free2flutterby

I am in my early 30somethings, a Scorpio and I love to travel.. I am the oldest only sister of two younger brothers. (If you know anything about birth order...the next one after me was born after I was already in school). I have 1 niece and 3 nephews, 1 awesome sister-in-law and an one that's equally cool heading down the aisle soon (or so we hope).

Born in: Newport Rhode Island (though I have never been back)

Lived in: Too many places to list...though I guess I spent most of my time in Arizona.

Went to: North High School in Phoenix Arizona

Graduated from: Northern Arizona University (BS and M.Ed.)

Languages Spoken: Spanish (learned first), English and a little bit of Korean

Famous for: Planning amazing get togethers, making people laugh even when I'm not trying, being very honest and on the occasion dancing in a room full of people as if I'm the only person in the room.

Pets: Two cats. Breed: Calico (or mutt) Names: The Duchess and Goyangi Gogi (Cat Meat in English)

Allergic to: Citrus Mold...so anything with oranges or lemons that would go bad...should be avoided.

Certain types of fur (funny cuz I have two cats)

Cigarette smoke...even that "after it was in the room" smell.

Sensitive to: Caffeine Lactose Roses (high floral scents)

I am new to swap-bot but I have a friend who swears by it. I have been recently "blessed" with a lot of free time and I am looking for a way to do something that will keep me from going nuts. I am usually a very active person but when you're not working while everyone else is, it's kind of hard to find anything fun to do. I hope that swap-bot will help me get rid of some of my boredom while making some exciting additions to my home.

If the swaps become too addicting, I may just donate swaps to my otherwise swapless friends.

I have been teaching at a university in Incheon for about 7 months. Previously I lived in Seoul for about a year but Koreans consider Daejeon my "hometown" because I lived there the longest (2 years).

While I must admit, the culture and most aspects of living in Korea are difficult for me...(cuz I'm not blonde, blue eyed and sound like a chipper dolphin on crack) I love my life. I love the time to travel and I love the people I have gotten to know here. Without those two things, surviving Korea would be nearly impossible for me. While I have my personal opinions about Korea (heck I have my personal opinions about America) I would only discuss them with people who emailed me or had a particular interest.

Some of my favorite Korean foods (because people always ask as if the food here is the most unique food on the planet and only Korean people can really eat it....which makes me laugh because there are like 2MILLION Foreigners living in this country eating the food everyday...but I digress)...are things like Samgetong (a chicken soup), Meyokguk (seaweed soup) , Salongtong (beef broth/noodle soup), Lotus Root (doesn't matter how it's made), Talmugee (Yellow, pickled radish), TongSuYuk (sweet & sour pork which is really from China but don't tell them that),Mul Kimchi* (which literally means water kimchi) , Dubu Kimchi (tofu with warmed red pepper paste), Mapo Dubu (tofu in a Chinese sauce with pork) and Songpyeong (which is a kind of special desert). I also love Korean wines and liquors though most people are only aware of Soju (Korean Vodka).

*Kimchi is generally a fermented vegetable (typically cabbage but can be radish, spinach or whatever) in a type of paste or sauce. It gets its unique flavor from being kept in pots and aged or sometimes in fridges specially designed for the purpose. There are nearly 200 kinds of kimchi but most people are only familiar with red pepper paste (cabbage and red pepper paste) kimichi...which got it's start in China and was changed by Koreans later...though...not many people will admit to that.

I know it would be cool if I wrote about my "Favorite...books..music...blah blah" and not to say those things aren't cool...they just aren't really my "gig". My gig is traveling. I love it. I'm obsessed. It's one of those things you start doing and just can't stop. I love almost everything about traveling (still kind of out on "customs checks" being cool and I REALLY REALLY hate taking off my shoes at the airport and putting on those "slipper" things) and mourn the day it should have to stop.

I have actually been traveling virtually since I was born. My parents were in the United States Navy when I was born and my first trip was when I was 6months old. We went to Rota Spain and lived there for 2 years. Ironically enough, this means that while other kids were learning their ABC's I was learning my Ahh Bae Ches and actually learned Spanish first.

When I returned to the States I had to actually be taught English so that my family could talk to me and I could understand them. After that it was just mostly US travel and I have been to more than 20 of the 50 States, although unlike some "military brats" (I am a Navy Baby) my parents were out of the service when I was a kid so all my travel was just for fun. In high school I was one of the first kids to join the Spanish club...just so I could go to Mexico (TWICE). I went to Canada as an adult for Carabana but being American we really don't "count" that (sorry dear Canuks). My real travelogue didn't start until I moved to South Korea in 2005.

I went there to visit a friend...could see the writing on the wall in America and decided that I would honor my self promise (made at 15 years old) which was to live abroad before I was 30 (I was 29 at the time). So a month after returning home from my first "International" trip I moved to Korea and have lived there ever since.

Since being in S. Korea (which is a great jumping off spot to other places in the world) I have been to (in no certain order and not counting numerous times or listing the names of cities) Japan, Thailand, India, Taiwan, Italy, Spain, England, Scotland, China, N. Korea, Greece, "through" France, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Macau (though I don't know if it "counts". This means on average...I'm in a new country every 3 months. It's gotten to the point that going back to the US is just boring and something I "have to do" so my family can see my face. Otherwise, I'd much rather be ANYWHERE else. It's not that I've gotten all anti-American...it's just there are SOOOOOO many other cool places and while I have this chance I'm gonna suck the marrow out of it. I would love to swap travel stories and I do have a CouchSurfing account...so anyone who's got a passion for travel...should look me up.