South Korea - Benefit broadly the human world

Seoul

South Korea - here I come! After saying good bye to Japan I finally arrived in Seoul, South Korea. My first night I spent the hostel Yellow Submarine in Seoul. The owner was very friendly, showed me my room and the kitchen and introduced me to the other guests. This was a real warm welcome!

More is coming soon!

P.S.: Currently I am reading this book listed below. Ignore the stupid title because it is the best book I have read so far!!! Forget all the other books and buy this one if you want to have TIME to travel as long as you want while having a business that is supporting your lifestyle while you are traveling.

WARNING: Do not buy this book if you don't want to quit your job and be free!!!

Printed Edition

Kindle Edition

Japan - Manga, Yakuza and Sushi

Tokyo

Dear friends, as promized this post will be about my first visit to Japan in 2010.

I left New Zealand to continue my world travel, with my backpack and a flight ticket to Tokyo. Even I fly a lot, this time it was different. I was sitting in the plane and could feel the excitement to arrive. For years I have been dreaming to visit this country, studied the language and the culture and finally my dream was about to come true.

When I arrived at the Tokyo International Airport it was busy and as expected full of people. I picked up my lugage and bought a subway ticket to the city. They have those subway system maps whick you can get for free. My friends warned me already about how hard it will be to understand how the subway works - and they were absolutely right. It was a challenge but at the end it worked well and I arrived at Asakusa station where I booked my accomodation. It was a nice hostel with really friendly staff and cosy interior. I enjoyed it so much to finally speak Japanese in Japan, this also made the daily life so much easier, as most of the people do not speak English.

My first days were full of adventure. I had this map of Tokyo with must see higlights of the city and directions how to get there. Every day was like waking up, grab a breakfast and then exploring a new part of the city.

Akihabara

The most impressive spots that I liked most were Asakusa, Tokyo-Ginza, Akihabara and Kamakura. It was so much fun exploring the small shops, the big supermarkets, the city gardens and mostly to taste all kinds of Japanese food. If you are into really fresh sushi then you should visit the famous fish market.

Ginza

In the evening there are several options what you can do and I preferred the visits in an Izakaya. An izakaya (居酒屋) is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are casual places for after-work drinking. Even Tokyo is one of the most expensice cities, there are still options to eat out for cheap if you take the time to compare the prices and find out the cheaper spots.

Asakusa

Time is passing by quick in Tokyo and one day I had to move on to visit South Korea. It was really hard to leave but the flight was booked in advance and I had to move on. Tokyo is a must have on you bucket list - if you have one ;-)

New Zealand - One year in Middle-earth

This post is dedicated to my experience in New Zealand while I was living there for one year.

Since I left Germany in 2007 to travel the world, I was in Thailand and two years in Australia. In September 2009 my visa expired and I moved to Auckland in New Zealand. My first day was exciting. When I arrived at the Airport, I took the bus to Auckland City and enjoyed the long ride while looking out of the bus window, curious and excited like a child. I did not know what to expect in this new country but somehow I knew that it will be amazing and fun.

I checked in the YHA in Auckland and then I took a city tour with the bus. The amazing skyline and the busy streets full of shops, restaurants and so many people made the city look huge and fascinating. Auckland is great for eating out and to live there. The best thing is the city library where you can use the internet for free if you have a membership card. I applied for my tax file number, opened a bank account and converted my european driver licence into a New Zealand driver licence - now I was feeling almost like a local.

After three weeks I was able to find a job in a central hostel as a receptionist. I had no previous experience but I was able to score with my Japanese language skills. The hostel owner was Japanese and most of the customers as well, this is how I got the job.

The time there was the most exciting and interesting experience so far. As a receptionist you learn to know so many guests from all over the world. The work was very busy and I spend my free time on learning how to trade Forex, improving my Japanese and dating.

Working in a hostel I made so many new friends (and some enemies) and eventually started dating one of our guests. Work and private life should be separate and the beginning was challenging. Keeping the relationship secret is not easy and avoiding gossip is even harder. But you become creative in finding opportunities to get what you want without getting caught. At the end everybody knew about us and it was fine.

I decided to leave New Zealand after one year and I took a flight to Japan to live for a while in Tokyo. It was a first time for me to be in Japan and the next post about this interesting country is coming soon.