A Journey Through Asia with Mrs. Hayes

Aaliyah Garcia
Staff Writer
    Mrs. Hayes, an English teacher at Bonneville High School, had the chance to travel to South Korea, and the Philippines to discover different cultures.
 Hayes' trip was planned with her husband and travel buddies' experiences in mind. Hayes’ husband "went on a mission for [his] church in Korea, so [they] wanted to visit the places he lived while [they] were so close.” Dan and Darcy, their travel buddies, flew from the Philippines to Korea to go sightseeing and celebrate New Year's Eve with Hayes and her husband. Hayes mentioned that she did not bring her kids with her because plane tickets can be expensive, especially to travel that far. One of the biggest challenges Hayes faced while traveling was the two days it took flying there and back. This caused her and her husband to be extremely jet lagged and unbearably stiff; she could barely walk when they arrived in Korea. She mentioned that she went to sleep upon arriving but then woke up wide awake at 3:00 a.m. It took her a few days to adjust and stop waking up at that hour. She added, "It was my first time experiencing jet lag!" Luckily, Hayes only experienced that for a couple of days.
 Her favorite part of Korea was eating at the street food markets and seeing the changing of the guards at the palace. Her favorite part of the Philippines was the heat. Hayes’ stated, “It was wintery cold in Korea, but four hours south on a plane brought us to 85 degree days in the Philippines. It was so green and warm.” One memorable part from her trip was going on a boat tour around an active volcano in the Philippines. Hayes noted that she mostly traveled around Korea by subway or bus, which were busy but not uncomfortably crowded. In the Philippines, Hayes took a Filipino version of an Uber to her friends' house, and then took their car everywhere else. As well as traveling through different versions of Ubers, Hayes’ also tasted some extraordinary food while in Korea.
 Hayes' favorite Korean foods included the dragon's beard, glass sugar strawberries, and the fish-shaped waffles filled with custard. She also expressed that in Korea she visited Buddhist temples, hiked a cliffside lighthouse, explored a giant library, and went on a harbor cruise. While in the Philippines, she ate the local food, swam at the pool, rode a boat around a volcano, and spent a lot of time in close traffic. For souvenirs Hayes expressed that her family “always get a magnet for the fridge and a trinket for the bathroom shelf from every place [they] travel to.” She also brought back things to share with her kids such as bags, money pouches, and chocolate balut from the Philippines.”
  Hayes’ explained that the most memorable experience throughout her trip was “seeing one of [her] husband's friends that he met in Korea 24 years ago.” The friend lives in the Philippines now. She and her husband run a Korean barbecue restaurant, and it was the best Korean food Hayes’ had on her whole trip. Hayes observed that the traffic was crazy, and there were no stop signs or stop lights, making it dangerous, but people made it work over safely.
  A memorable trip to Japan is a dream for many people, and Mrs. Hayes had the opportunity to live it! Hayes exclaimed that she loved her trip and would do it again someday. 

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