Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sa wat-dii Khrap ('Hello' in Thai)
Hello from Thailand. It has now been 10 days since leaving home for this beautiful country. It certainly has not fallen short of being anything but beautiful.
We spent the first 3 nights in Bangkok near Khao San Road, which is absolutely insane. Nathan nor I had ever seen anything like it and we were itching to get away from there as fast as we could. It's basically a road where all the backpackers/travellers go for cheap booze, massages, food, dancing, neon lights, etc. Definitely not the Thailand I had envisioned; however we did take advantage of the three dollar foot massages .
We took an overnight train and 3 hour bus to make it to Krabi, which we then took a longtail boat to Rai Ley beach. We fell in love with the area of Rai Ley more everyday. We stayed there 3 nights and met plenty of travellers, mainly from all over Europe. We've found that among the tourists we, as Americans, are an extreme minority.
We are now in Ko Phi Phi, which is our first island visit. While there are lots of tourists here, it has some incredible beaches. There's plenty of restaurants, bars, entertainment right along the beaches. So that I don't bore you with too many details, I'll just list out some of our highlights so far:
- A two hour kayaking adventure discovering new beaches near Rai Ley
- The FOOD, of course. There's carts EVERYWHERE with authentic Thai food for about a buck or two each dish.
- Beautiful hikes along the coast line
- Playing beach soccer with the locals
- Watching fire dancer's for nightly entertainment
- Touring many different Buddhist temples
We've truly been having a wonderful time here and everyday have been reminded of how blessed we are that God has enabled us to be able to have this adventure together. We are also getting more and more excited about the upcoming year in Korea. It's still a bit surreal/scary that we will be gone from our families and friends for so long, but it's something that we'd regret later on if we let the opportunity slip away.
I've posted some pictures below to give you a sense of what we have come across in our day to day travelling ventures.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Oh the Anticipation...
Welcome all to a blog that we will do our best to continually update with stories, photos, and videos as we begin our travels into VERY foreign lands. As the time approaches for us to say our goodbyes, we are in great anticipation for the upcoming year.
We've both felt a strong pull to step way outside of our comfort zone and into cultures different than our own. The Lord has provided us with this opportunity for just that. Going to South Korea has been in the back of our minds for sometime now and we even had an opportunity to go 3 days after our wedding for an entire year, but decided that may not be the best decision in our current situation. We continued to pray for an opportunity to step out of the comfort of our own culture in order to experience rich cultures elsewhere.
We were able to build a connection through a friend from college whose uncle is on the board of an elementary school in Seoul, S. Korea. Before we knew it we were in direct contact with the director of the school that we would potentially be teaching at. After many emails, questions, and interviews, the contract was offered for the two of us to begin a contract March 1, 2011.Woohoo!
We then started dreaming of a trip to S.E. Asia to do a little backpacking before we settled in Korea for full time work. Some of you may know that visiting Thailand has been on my (Chelsea) bucket list for quite some time now. It still feels surreal that we're ACTUALLY going! We've been in limbo the past few months deciding if this was where God was wanting us to go, yet He continued to prompt us forward with open doors. We took a step back with the ensuing political situation in the North & South Korea region to decide if it was even safe for us to go. After much conversation, prayer, and research we still continued the process of making the jump.
Only in the past couple weeks have we felt 100% that we are taking the right step. God has blessed us with loose ends tieing up much neater than we thought possible. We've sold a car, rented out our apartment, received all sorts or documents to send out for our visas, and have felt blessed by the love and support from our families and friends. We have, however, just broached one minor hiccup with a particular document in order to receive our official S. Korean work visa. We ask for your prayers in this because at this point it is completely out of our hands.
For those of you interested, our itinerary beginning Jan 14th looks a little something like this:
Jan. 14 : Fly from Vancouver, BC airport to Bangkok, Thailand
Jan. 16 : Arrive in Bangkok to stay for 3-4 days as we talk to other travelers about must see's. We will then travel south to experience the unique culture on different islands and villages on the mainland. After 30 days we will travel up north and are hoping to visit Vietnam.
Feb. 22 : Fly from Bangkok to Seoul, S. Korea to settle into our tiny little dorm style apartment and begin teaching March 1st.
Our contract in Korea officially runs from Mar. 1, 2011 to Feb. 28, 2012. There are MANY unknowns about our time there. We anticipate being placed in a tiny little dorm size apartment and we will find out upon arrival our class size, age group, curriculum we'll be working with at the elementary.
Although we will certainly miss our friends and family over the next year, we are confident this year will fly by and will strengthen Nathan and I as individuals and especially as a newlywed couple. We look forward to documenting these moments and keeping you all involved as we begin this adventure. Please feel free to email either of us with questions, encouragement, and updates on your end.
Bye for now! We shall see you in a year!
Much Love,
Nathan & Chelsea Pogue
We've both felt a strong pull to step way outside of our comfort zone and into cultures different than our own. The Lord has provided us with this opportunity for just that. Going to South Korea has been in the back of our minds for sometime now and we even had an opportunity to go 3 days after our wedding for an entire year, but decided that may not be the best decision in our current situation. We continued to pray for an opportunity to step out of the comfort of our own culture in order to experience rich cultures elsewhere.
We were able to build a connection through a friend from college whose uncle is on the board of an elementary school in Seoul, S. Korea. Before we knew it we were in direct contact with the director of the school that we would potentially be teaching at. After many emails, questions, and interviews, the contract was offered for the two of us to begin a contract March 1, 2011.Woohoo!
We then started dreaming of a trip to S.E. Asia to do a little backpacking before we settled in Korea for full time work. Some of you may know that visiting Thailand has been on my (Chelsea) bucket list for quite some time now. It still feels surreal that we're ACTUALLY going! We've been in limbo the past few months deciding if this was where God was wanting us to go, yet He continued to prompt us forward with open doors. We took a step back with the ensuing political situation in the North & South Korea region to decide if it was even safe for us to go. After much conversation, prayer, and research we still continued the process of making the jump.
Only in the past couple weeks have we felt 100% that we are taking the right step. God has blessed us with loose ends tieing up much neater than we thought possible. We've sold a car, rented out our apartment, received all sorts or documents to send out for our visas, and have felt blessed by the love and support from our families and friends. We have, however, just broached one minor hiccup with a particular document in order to receive our official S. Korean work visa. We ask for your prayers in this because at this point it is completely out of our hands.
For those of you interested, our itinerary beginning Jan 14th looks a little something like this:
Jan. 14 : Fly from Vancouver, BC airport to Bangkok, Thailand
Jan. 16 : Arrive in Bangkok to stay for 3-4 days as we talk to other travelers about must see's. We will then travel south to experience the unique culture on different islands and villages on the mainland. After 30 days we will travel up north and are hoping to visit Vietnam.
Feb. 22 : Fly from Bangkok to Seoul, S. Korea to settle into our tiny little dorm style apartment and begin teaching March 1st.
Our contract in Korea officially runs from Mar. 1, 2011 to Feb. 28, 2012. There are MANY unknowns about our time there. We anticipate being placed in a tiny little dorm size apartment and we will find out upon arrival our class size, age group, curriculum we'll be working with at the elementary.
Although we will certainly miss our friends and family over the next year, we are confident this year will fly by and will strengthen Nathan and I as individuals and especially as a newlywed couple. We look forward to documenting these moments and keeping you all involved as we begin this adventure. Please feel free to email either of us with questions, encouragement, and updates on your end.
Bye for now! We shall see you in a year!
Much Love,
Nathan & Chelsea Pogue
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