came up with barn and Van came up with ocean, and then we realize that Wallace’s accent had made ship come out as “sheep” to some, which produced the wide array of answers. So the clock winds down, and the guys throw up their hands because they can’t figure out what the heck he is talking about, while the rest of us are trying not to pee laughing at Wallace’s desperation. Time ran out, the ladies got the point, and the mistake was sorted out, but the real kicker was this. The title of Eric’s textbook for the phonetics class he taught: Ship or Sheep? An introduction to English Phonetics

All in all, a delicious and very memorable Thanksgiving.

In God we Trust ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-03-09T18:13:00.001-06:00

Today marks the beginning of Lent, a time of sacrifice to remember God’s unconditional love. Although I am not Catholic, Lutheran, or Methodist (the denominations that typically practice Lent), the least I can do is to sacrifice some of my life’s comfort as a reminder of God's righteousness for 40 days, right?

If you know me or have read my blog from last week, you know that I love to eat, and am a habitual snacker. I am constantly grazing on something throughout the day yet still have an appetite for a full 3-4 course meal. My friends joke that my fridge and pantry are always stocked even though I travel a lot and live alone.

Thus, I am going to give up snacks, desserts, and alcohol for Lent.

Insert evil Smurf sitting on Emlyn’s shoulder whispering…”40 days without snacks? Dessert? Are you kidding me? You just ate a pound bag of Twizzlers in one sitting last week, and you have another bag sitting in the closet. You know that means no in-flight pretzels and peanuts, and you have at least 4 flights lined up next month. And alcohol?!? SxSW is coming to Austin next week! And what about March Madness…you’re not going to have a drink and snack on some wings or nachos? C’mon what about a glass of wine over dinner?...”

Oooh, backspace. You’re right, maybe I should change that to three drinks maximum a week.

Delete.

What am I doing? I’m sticking to it—ALL snacks, desserts, and alcohol. Once this blog is uploaded I’m committed. Accountability is key so if you are reading this please hold me liable to my words. I told my team today of my Lent sacrifices while they were smacking their lips from the Ghiradelli chocolates that I brought back from San Francisco. That’s okay, I’m not flinching. I’ll just step slowly away from the candy bowl.

Accountability is a wonderful means to attain success. For example, I’ve been tracking my daily nutrition and fitness intake on a free on-line web and mobile application via Sparkpeople since the start of this month. Although I have no target weight to lose, it is keeping me accountable for drinking 8 cups of water a day, eat within the recommended calories, and do some sort of physical exercise. (Come join our fitness team to get tips from our intern, Haley, who is also a fitness instructor; and meet other wanderlusts that share the same passion of a healthy world, starting from within.) I know that giving up a lot of my comfort goodies will be hard, I'm kinda dreading it. But isn't life full of challenges?

In God we Trust.

CE's Alyssa at the Taj Mahal!

2011-03-09T13:40:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope all is well with all and that the spring has finally arrived. Things on my side of the world are going rather nicely. The weather has quickly warmed up and it is now around 85 to 90 degrees during the day. Last night was actually the first night that I felt it was a little to hot to sleep, which as you all know, is never a good thing. I am hoping that keeping the door open at night will help to cool the room off. My friend Sarah was in town for the weekend and that was very nice. She is currently working in New Delhi with a TB NGO and it was great to see her. The only bad repercussion of a busy weekend is that I somehow contracted a cold. I feel that the colds that I get here last so much longer because of all of the pollution that is in the air. On a normal day, there are always little specks of soot that often show up on your tissue when you blow your nose. Thus, you can imagine a day when you are sick. However, I am slowly healing myself and am very happy that I will not be travelling anywhere this weekend.

Now, I am sure that all of you are wondering why I gave this post the name that I did. Well, there is really only one possible answer...the Taj Mahal. That's right, this blog is about the majestic building that is considered one of the seven wonders of the worls. Let me tell you, when you see the Taj in person, it is even more magnificent then you can imagine it to be. There is something about looking at the building from the main courtyard, that makes you want to never take your eyes off of it.

The actual excursion to the Taj Mahal was done in one day. It is in the city of Agra, in the state of UP, which is about a 5 hour train trip from Jaipur. From previous volunteers having gone to Agra before, we knew that other then the actual visit to the Taj, there is nothing much to do in the city, thus the reason we planned it as only a day trip. We started out the day at 6AM and took the 5 hour trip to Agra. We arrived in the city around 11:00AM and got a Tuk Tuk to the center of the city. After a short breakfast, we set out on our way. Since India has such a high pollution rate, there is 200 meter area surrounding the Taj Mahal that is blocked off from any cars or Tuk Tuks. The only things that can get in are battery operated buses and cycle rickshaws. This is so that the beauty and whiteness of the Taj Mahal can be preserved.

Getting into the actual Taj was an adventure all it's own. For a foreigner, the ticket to get within the compound is 750 rupees, which is equivalent to about $18.00. This includes foot covers for your shoes, to be used once inside the actual building, and a bottle of water. After collecting your ticket, one follows a long line of people to the lockers where you must lock up your personal items as you can only take in a camera, cell phone, and wallet. We are then herded towards the long line of guests waiting to get into the compound that holds the gardens, secondary buildings and the Taj Mahal. This is perhaps one of the only places in India where it helps to be a women, has there is a ladies only line that moves significantly quicker then the gents one. After going through numerous metal detectors, we finally entered the main compound. Now this is not the the compound where one can see the Taj Mahal, this is the pre-area that houses two secondary mausoleums. However, one can clearly see where the entrance to the garden that houses the Taj Mahal is, as there is a giant crowd around one doorway. As you slowly make your way towards the entrance of the garden, one can see that there is a lot of commotion going on; thousands of people trying to get to and from the entrance and take pictures while moving at a rather slow pace. It surly was pure madness. However, as you enter the garden, things get significantly calmer and there are numerous photo-ops. Basically the entire walk up to the Taj Mahal is a slow stop and start of trying to get the best picture. Upon arriving at the front of the building, one puts their shoe covers on and ascents the giant stairs to wait in the 1 hour line so that you can enter the Taj. I have to say, the actual inside of the Taj Mahal was rather unimpressive, particularly for the hour line. But of course we had to say we actually went into the Magnificent Taj Mahal.

Here are some interesting facts about the Taj Mahal:

1) It is actually an Islamic structure despite the belief that it is a temple built for the Hindu God Shiva.
2)The Taj was built by Shah Jahn, the Mughal Emperor at the time, in honor of the death of his second wife who died giving birth to their 14th child.
3) The construction for the Taj Mahal began in 1631, the year of the wife's death, and was not finished until 1653.
4) Not long after it was finished, Shah Jahn was overthrown by his son who imprisoned him in Agra Fort. From the fort you can see the Taj Mahal, thus reminding the Shah what he would never be able to visit again

The Entrance Gate to get into the Inner Courtyard that houses the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal from the Main Entrance way.

View of entire courtyard and Taj.

Climbing Mount Doom in New Zealand!

2011-03-08T09:43:00.004-06:00

Remember way back when I put together a to-do list of things to be accomplished in New Zealand? Well, I can officially cross “Climb Mount Doom” off the list now. Well, sort of. Let me explain.

As soon as I made the conscious decision to leave Taupo for real and start traveling around the country, the weather spontaneously decided to do a 180. The day that I left for Tongariro National Park, it was decidedly cloudy in the morning and practically hailing by the evening. I went out for one last night on the town late Tuesday and knew that I had to be out in front of Rainbow Lodge by 7am Wednesday, so I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep that night. Then 7:15 rolled around and they still hadn’t come by, so I went ahead and gave Stray a call on my phone. Apparently I was supposed to be psychic because they told me that, since the Crossing had been cancelled for the day on account of bad weather, they would be picking me up at 10:30 instead, which is a bloody big difference from 7am. They insisted that they had left messages for me in reception at Rainbow, even though I had explained to them before that I wasn’t staying at Rainbow and was just getting picked up there because they wouldn’t go to Blackcurrant. Sigh. So that wasn’t off to a great start.

I then proceeded to drag my enormous backpack back to Blackcurrant and helped myself to some last-minute coffee. It actually worked out alright in the end because I got to give Beth and everyone a proper hug and goodbye as I was leaving, and I was able to do a last check of everything to make sure I wasn’t forgetting something. Before too long, 10:30 rolled around, and the bus came to take me away from my long-term home in Taupo.

I should explain at this point that all of the Stray drivers have a unique nickname to match something about their personalities. It usually has something to do with the circumstances of their training, I think – if someone was really good at parking the bus in a tight squeeze between two cones, for example, they might have a nickname like “Wedge” or something. The guy that I got for that first name was a really young guy named “Daisy,” but I never did get the back story behind it. Maybe because he was so pretty.

Anyways, we set off towards Tongariro just as the rain started to begin in earnest. Everyone on the bus was pretty subdued on account of the gloominess outside, so I was left to my own devices and chose to watch the lake as we drove around it. A little bit after lunchtime, Daisy came onto the loudspeakers and told us that he knew about a certain place that was good for stopping at. It turned out to be a thermal hot pool area just off the road with lots of trails and bridges winding through the place. The rain had stopped just long enough for us to climb out and give it a look, so we decided to check it out for about half an hour.

Walking around in the thermal springs

I guess the area used to be a place for Maori families to wash their laundry and hang out way back in the day. Sort of like giant medicinal Jacuzzis. Some of the pools used to be active geysers, and boiling mud was interspersed here and there. Probably the coolest thing was the stream rising up over the trees from miles around – definitely gave the whole place a pretty mystical vibe. So we stayed there for a little while and took a few pictures, but then we had to climb back onto the bus before it really started to come down.

More pretty pictures

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Once we entered the park, you could just barely see out your window through all of the mist, so there was no chance of seeing the mountains. On a nice day, they would have been right in front of us, but we just had to make do with hearing about them instead. Basically, there are three main mountains in the national park: Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe. Ruapehu is the big, spread-out one spaced further apart from the others, Ngauruhoe is the cone-shaped one, and Tongariro is the slightly hilly one next to Ngauruhoe. Apparently they’re all still active, but Ruapehu had the most recent eruption in 1996, covering the entire North Island with ash. Tongariro should theoretically be the largest of all of them, but it also has the most violent eruptions, so it tends to blow itself to pieces every couple hundred years or so.

Now, this is when I say that I technically climbed Mount Doom but not quite. In terms of the Lord of the Rings films, Ngauruhoe is the one that Peter Jackson used for all of the faraway shots. When people think of what Mount Doom looks like as a shape, they think of that one. But most of the close-range filming of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum that didn’t occur in a studio was filmed over in the Whakapapa Ski Resort at the base of Ruapehu. Of the three, Tongariro is the one that has the least connection to the movies, but that’s basically the most popular and most doable one. When you do the Crossing, you have the option of climbing to the Ngauruhoe summit as well, but it’s an extra three hours return trip on top of the eight hours it already takes just to do Tongariro, so only serious hikers can really do that in time. The shuttle drops you off at the entrance at 8:30 and gives you until 4:30 to make it to the other side, or else you have to pay an additional $100 fee for a separate pick up. Considering that we made it there at 3:30 with minimal breaks and going as fast as we could, there was absolutely no way that we could have done Ngauruhoe as well without flat out running the entire way and skipping lunch. Shame. Maybe next time.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. That was Thursday. Wednesday was still pouring down rain, so there wasn’t much to do but check into our accommodations and curl up under the covers all afternoon. We were supposed to be booked in this nice place called The Park, but a school group had booked the entire place out that night, so we went to this little mountain lodge next door instead. It was actually very nice, and we had the whole place to ourselves. The only downside was that it had no access to Internet, and I needed to get on long enough to change my Stray pass itinerary to reflect an extra stopover day. So I put on my heavy winter clothes and a big rain jacket to march down the block to another place with a connection. In that short period of five minutes out in the elements, I got so soaked that I had to immediately strip off everything I was wearing and take a boiling hot shower the moment I got back. I was very skeptical about the Crossing being good the next morning, but I went to bed on an optimistic note anyways.

As luck would have it, the rain miraculously cleared up overnight, leaving us with the most spectacular view of the mountains at sunrise. I woke up around 6:30 or 7:00 and tried to get ready as quietly as possible with about five or six other people in the same room, asleep. They were all continuing on with Stray that day, so they didn’t need to get ready for a few more hours. I managed to sneak out and put all of my stuff downstairs without incident, and then I checked in with the main guy coordinating everything to make sure that I was on the list. The bus was supposed to come pick us up at 8:00, so that didn’t really give me time for breakfast – just a piece of hot cross bun and a granola bar from my snack stash. A few other people from Stray were milling around in the lobby at that point, so I got to chatting with them a bit about the hike. Four of them in particular – Emily, Sammi, Alex, and Michael – were from the UK and ended up next to me on the bus. As it turned out, I wound up just hanging with them for the rest of the day and shamelessly butted into their group for the hike. That worked out perfectly because they wanted some group photos of all of them together, and I wasn’t able to take pictures of myself with my stubby little arms. Plus they were just generally nice people and made good company for wallowing in our mutual misery.

Mountains at sunrise. Tongariro and Nguaruhoe on left, Ruapehu on right.

It took about 20 minutes to drive out to the car park where the trail begins, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the view until then. I was a bit bummed to learn that we wouldn’t be heading anywhere near Ruapehu, but I got over it after hearing the words “19 kilometers” and “eight-hour hike” used in the same sentence. I was still determined to get in Ngauruhoe, though. The guide said that it was technically possible but that you had to let him know and not waste any time at all. My line of thinking at the time was, “Psh. I climbed freakin’ Mount Fuji with only a few hours of sleep. I think I can handle a little extra detour.” Oh, how gloriously naïve.

Anyways, after a little pep talk and some last-minute advice, the driver let us out to fend for ourselves and drove off with the van. My new UK hiking partners took a brief detour to the bathrooms first while I examined the map, and then we were off! …Slowly.

The first stretch

The first bit was fairly mild with some long, flat stretches over creeks and grassland. Over our right shoulders, we could just make out the faint outline of Mount Taranaki in the distance. That’s over by New Plymouth, so that should tell you guys how clear that day was. We paused at a few little places for photo ops and took our time navigating across little bridges at the base. Right around the first hut, there was a side track out to Soda Springs, basically a cute little waterfall coming off the lower slopes. We decided to check that out briefly as well and took a few pictures in front of that. Over there, we got the only hint that it had been raining the day before in the form of sticky mud, but it was nothing like the Tauhara variety, so no big deal. Then it was time to climb The Stairs.

Continuing the climb up

I had been told by other friends who have done the Crossing that the Devil’s Staircase is the hardest part, and that once you’re past that, the rest is pretty much a breeze. So when I saw a few little stairs in the very beginning and climbed over them without any difficulty, I thought I was in for an easy day. Yeah, apparently those stairs were, like, the bunny hill or something, because the actual stairs were monstrous. I think the only thing I can compare them to is the staircase in Ocarina of Time when Link is trying to save Zelda from Ganondorf at the very end, and the organ music just keeps getting louder as you climb. Or maybe the stairs in Final Fantasy VII, when Cloud and Co. are trying to sneak into Shinra but have to stop every ten floors or so. It’s probably a combination of the two. I should also mention that they weren’t really “stairs” because they were each two feet high and spaced just far apart to work your leg muscles to maximum capacity. I think we took no less than four water breaks just to reach the top of them. Every time we got to what we perceived to be the top, we would look around the corner and see another energy-sapping stretch just beyond. I was exhausted by the end of all that.

View from the top of the stairs. Mt. Taranaki way out there.

Then, just beyond that, there’s a little rest area for people to catch their breath and take pictures. It’s also the point of no return for people thinking of climbing Ngauruhoe. As I mentioned before, I was determined to do it, but after those stairs, I could barely move, much less consider climbing to the summit, which is a good two or three extra hours of hiking. Oh well. Another day, I suppose. Some really hardcore guys from our bus actually did climb to the top, and they were really scratched up afterwards. Apparently the slope is practically vertical and full of loose rocks, so each step slides you back an additional inch or two and makes it difficult to maintain your balance. I guess one guy fell at some point and cut his arm open on the jagged rocks, and it was just a bloody mess when I ran into him later. So I’m not really that disappointed about wimping out after all.

Next time

After that, we got a little reprieve in the form of this wide, flat valley that went on for a good fifteen minutes or so. By the way, I should mention that all of this looked like something straight out of Mordor. It doesn’t matter that the majority of the filming took place on Ruapehu – in my mind, Tongariro is pretty darn close to the actual thing. We had just started to catch our breath in that little area when we were faced with yet another hill to climb. Now, this one didn’t have stairs or anything, but in some ways it was just as difficult. The temperatures had been changing drastically all morning. When we first arrived, we were all in two or three layers of shirts and rain jackets with gloves and two pairs of socks each. By the time we got to the Stairs, we had stripped down to T-Shirts and jeans. Now, facing another climb completely exposed to the elements, we had to stop and put all of our layers back on again. The wind was intense. We had been shielded from it in the valley, but as soon as we reached the crest, we were nearly knocked over by it. Plus the footing left a lot to be desired because the terrain was a sort of black, sandy gravel that tended to give way under your feet.

Finally, though, we made it all the way to the top, and we were able to look down at all that we had accomplished. I have to say that the view was pretty impressive. We had been looking out towards the west all morning, but once we crossed over the last peak, we were able to see the eastern side as well. The foreground of Tongariro consisted of craggy, red earth and looked a lot like pictures I’ve seen of the Grand Canyon. Just a bit further out, we could see a few mountain lakes that had filled up old craters, and way off in the distance, we could just barely make out Lake Taupo. Very nice. The crater itself was pretty awe-inspiring itself, and the scientist in me kind of wanted to find out why it had been dyed so deeply red in certain places. I’m going to guess iron deposits or something.

Looking down at the Red Crater

Just below the Red Crater are the Emerald Lakes, which are this retro neon blue color on account of minerals in the surrounding rocks. The whole place smelled strongly of sulphur, but that didn’t stop us from sliding carefully downward for a closer look. Since it was just about noon at that point, we stopped for a quick lunch and what was left of our water supply. The UK guys apparently thought way ahead and had four different kinds of sandwiches ready, while I had to make do with snacky stuff. That’s the problem with Tongariro – it’s so small that it doesn’t have certain basic necessities, like stores. So they had bread and materials left over from traveling before, but I couldn’t go get anything beyond mixed nuts and dried prunes without spending a fortune. Oh well. Good to know for next time.

Bid Blue Lake and Emerald Lakes

After that, it was all pretty much downhill. Literally. After the lakes, we really just wanted to sit down someplace warm and cozy, so we set out on a brutal pace down the mountain. I was able to chat with Sammi and Emily a bit during this time, but after a while, everyone was too tired to even make conversation. We all just trudged on and took minimal breaks. The weirdest thing happened as soon as we hit the tree line, though. The barren, rocky terrain spontaneously and instantly became a tropical rainforest without warning. I basically just rounded a corner in the brush and was surrounded by lush vegetation and running water, of all things. That was a bit bizarre in its unexpectedness, but it was definitely not unwelcome after being out in the sun all day. I managed to get a sunburn right across my nose from where my sunscreen had wiped off, so now I kind of look like Rudolph.

Images of the way back down the other side

Random rainforest

And then we finally hit the bottom at 3:30. We were absolutely exhausted, so we had no qualms waiting the additional hour for the bus to take us back. We just crashed in the grass and didn’t move for quite a while. Everything after that was fairly straightforward. We got a ride back to the Park, soaked in the Jacuzzi for a good two hours, and then slept like the dead for eleven hours straight. Since Stray was being weird with scheduling again, we took the next day completely off to chill, but then Saturday was off to Wellington! Yay! I’ll be back to talk to you guys about all of that as soon as possible. Catch you then!

Photo Blog: Volcano Hike in Guatemala - Jerzy Wasilewski

2011-03-03T09:56:00.002-06:00

March Madness Starts Early...Set & Reach your Fitness Goals - by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-03-01T16:47:00.000-06:00

March is one of my favorite months of the year since the weather gets warmer, days are longer, flowers and tree buds start to bloom, spring break and SxSW spice up Austin, and college basketball’s March madness pumps the adrenaline (Go Terps!) With these hot March highlights along comes the shorts, tanks, and swimsuits—eergh, record scratch…gulp, b-b-bb-ikini season?!

I have to admit; with my love for food, and constant grazing on snicky snacks, I am blessed with good metabolism, and am tall in stature so I look slender and lean. However, looks may be deceiving since my once mini muffin top has suddenly grown in to a pound cake resting over my waistband. And funny enough, each year that goes by, whatever touches my lips seem to find their way much faster to my hips (except I’m not laughing anymore).

I love to work out and am disciplined enough to do some form of physical exercise at least an hour a day, 5-6 days a week (c'mon I gotta burn some of the excess calories I intake daily and it relieves my stress and clears my brain). But my issues lie within my portion control (girlfriend can eeaaaat), and my carefree spirit to inhale anything and everything in sight. Carpe Diem, right?! Yea, seize the day and now those processed and preservative foods have conquered my stomach!

Each of us has our own definition of being 'healthy' and getting in to 'shape.' We all have different strengths, weaknesses, and interpretations of our bodies. In order to improve our self image, we need to start from within. Setting goals to lose weight, stating that we’re going to eat healthier, and signing up with a gym are easy to do, but not enough until we actually follow through and stick to our goals.

Thus, I invite you to join me on Cultural Embrace’s new fitness and health team via SparkPeople’s site (click here to join). It is a free on-line fitness and health tracker that also has downloadable mobile apps. We have created this team to help support, motivate, and hold each other accountable to set, meet, and accomplish our goals. We are not going to judge you or expect everyone to have the same fitness or health level. But I encourage you to set a target that is obtainable yet pushes you beyond your comfort level so you can challenge your mind and body. Think of this as going on an international trip where you have to open your horizons and embrace the cultures. This will be the best adventure ever; one that no plane, train, or automobile can reach…just yourself…on your own personal journey. Carpe Diem!

*Please note the photo above is pulled from a Google search, and is not (unfortunately) an image from the blogger; nor is it realistically within her "obtainable" goals to achieve this month. Maybe May. :)

Video Blog Entry from Jerzy, currently teaching in Guatemala!

2011-03-01T10:16:00.000-06:00

Wedding Extravaganza - Alyssa currently in India

2011-02-28T15:13:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone,

About three weeks ago I went to the city of Udaipur. This is a city in Rajasthan about 9 hours South of Jaipur. It is considered to be the most romantic place in India and it certainly was beautiful. We spent 3 days there and I just feel in love with it. It was so much calmer then Jaipur and I felt that the relaxed way of life was contagious. It is primarily a Muslim city, so I heard the call to prayer five times a day and this made me nostalgic for Niger. The only bad thing about the trip was that we got stuck on a bus for 4 hours because it broke down. This made the 9 hour trip 13 and we were extremely exhausted when we finally rolled up to Jaipur at 6AM. The funny thing was that, while we were getting anxious and trying to figure out what was going on, as nobody on the bus spoke English, the Indians were calm as could be. I guess this happens often here. In any event, I really enjoyed the trip and would love to visit again.

The view from our Guest House. It was on top of a hill and overlooked Udaipur.

After my weekend away in Udaipur, I spent the next two weekends just laying low and enjoying Jaipur. I find that I am in a lose lose situation because I want to see so much and yet travelling every weekend and working during the week is exhausting. Thus, I am trying to travel every other weekend and stay in town on the alternative weekends.

This past week was extremely exhausting because there were so many things going on. Besides the normal teaching that I do, I have started to take dance classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. I am taking classical India dance which is so much harder then it looks. The dance itself is not very motion oriented but instead has a lot of poses. You normal stand in one spot and constantly change poses throughout the song. However, I certainly am enjoying it.

On Thursday, all of the volunteers were invited to an Indian Wedding. I for one was very excited about this because I had been wanting to see a wedding since I had gotten here. I feel that weddings are one of the things that best show the culture of a country; and since culture is something that I study, I was looking forward to seeing it embodied through this tradition. If you have ever had any good Indian friends, you probably know that an Indian wedding is extremely different from any you would see in the west. There is a lot of color, a lot of people, and even more food! The wedding that we went to was one of a family in the Brahman cast, which is the highest caste. So needless to stay, is was big in every way. The total number of people that were there was 6,000. You could imagine how overwhelming it was to walk into an area that looks like a fair grounds and see thousands and thousands of people. The decorations for a Hindu Wedding are similar to decorations you would see around Christmas time in the States, minus the Santa's of course. There are a lot of lights and a lot of bows. There are musicians playing traditional instruments and a huge amount of food. On one end there was a stage and on the other three ends were giant buffet tables that had all the Indian food you could possibly imagine. I just remember going back and forth for about an hour to make sure I could get a taste of everything. I also took this opportunity to buy a traditional Sari. I loved getting dressed up, although I must say, having to squat in a latrine in a Sari was not easy, lol! Perhaps the strangest thing to me about the whole experience was that it seemed that the entire celebration was more for the guests then the couple. The bride showed up at about the last hour and there was a giant procession to the stage, where the couple then exchanges there vows. It took her about 1 hour to get from the entrance to the stage and the poor girl almost got knocked down about 4 times. As we were the only westerners there, we were quite a spectacle and it seemed as though people were more interested in us then the couple. It certainly was weird for me to be the center of attention at someone elses wedding.

Me in my Sari before the wedding. If you look closely you can see that my left arm has Henna on it!

Some of the Volunteers at the wedding!

The Groom on his horse coming in for the ceremony.

The Bride finally coming in!

The bride and her bridesmaids coming down the aisle. There is actual gold in her Sari!

The bride and groom finally made it to the stage. The flower necklace is similar to the rings at a western wedding. They each put one on each other and this symbolizes the connection between the two.

Well I hope you enjoy the pictures and I will write soon about my trip to Agra where the magnificent Taj Mahal is!

Love You All and I hope Spring has finally reached you guys!

Alyssa

Good Will HUNTing ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

2011-02-23T17:35:00.000-06:00

"A good companion shortens the longest road." This Turkish proverb is so fitting for my final LOVE series blog because I am featuring a couple that will soon take a looooong journey ahead. Meet Bryan and Jillian Hunt, a delightful couple from College Station, TX that are heading off for a six months mission trip in Uganda, and then spending the second half of the year on Cultural Embrace’s Work and Travel Australia program.

The two were high school sweethearts, and both are graduates from Texas A&M University. They have always wanted to travel abroad, and took the past two years to work, save, and plan for their international adventure. Their plans fluctuated for awhile since they had a long list of places they wanted to go, but their final decisions are to: serve local children at orphanages in Uganda, and have some fun surfing and traveling around while working to make ends meet in Australia.

I asked if they had any advice to give other travelers. Jillian shared the advice that she received from her cousin to “Just go and do it!” Bryan advised wanderlusts to “never count any option out, but also don’t be completely sold on just one option.”

Flexibility and patience are the keys to happy trails. The main reason most people travel is to experience new things, right? We want to see new sites, taste new foods, dance at new clubs, buy new things at markets and street bazaars that you couldn’t get at home. Realize that it will get frustrating and things don’t always work out as you anticipated. That’s okay, it happens! You are out of your comfort zone, and in a new environment, but that is the beauty of traveling! Embrace the world, discover the similarities, and share the differences.

I invite you to watch this awesome video that their friend produced, and you will see two lifetime companions and best friends who are passionate, humorous, patient, and respectful people--not only to each other, but to the communities that surround them. Jill works in the hospitality industry and Bryan is a history teacher, so serving and helping others are natural gifts of theirs. I can’t wait to follow this Good Will HUNTing Adventure, as their companionship will shorten their long journey, and their love will help to make the world go round.