The Independent Foreigner

With my friend E visiting town, I wanted to do three things: cook, can, and relax. While we did all of those things, I also felt it necessa...

About a week ago I made a request of all my neighbors: If you are canning something, just knock on my door and let me watch. You don't ...

I've been busy, as you can imagine. Training ramped up to a maelstrom of hectic stress, with teachers rotating, projects culminating, a...

I'm now over a month into what I could swear was either a year or a week of training, it's hard to tell. I'm slowly finding my ...

NO! We are talking! Scarcely an inch over five foot, Leonid Antonovich bellows up at me, his catastrophic blood pressure evident by the f...

Every story has a beginning, and this one started two Decembers past with a lengthy application process and a disturbingly thorough physica...

After 169 days of roaming, I'm finally home. Private, internal applause. Now to work: tell the story, start the next adventure! When...

10 November 2011 After sundown, I go with Pete and his family for dinner. There's a never-ending spread of food. Every time a dish is...

The first hours of Mongolia. 20 October 2011 The train arrives in the dark of the early morning. We are all shaken awake by the sheet...

Wow this is convenient. I've been using it since the start but only just figured out how to share...what's my age again? All entri...

I couldn't in good conscience leave everyone hanging for five solid months, so I've chosen an excerpt from my trip to share. Enjoy!...

It's been a comfortable, satiating, relaxing 2 weeks, but my American vacation is coming to a close. My attempt at circumnavigation beg...

As promised, I’m back to liven the mood of the blog. No more gloom and doom, no more lamenting what’s over. It’s time to turn my attentions...

Stripping down the walls and wiping out the drawers. Sending off the clothing and heirloom bottle openers and Thom Yorke posters. Change of...

I could be back in the states at 5:35 pm August 31st! Maybe. Stand-by is 1/4 of the price, but the uncertainty makes up for the other 3/4. ...

In an effort to take a last spin around Korea and keep things cheap on the eve of a much larger trip, I used my summer vacation last week...

40 days remain until my contract is finished. The Iran hostage crisis was 11 times longer; Justin Bieber toured for 9 times longer; James G...