The Liebster Award

Not going to lie. I was avoiding my blog because I knew I needed to post but I was lacking creative motivation. I sucked it up and logged in. I always find it so fun, when I get comments but the comment I got today was such a moral booster! I have been nominated for the Liebster Award (an internet blogging award that does not have metals/trophies but is still just as cool!). I was nominated by a wonderful blogger named Jessica. You should check out her blog at vitkinj.wordpress.com. She is a fellow traveler and teacher.

1. Where was the first country you fantasized about traveling to? And have you made it to that country yet?
I have to say, the first country I probably fantasized about going to, was Russia. I blame Disney’s Anastasia movie. I was able to go to Russia for a summer. It was so much fun and I still love the culture and history.

2. What has been your favorite and least favorite food adventures?
I HATE pork. In Korea pork is a popular and cheap meat. When I first came to Korea a friend took me out for Korean BBQ and made me try pig skin. It was the worst thing ever!
Kinda strange but I LOVE Korean pizza. I love the corn on it. I will even eat the potato pizza.

3. What is one thing you always bring with you on your trips (a picture, a favorite scarf)?
A camera. I have a lot to learn about taking pictures but I cant imagine not having a camera handy when traveling. In fact, I often try and limit my clothes that I bring, so that I have space in my suitcase for my camera.

4. Are you a kindle reader or do you stuff ‘real books’ into your bag? Why? And are you reading anything fun at the moment?
I love ‘real books’ but with traveling and English books being expensive in Korea, I am a kindle fan. I am also a person who loves to start books but hates to finish them. Currently, I am reading about five different books. Two of the main ones is “A Mountain of Crumbs” by Elena Gorokhova. It is a memoir about a Russian girl. The second book is “Night Train to Lisbon” by Pascal Mercier. Both are real books. The Russian one, I received as a gift and stuffed it in to my suitcase. Mercier’s book I bought at a book store in Korea.

5. How much research of preparation do you do on a country before traveling? A few TripAdvisor perusals, learn a few words in the local tongue, make Lonely Planet your bible, or just show up and hope for the best?
If I am moving to a country (like I did to Korea) I research. I use Youtube a lot. I find that there are usually always someone who has experienced where I am going. I also grew up overseas, so my international family is rather large. I don’t really like Lonely Planet too much but I do use TripAdvisor when I am taking a vacation somewhere. Also I google blogs from the location.

6. What was one of your scariest, can’t believe that just happened, I’d like to go home now experience?
I haven’t had too many scary moments. My most scary moment was about a year and a half ago when I had a few strange medical problems. I couldn’t communicate to the doctors well enough to tell them what was going on. All the tests they ran seemed to come up negative. Luckily,  I did go home on break and found out what was wrong very quickly and easily in the states. It was just a cultural and language difference.

7. What was one of your funniest, can’t believe that just happened because it’s so awesome, this is amazing experiences?
One time, I saved a foreigner girl from being locked in her laundry room. She lived on the fourth floor and had a tricky lock on her laundry room. She got locked in and saw me walking by down on the street. She called for me. I thought I was going crazy because I heard “Help” but no one was around. I had to use her door code and explain to her landlord (with body language) that there was someone who needed help. The landlord totally thought I was trying to break in. We later discovered that she knew someone who I had gone to Russia with. What a small world.

8. Tell us 11 interesting/hilarious/weird and wonderful things about yourself.
1. I talk for my dog. (like in “her” voice and everything)
2. I get by pretty well without knowing a language of the country I am in but I really want to be able to express myself more.
3. I am really good at telling when someone are lying to me but often I just play along.
4. Whenever I say a year will be easy and less busy it becomes my most busy year.
5. I was the mouse in the teapot in Alice and Wonderland in a 4th grade play…I was a good mouse.
6. I came to Korea without ever rally wanting to GO to Korea.
7. Once I make up my mind about something, things move very quickly. If I never make up my mind about something, it hardly ever happens.
8. I have always loved the color (metal?) silver.
9. You can completely scare me with anything if it jumps out at me….often times even if I see it first.
10. I am very optimistic…about everything. I am that annoying person who can turn a horrible occurrence into an event you can learn from.
11. I love quotes and posters. I often sound like a motivational poster. Yep, I know it can be very annoying at times. 🙂

9. What are 3 things you’ve learned about yourself while traveling?
1. I see the world very different from others, even other travelers.
2. That I have a deep passion for teaching.
3. That I am a lot stronger then I thought I was.

10. What do you tell people when they ask you about your travels and whether or not you’re afraid or how you can ‘afford’ the travel life?
Oh wow this is a hard question. I usually try and twist their worries into a positive response (see number 10 of the 11 things about me). I tell them that if you want to do it then the “affording” part doesn’t matter. JUST DO IT! I also talk about how you cant judge what you are going to do based on your fears (see  number 11 of the 11 things about me). One of the reasons why I started a blog was so I could direct people to read it. When asked questions about my travels, I sometimes overwhelm the people with all my stories. Having a blog, I can tell them to go read it.

11. And where are you headed next? Or where do you want to head next?
I have no idea. I am in Korea at least till June. After that it is all undecided.

Alright, now it is my turn to nominate people but first…

RULES

So you’ve been nominated for The Liebster Award. Now what? If you choose to accept it, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

1. Thank the person who nominated you(That’s me, Lisa at Travelingwithroots.com), and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image…look at the top of this post… to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which have been provided by me (please find them at the end of the post)

4. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know about this information!)

5. Create a new list of 11 questions for your nominees and attach them to your post

6. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here—That’s what I did)

Once you have written and published your post, please:

7. Inform the nominated people/blogs and let them know that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it! I know I hadn’t until I got this awesome nomination)

And come back to this blog and post the link to your Liebster Award post, so I can read your writings.

Nominees
Nicky at www.lajoiedlivres.com 
Emma at www.aroundtheworldwithemma.wordpress.com
Juliet at www.yoursjuliet.wordpress.com
Paola at www.myunsettledlife.co.uk
Jenna at www.chickiebean.com

You ladies are amazing and I love reading your blogs!
Here are your questions.
1. Where do you get your inspiration from when you write your blogs?
2. Where has been your favorite place to travel too? why?
3. What is that one comfort food you look for when you are in a foreign country? (can be a restaurant or an actual dish)
4. If you could speak any language, what language would it be? Can you currently speak that language?
5. What is one embarrassing experience that you have gone through in your travels? (That you would like to share.)
6. What advice would you give someone. who was just starting to plan for their first long distance travel?
7. Are you a hostel, hotel, or resort kind of person?
10. What are 3 things you have learned about yourself, through your travels?
11. What is one item you cant live without when you are traveling?

Alright! there you have it! I hope you enjoyed learning more about me. I also hope that you wonderful ladies will continue on with this award and have fun with it!