Liebster Award

Last week, Elicia Shepard from Life’s a Journee nominated us for the Liebster Award. It’s an award given by other bloggers so that you can share the bloggin’ love!  Elicia is also a blogger in South Korea who you should definitely check out! Here are the 10 questions we were given by Elicia below. Hopefully this will help you all to get to know Ryan and I a little bit better.

1. What was the last thing you ate?

Last night, we went out for a friend’s birthday in Itaewon and we came across this club that was hosting a free Thanksgiving dinner. We are talking turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, corn, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie!!! We had literally just eaten Thai for dinner, but we couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that whenever American foods are so difficult to find in Korea.

2. Do you ever get bored with blogging? Why or why not?

Stephanie – I never get tired of blogging. I wish I had MORE time to blog! We have such busy schedules right now, and we are currently really behind on some of the videos and posts we have in mind. Hopefully next year our schedules will be less hectic and we can really start making posts more often.

Ryan – Unlike Stephanie, I do sometimes get bored with blogging. I enjoy reading and often find myself frustrated with the lack of “book time” I get as a result of keeping up with posts. I enjoy the blog and keeping an online record of our adventures, don’t get me wrong, but I owe it to myself and our readers to find more reading time so that Stephanie doesn’t have to do so much on her own.

3. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

Stephanie – I have a tendency to always be thinking about my to do list and not really be present in the present moment. If I could just have an ‘off’ button for my mind, it would make this much easier to achieve. Seeing as that is not much of a possibility, I will simply have to strive to do better on my own.

Ryan – I would be more loving. Very often I am thinking about a million things that are either happening or might possibly happen. This is a result of a disconnected understanding of the present reality coupled with a sincere longing for great adventures to come, which I am working on, but leads to undesirable actions/attitude/dispositions that I don’t think represent who I am. The people around me often suffer from my mental churnings, and I hope to someday be in better control of my emotions so that my loved ones feel my appreciation for them to a more accurate degree.

4. Where is one place you would never go and why?

Stephanie – I would never want to visit a hostile or war-torn country. I am adventurous, but I have my limitations. When we first came to Korea, there was actually some talk of North Korea causing trouble. We actually wrote about our reaction on the matter, here. Thankfully, nothing happened, but I would never want to put my husband and I into a seriously dangerous situation.

Ryan – Outer space. It would be an incredible view, but I think pondering the universe can be equally mesmerizing and life changing without the whole process and funds needed to make the trip into the dark abyss above (or below) us. I would feel guilty and want someone with a greater interest in physics or astronomy to go in my place. I feel as if I’d be a waste of the opportunity. I’m perfectly content trying to see as much of this rock as I can without leaving its gravitational pull.

5. What seemingly insignificant thing drives you crazy?

Stephanie – SPITTING! Here in Korea, it is a normal thing that everyone does. From old men, to pretty young women, everyone spits. Most of the time they make that terrible throat clearing sound right before and it is really disgusting.

Ryan – People commenting on my height. I’m not ashamed of being tall (6’6″ or 198cm), let the record reflect, but I grew weary of strangers commenting on the fact at an early age. I understand that my stature creates easy small talk when people first make my acquaintance. The problem surfaces when you consider that 70-80% of all people I meet use the same opening remarks about basketball and doorway jokes. Then multiply this percentage by the number of years I have been tall… I don’t hold ill will towards people who take this lazy approach toward talking to me. I just wish I was able to have better conversations that didn’t require getting through to the “HOLY $#!* YOU’RE TALL” portion.

6. What is one thing that you like, but your friends don’t?

Stephanie – I have always really liked anime. This could also go with question #9. I love the art work and the stories that go into each series. It’s really beautiful. However, I don’t really have any friends who share the same love for it. I am lucky though to have a husband who will watch it with me and even buy me mangas as gifts!

Ryan – Outside of my family, I have never had friends that enjoyed hunting as much as I always have. Many of them have enjoyed shooting my guns, but nothing beyond that. I have, thankfully, had a few friends that shared my love of fishing, but none in the hunting department.

7. If you could say one sentence to everyone around the world at once, what would you say?

Stephanie – “Simplicity, patience, and compassion are necessities for humanity.”

Ryan – “When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.” – Shunryu Suzuki

8. Who do you look up to?

Stephanie – There are many people throughout history who have inspired me. The Dalai Lama, is a great example of an inspirational person. His optimism is truly amazing.  In the midst of adversity, he has always spoke of optimism. It can be hard to stay positive in difficult times, and I have struggled with this myself. Tibet was a sovereign nation, living in peace, when China decided to reclaim the land, exiling the Dalai Lama. Throughout all of this, he remained optimistic and has since inspired people throughout the world, giving speeches and winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Ryan – Stephanie took mine, so… Hemingway. Treatment of females aside, that guy lived an adventurous and creative life that has always inspired me. One of my favorite authors, as well as a travel inspiration, Ernest Hemingway did most things right.

9. What is your secret obsession?

Stephanie – Since I have already divulged one secret obsession in question #6,  I suppose my next would be my undying love of tomatoes! I could seriously just eat them like apples, and anything with tomatoes in it, is automatically on my list of favorites meals!

Ryan – Self-sufficiency. I hate being dependent on other people for things that I should be capable of doing on my own. I often stay up long into the night reading into skills I wish to possess and methods for simplifying one’s own lifestyle to maximize efficiency and minimizing waste.

10. If the world were to end tomorrow, and you knew it, how would you spend your last day?

Stephanie – Assuming I could also teleport, I would go home and be with my family. We would just sit around telling stories, eating good food, and playing games together. Afterwards, I would just spend the rest of my time with Ryan, reflecting on the times we’ve had together until the end of the world came.

Ryan – I would go fly fishing in the morning with my dad and brother. The rest of the day would be spent with family shooting guns and quoting funny movies while cooking things over a fire (specifically The Jerk, Dumb & Dumber, Monty Python, Mel Brooks). After dinner I would want to be alone with my wife.

Here are our nominations! We adore these blogs and you should definitely check them out as well.

Sarah from Green After the Rain

Jade at Journey Count

Meagan from Life Outside of Texas

The Soul of Seoul

Kylie at Cornish Kylie

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