Due to the location, the island is extremely windy.  It’s also quite scenic.

the smaller, southern island is home to a lighthouse

lots of rock formations carved by the windy seas

Tongyeong, the nearest mainland port, boasts a replica turtle ship (developed to combat invading Japanese fleets in the sixteenth century)

Angkor Wat

looking out over the jungle from the top of Angkor Wat

cattle grazing in the Angkor park

Many of the temples are overgrown with banyan trees

fishing village south of Siem Reap

stream bed carvings at Kbal Spean mountain

early morning at Bakong

elephant sentinels guard the corners of each terrace

at Beng Mealea, an unreclaimed temple

exploring inside Beng Mealea

inside a nine hundred year old colonnade in Beng Mealea, now overgrown by the jungle

inland Krabi

Tiger Cave Temple, Krabi

Bangkok

Khao Sok Jungle Huts

Khao Sok Reservoir

floating huts on the Khao Sok reservoir

dragon-tail boats on Khao Sok reservoir

typical Thai mini-bus

kayaking in the mangroves of Koh Chang

about to set sail at Kooncharaburi, Koh Chang

elephant trekking on Koh Chang

mahout self portrait

curious monkey on kayak, Koh Lanta

curious fish south of Koh Lanta

monitor lizard on Koh Rok

southern tip of Koh Lanta

Rai Leh

hiking on Rai Leh

Most people fly to Jeju, but I decided to drive and thus have the convenience of a car on the island.  Having a car there was indeed convenient, but it took about seven hours to get there (four to the south coast of Korea, and another three aboard the ferry), compared to the hour and a half that a plane flight would take.  Still, I think that, overall, driving there was definitely cheaper than flying and renting a car would have been.

Anyway, once there, I was able to relax on the beach, visit some sights, and relax some more on the beach.

Hyupjae Beach

conducting the elements

windy

plenty of waterfalls

Yakcheonsa, apparently Korea's largest temple

at the "black sand" beach

Seongsan Ilchulbong, the "Sunrise Peak" on the eastern end of the island

looking back at Jeju-do from the "sunrise peak"

Seen here, two common Korean traits: love of trekking gear and fear of the sun.

of the people at the beach, only about five percent were actually in the water

It was a bit hot for serious hiking, but if I go back I'd like to climb Hallasan, South Korea's highest peak.

Overall a good trip.  I found Jeju-do quite different from the rest of Korea, not only in its topography and geographical features but also in the lack of things that are ubiquitous elsewhere in the country, such as high rise buildings and heavy traffic.  I can see why it’s such a popular vacation spot.

the Thailand pavilion, rather a disappointment inside

walking around the Expo

Martin stocks up on Coke Zero

there's nothing subtle about the China pavilion; it dominates the Expo

North Korea and Iran get to be neighbors

Morocco was pretty cool, both inside and outside

most of the African countries shared one enormous building

Many of the less reputable countries’ pavilions featured large portraits of their illustrious leaders just inside the door.  Seen here, Nigeria and Libya.

Not only does he have a PhD, but his first name is Goodluck. Leaving aside his attire, this man was made to rule.

I'm not sure what look Gaddafi is going for here...

I shake hands with the Maltese door warden...

Door warding is, after all, thirsty work.

inside the rather cutesy Russian pavilion, which featured children's ideas for green energy, among other things

looking back at the Expo from the other side of the river

Visitors to the Expo have the option of purchasing a small fake passport, and getting it stamped at each pavilion they visit.  Although I abstained, I saw a lot of people doing this, mostly Chinese (admittedly most of the people there are Chinese).  It’s a cool idea, but inevitably many people ended up more interested in getting a stamp in their book than actually looking at the pavilions they visited, especially with some of the smaller, less popular countries.  Thus you’d see a long line of people waiting to get their passports stamped outside a country like, say, Malawi, with no one actually bothering to go inside.  Good for me, since I didn’t have to wait to go into the exhibit, but it must be really depressing for the people from that country working there.

Aside from the Expo, however, I also spent time exploring other parts of Shanghai, including People’s Square, the Shanghai Museum, Nanjing Road, JingAn Temple, the Shanghai Zoo, and of course the Bund.

at People's Square

JingAn Temple, surrounded by sky-scrapers

inside Yuyuan, a garden in the Old Town area of the city

Old Town at dusk

given how proud of its pandas China is, it's surprising how poorly they treat the captive ones

the Pudong skyline, seen here at night from a tour boat

the shipyards at night

the Bund

In addition to sights within Shanghai, I took a couple of day trips to other nearby cities, Suzhou and Hangzhou, the former famous for its canals and gardens, the latter for a large scenic lake that dominates the city.

at the "Humble Administrator's Garden" in Suzhou. He may have been humble, but he had a massive garden.

the Suzhou Museum has some really intricate scrimshaw pieces

I guess not everyone in olden days could grow a full beard...

Hangzhou's West Lake

The entrance to a famous lakeside club for Chinese literati. It was empty when I visited.

Overall, I found Shanghai a much nicer place than either Beijing or Qingdao.  It’s much more international, with people from all over the world living there.  An Italian guy I talked with told me there are about 10,000 Italians in Shanghai, and among the foreign population they’re only a small minority.  In addition, Shanghai is cleaner, with regard both to the streets and to the air; it was the only place in China where I actually saw some blue sky.  Conclusion: even if Shanghai is one of the most expensive cities in China, it’s also easy to access and definitely worth visiting, and a place to which I would return.

Beach No. 3

ShiLaoRen Beach, identified by Lonely Planet as the best beach in Qingdao

Despite these setbacks, we had some good times, wandering around the city and sampling the local beer.  We also took a trip out to Laoshan, a nearby mountain with connections to the origins of Taoism.  Despite the heavy fog, we took in some pretty scenery, much of which was in fact quite similar to what I’ve seen in Korea.

the streams of Laoshan have been dammed in many places to create a series of pools

So perish my Aragorn aspirations...

a stone lion guards one pool

For the next leg of our journey, we traveled to Shanghai by overnight sleeper bus, an adventure in itself.  The beds were actually very narrow bunks, with three across the breadth of the bus (and thus two aisles).  In addition, once the beds were filled, cushions were put down in the aisles to accommodate more people sleeping on the floor.  I was definitely glad to be on a top bunk.

looking down at those unfortunate enough to be in the lower bunks and on the floor

Some of the things I saw include the Summer Palace, the Lama Temple, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and Tanje Temple.  I also visited various antique and knock-off markets, had a blind massage (i.e. by a blind masseuse), and sampled some Beijing cuisine.

the lake at the Summer Palace

Mao's portrait, at the north end of Tiananmen Square

inside the Forbidden City

Beijing has a lot to offer, and I didn’t see anywhere near all the sites in the city.  Still, the things I did see were interesting, if quite touristy.  Unfortunately, the extreme temperatures and humidity, coupled with the dense air pollution (visibility is typically less than 400 meters), put a damper on many of the sites.

the Great Wall at Badaling

traveling by pedicab (a sort of bicycle rickshaw) in the city

Probably the best experience was Tanje Temple, located in the hills west of the city.  Because of it’s rather remote location, it was almost empty when I went there with a local couchsurfer.  It was also cooler than the city center.

many of the trees at the temple were quite old and needed supports

Touching this fish in various places is supposed to heal the corresponding places on your own body. Of course, it's a fish, so there aren't that many corresponding places...

looking down on the main temple complex

So, at this point I’m living and working in Cheonan, a small university city, at Baekseok University.  I spend most of my time in the language tutorial center, but also teach an introductory class at the university.  Thus far I like it.  The first month or so was pretty hectic, but now that I’ve gotten into the swing of things I’m enjoying the job more.

the building where I spend most of my time

another view

This week the cherry trees are all blossoming on campus

One advantage of this job over my previous high school position is that I work in a much more international atmosphere.  I share an office with two other English teachers (one English, one American), two Chinese teachers, and two Japanese teachers.

me with the other American teacher, Chinese and Japanese teachers

and with my English co-worker at his Korean wedding