Hello, my name is Sarah Shaw. I am originally from southern Maine, and in 2006, I began jaunting between the known and lesser-known patches of civilization scattered around the world. This blog is where you will learn (more than you’ll want to know) about the eccentricities that occur in my life abroad.

I’m a writer and artist, and for two years I worked as a public school English teacher in Seoul, South Korea. From Monday through Friday, I would teach from a textbook splattered with grammatical errors while I sang, danced and recited awkward dialogues.

In 2010, I graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Art Education, and before moving to Korea, I have worked as a Saturday art school teacher, substitute teacher, waitress, hostess and ice cream sundae maker, office slave, and truck weigher at a gravel pit.

After completing an online travel writing course at MatadorU, I discovered my passion for travel writing, blogging and photography. I’ve published travel-related articles and stories in a few online magazines, including Matador Network. I was also a Fall 2012 Glimpse Correspondent.

I’ve studied Spanish in Peru, and now I’m studying Korean full-time at a Buddhist university in the mountains of Chungnam, but my skills leave much to be desired in both languages. I try to practice regularly with language partners, co-workers, taxi drivers and anyone who is not intimidated by my 5’2″ of foreignness.

Throughout the past six years, I’ve been happiest salsa dancing in Peru, drinking soju on rooftops in Seoul, eating pizza in Brooklyn, gazing at stars in Maine, creating art in the Netherlands, and as nerdy as it sounds, I’m happy when I’m writing and blogging. I love when I finally figure out how to manipulate some section of code to change some small detail that no one else would ever care about.

I hope to write a novel one day, and instead of a house, I’d like to have a big, beautiful, messy art studio with a Japanese garden and hot springs in the backyard. I’m restless. I love maps.

You can contact me via the contact form, connect with me on Couchsurfing, Facebook, Matador Community, and Twitter, and if you enjoy reading my blog, please SUBSCRIBE in the top right hand corner!

Thanks for reading!