Christmas All Around the World

For the last 6 Christmas', I have been in 6 different cites, with 6 different groups of people, in 5 different countries, surrounded by 4 languages.  Christmas is kind of a sad time for a traveler.  In exchange for all of the adventures and fun of experiencing new places and cultures, when Christmastime comes around, you just want to be with your family and try as much as possible to make it like the Christmas you remember growing up.  This is how I've spent my last 6 Christmas'...

2012: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Malaysia is a Muslim country, and they don't really celebrate Christmas here.  They do get a day off work, but that's about all Christmas means to most. 

I went out dancing with 4 other friends of mine on Christmas eve, then on Christmas morning woke up at noon, then went to the store (that was open by the way) to get some fruit to carry on the crepes tradition of my family.  Bob and Ain and I had breakfast and lunch at the same time, with crepes and some nice lamb chops.  Then we opened our stockings :)

2011: Perth, Australia

In Australia, I decided to go on a hiking/camping trip with a couple of other couch surfers, who were also away from home, so that we could take our minds off of home and holidays, and just have a great time doing something we enjoy.  Idan from Isreal, and Sebastian from France became very dear friends to me, and we enjoyed camping food for our Christmas dinner, and sang Jason Mraz and Bob Marley songs for our Christmas carols :)

2010: Barcelona, Spain

This Christmas I had just left home a couple months before to start my trip around the world.  Barcelona was my first stop, and I had been hanging out with a lot of couch surfers.  I spent Christmas eve with a big group of CSers, and then a few of us went out for some dancing.  I made some crepes on Christmas morning and invited them to come to my place in the morning for breakfast, but only one guy showed up...one guy that I had just met that night.  So it was slightly awkward spending Christmas morning with a stranger, but better than being alone!

2009: Busan, South Korea

My time in Korea was coming to an end, and I was living with Meaghan and Kevin, my co-workers and fellow Canadians, and we were all missing home and we had the same sort of idea of how Christmas should be.  We got a big tree, decorated it as much as we could, invited our friends Ken and Liz over, had a little gift exchange, and had a turkey dinner (except that the turkey was chicken!)  As much as we were sad to be away from home, it was nice to be with great friends and people who understood how to get into the Christmas spirit.

2008: London, Canada 

This was the last "normal" Christmas I've had...At home, with family.  After my first year ended in Korea, I went to Thailand for a vacation, then flew home for Christmas with the fam.  It was great to spend it with everyone there.  Both my sisters, Dave and Anna, my parents, Nana, and the Chapman's.   Of course, this is how Christmas should be :)



 
2007: Seoul, South Korea

It was my first Christmas in Korea, and since I had just arrived, going home wasn't an option.  I went to Seoul to visit my friend Natalie, who had also recently come to Korea a couple months before I came.  We decided to do some sightseeing, and while we were out exploring, we just got some fast food for our Christmas dinner.  Lotteria is their version of McDonalds... Yea, we had Lotteria for Christmas dinner.  It was yummy!  But maybe not as good as turkey.  :)

How to Make Cookies in a Man's Kitchen

Have you ever been traveling for a long time and been craving some nice home baked cookies, but making seemed just impossible because you didn't have anything that you need from your kitchen back home??  Well, don't give up...Nothing is impossible!  Even in a man's kitchen :)  Here's how...

Step 1: Tell a local friend that you will make cookies for him if he can get you an oven.  I didn't think this would be possible either, but the next thing I knew, there was a portable oven in the house!


Step 2: Go out and get all the ingredients.  Don't expect anything to be in his kitchen, except maybe sugar!  

Rice maker for the bowl

Exacto Knife to Open Packages

Step 3: IMPROVISE. He won't have any big bowls, measuring cups, or measuring spoons, so use whatever you can find.  

Regular spoon for teaspoon

A towel for Oven mitts

A mug for "Cups"

Step 4: Invite your friends over to enjoy the cookies with you :)

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12,000 ft In the Air...

Two days before this picture was taken, the only thing that was on my mind was the agony and misery that Sheree and I were going through, as we attempted to cycle over the 3 huge hills between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef, while it was drizzling rain and we were freezing and exhausted.  Jumping out of a plane was the last thing on my mind!

But when we arrived to Franz Josef we realized that our plan to work in exchange for accommodation, and do a fundraiser on the side were going to be impossible.  We changed our plan and decided to enjoy 2 days in Franz Josef, and move the fundraiser to Hokitika, and spend more time there.  Coming back from the reception of the place we were staying, Sheree told me that we were going skydiving that afternoon!  I said ok without thinking, and it wasn't until we went to pay that it became real and I started to freak out...

The next day we went to meet our tandem buddies.  Mine was a tiny little girl, not exactly what I was expecting... I asked her if it was a problem that she was smaller than me, and she just laughed and said that I was the smallest person she had taken all day.  She was kind and answered all of my questions about how many people had fainted or puked or died, etc, and she made me feel better...until....

We were 12,000 feet in the air and it was time for us to jump!  She kept saying "I gotcha, I gotcha" as she pushed my limbs out the door one by one as I desperately tried to grab onto something to keep me on that plane!  But that darn door was too big and she jumped too fast for me to stop her.  The next thing I knew, there was no more plane and just the most intense feeling of falling, the feeling of air coming up at us from below, so strong  that I could see my tears being squeezed out of my eyes, even though I was wearing the glasses, and the thought of wanting to say "I WASN'T READY!" to her, but unable because I couldn't stop screaming.

When she opened the parachute, it felt like we were being pulled back up, but then started to float back down slowly and peacefully and I could really enjoy the scenery as the terror slowly faded away.  There was blue ocean on one side, white glaciers on the other, and green fields below us.  The view was incredible!  Since we were 2 little girls, we came down much slower than the others and were the last ones to land.  The feeling of falling stayed with me for days or even weeks, and it's a feeling I will never forget...But probably don't need to have again in this lifetime!

 

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Brbwly FISH!

While teaching English in Korea, my friend Shannon and I went camping in Ulleungdo for a vacation.  The island is  in the middle of nowhere, and although it's Korea, it doesn't seem much like it, because the water is so clean and there are so few people there.

We left home with two scooters, and arrived with one (that's a whole other story, which I'll save for another time!) and set up camp.  We then went looking for a nice place to swim, and when we found it, I just jumped in!

I guess Shannon has a sixth sense or something because she all of a sudden decided that she wanted her goggles, and refused to get in the water without them. So I waited in the water for her to get them, holding onto the side of the rocks as the waves pushed me up and down.  My imagination started to get the better of me as I pictured Jaws coming up behind me and snacking on my legs. 

Eventually, Shannon came back with her goggles.  The fear was gone and she did a lovely swan dive into the water.  We started to explore, swimming out into the open water to see what was there.  We swam for no more than 10 seconds when Shannon, swimming beside me screamed something that sounded to me like "BRBWLY FISH!" and bolted it in the opposite direction.  And I followed!

As she scrambled back up the side of the rock out of the water and I quickly followed, she pointed to the water and I saw an enormous jelly fish there in the water.  It's body was probably bigger than a hula hoop. It had been literally inches from us, and had Shannon not had her goggles, we probably both would have swam right into it's tentacles.  After a few moments to freak out, we were able to laugh about it, and then went to get the camera so that we could share the story...!

Some more Ulleungdo photos:

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