Welcome back! It's been a minute since my last update (read: much longer than a minute) but I've been busy finding my way in the world. Here are some of the things I've done since July:
I had a week of vacation back in August, which I spent in China, as planned. That was about the only thing that went according to plan, especially given my loose notion of making a "plan." Let's just say that several boats, planes, and minor crises later, I am most certainly wiser. I did wind up in Beijing and spent the week there, which was fantastic. I met up with an old friend from the states and also met some great people at the hostel where I was staying. Beijing is an incredible place. I've never seen a place with so much history crashing headlong into the future. There is something a bit oppressive about the city, but at the same time, the strength and tradition of the place are plainly obvious to see, and there's also a lot of beautiful stuff to see. Highlights included Beijing Opera, the Forbidden City, the Hou Hai lake/bar district, and of course a 10k hike along the Great Wall. As you will see very soon, I took a lot of photos and will be filling up the currently empty China page with a few choice photos. It was my first serious outing with the Nikon D40, and I got a couple really nice shots. One more thing I'll say about China is that as cheap and awesome as it is to travel there, the attitude of the general populace certainly made me appreciate Korea a lot more. The atmosphere is definitely wilder and woolier than the more calm, if still crazy at times, feel of Korea. At least at night and at the markets.
Since then things have been pretty uneventful. People have come and gone at work, as contracts expire and begin all around. Silly office nonsense happens all the time and we all deal with it in our own individual ways. I have yet to make a dent in learning Korean. I finally stopped being addicted to novels and video games long enough to start updating my site and getting my photography in order, language is next on the list. I've certainly still got time to learn quite a bit, which leads me to my next bit of information.
Ryan and I have decided that we will almost certainly extend our contracts here in Korea. Our year is up at the end of February, but it looks like we'll be staying until the summer to make some money and for other various timing reasons. I plan on being in Thailand at the end of next summer, and I'll stay for as long as I can, probably just teaching some English on the side and training full time in Thai boxing. I've gotten a lot of "when are you coming back to the states?" type questions, which I love, because it's nice to know that people are thinking of me just as I'm thinking of them. But the answer is, I don't really know. As far as a permanent return, I'm loosely planning on early to mid 2009. As far as visiting, I'm going to shoot for a week in the states at the end of February, when I renegotiate my contract. I've got a week of vacation in December, but with plane tickets to DC running close to two grand, I've decided to fulfill another long standing dream of visiting Japan. It being literally at my backdoor, it's a great opportunity and also, it'll be cheaper. I have to remind myself that I need to be saving money here!
In other news, I hurt my knee in Hapkido. After taking a month off of training to let it heal, I'm back in the dojang (school) training 5 nights a week. The knee is hugely improved, but I'll probably be seeing a doctor soon to get some MRIs or other tests done. Might as well with my free health insurance! The master wants me to test for black belt in December, from what I understand, so I've got to be ready and stay healthy.
We just did Halloween at the English school and I was in charge of building the haunted house, along with Ryan and our head teacher, Aldrin. We definitely put in the hours and came up with a great setup, and after a full workday of screaming myself hoarse, wearing creepy masks and hiding in dark corners, I can safely say we scared the bajeesus out of those kids. My job is really great sometimes. (Really getting my mileage out of that theatre degree! Sigh.)
To all you folks back in the states, and you know who you are, I miss you. My life here remains interesting, instructive, and productive, but especially with the holidays coming on, thoughts of home are on my mind more often these days. I hope you're all doing well!
New pictures soon!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment