Merry Moalboal Christmas!

This is my second (and what I hope to be last!) Christmas away from home, family and friends. It's also my second Christmas in a tropical location. But, it is my first Christmas alone.

Anyway, I went to breakfast at my "resort". I ordered mango pancakes which were delicious! Then I was able to skype with the fam and be passed around the Wiza table in Cedarburg. It was nice to see each of them for a little bit and say hi. After skyping, I had a trike come and take me to the dive shop.

Christmas breakfast: Mango Pancakes with honey-yumm!

As it turned out, the first dive returned a little bit late, so we didn't go out at the time scheduled, so I just hung out at the dive shop, taking everything in. Then it was time to go out! They dropped the group of about 6 divers and 2 leaders off and then the boat driver moved to the pickup location and told me I could snorkel for about an hour. It was beautiful-the water was so clear it was like snorkeling in an aquarium! I saw tons of different colorful fish. Some were so close I could almost touch them. I was also lucky enough to see a sea turtle swimming below me! That was absolutely amazing.

Cebu Dive center--great!

Cebu Dive Center

Merry Christmas!

Typical motorbike and sidecar

We returned to the dive shop and had a little bit of time for lunch before the next dive out. I went to a restaurant I had found on tripadvisor, Chili Bar. I was very disappointed. I waited a long time and ordered nachos. I waited more and noticed my time running short before I had to return to the dive shop. I called the waitress over and before I could say I wanted to cancel my order she told me they were out of nachos. Really? It took you almost 30 minutes to tell me you don't have nachos? At that point, I only had about 10 minutes so I didn't get lunch.

Before we went out for the 2nd site, it started raining a little bit. It didn't really matter because we were in the water anyway! ;) The second place had the most amazing coral. I saw another sea turtle and a sea snake or eel. There were also bright blue starfish. It was so incredible. Words don't do it any justice and I truly wish I had had an underwater camera to capture some of the beauty.

After we returned to the dive shop, I squared away my bill with Cameron. He was so kind and waived the fee for one of the boat rides. He told me if I didn't have plans to return tomorrow for more snorkeling and to consider their place my home away from home. I thanked him and headed back to check about the horse back riding. Again, I can't say enough how I was not pleased with that outfit. The manager guy was kind of rude and not real friendly. I left feeling a bit down about what to do for the next day. I passed another adventure shop and had remembered seeing them listed on tripadvisor as well. I stopped in and asked about their program. They gave me information and I told them I would think about it a little.

Next was my Christmas dinner. I went to a restaurant called Resto. I ordered a pizza and glass of sangria. It was pretty good. After dinner, I went in search of dessert. I found a place that had fried bananas and ice cream. It sounded delicious so I ordered that. It was great. :) I returned to Cyan Adventure to sign up for the canyoning tour. Then I looked for a trike to take me back to my place.

Dinner and sangria

At my dessert

To Moalboal!

I had some time to skype with Mom before boarding. It was nice to see her and the Christmas tree.

The flight was pretty uneventful. I dozed the whole way there. After about 4 hours we arrived in Cebu! I didn't check any bags, so after going through customs and an inspection of bags, I was out. I got an airport taxi to the South Bus Terminal. Once there, I had to wait in line for almost 2 hours for a bus to take me to Moalboal. Lot's of people were traveling because, well, it's Christmas Eve of course! I asked a woman standing in front of me if the line I was in would in fact go to Moalboal after waiting for 30 minutes or so. No harm in double checking! She was very kind and we chatted a little bit here and there during our waiting time. Then, it started to rain. Luckily by that point we were no longer out in the open, but waiting under the overhang in the bus terminal area. What luck. Finally, we boarded the bus and I lucked out again, getting a seat in the very front of the bus.

Christmas Tree in Cebu airport

The incoming bus will be ours and we're under the overhang with that rain!

The bus ride was alright-I was awake for most of it, taking in all of the scenery, but I did doze off a bit. In total the ride took about 3 hours. Once in Moalboal, it took me a few seconds just to get my bearings and unfortunately I was immediately harassed by bike drivers. I just wanted a second to look around and take things in. I ignored the man who kept pestering me, but he continued to follow me. I found the church and took a peak-it's interesting because the church is not entirely enclosed. I guess because of the hot weather year round, they don't need 4 walls-it would get too hot!

Front row seat for the 3 hour ride

Old church

Taking a peak inside the new church

Finally, I took a ride to Panagsama Beach area. The driver asked if I had a place to stay because he "knew a cheaper place" that I could stay at. I declined and said I was staying in White Beach, which he responded was so far away. I walked around the town a little bit looking at the restaurants and shops. Then I decided I would walk to White Beach, along the shoreline. Well, that was a crazy idea. It didn't look too far-I could see the white beach in the distance. It didn't start out so bad. The shoreline was kind of rocky-a lot of coral. The only problem was that low-tide was ending, so there wasn't a clear, straight path to walk along the shore. I had to climb on some of the rocks, bluff, I guess; the bluff had lots of brush-trees, bushes, grasses you name it. It was a very interesting hike for sure. Lucky for me there were goat trails on the bluff that I could follow and after about 2 hours I made it to my destination. Wow. What an adventure.

The beach

On my walk

I checked into my place with slightly soaking feet and changed out of my clothes. I had a nice little cottage with a small kitchen area and fridge. The bathroom was equipped with a short little toilet (non-flush; you had to pour water in to force flush it!) shower and sink.  I had been in contact with a dive center to try and schedule some dives, but failed to mention that I hadn't been certified. The owner informed me that all the instructors were busy and I wouldn't be able to dive. My "resort" called for a trike to take me to town so I could figure out what activities to do for the next 2 days here.

Cute Pup at my resort

My home for the next few nights

Made it to Moalboal!

Inside my room

Inside the motorbike cart

My plan had been to dive on Christmas and horseback ride on the 26th with an adventure group. Anyway, I tried to find some other dive centers that would offer a course, but it was more money than I had along with me and word was that the ATM was not reliable to hold much cash. I also found out that the horseback riding was not a set activity and there was no guarantee they would go at all. Feeling a bit discouraged and overwhelmed I sat for a bit. Then, I thought about snorkeling and went back to the original dive shop, Cebu Dive Centre and talked to the owner in person about snorkeling. He was really kind and told me to come the following day to do it. Then he said, "Hold on!" and looked at the board where the divers were going and told me I could go out on the boat with the divers and snorkel out off the boat in a good spot. It was really sweet of him to think about that. He said not a problem and that they would take good care of me.

After figuring all that out, I was getting hungry and went to a restaurant called the Little Corner, on recommendation from Cameron, the dive shop owner. I ordered chicken with veggies and garlic rice. It was delicious. I had some Filipino children on the beach below me serenading everyone with their version of Christmas songs (some of the words were wrong) which was cute. I bought a big bottle of water to take back with me and then went in search of a driver to go back to my place.

Beautiful sunset first night in Moalboal

Delicious dinner

Ironically, I had the same driver that took me to Panagsama Beach earlier in the day. He again pressured me as to why I'm staying in White Beach and spoke of the place for much cheaper. After arriving back at my place, I went and sat in the hammocks near the water for a little bit. First day, done!

Almost Departure Day

A super easy day at work. Just two classes of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". One of my 6th grade girls gave me a sweet note (in English!) and some homemade cookies as a Christmas gift. It was a welcomed surprise. My life COT came and had a little talk with me too. She will be going to Kyoto in January with her family. I shared some tips with her. The rest of the time at work I prepared and did final research for my trip.

After work, I went for my 4 miler as usual. The weather was warming up a little bit (we're in the mid 30s opposed to the 20s and teens we had the past few weeks) so it wasn't too bad. I cleaned up and had dinner. I also opened my Christmas present from Mom. Double checked for everything and then headed to the airport. I took the airport line, checked in and exchanged money. After getting through security, I called my Mom to talk with her.

Flight is boarding now, a little after midnight. Next will be greetings from sunny and warm Cebu!

Christmas!

Packing Monday

Work was relatively easy. My five 6th grade classes just watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I did a bit of an intro with some new vocabulary words for them and we had a worksheet for them to answer some questions about the movie, but overall it was easy-peasy.

After work, I went to the grocery store to look for some tea, but I was also messaging a friend at the same time. I went to the basement and got an onion and some bread, went home and realized I completely forgot the tea! I made dinner, potato croquettes and watched some more Doctor Who. After cleaning up the dinner dishes, I returned to Emart to get the tea and withdraw money to exchange at the airport tomorrow.

I did some packing, prepping and organizing for my trip. I think I'm all set to go!

Dinner!

A Cold Normal Sunday

Just another typical Sunday here. I went to church and didn't introduce myself again. But one person was visiting relatives and he was from Chicago so afterwards I went to say hi just because it was Chicago.

I then walked from church to HBC and went to Casablanca for another sandwich. I'm sure the owner now recognizes me as the girl that comes at 1pm every Sunday. :) This week I tried the omelet sandwich. It was okay, but I think my favorite is the veggie, followed by the lamb chili and then the Moroccan chicken. Now I've tried everything on the menu except the shrimp sandwich and, let's be honest, that's never going to happen.

I took my sandwich home and ate at home and watched some more Doctor Who. A little bit of research and then off to soccer. It was really cold on my walk. I got to soccer and warmed up. Again, it was the 4 of us from last week: John, Stefano, Jacob and me, plus 4 high school boys. I was able to make quite a few goals this week-maybe 5? I guess with smaller numbers there are more chances for me to get the ball and take shots-I had quite a few misses in comparison to ones that went in. It was fun and I'm always surprised how many layers I peel off while I'm running around and playing.

At home I finished my sandwich for dinner and relaxed in the warmth on the floor with my heat on. (Heated floors!)

North Korean Human Rights Event

This morning started with a skype date with Mom. We talked for about an hour and then my skype date with Grandpa. It was really great seeing both of them.

After skyping, I headed to Jamsil-about an hour away on the subway. It's completely opposite from me, in the Southeast corner of Seoul. There, I attended a talk hosted by the North Korean Human Rights (NKHR Rescue Fund) NGO. Shin Dong Hyuk, the only known person to be born and escape from a total control camp in North Korea gave a little talk and answered some questions. Following that, they screened his film/documentary. It was very interesting and moving. It puts a lot of things in my life into perspective. Some things may not go the way one sees or wanted or expected, but comparatively to the lives that the people in North Korea, especially those in prison camps, that's nothing.

I returned home and stopped at Emart to get a few groceries. Then back home I made dinner and watched TV. It's been so wonderful to be able to see one of my favorite TV shows, Doctor Who, on a daily basis. It's been a great pick-me-up. I love that show and have fallen in love with "The Doctor" all over again. I made some cookies for my COTs as Christmas gifts. The first batch got a little browned so "unfortunately" I had to put them to the side and eat them myself. What a shame. (I could eat those cookies all day, every day!) I also did some final preparations for my Christmas trip and did a little bit of looking into the upcoming Thailand trip.

Doctor Who, cookies and moscato!

TGIF

Yesterday, my 6th grade COT informed me that we won't really have many classes with our 6th graders when we return from break! Actually, it seems like I might not see 2 of my 7 classes with her again before they graduate! It's bittersweet-I don't mind terribly, but there is always something a bit sad in transitions and change. It's also my second year teaching these kiddos and some of the kids in those classes were my favorite or I got to know a little bit more in the past year.

Anyway, with all that in mind, now until the end of the school year (mid-February) is going to be quite a breeze. I love the second semester of the school year here. So next week I only teach 7 classes; and by teach I mean introduce some vocabulary for "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and watch the movie. The rest of the week I will be enjoying sand, surf and sun in Cebu, Philippines. The following week gives me 3 days at work to prep for winter camp and then another vacation off to Hong Kong with my friend Mike for 5 days. When I return, I have 2 weeks of winter camp (which is easy as pie; max 10 students for 3 hours and another 2 hours of prep work). After winter camp, 9 days in Thailand with my friend OhMee. When we return for the final weeks of our school year, I have the week in January and one, maybe two weeks of instruction in February. Here I have another 2 weeks of vacation time, with 3 days of holidays within that time. I have an option of taking 7 days of my vacation or some of those days as deskwarming. We'll have to see what shakes out, but I'm looking at another big trip then. *Teachers Bliss* (In case you were very concerned about my workload in the coming weeks)

My 6th grade COT asked me to help with a project she had with her Masters (PhD?) course. I had to read and record passage for her. I did that earlier in the week. She also had asked me to help grade some writing tests to give the best feedback to the students. I finished those corrections and went to return them to her. She gave me a gift card to Starbucks as a "thank you", which, I told her, was perfect because Starbucks is really the only place I can go for coffee because of the soymilk! She was pleased with her good choice.

After work, I came home to unwind for a little bit. I decided I would get dinner at the falafel place since it had been awhile since I ate there last. I was shocked to see its door closed and all boarded up. Maybe they are remodeling inside? I hope that is all and that it will reopen soon. :( I went to Oodle Noodle instead for dinner. Next was on to a Christmas party. There's a newer organization called Seoul Sync that has events and other information about things happening in Seoul. I saw an open invitation for their Christmas party online and figured I'd check it out. It was held at a bar called Mikes Cabin in Hongdae. I went and was really the only person from the community; the rest were all staff members or volunteers of the organization. Even still, everyone was nice and friendly and I enjoyed meeting some new people. There was a raffle and I was one of the lucky winners! I got a voucher to use a taxi service. I stayed until midnight so I could take the subway home. It was snowing out when I left.