The Philippines

I was able to spend Thanksgiving break in The Philippines and I loved it! I flew into the capital, Manila and spent about half a day there. I spent the rest of break on Boracay Island.

The Philippines  is a county in Southeast Asia and its population is approximately 94 million. The country has two national languages, Tagalog and English, but there about 170 different languages spoken throughout the country. The Philippine islands are an archipelago of over 7,000 islands. I was able to explore one of those islands, Boracay. More on this in a bit.

Boracay Island

 After a half day with the kiddos and a faculty luncheon and work afternoon, I finished packing my bag (yes, just one!) and went down to the hill to wait for the airport bus.

Waiting for the airport bus with the Roth family and Hillary

My roommate, Kristen has taught me how to travel light. If you know me, then you know I overpack--even for weekend trips. Somehow though, I influenced her inner-diva to come out and her backpack was heavier than mine!

Kristen's bag on the left, mine on the right

Just one bag!

I traveled with Hillary and the Roths.  They all met while teaching at an international school outside of Manila and are familiar with the country, so they helped me plan my trip (it's nice to have world traveler friends!)

Margie and Joren

After a four hour flight, we made it to Manila and we're ready to sleep!

Thanksgiving morning was spent sleeping in, getting crepes with Hillary and touring the Makati area, a sub-city within Manila.

 After crepes, I headed back to the airport and got on a tiny 20 passenger plane to Caticlan, which is the island where you can fly into if you're heading to beautiful Boracay Island:)

Boracay airport!

Boracay is approximately 315 km south of Manila. Boracay Island and its beaches have received awards various times. In the 80s, the island became popular with backpackers and since then, it has gradually become a cosmopolitan tourism destination and a major tourist destination in the Philippines. 
One of the port's of entry for Boracay Island is the small town of Caticlan on the mainland. Outrigger boats, known as bancas, leave every few minutes from Caticlan's jetty port. Then it's just a short boat trip to Boracay.

Bancas to Boracay

White Beach  is the most popular area on the island. Not only is it a lovely stretch of powdery white sand against azure water, it's also the commercial center of the island. The long beach is divided into three sections. 

White Beach!

On Friday, I went to a school on Caticlan island to help out with story-telling and feeding the children. Prior to my trip, Margie had given me information about BoracayforChrist, an organization that was started by a teaching couple. They have various ministries throughout Boracay and Caticlan and offer education and food to the children.

The rest of the trip was spent drinking lots of papaya, mango and pineapple smoothies, eating a lot, getting massages and enjoying the great view!

Here are a few more pictures of beautiful Boracay:

November

November=busy.

The first week of November was Spirit Week where we had fun dressing up in our PJS, being twins, and showing school spirit. This week also included my quick trip to Malaysia for a conference. The rest of the month was spent planning for Vida Nueva, stuffing my face with turkey, watching my kiddos play soccer, going to the Seoul Lantern Festival, enjoying a W20,000 Chinese massage (thanks groupon!), dancing merengue with the 8th graders and grading lots of city projects.

tournaments at the Senate event

Dance...Every day I'm shuffling

After a couple of months of planning, the Vida Nueva weekend finally came. This is a retreat for high schoolers, similar to the Tres Días retreat that I went to last spring. It was a great (and exhausting) weekend filled with great talks, games, food and fellowship. It was nice to get to know a lot of the SFS high schoolers. We also had students from Yongsan International School of Seoul and Taechon Christian International School. De colores!


Thanksgiving:
Just as last year, my church had a Thanksgiving dinner catered by the US Army.
We also had a faculty Thanksgiving luncheon.

Yum

Laura's first American Thanksgiving (even though we are in Korea and she is from Wales):)

Kristen enjoying her Thanksgiving meal at the SFS luncheon

Other happenings...

Soccer tournament

Lantern Festival

Twin Day!

Pajama Day

It's fall!

3-D city projects in my Intermediate class

Massage-ee time:)

8th graders learning how to dance Merengue

'Til next time! Anyeong. 

Malaysia

I had the great opportunity to go to Malaysia at the beginning of November for a conference. The seminar's title was Foreign Language Teaching: Towards a Globalized World. It was held in Alor Setar, Kedah. It was a quick trip as I had to be back for work and other school events but it was still very enjoyable.It was a great conference where I was able to meet other educators from around the world. I was also able to scratch off Malaysia from my travel list! Score! Also, besides Canada (and Korea, of course) this is the only other country where I have gone to by myself--go me!

                                           

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia.  The Federation of Malaysia comprises of Peninsular Malaysia, and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo. The national language is Bahasa Malaysia.  Malaysia is situated between 2º and 7º to the North of the Equator line which meant a little taste of heaven for a few days. :) The capital is Kuala Lumpur, commonly known as KL, where I had an overnight layover. 

I kept myself entertained on the 6 hour flight by watching Friends, listening to random music and, being the mature person that I am, quoting Zoolander. (Since planning this trip, I couldn't help but think of the 'Prime Minister of Malaysia' and Mugatu scenes from Zoolander). :) I finally landed at KLIA and was tired. I headed over to the taxi station and headed off to the center of the city, where I stayed at a hotel close to the Petrona Towers. I got settled in and was exhausted so I went to bed. I got up the next day for my early flight but couldn't leave without seeing the famous Petrona Towers. 

                    

The Petrona Towers are said to be the tallest twin buildings in the world.The twin towers house Petronas, Malaysia's government-owned oil company, as well as associated Malaysian firms and multinational companies. They are about 1400 feet tall. 

Here a few other pictures. Included are some of my "typical" travel, obnoxious pictures (such as posing with my hands up, currency, etc).

Seoul to KL! The whole "excellence in flight" motto for Korean Air is true. 

yeah!

 Petrona Towers

Landing in Alor Setar

Malay license plate

Mango shake--yum!

Great speakers!

Malay Ringgit

taaa daaaa

super-tourist time

yummy food

shopping for souvenirs:)

Malaysia:  CHECK!