China, last week in Korea, mud fest...and Thailand. except i'm in laos...and i suck at keeping up with this.

allllrighty.

let's see if i can fit this all in.

I went to China for a long weekend, it was pretty frickin cool. There were 18 of us, all from Youngdo, in our own big-ass tour bus, and our own guide. we all had two seats to ourselves on the bus (wonderful for naps), it was fast-paced, but we saw a lot of Beijing. The pics are all on facebook...and since I'm in Laos right now...I won't be posting them until later...i'll make a slideshow or something. I really liked Beijing, but was told that since the Olympics are there next year it was a lot cleaner and orderly than it has been in the past. Good timing on our part? Went to the Great Wall, climbed it, saw Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City (FORBODE). All was amazing, took a shiteload of pics. Went shopping in a MARVELOUS market. Bought far too much for far too cheap. I bought SHOES, girls shoes nonetheless...been a long time since i've been able to do that. We rented bikes on the last day and rode around Old Beijing. By far that was the most interesting thing I did. All the cultural stuff was great, but the bike riding really gave us an up close and person look at day-to-day. it was amazing.

so...that's China in a nutshell. loved it, have to go back. people should go!!

THEN i went back to Korea and worked for 3 days. THEN i went to MUD FEST (for the 3rd year in a row - time to leave Korea when that happens). Again it was amazing. Went with 26 people in two big minboks (hotels with no beds, just blankets so you crash on the floor). We got covered in mud, partied, rented quads with people we didnt' really know and rode around on the beach. Did some mud wrestling, some mud sliding...overall...too much fun.

THEN back to school...worked my last monday classes and my last tuesday classes...which equals 5 pizza parties, a lot of pics of kids, and a lot of good-byes.

Wednesday the 25th was my last day in Korea. I jam packed that baby. Got up in my hotel, mailed my last package, went to the bank, closed my account, got my hair professionally straightened, went into Seoul, bought another memory card, went to Itaewon, bought health insurance, a rain cover for the bag, met a friend for dinner and a movie, got on the train, went to another city, met up with Ashley (korean friend) said goodbye, that was sad, got in a cab and went back to my city.

THEN i slept, dan and i got up, ate pancakes with Jen, and were on our way to the airport! arrived in Bangkok after a looooong-ass delay through immigration/customs at the new Bangkok airport. we waited in line for retardedly long. finally got to Khao San, waited a few hours, Kyle showed up, and we were all together!

that night we ate, then went to a pink-pong show. for those who know, it was interesting, for those who don't know...i will not explain. it was....interesting. The song "I will always love you" is forever tained in my mind.

got up the next day. dan and kyle went on a bangkok excursion and i busied myself on Khao San. Bought bags for my parents, mailed them, bought a return ticket for Kathmandu, bought 4 bathing suits....whatever, they were 2 bucks each. and a dress which is very cute for $3. we hung out on Khao San till 6pm then our overnight bus left for Chiang Mai.

12 hours later we arrived in Chiang Mai. We checked into our hotel (with a pool, WONDERFUL since we were sweeeaaty). Took naps, ate and chilled for a few hours. Booked our hill-tribe trek and slow-boat to Luang Prabang and rented bikes. We rode around Chiang Mai and took in a temple. Danielle's brother knows a guy who owns a bar in Chiang Mai. We tracked it down, only to find that he had left for a trip to Toronto a week before! We still met his fiance and had a few beers, headed home to get a good nights sleep before our 2 day 1 night hill-tribe trek the next day.

wow this is long...

i shall write about trekking later...my fingers hurt!