I’ve been traveling on my own since I was 17. I lived with a host family in Italy the summer after my third year of high school, and before I started college, I saved money by waiting tables and scooping ice cream at my part-time job to study Spanish in Peru. However, I didn’t embark...
For some reason, life has been hectic these past couple months–maybe because I’ve traveled through Taiwan for two weeks, ended my teaching job, moved to the countryside (with really heavy bags on multiple buses), started studying Korean full-time, mingled with my new classmates, participated in a three-day Templestay, wrote posts for this blog (sometimes), tried...
Over the past few years, I’ve attended an array of lantern parades and festivals throughout Asia, filled with skillfully-crafted floats and lanterns. I snapped the photo above at the Buddha’s birthday lantern parade in 2009, and ever since, I’ve been curious as to how these massive, fragile works of art are created. Surprisingly, I happened...
“Before we eat dinner at the night market, we’re going to pray,” Olivia’s mom said as we stopped in front of a Taoist temple in Taichung. My Taiwanese friend Olivia turned to me, “We’re only doing this because you’re here. We rarely go to the temple.” I smiled, thinking about all the times my parents...
“Map” – At the airport in India, waiting to go to Egypt, I started mapping the path I was on, including a bit of the past, present, and future. I map my emotions rather than geographical locations. Unsurprisingly, I have a terrible sense of direction in ‘real’ life! *** Kimberly Bryant, the second artist featured...
“Sarah must be used to living in Korea; she’s taking pictures of her food,” Olivia’s dad commented as we were eating snacks in the night market in Taichung. Olivia, a Taiwanese friend that I met in college, translated for me, and I laughed, setting my camera down and admitting that he was 100% correct. Ever...
![A traditional Taiwanese market in Taichung [pics]](http://www.mappingwords.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/market1-290x290.jpg "A traditional Taiwanese market in Taichung [pics]")
I stayed with my friend Olivia and her family for five days in Taichung. One day, Olivia, her mom, and I strolled through a traditional market, where her mom would buy some ingredients for dinner. I love visiting markets and grocery stores throughout the world, because I am constantly intrigued by varying atmospheres and types...
Okay, I didn’t really skip–since my backpack, seemingly filled with bricks, was weighing me down, but my friend Alicia and I did stroll along the street. A few weeks ago, on spur of the moment, I booked a flight to Taiwan, taking advantage of some free time between ending my job and relocating to a...
A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by 1013 Main Street on tbs eFM, Korea’s leading English-only radio station, and invited to an interview on their program. They wanted to ask me questions about Mapping Words and my experiences living in Korea. Firstly, I was shocked that a radio program had shown interest in my blog,...
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