Something about Asia

by Hunter Byrd

Growing up, the Asian continent has always fascinated me.  Everything from Chinese architecture to Japanese gardens to Indonesian jungles, Asia has much to offer for adventurers of all persona.  I've had friends go to China, others Korea, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia and all have come back with amazing stories.  I went to the Philippines for a couple of months and absolutely fell in love with the country.   

There is something about the people and the cultures that are truly remarkable and mysterious in their own ways.  When I arrived in the Philippines, I thought Mother Nature was going to kill me.  I had allergy and asthma attacks, bug bites, stomach sickness, infections (at one point my feet were the size of a hobbit's and I couldn't walk), and nearly drowned in the Philippine Sea when our boat stopped working and a typhoon was coming in from the south. My second trip there, Typhoon Haiyan hit right after I made it to my destination further north on the island of Luzon.  Despite the implications, I love that country!  The people are so humble and genuine and the landscapes are simply breathtaking.  It has given me a new outlook on life and shown me I have so much to be thankful for.  

Recently, I read another blog post talking about the benefits of living in Asia compared to the States.  The post provided some information that I found to be true, but not quite all of it.  For instance, rent is cheaper there than it is here.  Here in Arkansas, I pay $250 dollars a month to rent a three bedroom house instead of $1000 for a two bedroom apartment.  Granted, my landlords are my roommate's parents so that helps.  I very highly doubt you'll find anything that inexpensive on the east coast, but in Asia I'm sure it's possible.  Nonetheless, it has encouraged me to try and branch out to make a living in another country, something I have been wanting to do for awhile.  Fortunately, most of the living conditions in Asia are fairly less expensive than places such as the U.S. and Canada.  In South Korea, English teachers' housing are typically subsidized and they are paid handsome salaries.  Plus I've never met anyone who has complained about living there and actually been encouraged to go myself.  Personally, I would prefer to go somewhere with sunny beaches and rain forest.  Here's why.

Southeast Asia is considered to be the most endangered of the biological hot spots on Earth.  The biodiversity in this region is tremendous!  Much of the life in those rain forests is endemic to a particular area, meaning it can be found nowhere else in the world. Further north, the climate goes from subtropical to temperate, much like we have here in the States.  The towering peaks of Asia's unprecedented mountain ranges illustrate the landscape's beauty seen today as it was thousands of years ago.  I imagine these enchanted mountains paralleled with ancient architecture as a doorway into a peaceful and more disciplined and cultured world thought to have long since passed.

Angkor Wat in Cambodia
Photos from Google Image