Winter Break: The Reader's Digest Version ... (minus those cute, little cartoons)

I'm considering calling in one of those guys who's only job is measuring / counting / being a witness to all the crap that somehow finds its way into "The Guinness Book of World Records".
Because this is about to be the most epic blog post of all time.
Of all time.
(In both length and general awesomeness.)

Seeing that I really haven't blogged since December 2009, I have decided to attempt cramming in absolutely everything that I have done, seen, traveled to, or had happen to me in the next 6,000 words (give or take a few).
So put on your seat belts (only applicable for those of you who are currently in a car ... but you should probably reconsider reading this if you are, in fact, driving) because you are about to embark on the glorious journey that was the past 2 months of my life.

In the forthcoming paragraphs not only will you travel to Korea, but also to the best country in the world ('merica), back to Asia's best kept secret (Korea) with my sister Kacy, in and around Seoul, the heart of the Jeollanam province (Hwasun), and then to the tropical islands of both Boracay and Bali (Philippines and Indonesia, respectively).

And I should probably prepare you now, by letting you all know that this blog posting will once again be in bullet-form ... most likely short bullet points ... think Red Rider BB Gun (circa 1950). But hey, I'm now out of college, which means I have the freedom to write however I want ... be it bullets, haikus, or the occasional acrostic.
I've just done too much stuff to include cutesy anecdotes for all of my adventures.
So here goes.


I traveled to the great nation that is the U. S. of A. on approximately December 22nd, 2009. And I say approximately, because I still don't understand the time difference. I mean, today is today, and tomorrow is tomorrow, but not when you're in an airplane?
Anyway, I stayed in the states for exactly 2 weeks (14 days to be exact), and I loved absolutely every minute of it.
Except, maybe, the extreme jet-lag ... which was felt both in the late hours of the night and some local gas stations.
In a nutshell (maybe a chestnut shell ... keeping with the theme of Christmas ... and I did just teach my host-family the word chestnut, which they now try to work into everyday conversation) I have summarized my 2 weeks at home with the 3 Fs.
(No, not flamingos, firetrucks, and felonies.)
But instead, family, friends, and food.
Lots and lots of each ... in overwhelming amounts ... all delicious, and all very much missed during the past 6 months I have spent in Korea.
Not that I don't have "family", friends, and food in Korea ... but it's not the same, as I'm sure you all can understand.
I was able to spend Christmas with family, New Years with friends, and every-other day with at least one person I love. It couldn't have been better.
Coming home I was a tid bit anxious and a little nervous, not sure of how different things would be. And while some things have changed, it was refreshing to see that my relationships with my family and closest friends have remained fully intact. It often felt as if I had never really left (except for the fact that there was now a Christmas tree in our family living room).

While home I took the opportunity to completely forget about my Korean life, (although I was forced to answer many a question about my stay thus far). However, I very much enjoyed talking about my experience and the difference of culture, education, and general Asian-ness. At times, it felt that I was actually a little bit Korean ... or at least the closest thing to a Korean that some people have known.
(Growing up in rural Indiana kind of does that to you. That, and gives you the much desired skill of being able to catch crawdads bare-handed.)
So cultural ambassadorship seems to be a two-sided coin. Then again, what coin doesn't have two sides?
But while I was living completely in the moment (the American moment) I definitely took note of the highlights and lowlights (is that a word outside of hair salons?) of my trip home.
So here is the good, the bad, and the ugly.
(Minus the ugly ... because nothing in my life is truly ugly).

THE GOOD:
English was everywhere. My mother-tongue ... oh how I've missed you.
I was overwhelmed with happiness when I got into O'Hare and heard English being spoken over the loud speakers. Seriously. I almost wet my pants.

I always knew what was going on ... as it happened (something that is a rare occurrence in Korea). In my family living room, in any given restaurant, at the gas station, absolutely everywhere I went I understood why everything was the way it was. Never before have I felt so intelligent.

I didn't have to physically inspect and pick apart every single piece of food that I ate. A vegetarian's dream.
I've probably wasted at least 3 or 4 hours the past 6 months trying to ask what was in a dish, picking it apart with my chop-sticks, or just staring at it, trying to get it to talk to me. (Because there are some days in Korea that I swear I could more easily understand an egg salad sandwich speaking to me, than my host-mom.)

When a commercial came on the television, I knew what it was advertising.
I was aware why the 3 year old was jumping up and down ... because he got new pull-up diapers!
Korean commercials still baffle me beyond words.

I was not the fattest person ever. I also wasn't the tallest person ever.
I felt like I fit in ... was a normal body weight ... and wasn't the American giant.
Korea is a lovely place, but for someone 5-10, and not 120 pounds, it's not exactly the self-esteem capital of the world.
Except, that is, if you have a small face. Koreans eat that stuff up.

I could drive a car. By myself. I didn't have to take public transportation (God bless it) ... but it's nice to know that I could go somewhere without having to wait 20 minutes for the bus to roll by, and go by myself ... without an old lady holding my hand or slapping my butt. Yes, that happened last week.

I bought clothes. That fit. The sleeves went all the way down to my wrists, and my belly-button wasn't exposed. Pants actually came in a size other than "Asian", and once again I felt like a real human being.

Not everyone was Korean. Not that I don't love a Korean, but seriously, Korea. Ethnic diversity is pretty much non-existent in Korea (it's telling you something when I'm considered the "exotic" one). I saw white people, black people, Indian people, and even Native American people (if you count my friend who is 1/16th Cherokee).
Before living in Korea I don't believe I ever truly appreciated that which is the "American melting pot" (as corny as it still sounds) ... but when you're living in a country that is about 98% Korean, and only Korean, it starts to get to you.


THE BAD:
(Bad is a little harsh, so ....)
THE NOT AS GOOD:

I actually found that I did miss Korea. Two weeks in the states, and I really did miss Korea.
Not everything. Definitely not the kimchi or awkward stares that seem to follow me everywhere, but I did feel a sadness that came with leaving my host-family and students. After becoming so accustomed to seeing them everyday, it was a shock to have them (and all things Korean) out of my life for at least two weeks.
I didn't really expect to "miss them" miss them, but I guess that means they aren't half bad. Even if they do draw penises all over their Halloween monsters.

I found that in the states there aren't nearly as many things for me to laugh at ... and that comes with fully understanding the language and culture.
When someone isn't struggling to speak English and uses the correct word for "pregnant" instead of "alien egg" ... it's just not as funny.
Although I much more enjoy being able to effectively communicate with everyone around me, sometimes you just miss the "alien egg" moments.

The food is humongous.
Portions are humongous.
When being home for only two weeks and having the personal goal to eat as much American food as humanly possible, this, I found, is a direct path to tummy aches. In an attempt to enjoy absolutely everything that is American vegetarian food, I found myself eating totally delicious foods, but not necessarily in the most healthy way.
(I think there might have been a day where I existed solely on chocolate fudge and crispy Santas).

In addition to the difference in food, the time / jet-lag (which I mentioned before) was probably the worst thing about coming home.
Not that I don't love being wide awake at 4am while absolutely everyone else in the Western hemisphere is sleeping, although it was at times, rather annoying.

And lastly, one of the more difficult things to come to terms with during my time spent at home was the fact that no one at home (no one) fully understands exactly what I have been doing the past six months.
Yes, I Skype. Yes, I blog. Yes, I e-mail. Yes, I update my Facebook page almost daily ... but never will anyone (besides the other 90 Fulbrighters) really understand my Korea experience. I can attempt to explain the culture, the scenery, the weather, and tell story after story ... but when it comes down to it, this is an experience that is totally mine, and that no one will ever fully understand.
Sorry, get your own.

So after 14 glorious days spent in the mid-west, I prepared myself for another six months in Asia. And by prepared myself, I'm referring to my self-preservation instincts of grabbing about 30 boxes of Easy Mac, 100 jars of Nutella, my new laptop (I'm a Mac user now, so get ready for some pretentious remarks about computer things once I figure out how to use it), my sister Kacy, and heading to Korea to finish what I've started - learnin' kids about English.


But before all that learnin' happens, I had/have the full months of January and February as paid vacation (Fulbright isn't so bad) to do "cultural stuff".
I decided that "cultural stuff" would first take the form of showing Kacy around Korea, then traveling for a couple weeks in South East Asia, followed by some good relaxation and more travel around Korea.

Kacy (who also attends the best university in Greencastle, Indiana ... DePauw) took her Winter Term to come to Korea and get see exactly what Korea is all about.
Apparently my word just isn't good enough.
While she was here we were able to do and see a lot of stuff. We stayed a week in Seoul, then two weeks in Hwasun with my host-family (who absolutely adored her). All in all, her visit was really nice ... it was great to have someone experience exactly what I do in Korea, to meet my host-family, Korean friends, and see what I've been doing with my life the past six months.

We arrived in Korea on the 4th.
Of January.
Our flight got in super early in the morning, and since the Seoul Metro decides that it doesn't start running until 5 am, we slept, uncomfortably, on benches at the Incheon International Airport. Strangely enough ... that's not the closest I've been to being an actual hobo.
After finding our hostel located in the Hongkik University area, we set off for a day of touring.

But first we showered.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, makes you feel like a bigger slimeball than a 14 hour flight and a night spent on plastic benches, eating Sour Cream and Onion Pringles.

We then attempted to tour a traditional Korean folk village, walked what seemed like infinity miles (in the freezing temperatures that is Seoul in January), only to find that our "traditional Korean folk village" that was so highly touted in my guidebooks was in fact, pretty lame. Nothing "traditional" or "folksy" about it. Woodie Guthrie wasn't even there.
So we marched on to see the sights of Deoksu Palace, a traditional palace within the heart of Seoul (or so my guidebooks say). It was legit. The traditional architecture juxtaposed with the more sleek and modern Seoul skyscrapers made for quite the pretty picture.
Deoksu Palace is conveniently located a hop, skip, and about 350 jumps away from the Seoul Museum of Art, which was then hosting an Andy Warhol exhibit. I've never actually seen any of Warhol's work up close and all personal, and I thoroughly enjoyed perusing his pop art ... definitely giving it more than 15 minutes.

The next day was consumed entirely with a tour of the DMZ - the Demilitarized Zone between the Northern and Southern part of Korea. Now before you get all, "Oh my God! Is that safe?!" on me, we did this with a tour group, followed all the rules, and successfully made it out all in one piece.
Though I technically have already visited the DMZ (last July), this was way better, and more than just a rusty fence. We visited Panmunjom, the site where the 1953 armistice/treaty/important paper document was signed that put the Korean War on hold.
We actually got to step into North Korea (don't worry ... I haven't turned Communist, yet) and let me tell you, it felt exactly like South Korea. Crazy, I know.
Along the tour we were also able to see other neat sites like the Freedom Bridge, about a million statues commemorating this, that, and the other, and the buildings which serve as a "look out" posts for both the North and South Korean armies.
While it was super interesting to see how heavily involved both the South and North still are in the war, it was a complete change of pace from regular Korean society, especially that of Seoul. Living in the southern part of South Korea, I am so far removed from the continued hostile presence of the DMZ and North Korea, and it was definitely strange to see the two halves of the country so on guard.

The next day was spent shopping, and buying superfluous things that no one really ever needs, but still enjoys owning.
I mean, who really needs a t-shirt that claims "Korea is the best kept secret in Asia"? That's right, I do.
We visited Myeongdong and Namdaemun ... two of the more famous / modern / awesome shopping areas in Seoul ... not as if those names would mean anything to anyone reading this from home.

After our stay in Seoul I headed down to the biggest little city in Korea (no, not Reno, Nevada) and introduced Kacy to my host-family. They absolutely adored her ... but really, how can you not adore a member of the Wendling family?

While in Hwasun / Gwangju (because really, nothing too exciting happens in Hwasun) Kacy and I did lots of stuff.
All kinds of stuff.
Check it out, if you don't believe me:

We (successfully, I think) taught supplemental classes at my high school.
This consisted of a Chemistry class (with the Korean Chemistry teacher) and a "reading English novels competition club" class (title still pending).
The chemistry class mostly required us to read aloud from a Chemistry textbook (in English, my Korean isn't quite ready to handle that, yet) and help to define Chemistry vocabulary words for two of the more advanced science students ... one being my host-sister, Eun Sue. This was awesome, because I was able to use all my science knowledges ... all the ones I've saved up from junior year of high school.
The "reading English novels competition club" class is something my co-teacher and principal have asked me to teach, preparing a handful of students for an English novels competition in June. So they gave me a list of about 10 students who they thought could handle reading classical English novels ... "Pride and Prejudice", "Of Mice and Men", "Chicken Soup for the Soul" (really), etc ... and asked me to read and discuss the novels with them.
This is all well and good, except for the fact that pretty much none of my students can easily breeze through the likes of Jane Austen. So as we began for two weeks to read "The Lord of the Flies" ... my class went from 8 students, to one.
One kid who is practically fluent and discusses with me his feelings on Hobbes and Locke. He's stellar.
The other 7 students somehow always had dentist appointments or family emergencies at 4:00 every afternoon.
So I will continue to teach Hong Mihn (my one fluent student) as the second semester begins ... but this mostly consists of us talking for about an hour, while "Of Mice and Men" lays on the table between us.

Saw Avatar. In 3-D. In Korea.
Too long, too annoying with its political and environmental agendas, and the glasses made my head hurt. I give it a 6.

We also decided to get our Zen on, and did a one night temple stay at Sangwangsa Temple just outside of Suncheon. This temple stay consisted of us walking around, taking some pictures, eating some food, talking with a few monks who pretended to speak English, and both watching and participating in group meditation and chanting.
Sangwangsa temple is one of the three best (really, just Google it) in Korea. Each of the three best/greatest/most awesome temples represent one of the 3 Jewels of Buddhism (either the Buddha (that really important guy), the Dharma (the sacred texts of Buddhism), or the Sangha (its community of monks). Sangwangsa is representative of the Sangha - so it's got the best and most sweetest monks in Korea.
And let me tell you. Their 3 am meditation (which we did participate in) was top notch.
I enjoyed the temple stay, observing the typical, daily life of Korean monks (really, how could you not?) but there's no way I'd ever have the balls to devote my life to seeking enlightenment via Buddhist monasticism.
I'll stick to Wikipedia.

We were also able to hit up the super popular and awesome Boseong Green Tea Light festival. The Green Tea Light festival is held annually in Boseong (a small city about 45 minutes outside of Hwasun ... where my host-father usually conducts most of his business) and commemorates what the town is known best for ... green tea and lights, apparently.
The festival was held in the large, open green tea fields of Boseong ... and all the bushes were decorated with yellow-ish Christmas lights.
It was really pretty ... however I still don't understand why anyone would think that loading thousands of super dry and flammable green tea bushes with about a million little lights would be the best idea ... but it did produce quite the sight.
So Kacy, Eun Su, and host-mom and dad and I strolled through the area looking at the bushes (because that's about as exciting as most Korean festivals get).
However, Eun Sue did treat us to some delicious green tea-tea, and green tea ice-cream.
In Korea, ice-cream is always an option. Even in January.

Another totally awesome thing we got to do was go skiing at the Muju ski resort. We went for a day trip with my host-sister Eun Lae and her boyfriend, and my host-brother Sang Che and his roommate.
As this was Kacy's and my first time ever attempting to master this winter sport, it seems logical to attempt to do so in Korea, with a Korean ski instructor, who spoke little to no English.
That doesn't seem dangerous at all.
But we somehow managed to get by, and have an excellent time doing so. Granted, we did only make it down the beginner and intermediate hills (not even attempting anything with more than a 20 degree slope) ... but I deem that a huge success because: one, no one died, two, no one broke their leg, and three, no one got stuck in the fence (except for Kacy) ... which our ski instructor thought was absolutely hilarious and continued to call Kacy "fish" for the rest of the day.
Because she looked like a fish tangled in the fence? Or because she smelled badly?
Regardless, skiing was a ton of fun, and I will definitely have to continue this upon my return home to the US. All I need are some mountains. And skis. And some snow.
Or maybe I'll just bypass the whole "practicing" thing, and head straight to Vancouver.

We checked out a bamboo forest in Damyang ... another small town about 30 minutes outside of Hwasun ... with my church lady friend, Hannah, her brother, and another friend.
And the bamboo forest is just that, a forest of bamboo plants and panda statues. It was really nice ... and bamboo-y. I'm going to go ahead and guess it was about a mile wide, and a mile long ... although, to be fair, I could be completely off on this estimate.
We stopped by quite a few picturesque views, and were able to see where a lot of romantic scenes from may Korean dramas were filmed.
As for me, one who doesn't watch Korean drama (because they are absolutely ridiculous and in Korean) I wasn't too impressed. But I could tell by the "ooh-ing and ahh-ing" many other Koreans made, it was important.
We also were able to try some delicious bamboo green tea. Which, I now understand not to be made from the bamboo plant itself, but that the green tea bushes are grown alongside the bamboo plants to make it extra tasty. And extra tasty it was.
I've never really been into the whole drinking tea thing, (in that I don't need caffeine in the morning and tea is much more expensive than tap water) but I've really taken a liking to tea here in Korea.
So I'm about halfway there to the full Asian transformation.

While Kacy was staying with me and my host-family they took a great liking to her. My host-mom especially wanted to show her anything and everything that she thinks is awesome, which included a trip to my host-brother's new bachelor pad.
And I use the term "bachelor pad" pretty loosely. Unless, of course, "bachelor pad" now refers to an apartment one shares with another guy, filled with stuffed teddy bears, teddy bear tea-cups, teddy bear knick-knacks, and a new pet puppy.
This was also my first time visiting Sang Che's new apartment, and I wasn't quite sure if it was my host-brother or a 5 year old girl living there.
However, my host-family thinks it's probably the best place ever, so went went to have tea (out of the teddy bear tea-cups, of course) and play with his new pet puppy that he has affectionately named "Sugar".

During Kacy's three week stay in Korea, it also happened to be Sang Che's birthday, so we went out to celebrate with him on the night of ... at a swanky little Italian/fusion restaurant in downtown Gwangju. The party consisted of him and his roommate, Eun Lae and her boyfriend, and Kacy and I. After some not-so-delicious rice spaghetti, and presenting him with his birthday gift (we bought him a new shirt for Sugar to wear ... yes, he dresses his pet dog) Sang Che and his friend took Kacy and I to a club.
On a Thursday night.
At 10 pm.
There are two different types of clubs in Korea ... one being referred to as "da club" (as described in a prior blog post) and one known as a "night".
"Da club" can be likened to any American dance club ... loud music, alcohol, and dancing.
However, a "night" (the one Sang Che and his friend took us to) is a tad different, and as far as I know they do not exist in America. A "night" is a club with tables (not unlike a typical restaurant) but also a dance floor. There is a DJ that plays dance music for about 30 minutes, then there is a 30 minute "break" where all the Koreans must sit at aforementioned tables. It is then time for the people who work at this "night" to size up the girls and boys (all of whom usually come in same-sex groups) and try to make pairs.
The people working at this "night" actually take women by the hand, make them get up, and parade them to a different table of men, whom they can then:
1. Talk to and get to know for the rest of the night.
2. Sit and talk for a while, until either the men or women decide the other is a complete fool and walk away.
or
3. Reject them instantly (thereby totally crushing the hopes and dreams of the other party).
Yes, this really happens. In Korea. A country that considers un-covered shoulders one of the seven deadly sins.
However, our trip to the "night" was not like this. We just got a table and hung out for a bit ... but I did manage to throw in some Korean dance moves here or there.
I truly think there is no greater sight for a Korean, than watching a white girl mimic The Brown Eyed Girls "Abracadabra" dance.

My host-sister treated Kacy and I to a Korean massage.
But really, anything is a Korean massage, if you do it in Korea.
So ... we just got a regular massage ... from an old Korean lady.

Eventually Kacy had to return home and back to DePauw (something I was/am pretty jealous of ... oh how I miss college). So after 3 weeks spent in Asia, Eun Sue and I dropped her off at the bus station, said our good-byes, following along the side of her bus until it left the parking lot.
It was seriously like out of a movie.
Eun Sue ate it up.

After Kacy's stay in Korea, I began my travels outside the Republic of ... and headed down for a week in the Philippines and a week in Indonesia.
More specifically a week full of sunbathing in Boracay, and yet another week of relaxation in Bali.
It was simply amazing.
I went with about 8 other Fulbrighters, and one other American teacher from China, and we had an absolutely amazing time.
While the majority of my trip consisted of lying on the beach, drinking fresh fruit smoothies, and occasionally putting down my book to stroll into the ocean, we did manage to do some things more blog worthy.
I now present you with the super abridged version of my two week vacation:


After taking what seemed like a million flights (all which felt like they were at 3 am in the morning), including the smallest and what seemed like the deadliest plane ever, we arrived on the island of Boracay, located in the middle part of the archipelago that is the Philippines.

A layover in Manila's domestic airport confirmed for me that Manila might just be the sketchiest city I've ever been to ... especially after being ripped off by 3 different taxi drivers.
Three of them.
In a row.
But that's neither here nor there.

The weather in Boracay was beautiful ... probably around 80-90 degrees each day, with hardly any substantial rain.
So we definitely made it a point to party in the city where the heat was on.
Will Smith, I love you.

One day we went island "hopping", meaning we got a boat and boated to some of the nearby, and much smaller islands.
Really, they should rename it island "boating", but whatever.
We were able to see some beautiful views of the ocean, caves, rocks, mountains, whirlpools, and other nature-y things.
However, I did manage to forget my camera that day, so you'll have to use your imagination on that one.

During our island "boating" day we also went snorkeling (or, for me, it's more appropriate name "drinking about a liter of saltwater-ing"). But I did get to see some cool fish.
Some blue ones, and red ones, and a couple orange ones too.
The coral was also beautiful ... but I'm no marine biologist, so I didn't really know what I was observing. But I thought it looked pretty cool.

One day we went banana boating ... which isn't as awesome as it sounds (although it was a really good time). 8 of us got on a boat-thing that really did look like a banana and rode it around the water. Well, some people actually pulled us around the water ... and also managed to tip us over, resulting in a "banana split"?

I got a pretty decent tan.
But I got an even more decent sunburn.
On the first day.
Seeing that I got about no sleep while in transit (I still find it near to impossible to sleep on anything that moves, be it bus, plane, train, etc) I accidentally fell asleep ... on the beach ... the first day we got there ... for God knows how long.
This resulted in a spectacular sunburn, and some magnificent tan lines.

It's safe to say that I ate ice-cream at least once everyday, if not multiple times.
I'm on vacation.
And as far as I'm concerned, calories just don't exist.
(Also ... as a repressed vegan for the past two years, I was just making up for all those ice-cream cones that I refused to eat prior.)
There's justice in the world.

We stayed at a little resort called the "Blue Mango Inn" ... if anyone is ever in or around Boracay, I definitely recommend it.
They had the best (free) breakfast this side of (I don't know ... does Mississippi apply here?)
Delicious, giant bread rolls served with fresh mango jam.
I'm not ashamed to say that's pretty much the reason I woke up everyday.
(Well, not the only reason ... but it definitely lured me out of bed).

Although the breakfast at the Inn was amazing, I can't really say the same for Filipino food.
It was not that delicious. In my opinion, at least.
Seeing that their main form of food is usually some type of meat, on some type of stick, I spent the majority of my time eating chop suey. And while it's not too terribly awful, it's still not what you want to eat all day, everyday.
Yet another reason I was forced to eat so much ice-cream.
Also ... I tried cheese ice-cream. Someone seriously decided that there wasn't enough dairy in regular ice-cream, so they created a cheese flavor.
It was not delicious.
It tasted like cheese.

For some reason while I was in Boracay (but not Bali), my ankles decided to swell to the size of cantaloupes. Seriously. I looked like Kate (while carrying the 8).
Maybe it was the ice-cream.

Everything in Boracay was so ridiculously cheap. I could survive and be happy on about $10 dollars a day ... buying lunch, dinner, drinks, souvenirs, and the much needed aloe vera.

The majority of our nights were spent on the beach, eating and drinking next to the ocean, under the beautiful stars, enjoying the Oasis cover bands.
Tourists love them some Oasis.

After a week spent in Boracay, we headed to Bali, Indonesia, you know ... to recover and rejuvenate from our last exhausting week spent relaxing.
This brought about more flights, in even smaller airplanes, and even resulted in our staying way too long at the Manila Domestic Airport (once again) because the airline we flew decided that it didn't want one of our friends to come with us ... so they delayed her flight, while we all sat (pretty much in fear) in Manila.
However, things were resolved and we all met up again ... everything seems to work out in the end.
We did, however, manage to pass the time spent waiting in airport by having a delicious feast of the finest McDonald's delicacies.
Since we were leaving the Philippines, we had to spend our extra cash on something, so why not 30 orders of french fries?
I mean, it's just logical.

When we finally arrived in Bali (after a brief night's stay in Jakarta) we resumed our habits of eating delicious food, relaxing, and trying to take in as much sun as humanly possible.
(By this time, my lobster of a sunburn was fading away ... so I was able to actually venture into the sun without SPF 90 and an umbrella.
But man, sun south of the equator is hot.
Bali is currently experiencing their "rainy" season ... which I understood to mean about 20 minutes of rain in the morning, followed by insanely hot sun for the rest of the day.

We stayed at a really nice resort/hotel, about a 10 minute walk from Kuta Beach ... so naturally, on the first day we all headed down to the beach, towels and sunblock in tow. However, we were sad to find that Kuta Beach was not all that Lonely Planet made it out to be. The beach was pretty trashy (literally - there was trash everywhere), and many of my friends who wanted to surf or boogie board discovered that the gross beach conditions wouldn't really let them.
So we spent a total of about 30 minutes at the beach, after finally deciding that our time would best be spent sightseeing or laying by the pool instead.

While a good 75% of our vacation was spent relaxing, we did manage to find some time to do some pretty sweet stuff.

We were able to watch a traditional Balinese dance that was preformed to traditional Gamelan music (an ensemble of all kinds of different instruments: drums, xylophones, bells, triangles, and gongs, etc). I thought it was fascinating and super entertaining ... although it was preformed all in Indonesian, so who knows what they were saying (besides all the Indonesians in the crowd).
It was your standard premise of good versus evil, the pretty queen lady versus the giant hairy monster with super long fingernails. You know, the usual.
(And not to ruin the surprise ... but the pretty queen lady totally won).

We visited a shop/area where authentic and traditional Indonesian Batik painting and weaving was being done. We were able to see many women create the famous Batik pattern on beautiful pieces of fabric, which was really interesting given the intricacy of the pattern and the amount of time and energy devoted to making each piece.

In addition to the painting and weaving, we stopped by a silversmith's (smithery?) and witnessed many men melding/shaping/constructing beautiful pieces of jewelry and other things way too expensive for me to buy. I'm still not exactly sure why we went to see this, in that it felt like we were just hanging out, watching these guys work ... but it was nice to see such fine craftsmanship (what Indonesia is known for - or at least what they tell us they're known for).

We stopped by a monkey forest in Ubud (a town about an hour inland from Kuta beach (where we were staying), to hang out with some monkeys. Pun! You know, because monkeys "hang" around a lot.
The monkey forest was nice, though strange, in that it was pretty much a designated area for monkeys to roam free and do pretty much whatever they want.
And usually the monkeys just wanted to run around with their other monkey friends, eat bananas that tourists can buy and feed the monkeys, and make monkey noises that visitors "ooh and ahhh" over.
Occasionally the monkeys like to jump on people and/or steal some of their belongings (If you have something shiny, or something that looks and smells like a banana ... so the monkey forest would not be an ideal place in which to bring a banana boat.)
However, on the day we visited 3 monkeys decided to jump on one of my friends and bite her several times.
Seriously.
One of my friends was literally attacked by monkeys.
And she has the monkey bites to prove it.
But to be totally honest, she accidentally stepped on one of the monkey's tails. That monkey was clearly not having it, so he and some of his buddies launched a full out attack on her legs, arms, and any other areas of exposed flesh.
She's totally fine now and got checked out by the monkey doctors (yeah, those really exist) so no need to worry. Just think twice before you visit a monkey forest ... as if you were planning to do that next Saturday.

I ate so many delicious foods in Bali, I thought they might have to literally roll me into the airplane.
I thoroughly enjoyed Indonesian food - much of it was veggie friendly - however we did manage to eat all types of different worldly cuisines ... including good old fashion American.
If I had to summarize this trip in 2 words, they would definitely be "sun" and "food".
And "fun" ... because I had a lot of that too.

One night we went to "da club".
Only this time, it was a legit dance club, and not a sketchy Korean "night".
Absolutely tons of fun, and I'm pretty sure I sweated away at least 90% of all the calories that I had eaten all trip.
So there, exercise ... check.

One day (the only day that it decided to rain hardcore) we went white-water rafting ... although I'm not sure if what we did could be totally considered white-water rafting because one, the water was actually more of a blueish green color, and two, the rapids were pretty tame. So it was more like "blueish green water floating".
It was, however a great time and we all got completely soaked.
But it was really the only time that we were outside of the tourist trap that is Bali and into the real non-civilized area of the island. (I swear that there are more Australians in Bali than there are actually living in Australia.)
The foliage was so lush and green, it was amazing.
We saw waterfall after waterfall of beautiful water. We definitely didn't stick to rivers and lakes like we're use to ... TLC probably would have hated it here.
RIP, Left-Eye.

After rafting and getting our Kevin Bacon on, we stopped by Tanah Lot ...
"A rock formation off the Indonesian island of Bali. It is home of a pilgrimage temple, the Pura Tanah Lot (literally "Tanah Lot temple") and a popular tourist and cultural icon for photography and general exoticism" ... and believe me, there was exoticism aplenty (Wikipedia, 1).
I didn't know a lot (pun!) about it before we went, so I made sure to Wikipedia it, to get the full story.
Our main goal was to arrive at the temple and watch the sunset over the water ... as it is there that the most beautiful sunsets ever purportedly take place.
However, the day/evening we were there was probably the cloudiest day ever, so all we really got to do was watch the clouds turn slightly more gray.
But the temple and surrounding areas were extremely beautiful, and I made sure to take many pictures (so as to not disappoint Wikipedia) of the exotic beauty.

And that concludes pretty much the majority of my time spent in Boracay and Bali.
(Although I didn't really blog too much about the 50+ hours I spent laying down, on the beach). Not too blog worthy, really.
All in all, I had an absolutely fabulous time and can safely say that I would definitely do it again, right now, if I could.
But sadly, my 3 month vacation is drawing to a close.
I know, I should really ask for an extension ... because 3 months just is entirely too short.

I'm currently back in Korea, and will remain here until my contract is over in July ... teaching English and being awesome ... you know, what I get paid to do.
I had an extremely wonderful Winter Break (although it's really not yet over) going home, hanging out in Korea with Kacy, traveling around South East Asia, and teaching winter classes.
Get money.
So this (finally) concludes the epic-ness that is the "Winter Break blog post".
Felt like you were there, right?

Oh ... I also dumped a huge, hot mess of pictures on my picture sharing website (they're in the Winter Vacation Korea 2010 album) ... and also on Facebook, so check them out.
You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words ... and I probably only wrote like a couple thousand ... so knock yourself out.

You forgot the web-address to my picture sharing site, didn't you.
Here it is ... bookmark it or something:

http://s834.photobucket.com/albums/zz261/laurenwendling/Winter%20Vacation%20Korea%202010/