rae's insatiable wanderlust...
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weekend plans.
this saturday night, i’m going to enjoy some wine with my friend, sarah. we’re probably going to get bibimbap and talk about boys. it’s buddha’s birthday weekend in korea, which is a national holiday. i have to do a few hours of training for my new job, but i’m also planning to check out some of the festivities. a guy i dated will be there, and i probably won’t make an effort to see him, and i’m sure he will make no effort to see me. i officially start work on wednesday, and i have plans to see a few of my friends the following weekend who are coming to seoul to see wicked.
between now and then, all that stands in the way is that i have to pack, lay out in the sun all afternoon, and meet some friends for drinks tomorrow night. o. and fly for twelve hours direct from LAX to ICN.
it’s amazing. seriously amazing. how my life allows me to just hop across the pacific ocean right quick and just…resume my life. turn on my korean cell, catch up on the months of kakao messages i’ve neglected, and take the subway to my new apartment. unpack my things, battle jetlag, start my job…and before i know it, it will be time for my vacation in taiwan (though i’m still heavily considering burma and cambodia), and before i know it, it will be time for me to leave asia, turn on my UK mobile, and not so much resume that life, but begin it again.
tonight, i talked to my friend, sheryll, about whether or not it was the right thing for me to go back to london for school. to take out the loans. to put off my acting career for yet another year. and she said, “you could be doing what everyone else is doing. do you want to be a waitress in NYC? a hostess? a bartender? complaining about tips? going on auditions and complaining about them to your friends during happy hour? or…”
it’s true. as the chesire cat says, you’re sure to get “somewhere” no matter which way you go, so long as you walk far enough. so why don’t i mix all my allusions, take the road less traveled, and see what a difference it makes?
at the very least, it’s likely you’ll keep reading.
the suspense is killing me,
expat rae -
mind the gap, y’all.
actually, the gap is closing.
london, i’m coming home.
updates to follow.
—expat rae
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first night on the job.
so. i got a “job” here in LA. i put “job” in quotation marks because, well, i can’t actually believe someone is paying me to do this.
i “work” at a hostel. on venice beach. guys, i’ve found my dream job.
i sit at a desk where i assign rooms and click buttons and say hello and occasionally help someone carry luggage upstairs. (it’s the least i can do since i’ve had my own luggage carried by countless people over the years.) at 8pm, i escort everyone to the hostel’s lounge where we drink for two hours before going out somewhere nearby. at this point, i am allowed to drink as much as i please and go home whenever i like.
i meet attractive and interesting people from everywhere. today alone, i talked about the KL airport, east london, seeing the arctic monkeys in concert, oktoberfest, yoga retreats, and derry (ireland). and you know what? for the first time since i’ve been back in america, i really, really felt at home.
this shit is definitely my calling. at least until i’m too old for it. which shouldn’t be for at least another five years…
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Q: Hi. I have a question. Do people dance in Korea or is dancing just a western thing? Thanks in advance.
A:
yes! koreans love to dance. and they actually dance pretty well. :) there are plenty of clubs where young people go that stay open until 4am or later. but if you’re from the west, it’s not the type of dancing you might expect. guys and girls don’t usually dance together, in the sense that they don’t touch while they do it. and most of the people all stand facing the same direction, usually toward the stage or the DJ booth. :) it looks more like a concert than a club. :) it’s really fun, a little crazy, and definitely something you should do if you’re coming to korea.
—expat rae
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Q and RAE…
swiped and adapted from barefoot-traveller, a blog i’m really loving, a list she calls the travel challenge:
- favorite place(s) you’ve been: london, bar none. but i also loved chiang mai, thailand; florence, italy; stuttgart, germany; las vegas, NV; and recently i’ve found some room in my heart for new york, new york. :)
- somewhere you’d like to go: all over south africa (now that i have so many saffa friends), hong kong, burma, taiwan, turkey, uruguay (i like their flag), lebanon (i’m lebanese)…umm, pretty much anywhere any of my friends are going is fine with me.
- an adventure you’ve had traveling/living abroad: well, most recently, i turned an 8-day yoga retreat into a 16-day trip through thailand and malaysia. probably the best moment was when i was just sitting in the kuala lumpur airport enjoying my mediocre beer and french fries when i realized i missed my flight. for whatever reason, i decided to respond to an email from my friend, natalie, telling her i was stuck in KL…to which she replied, o really? i’m in KL, too! and i spent the next couple of days with her and some wonderful people at a hostel downtown.
- a picture of you in another country: paris, 2006. i don’t know. just seemed french.
- favorite “touristy” place: speaking of paris, la tour eiffel for sure. the rest of paris, i can mostly take or leave. but the eiffel tower is a real gem.
- what “home” means to you: wherever the friends are.
- what you miss most from home: whole foods salad bar, netflix, and the garbage disposal. i almost never miss my car, though.
- favorite food from another country: bibimbap (korea). saurkraut (germany). aloo gobi (india).
- a song you like in another language: ”americano” by 10cm (korean). “printemps” by coeur de pirate (french canadian).
- essentials to pack on every trip: yogitoes yoga mat towel (to cover the rental mat from wherever i am). lush solid purfume in vanillary. my macbook air. my kindle (mine’s 2nd gen). my turquoise ray-ban wayfarers. a hoodie (yes, i even wore it in malaysia).
- a milestone while traveling: in korea, i celebrated one year out of the country, and in thailand, i celebrated one year out of the west! (i spent a month in london before going to korea.)
- who inspired you to travel: my ex initially, and today, my friends’ adventures continue to fuel the fire.
- favorite travel quotation(s): “not all those who wander are lost.” —j.r.r. tolkien. “there are no foreign lands. it is the traveler only who is foreign.” —robert louis stevenson. ”all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” —michael buber
- what you’ve learned from traveling: love is everywhere. home is everywhere.
- advice to someone considering leaving home: the fear you might feel, take it, relish in it, and enjoy it. and work through it until you no longer feel it, because eventually, you won’t. stop worrying about what your friends or parents or teachers will say. there is no “right way” to get anywhere. go. now.
—expat rae
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Q: Hi! I've just been reading your blog and kinda got hooked! I'm an exchange student in korea, I'm from the UK, on my second visit here(I came in 2010 for 2months and loved it so much I saved loads, so this time I'm around until september! I'm based in Seoul but plan to travel lots over the summer vacation! I was just wondering what made you choose korea? I'm kinda interested in coming back here after I graduate, I'm vegetarian too - so I can relate to what you're saying about people's reactions!
A:
hi! thank you for your message. :D whereabouts in the UK are you from? (i’m a former londoner trying to re-london myself. eventually.)
i came to korea primarily to save money and because i love bibimbap. as a teacher, korea is the best all-around deal. in the world. literally. if you prefer chinese or japanese food/culture/etc., i can understand wanting to move there, but it is a better value in korea. if you speak spanish/portuguese and are comfortable making no money, south america is a great deal. if you just want to see somewhere beautiful and have a little bit of money saved, thailand, turkey, and indonesia all have a lot to offer. if you’re a real teacher looking to pursue ESL as a lifelong career, the middle east or hong kong are certainly the best bet. and, of course, if you want the ultimate resume booster (and you’re young), the fulbright ETA grants are all over the world…if you’re willing to commit to the nine month application process. but for those of us looking to save money and see the world, there’s nowhere better than korea. (as long as you don’t care that people think that bulgogi is not meat…)
i’m moving to seoul in may, i think. maybe we’ll catch up!
—expat rae
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Q: just stumbled upon your blog and can't get enough! how did you start all of this traveling? I'm so envious! i also don't know really how this tumblr thing works or why I'm suddenly so fascinated by a random persons blog, but here i am! lol
A:
:) thank you. (yeah, tumblr’s completely addictive. not gonna lie.)
umm…in my blogs i reference an ex boyfriend every now and again. i’ve known him since i was sixteen, and he is from northern ireland. (i’m from ye olde ohio.) there was definitely something “worldly” and “cultured” about having a best friend (who became a boyfriend) from faraway europe. so i really caught the travel bug before i had even done any traveling. i chose a university with a lot of study abroad opportunities, and when i graduated, i prioritized my boyfriend and seeing the world over my acting career. (a choice i have yet to regret!) compared to a lot of my friends, i haven’t done much traveling — that’s the thing about it: there’s always more to see. but so far, it’s been really easy for me to choose living abroad over living in america…and there’s always work for people who are willing to live the expat life. if you have any questions about being a nanny (don’t do it), teaching abroad (definitely do it), bartending abroad, or working abroad in whatever field you studied, don’t hesitate to ask. :)
—expat rae
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the great escape.
i wish, truly, that anything could cure me of heart ache half as well as just…leaving and going somewhere else.
i had been dealing with a series of unfortunate (and messy) events while in asia in the past year. eventually, my “fake life” in asia started to look more and more like my real life, and that real life started to look like a real mess.`and for whatever reason, i allowed myself to carry so much pain with me. i allowed myself to hold onto things that i knew were not ultimately significant, and no matter what i did, there was nothing i could do to let go.
and then i came back to america. i realized what a network i had in new york, how many generous and loving people have come into my life. then i went home to visit my parents who willingly slept on the couch so that i could have their bed. i flew out to los angeles where my best friend has offered me her guest bedroom for an additional five weeks. (guys, i am living rent-free in the homes of my friends for a total of almost three months. that’s not a thing that most people can just…do.) because i woke up one morning (very literally) and realized that i hadn’t cried myself to sleep once since i’ve been home. (apparently i say “home” referring to the entire united states.) i’m not yearning for anyone or holding onto anyone. i realized that it wasn’t right for me to go back to daegu and wait for my job to start in seoul on the first of june…and because my best friend and her boyfriend are two of the kindest, most exceptional people i could ask for in my life, i’m just allowed to stay. i’m allowed to stay here surrounded by my well-chosen, supportive friends until it’s time to go back to korea, move to seoul, and build my next network of loving and beautiful people.
maybe this isn’t the healthiest way to move on. maybe it is an obscure form of cowardice. i don’t know. but y’all, i’m fucking lucky. today, i made a ham (i’m vegan, so i didn’t eat it), pineapple gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and chocolate brownies for my friends and the friends of my friends. we played darts and drank homemade bloody marys and painted easter eggs. and there was not a single place in this world i’d rather be.
korea, i’ll see you in may. happy easter, bitches.
—expat rae
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jivawhat? jivawho?
ok, so i love yoga. if you do not love yoga, just stop reading because i’m going to tell you about this freaking place:
the jivamukti yoga school in new york city. (the photo is not mine; it’s from the website. obviously because usually there are about 40+ people in the class. but the room is well lit, spacious, and has pretty excellent acoustics front to back.)ok, so if you want to know nonsense about where it is located, the cost of the classes, who’s teaching and when…then click on the link and find out for yourself. :)
the jivamukti school is (currently) my fav. i don’t 100% agree with some of their deeper ideology, especially in terms of how one connects with the divine, but i love it for a number of reasons. here. let me list them for you. right now.
- a well rounded class. every class at jivamukti includes chanting, meditation, almost always pranayama (breathing), asana (that’s the poses), and meditation. during the class, the instructor talks almost constantly about yogic scripture and philosophy…so if you can hear him/her over your ujjayi breath, you might learn something.
- discipline. the school is hardcore. they truly believe that if you are not practicing your asana (and the rest of your yogic practice) to the best of your ability in that moment, you are committing, basically, a sin. a lot of western asana practices have become diluted by western ideas. that’s great in a sense because it becomes accessible for people who maybe aren’t ready for eastern mumbo jumbo…but this “gym” variety of yoga is not for me.
- they do not back off about the veganism thing. don’t worry. if you’re a vegetarian, pescetarian, picky eater, cave man, carnivore, whatever, they probably won’t be able to smell it on you. they won’t throw red paint on you or kick you out of class. and again, i get that this isn’t for everyone. but it’s nice for me to feel like i am surrounded by like-minded people who are there for some of the same reasons i am.
- the adjustments. ok, if you don’t know, the adjustments are the hands-on portion of the class where the instructor or the assistent comes over and moves you better into the pose. hot rama, they are spot. freaking. on. they really know what they’re doing, and the poses have a goal. in a lot of classes, the instructors tell the students to do the pose “however they do it,” which i think is not only lazy, but potentially dangerous. and i’m a really flexible girl, and i’m pretty strong…so sometimes i’m just doing the pose in the way i think is best because i don’t know the goal. at jivamukti, they’ll definitely take the time to show you. if i wanted to “do the pose my way” i’d just stay home and do a video online. but i was only practicing for a little over a week at jivamukti, and already i noticed a huge step forward in my practice. and i can say that confidently because i know which way forward is!
- the jivamuktea cafe. 100% vegan. 100% organic. 100% delicious. i’m not gonna lie, it’s pricey. but worth every penny. (and the tumeric tahini dressing is my lover.)
- the vibe. i’ve heard people complain that there’s no sense of community between yogis in the big city. that was certainly not my experience. in the short time i was there, a couple of people at the front desk knew my name, i traded numbers with a new friend, i saw the same people in the cafe a few times where we chatted about our class. i saw teachers who knew things about their students’ lives and people making plans to meet outside of class. for a studio located in manhattan, where people are whizzing in and out of class and in and out of town, it’s difficult to maintain that kind of atmosphere. but they definitely make it happen.
the downside to all of this is really the cost. my aim is to eventually certify to become a yoga instructor through jivamukti, but without a scholarship, it will run me close to $8,000. shiva have mercy. and the price of the monthly class passes are pretty high (though definitely comparable to the iyengar center or any of the other really big name studios). but if what you’re looking for is a rigorous practice (you definitely will not find a restorative class here, but you will find an awesome beginner series for brand spanking new yogis), really qualified teachers, and an asana practice that is about something more than just firming up your ass (though i promise you, jivamukti will deliver on that too), then you should probably go. like, ASAP.
did i mention the first class is free? :)
namaste,
expat rae -
this is what i’m doing right now in los angeles. playing look at this fucking person the drinking game. traveling is awesome.
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around the world in two months.
i’ve been wearing this hoodie from malaysia that (you can’t see) says “james and the giant peach” beneath a photo of an apple. wearing headphones. yes, i’ve been wearing this hoodie for a very, very long time.
but before i go bathe in a sink in moscow SVO airport, let me lay it down for you.
expat rae’s original travel plan (circa november):
- february 11-13: bangkok.
- february 13-20: island yoga retreat on koh yao noi.
- february 20-21: bangkok.
- february 21-22: seoul. (for a job interview.)
- february 22-26: daegu.
- february 26-april 1: london. (for reconciliation with ex and masters program interviews/auditions.)
- april 1: youngstown, ohio. (home.)
- april 15: back to korea.
expat rae’s current travel…wouldn’t call it a plan:
- february 11-13: bangkok.
- february 13-20: island yoga retreat on koh yao noi.
- february 20-23: chiang mai. (extended the trip to see a friend from home.)
- february 23-25: was supposed to be in bangkok with new yoga friend, and i got sick so i stayed until…
- february 28. had to go to the hospital, etc.
- february 28-29: kuala lumpur, malaysia because i missed my flight. yep. was just sitting in the airport paying no attention. just missed it. and as i was emailing my friend, natalie, i discovered she was also in KL, so i took a ($60!!!) cab ride to her hostel in town and spent a really great night with her.
- february 29-march 1: flew redeye to seoul, arrived at 6:20am. ate breakfast with a friend i met in KL. took the bus to daegu.
- march 2-march 3: at 6:30am, took the bus back to the seoul airport for a flight which was scheduled to leave at 12:40, but was delayed until 6:30pm…so i hung out, all smiles and positivity and dolsot bibimbap. taking naps and loving life. the flight was really empty to moscow, so i got to spread out on two seats…though there weren’t any vegetarian meals, so i was pretty hungry. i got to moscow thinking i could just, you know, go get a hotel since it is legal to be here without a visa if it’s for less than 24 hours. but no. i had to prebook a hostel. (which i tried to do. and failed.) so now i am sitting at my SIXTEEN HOUR LAYOVER. i just slept in a booth at TGIFriday’s for six hours. if my flight leaves on time, i will leave here at 3pm and arrive at new york JFK 5pm local time. i’m taking a hired car to my friend’s house and staying for three days.
- march 3-6: new york round one.
- march 6-22: youngstown, ohio on the megabus. (trips to pittsburgh and cleveland, i’m assuming.)
- march 22-april 3: new york round two including an interview for a masters program in london and a visit with my best friend who is now a nun.
- april 3-10: los angeles.
- april 10: back to korea…where i will hopefully have a job and enough money to do a visa run.
truly. i do not know what to say about my life.
…and now the employees of TGIFriday’s are chanting, “america!” and dancing to “final countdown.”
yes, they wear the same uniforms they wear in america. with the addition of fuzzy russian hats.
i’ll just leave you with that image,
expat rae -
life on the 40th floor. (and a visit to the best hospital in bangkok.)
i’d love to post a picture of the view from my friend’s apartment window, here on the 40th floor, overlooking bangkok.
however. the only view i could show you right now is the one of her shower (though to be fair, it is a very impressive shower).
yep. new country, new bowel obstruction. such is the life of expat rae. glamorous. over the last couple of days, i’ve been experiencing stomach pains which only grew more and more intense as time went by. first i accredited it to IBS, then to perhaps eating dairy without my knowledge (what if they didn’t understand when i said soy milk?), then to perhaps drinking a beverage made with dirty ice chips hacked off of a block by a dirty chain saw, and then i was sure it was a parasite. yes. my little parasite hated me all the time, but she hated me extra when i ate. she woke me from sleep. she gave me a fever. and she took away all of my strength and gave me joint pain. i hated my parasite.
so this morning, my friend (the one with the sweet bachelorette pad) took me to bumrungrad international — THE hospital for farangs (foreigners) — to see a doctor.
let’s just pause for the cause here so that i can tell you that this place is THE SHIT. it is beautiful. like omg. i felt underdressed in the waiting room. everyone who works there is impeccably dressed and accessorized and multi-lingual. as in, THEY ACTUALLY SPEAK ENGLISH. (something that is often advertised in korea, but very rarely actualized.)
after a short and concise consultation, i had one x-ray and then was sent immediately back to the doctor where she told me that her suspicions were confirmed. i did not have a parasite. o no. this was a simple case of…FECAL IMPACTION.
basically, it means i’m full of shit.
after checking out an x-ray of my intestines and being thoroughly grossed out, i paid (an impressive $63 considering the building, the efficiency, the consultation, the x-ray, the medication, and NO HEALTH INSURANCE…keep in mind i paid twice that much for the same treatment in korea when i had “full coverage”); i got a note from my doctor saying i was unfit to fly so i could reschedule my flight, and my friend and i hit up the food court for some delicious lebanese food.
that’s where i drank the poison.
the doctor gave me this stool softener (as usher once said, if i’m gonna tell it, then i gotta tell it all), that said, “TAKE 70 MILLILITRES ORALLY NOW,” so i did as i was told and mixed it with my delicious lemon mint drink.
WOW. talking about drinking this, THINKING about drinking this MAKES ME GAG. it is the worst thing i have ever swallowed. it was cruel and terrible and incredibly traumatic.
*shudder.*
but i got it down. and since then, i have been hanging out in the bathroom. feeling a little dizzy, a little disoriented. but slightly less impacted.
so today, i am looking at my life. here i am, full of shit again, taking cipro 1 gram a day again…and why? it’s different when i think, o i wish i could have a dog. it is definitely not same same. why do i choose to live in/travel to countries where unfiltered tap water can literally kill me? that shit is just not cool.
and today, i don’t have an answer for that. though this medical experience was truly exceptional, it was exactly that. an exception. for the most part, i have been mistreated and misdiagnosed for the last year. i don’t want to move to a country that will not take me seriously, that does not have the means to properly diagnose and treat me…no matter how affordable my health care is…because, you know, in america i have very little need of health care BECAUSE THE TAP WATER IS NOT OUT TO TAKE MY LIFE.
yeah. i am feeling especially pro-first world today. sorry if it offends. but i am typing from a toilet, so if you’re easily offended, that should have been your first clue that perhaps this isn’t the blog for you.
everyone is entitled to feel a little shitty from time to time. for the most part, i am really positive about my experiences, even if they are not the greatest. but really. none of my friends in america have to worry about shitting themselves. or being unable to shit themselves.
though i can say that the silver lining to all of this is: my friend has very excellent toilet paper.
with you through thick and thin,
expat rae
