Winter Adventure in Asia

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This time last year, I was in Iceland. I haven't been sitting around, I was England for a week in March and since then I have been busily planning my next big trip: two weeks in Asia. The main impetus for the trip is the Winter and Ice Festival in Harbin, China. Someone asked why I wasn't going in the summer...um, because it's the winter festival? Since I was headed in that direction, I added on stops to Tokyo and Seoul. It has been an education planning for these destinations because I'm not as familiar with those cities as I am with others, but it's also exciting. I'm not sure my allotted days are going to be enough, but I'll try and pack in what I can and make notes for the next time. I hadn't given much thought to the potential language issues, until a friend asked if I was worried. Er, I wasn't until you mentioned it. I guess I figure I'll make it work; the cities are pretty safe and with my winning personality and research, I'll be fine. I'm more concerned about eating. I've been practicing with my trainer chopsticks; chicken and noodles and even egg rolls are easy, but I do not get how to eat rice, it takes forever. I might starve. I usually try to avoid McDonald's (and other American foods), but the McDonald's menu in Seoul looked kind of interesting.

Stay tuned and stay warm.

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