Job Discussion Forums

[zakiah25]

With all this talk about teaching and travelling around the world, I was wondering if you have a favourite, unforgettable place?
For me, now living in a desert country, my favourite place is Victoria Falls. I could just sit for hours and enjoy multiple libations while viewing the sheer magnitude and beauty of all that water tumbling and falling into the cascades below and the surrounding emerald coloured countryside.
All I have surrounding my house at the moment is sand and desert, Manfred (that camel) has eaten every piece of shrubbery in sight.

[scot47]

Victoria Falls ? I thought it was downright frightening ! The desert can be pretty awe-inspiring, but one you reach an advanced age like mine or johnslat's you may prefer a cup of tea and a good novel.

[johnslat]

Dear zakiah25,
I'm a " ruin man " ( and am fast approaching that stage myself ) so Petra in Jordan is my pick. I've seen a lot of antique places, in Greece, Italy, North Africa and Iran, but Petra gets my vote. However, in the USA, my favorite of all is Chaco Canyon, NM, headquarters for the mysteriously vanished Anasazi. For " purely natural ( i.e. not man-made ) wonders, well, if you ever raft down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon ( a ten day or so journey ), that's hard to beat.
Regards,
John

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Good Day zakiah25:

A favourite place? hmmm. That's a toughy. Can I list more than one? Good.

I suppose I've had my own little 'secret garden' in all of the cities and towns I've worked in over the years.

In Munich, it was the Englisher Garten; a lovely green park located in the center of the city, filled with beer tents and nude sunbathers. [Not sure anymore which aspect I liked best.]

In Istanbul, my favorite place to hang out was either on a ferry boat crossing the Bosporous (with a cup of hot tea in hand) or in a smokey pool hall, where Turks pass the time and chat about the girls they aren't allowed to touch until they get married.

In Manila, where the average daytime temperature hovers around 34C, it was the HUGE air-conditioned shopping malls. Very cruisey ... and lots of movie theaters, restaurants and other diversions to enjoy without sweating buckets.

In Tokyo, it was probably the Harajuku District, where the 'hip' Japanese youngsters would come out in droves on the weekends to hang out, listen to live music or model the latest weird wedding-dress fashions and 12 inch high-heeled boots.

In Cluj-Napoca (Romania) my secret garden was in the Carpathian mountains; lovely, unspoiled nature at its best; camping, swimming, fishing, drinking homemade plum brandy (called tsuica) with the locals.

In Chonju (S. Korea), it was probably just being at 'home alone' after a long and tiring day of teaching semi-bratty kids. There's no place like home ...

And here in Samara (Russia) there's no doubt about it: I'm a Volga-River beach-bum. I can sit for hours along the river bank, drinking beer and just watching the boats, barges and bikini-clad girlie-girls floating by. In fact, today I'm nursing a bad sun-burn from yesterday's little float.

So ... that was probably more than you wanted. Give my regards and an apple to Manfred.

Warm wishes, zak!
KEnT

[Shaman]

I had the good fortune to experience the sunrise at the top of Mt. Fuji. The weather conditions were optimal and after reaching the summit, I lay on my back and watched the seemingly endless number of shooting stars. After a short while, the sun slowly begin to emerge on the horizon. The spectacle proved nothing short of sublime.

Shaman

[Capergirl]

@Kent...I taught in Chonju, too! What school/company did you work for?

[well-travelled]

Well, after multiple libations I think that almost anywhere takes on an idyllic glow. And I should know!

However, for me the most beautiful place in the world is (or was) Kashmir. Staying on a houseboat on Dal Lake or visiting Pahalgam in the mountains when everywhere is covered in snow are enduring memories. And even then, before the troubles, perfectly amiable shopkeepers in Srinagar would talk of India as being another, separate country. Now, of course, it�s totally f�ed up. It will never belong to India and it�s not really part of Pakistan either�..

But, since every country has epiphanies to be experienced, and since Zakiah raised the point � and does anyone else find that avatar of hers to be rather distracting? � I should mention Oman.

Last summer, I drove the 1200 kms from the UAE to southern Oman. The last 800 kms of this are flat, lifeless gravel desert across the central Oman plateau. Then, a few kms before the plateau falls to the coast at Salalah, you see ahead of you great banks of cloud, like huge waves of surf, apparently suspended above the small barren hills. Unreal, ghost-like, after all those kms of montonous plains and searing heat. Haunting from a distance.

Of course, once you get into the cloud base and start descending the scarp slope, it gets hairy. Drivers overtaking on bends when visibility is only a few metres; vehicles that have collided stand in the mist by the side of the road�. But that initial sensation of the clouds rolling in over the plateau from the coast because of the summer monsoon remains etched in the memory�.

All romantics meet the same fate some day/ cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark caf� ���or in an Internet discussion group�

Too many multiple libations�.

well-travelled

[R]

John: I've always wanted to go to Petra! I get the feeling though that I'll be saving it for a deathbed regret.

Rob,

[zakiah25]

Dear Well travelled
Is that a flame thrower that you're carrying in your pocket or are you just happy to see my avatar?
(I'm sorry that you find such a "little thing" so distracting!)
That was extremely courageous of you to drive to Salalah, that road has a history of numerous car accidents which occur on a regular basis. It's such a long and tiring journey even from Muscat (capital city) - some 1000km., people just "go to sleep" at the wheel especially the taxi drivers. I regularly drive from Muscat to Sur, Nizwa and Sohar but I always fly to Salalah (Oman Air). Yes, I agree, the "hareef" is something to see in Salalah, it's amazing to see how the countryside changes in this season.
regards
Zakiah

[Guest]

Thanks again to Kent for his online dictionary that helped me understand the meaning of libation.

I was particularly impressed by the ice sculptures in Puskin Square, Moscow over new year. And hats off to Moscow for the most beautiful subway.

My absolute favourite sight though is the Great Barrier Reef. The mix of such vibrant colours is just amazing.

[johnslat]

Dear R,
Don't accept not going to Petra - you'll have enough other things to regret on your deathbed ( assuming you're prone at home when that Distinguished Visitor comes calling ) without adding that to the list. Let me tell you about an incident that happened there. I and a colleague were standing by ourselves in one of the hillside tombs when two women came in. Rather annoying, at first - you know, all those " tourists " you like to avoid ( of course, YOU'RE not one of THEM ). Suddenly one of the ladies began singing - in Italian, from an opera, and she had a truly lovely voice.
It was a moment I'll never forget - that thrillingly sweet aria celebrating life as we stood in that place of death. For the first time, I realized that the phrase, " chills up and down my spine " was more than a figure of speech. Go to Petra, R - and then maybe, when Death does show up, instead of a dirge, you'll hear someone joyously singing.
Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

R

Absolutely don't miss Petra. It is the one place that I have visited that lived up to the hype. I too am a ruin freak.

I went twice in one year and spent a total of 6 days there. The second time was around Easter and the desert in Jordan was full of flowers. The Inpector of Antiquities had told me that I could keep any antiquity that I found on the surface. So, I figured that if I walked the wadis perhaps the water would have brought something interesting to the surface. It was a beautiful sunny day with the wadis brimming with pink oleanders in full bloom against the dark pink stone of Petra. I had the whole place to myself and spent about four hours wandering about. It was a wonderful day and I ended up with about 30 pieces of their delicately painted, unusually fragile pottery. Not large pieces, of course, but the man at the little museum said that a few of them were even of interest to him. But, since I found them fair and square, he said that I could keep them.

One other place that I found fascinating was on the island of Santorini. In general this place is pretty much a tourist trap, but there is an excavated Minoan City called Akrotiri. It was buried when the ancient island volcano exploded (likely the source of the Atlantis myth) around 1500 BCE. One can walk on the very streets and peer into the shops and houses that people apparently fled without stopping to pack - almost as if they just left. No bodies were found in the site, but it is an eerie step back into the past.

VS

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello Again People:

Wow! Interesting replies, and a very good topic by zakiah25. After all ...this is what makes EFL life so cool; all those 'special' places that just don't look or feel the same sitting on a couch at home watching TV.

Capergirl: You asked about where I had worked in Chonju. I am an SLP veteran. 'Twas a very good year for me financially, but the kids sometimes drove me nuts.

Still miss that kimbap, but not the kimchi

Warm regards,
kENt

[richard ame]

Hi Forum
Although I have done a lot of travelling around this country I've only scratched the surface up to now my favourite place is Turkey's best kept secret, Ayvalik near the Edrimit gulf very close to the Greek island of Lesvos and about as beautiful a place that you could ever wish to see sea,sand ,moutains ,valleys ruins it's got the lot and I even bought a small old Greek house here cos that where I intend to retire . However there is a place I have to visit before I go to Petra and that's the mountain in Argentina that bears my name Ameghino, type in the name and do a search WOw!!!!! Iwas amazed how famous I am .

[richard ame]

Hi Forum
Although I have done a lot of travelling around this country I've only scratched the surface up to now my favourite place is Turkey's best kept secret, Ayvalik near the Edrimit gulf very close to the Greek island of Lesvos and about as beautiful a place that you could ever wish to see sea,sand ,moutains ,valleys ruins it's got the lot and I even bought a small old Greek house here cos that where I intend to retire . However there is a place I have to visit before I go to Petra and that's the mountain in Argentina that bears my name Ameghino, type in the name and do a search WOw!!!!! Iwas amazed how famous I am .