Vacation time...

Wednesday afternoon in Korea; 3 days before I leave the country. Where am I going I hear you all ask with anticipation and wonderment? Home? Another country? Well yes in fact...to the latter! Next week it will be my first vacation since I arrived in Korea and I literally can not wait. As part of my contract I receive 10 days off (a year) plus bank holidays which is a significant amount less than in the UK. Like most ESL teachers, I am allocated five specific days in the summer and five in the winter and as its not that much, I intend to make the most of it.

I have decided to visit the wonderful country (or so I’m told) of Vietnam and this will be my third solo travelling experience. My first trip was back in 2013 when I visited the glorious Paris, and of course there was that hilarious time when I decided to move to Korea, so to say that I’m excited about my next little adventure is probably the understatement of the year. However as you can imagine I am still filled with nerves, but it is an extremely different kind of feeling to that of my first trip and its one I can not quite place.
 
Living in a different country has already presented its challenges, and taken me away from my comfort zone which I have learnt to be okay with. If I was back in the UK right now it would most likely be a story of utter panic and bewilderment. I’d probably be busy preparing every last detail and constantly thinking about that long awaited and quite scary journey that lay ahead of me. However this experience has already opened me up to (as Aladdin once said) ‘a whole new world’, and allowed me to become even more confident and less worried than perhaps I would have been before. It's just so great to not feel so anxious about these things anymore. I think they call that, progress! WIN!

With that in mind I am not prepared in the slightest, but I think I usually over prepare for things like this, so I’m hoping that I haven't forgotten anything. I’ve bought my miniatures, got my visa, exchanged my money and learnt how to say hello ... pretty sure that’s it right? Let’s hope so anyway. Juggling 3 different languages this week has proven difficult so I’m sure i’ve missed something. From Hello (English) to Annyeonghaseyo (Korean) to Xin Chào (Vietnamise), I’m telling you it’s really quite confusing. On a separate note the weather in Vietnam next week is meant to be wonderful so let’s hope it stays like this...

 

THUNDERSTORMS EVERYDAY!!!

WIN! For anyone that knows me, they know that I actually LOVE a good thunderstorm so this really only adds to the drama!

I'm going to be staying in Hanoi (AKA monsoon central), and I am also planning on spending a couple of nights in Halong Bay as well, so I will of course take lots of pictures and tell you all about it when I return the following week.

The great thing about living in Asia is I am suddenly so close to all of these countries that were once so far away. It takes 4 hours to get to Vietnam, 1 hour to Japan and about 2 and a half hours to Taiwon, so I intend to spend whatever vacation time I have exploring the abundance of different countries on this side of the world. Anyway, my bags aren't going to pack themselves so better dash. Until next time folks...