Luang Prabang's Temples

One of the things that makes Luang Prabang a wonderful place to visit is the fact that there are stunning temples on pretty much every block.  On my first day in Luang Prabang one of my roommates from my hostel asked if I wanted to go to Mount Phousi with her.  Since I didn't have any plans and I didn't know the city yet, I agreed and we started to walk down the main street heading towards the Old Quarter. It didn't take long before I saw this:

This is Wat Ha Pha Bang.  This beautiful gold temple draws your attention as you walk towards Luang Prabang's main street, and the addition of the sunshine, a blue sky, and palm trees couldn't have made it any more beautiful--especially in contrast with the months of cold, dull weather I had just come from in Korea. 

Wat Ha Pha Bang is located near the Royal Palace Museum, and obviously warranted some exploring.

A few nights later I went to a performance in the same area and walked around when the floods of tourist had dissipated.. 

And a night view!

While this was one of the first temples I saw, it certainly wasn't the last.  Luang Prabang has temples all over the place, and I would often inadvertently run into them as I was walking around the city.

One of the most impressive temples I saw was Wat Souvanaohoumaram.  When I first saw this temple it didn't look all that impressive, but when I got closer I noticed that it was indeed really special.  The intricate gold carvings were amazing and just seemed to go on and on.

Interesting how this temple doesn't look all that impressive from the outside.  It's not until you get closer that you can see all of the amazing detail.  

This was another temple I came across one day as I was walking around.  Unfortunately I only had my phone to take pictures with, but still, it was a really beautiful and didn't have the huge crowds that the other temples did.

Another favorite temple I visited was actually one that I went to on my last day.  I'm not sure what the name of the temple was, but it was located right around the corner from my hostel and I somehow didn't know about it until the day before I left.  Since I had an afternoon flight, I decided to make my way over in the morning.  I'm glad I did because again this temple was beautiful, but different from the others I had already seen. 

Overall, the temples of Luang Prabang reminded me a lot of the temples in Thailand.  They're incredibly ornate, filled with gold, and monks in orange robes can be seen wandering the premises. These amazing temples are part of what makes SE Asia such a unique place--although Korea has temples that are beautiful in their own right, there is so much more diversity in the architecture and artistry in the temples in Southeast Asia.  Some people get "templed out"after seeing a few temples, but I never cease to be impressed by these amazing sites.  

Getting Started

As most of you know, I was lucky enough to spend three weeks traveling in January.  Although it hasn't been quite a month since I left for this adventure, as I look back at my photos and journal it certainly feels like it's been longer just because of the number of things I saw and did during that time.  This was my first time traveling by myself, which means I was entirely in charge of the planning and organizing of everything for this trip. I guess the first thing I learned about traveling by myself is that it makes me much more organized.  Overall I felt really prepared for this trip--by the time I left school on my last Friday before my trip I had everything booked, printed, and my bag was packed.

My flight left on January 12th, but I actually went up to Seoul on January 11th to say goodbye to one of my Korean friends who was about to leave to study French in France for the year.  It was a bit of a bittersweet start to the trip because I met Ji Young early in time time in Korea, which means by this point we've collected quite a few memories together over the past year and a half.  As I said bye to her I couldn't help think "man, there goes another one."  Out of all the people I used to hang out in Seoul with, Ji Young was the last one from our "group" that was still here.  Of course, it wasn't really goodbye--she is one of the people I really do believe that I will see again.  Nonetheless, it was a good reminder of how quickly time goes by, which was a good boost of motivation to see as much as possible while I'm still in Asia.

After saying bye to Ji Young, I went back to my hostel and had a restless night's sleep.  One of my friends who knows me all too well sent this to me the next morning:

I don't think there's a better way to describe how I feel before I travel.  I never sleep well the night before I fly because 1) I'm afraid I'll oversleep and miss my flight 2) I really, really hate flying  3) I don't know what to expect of these places I've never been and 4) Excitement...because even though it's kind of terrifying that so much is unknown, it's also exhilarating.

Before I fly I actually quite often feel nauseous due to my anxiety, but luckily I wasn't SO bad this time, but I was mostly thinking about how I wanted to SLEEP once I got on the plane.

Nonetheless, I got on my flight, which was scheduled to leave around 1:00, but we ended up getting a little delayed. I didn't think it would be a problem because I was scheduled for a two hour layover in Vinetiane. And while it shouldn't have been a problem, our flight landed about an hour later than it was scheduled for, even though we only left about fifteen minutes late.  Again, this would have been ok, but I knew once I landed I needed to apply for my visa, go through customs, check into my next flight, and go through security again.  Needless to say, by the time we landed I was staring at my watch and ready to speed walk my way through any lines.

I rushed off the plane and luckily I found the smallest airport I've ever been to.  I filled out my visa form and was almost immediately given my visa (I'm pretty sure they didn't even look at what I wrote at all)  I was through customs in a breeze and walked over to the check-in area for domestic flights.

This is pretty much when I knew I wasn't in Korea anymore.  There were only a few small counters and when I went through security there was only one metal detector and the guy who was supposed to be watching it was quite literally picking his nose. When it came time to get my ticket checked there was no scanner, but just a list that my name was crossed off of.  There was only one room that everyone waited in, and when it was time to board there was no intercom--they just yelled and announced our flight.

I made it pretty much just in time to board my flight, which was fortunately a very short one.  Technically I could have saved some money by taking a bus from Vientiane (the capital of Laos) to Luang Prabang, but that would have been about a 7-8 hour bus ride, and I just didn't want to spend that kind of time on a bus during my short vacation.  The flight to Luang Prabang was only about 30 minutes, and I spent pretty much the entire time with my eyes glued to the window.  Laos is an incredibly mountainous country, and I was flying over the amazing landscape just as the sun was setting.

Once we landed, I walked off the plane into the refreshing rush of warm air, which is always a rejuvenating feeling when you're in the middle of a Korean winter.  I was also greeted by one phenomenal sunset.  Laos certainly knows how to make a good first impression.

Once I made my way to the arrival hall, I exchanged my money and got a cab to take me to my hostel.  Driving around and seeing the tuk-tuks everywhere I felt my anxiety diminish as I realized I was really back in SE Asia.

Once I got to my hostel I checked in and immediately realized it definitely wasn't as nice as I had been hoping for (or expected due to its good reviews online), but I knew I had to deal with it for at least a night.  I met my three roommates--a girl from CA, a girl from Europe (I don't remember which country because she left the next day and I never really got to talk to her), and a guy from Brazil.  After introducing ourselves and having some small talk I was asleep early that night--between the sleepless night beforehand and the stress/anxiety of flying, I was done for, but looking forward to getting out and exploring the next day.

I'm back!

Three weeks and three countries later, and I'm officially back in my Korean home.  In some ways it feels like I've been gone forever, and in other ways it feels like this solo-travel adventure flew by.  Once I finish unpacking ad catching up with my friends here (three weeks feels like FOREVER to be away from these people!), I'll start to write about my time away.  I kept a journal while I was traveling, but now I have to think about how to organize my many thoughts, stories, and pictures from these past few weeks.  It all seems like a bit of dream at the moment, but hopefully as I settle in it will all start to feel more real.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me as I planned this crazy trip. I feel so lucky to have been able to have had all of these experiences!

XO

New Year, New Goals

This post is part of the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival. The host for January is Carissa Peck over at mELTing Activities, check out the rest of the articles at http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2015/01/teachers-resolutions-2015.html! As for me, I’ll post a new ESL related article to this blog around the start of every month. Check back for more articles, and if you’d like to contribute to next month’s Blog Carnival, please get in touch with dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com for information on how start participating!

I was recently telling one of my friends that I think I am the Scrooge of New Year's. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration because I don't exactly have anything against the New Year's, it's just that I find it to be an incredibly overrated holiday.  Year after year I never quite share in the excitement other people feel about ushering a new year.

When I saw that topic for this month's blog carnival was about our New Year's resolutions, I started to think about why it is I don't ever feel like January 1st is a fresh start.  I realized that for my entire life, first as a student and now as a teacher, school calendars have defined my sense of a year.  When I think about year, I think in terms of a school year. My years are defined by the new school calendar, meaning I feel a real new start in September when I have a new schedule and new students. I'm much more likely to feel like I have a fresh start with a new semester or new school year than I am with the change of a calendar on January 1st.

Luckily, in Korea the new school year starts in March, not September, so thinking about resolutions in January is a bit more timely for me than it is with the American calendar.  I feel I'm constantly evaluating things in my life whether it's relationships, what I'm doing in my free time, or my teaching practice.  However, when it comes to teaching it's sometimes difficult to successfully make changes in the middle of a year. It's always a welcome sense of relief when I have new students who don't know about my mistakes from the previous year.  In many ways, it's encouraging to put past failures in the past and start over again.

Although I have a number of goals for the new year, here are the big three I'm hoping to work on in 2015:

1)  Implement new classroom management strategies in my classes.  Teaching elementary school has been a bit of a game changer for me when it comes to classroom management.  Having students who don't understand a bit of what I'm saying has been extremely difficult, but I think I have become much more consistent and firm in how I deal with classroom management.  I can't have any gray areas because it will confuse the students--consistency is absolutely key.

Since I don't usually have a co-teacher in my classes, I've had to figure out how to handle these rowdy kids on my own.  I've tried so many things along the way, but now that I know my students better I have a much better idea of what works and what doesn't. The thing I'm most excited about when it comes to starting the new school year in March is knowing what to expect and being able to establish the kind of classroom I want from the very beginning. This semester I was trying to figure out so many things at once that it was more like just trying to stay one step ahead of the kids.  This semester, I'm looking forward to entering the first day with a plan for what I'm doing and how to do it.

2)  Renewing my teaching certification. The second goal I have for this new has to do with my post-Korea life.  Although I want to enjoy every moment I have in Korea, I have to also be thinking about what comes next.  Right now the most important thing for my post-Korea life is renewing my teaching certification for NH.  My current social studies certification is set to expire in June, so I need to make sure that everything is in order for my renewal.  I have a feeling this could be a bit of an ordeal, but this is a huge priority for me in the upcoming months.

3)  Last but not least, my third goal is to travel, travel, travel! With my time in Asia coming to an end in August, I'm anxious to do as much traveling as possible in the next few months.  I'll be visiting Laos, Cambodia, and Hong Kong this month, then in February I'll be heading to China.  Once these big trips are done my attention will shift to making the most of Korea's awesome spring season and the awesome festivals that go along with the spring and summer.  Here are some of the places I'm determined to go before leaving Korea:
--The DMZ
--Jeonju
--The Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival
--Jeju Island
--Gyeongju
--Pohang

I haven't done a ton of traveling in Korea the past few months to try to save money for my upcoming vacations, but I'm definitely ready to get traveling on my weekends again once the spring comes!

I'm sure this year will bring plenty of new challenges along the way, but I'm excited to see what kind of unexpected places this year bring me!