We arrive to Ho Chi Min City after a full day of traveling! We knew what to do as far as visas, so we were able to cut off some time in the visa line! We arranged for our hostel to pick us up since it was only $15! Once we checked in we set out to find some food! We are staying in district 1 known as the ‘backpacker’ area! We roamed around until stopping at a random restaurant. Jason’s yellow curry was delicious! After dinner, we were pretty tired so decided to head back to the hostel. Today we spent the whole day exploring they city using the Lonely Planet walking tour! We started at the Ben Thanh Market. This market was huge with typical SE Asian goods: t-shirts, watches, designer bags, etc. I was looking for sunglasses and had no problem finding some! After roaming around we continued the tour. We stopped for lunch at a small French cafe! We had pâté and ratatouille! It was barely noon and I was feeling tired and the heat was getting to me! We continued on to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Then We decided to detour and head to the War Remnants Museum. When we arrived it was closed for lunch, but were able to pass the time by having a few beers at the cafe across the road. The museum is sobering to say the least. After the museum we walked to the Sheraton hotel for roof top drinks. Since you’re paying for the view the drinks were pricey and not worth it. By this time it was almost 5 and we had been walking all day. Both of us were tired! We headed back to sleep he hostel to call it a day! Tomorrow we will be taking by a day trip to the Mekong Delta.
Tag: Travel
October Review!
October was a whirlwind month for Jason and I. Thankfully we came back from October break rested and ready for the busy month ahead. For me, October was the month I started my masters program. The program is offered though SUNY (Southern University of New York). The classes are on campus at SCIS and online. The on campus classes are given over 2 weekends, which means 15 straight days at school. Thankfully, my first class was low stress and and quick to get through!
For Jason, October was the month of the SCIS Music Festival. Jason had been working very hard to prepare for this event. The festival showcases all of the middle school muisc ensembles: guitar, percussion, choir, band, and orchestra. For band, Jason invited retired Iowa band directors Jim Fritz and Leon Kuehner to guest direct the bands. Jim, Leon and Leon’s wife Linda arrived to Shanghai the weekend before the festival. On Saturday we went out to eat at Di Shui Dong for some good “Chinese” food! Afterwords, they wanted to see the city so we took them to Captain’s Bar on the Bund. 
A Trip to Beijing, and Our International Guests
We arrived back in Shanghai at the end of July, with my dad and brother following shortly after. They had planned a trip to China for three weeks, one of which we had left for summer vacation. My father Dennis and brother Eric arrived on July 31 and stayed with us until August 17.
Last Week in Iowa!
Our final week at home is finally here. It’s crazy how fast 1 month goes! Nevertheless, Jason and I have been very busy with our time in the states.
The 4th of July weekend was spent in Northeast Iowa, visiting friends and our old stomping grounds! I do feel that Northeast Iowa may be the most beautiful part of the state! We were all lucky enough to stay at our old roommates house! The house provided us all a place to relax and hang out, which made our short time together more fun! We spent time in Decorah playing disc golf, enjoying the local brew (Toppling Goliath) and food! Even though it was a quick trip it was so great to see our friends!
Summer in Iowa!
We have started our summer break back in the USA! Our flight from Shanghai was a little rough and we ended departing 1.5 hours late and then at a standstill in Chicago. After some running in the airport we made our flight to Minneapolis and ended up getting in around 11:00…we were supposed to land at 8! A few of my cousins who were staying near by even stayed and waited with my parents! We had a 2hr drive to get to Lake Osakis and didn’t get to bed until 3 am…so needless to say it was a long day!
June is here!
We have arrived to our last month of our first year abroad! We have been keeping busy with work and the city! Two weeks ago I danced in the school dance production and it was amazing! The performance was about the environment and the students and teachers did a great job. It was so fun to dance with my fellow teachers and our dance was a hit!
Yangshuo, China
There are many benefits of teaching internationally at our school. One of them is without a doubt our annual China trips. Every grade level (except for senior IB students, whom everyone seems to want to make as miserable as possible) takes a trip in May to some part of China. I had the fortune of chaperoning the 7th grade trip to Yangshuo, China. I was supposed to go with the 8th graders to the tropical location of Hainan, but after learning that Yangshuo was the ‘outdoorsy’ trip, I realized that this was my place. We flew out of Shanghai at 7:00 AM on Monday, May 5. The plane was being flown by the father of one of our students. We took over the entire plane. I was surprised at how rowdy the students were during the flight. Flying was so common for them that they could not have been less concerned. I, on the other hand, was concerned enough for everyone. We arrived in Yangshuo and were met by our guides from Insight Adventures. Insight is a company that runs trips like this for schools all over China. Our guide’s name was Kevin, and he was awesome. Kevin was born in Southwestern China, but moved to Yangshuo for this job. After dropping our luggage off at our hotel, we immediately set off to the park for some group building games with Kevin. As you can see, Yangshuo is a beautiful place. 
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Shanghai Birthday!
This past weekend I celebrated my 28th birthday here in Shanghai. The week before, Jason was gone on a school trip which left me home alone! It was fun to get a little shopping in and treat myself to some new birthday clothes.
By Friday, I was excited for Jason to be back and to celebrate my birthday! Jason had planned a surprise dinner on Friday night! This was a treat because he was exhausted from his trip and we weren’t planning on going out! We took the metro to the French Concession and had a few cocktails at La Cocina before dinner! We had plenty of time to spare so we casually walked to dinner. I had no idea where we were going but it was recommended by our friend as a reasonably priced dinner! After a nice walk we arrived at a cute little restaurant. It was a little chilly so we opted to sit inside even though the outdoor patio was very nice! Our dinner was perfect and the wait staff was extra friendly. We shared a bottle of wine and each got steak! My steak came with scallops and Foie gras! We enjoyed the Foie Gras so much that we ordered more after our main course! For dessert we shared the 10 minute cholocate cake! I am not a huge chocolate cake fan but this cake was amazing. It was sweet and melted in your mouth! I only have a picture of our wine classes because I am trying to disconnect from my phone more and be more present with people! The dinner was perfect!
Spring Break 2014: Bangkok and Cambodia
For our last break of the year, we traveled to Bangkok and Cambodia. It was our 2nd time in Bangkok but our first actually spending time in the city. The main reason we were in Bangkok was for a work-related conference. The conference was nice and it was fun to travel with our friends/co-workers. The conference was held at the Shangri-La hotel and was conveniently a short walk from our hotel. After a late arrival (4 am) we attended the one and only music related event of the conference! Our first night in Bangkok we had a conference sponsored cocktail hour by the pool! Free wine and beer and delicious food made for a great start to vacation! Later, we ventured to a roof top bar (made famous from Hangover 2) for views of the city. The drinks were pricey but the views and company were nice.
A Weekend In The Frozen Tundra…Harbin, China.
Alright, tundra might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but Harbin was still pretty cold. Two of our good friends, Bell and Matt, decided that they were going on a weekend getaway to Harbin, China a few weeks ago. I could not have told you very much about Harbin when I agreed to go along, except that I knew that this city was the host of the annual Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Well, I can’t tell you all that much more about Harbin after having traveled there, but the trip was still great. On Friday night, we boarded a plane after having sat in the Pudong International Airport for many hours. We had a direct flight to Harbin, which is significantly closer to Russia than Shanghai. I was invigorated by the cold once we stepped off of the plane. Although I frequently find myself complaining about the cold, damp weather in Shanghai, this was a dry, more ‘real’ kind of cold. It made me think of winter in the midwest, and that filled me with glee. We had arranged a cab, and arrived at our hotel with no problems. The hotel had overbooked, so we had to share our room with some of our good friends who were homeless for one night.
We realized on our way to the hotel that the St. Sophia Cathedral was right down the road. On Saturday morning, we decided that this would be a great place to start our tour of Harbin, so we walked there. In the morning sun, it was actually quite pleasant outside.
Iowans Abroad 