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Published: October 5th 2011
Kids and rents
celebration dinner with Mom and Dad at Lucky's graduation from McGill!Hey strangers!
Well like the title says, it's a new country, a new job, a new language and culture (the same tiny apartment) and a new life! I'm here in Seoul and finally settled enough to sit down and get in touch with everyone again. It really has been too long and I'm psyched to be able to connect and hopefully get some responses as to what all of you are doing too. So I'll get right to it and fill in all the blanks from the last 4 months, and here's a quick heads up, there's some shockers!
Let's start off with a bang:
I spent the summer with family in Toronto, moved to Korea in July and... my mom got married in August!. My sister is hopefully moving to Spain, my brother is doing real well with his own company Milo Casting, my other brother is living in Montreal to play football and my Dad is is coming to visit me here in Seoul in October. Spending the summer hanging out with my niece, bro and sis-in-laws and just getting to do normal stuff with them was amazing. Cheering Jenny on in her marathon, teaching Lennon-chan some
Drum circle!
jamming out and dancing with some awesome wavy arm techniques for Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving front flips on the couch, driving a doz blue ribs with Trevor at Tattoo and seeing real good friends from grade school and high school, just to name a few things that I really missed out on while in Japan and traveling Southeast Asia. I got to see my sister graduate from McGill in Montreal (superdork!) and I'm planning my best man speech for my bro's wedding in Italy next summer (gulp/dope!).
Sometime in the middle of all that action I got a call from my William & Mary gymnastics teammate Andrew Hunt in Korea, offering a position at a private ESL children's language institute. Within a few weeks I found myself on a plane back to Asia for another unexpected adventure!
It seems like just an average few months for the family (welcome Zieglers!). I'm happy to say that it's all phenomenal news and even with all the constant movement and life changes it feels as though its all directed in a real positive path. Not only for me, but for many of us in the family. Hard work and patience paying off. Perseverance unveiling hidden opportunities. Things seeming to fall into place after time spent struggling
Luck and me
well i guess it's Lachlan for most people now, but i'm a brother, she's lucky i don't call her face-of-stink to live for what we think is best for us and for the world. I'm sure many people are inclined to thinking that good comes to good people when looking at how my Mom has found love and true prosperity in her new life in Michigan. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more and as I've been hearing from many people, it gives great hope and motivation to see how someone's life can be enriched to that extent later (but not that late) in life.
At least for me it has shown why it's worth it to never sacrifice your morals and to live unselfishly and compassionately; that a different kind of faith, whether it's faith in ourselves, the laws of the universe, the cosmic order or a kind of karma, is worth cultivating if it can contribute to results like those that my mom and many of us are getting to experience. I guess i've been thinking that regardless of the cause of these effects, I'm discovering the way in which I want to live my life and it's shaping not only how I make big decisions in my life, but also how I approach each day
Daniel feelin the beat!
check out those awesome dual Hanbok outfits too. Us Rabbits celebrate in style! and each moment. Anyway, for now it's the greatest feeling to see my family flourishing after some dedicated efforts and be able to share some good times and good health!
Personally I have had some ups and downs over the past few months. Going through another cultural mindblast while starting a new job with only a few connections to get me started faced me with a whole new set of challenges. I'm super grateful to Andrew and Wendy and my new coworkers and buddies here in Seoul. They've embraced me and helped me settle in quickly and comfortably, and they are getting used to me and my sometimes unorthodox / weird ways of living! I've moved into a small apartment near Gangbyeon station (line 2) in the east part of Seoul (gwangjin-gu) and I'm teaching kindergarten and elementary students at an English immersion school called Playola, around the corner from my place. With coworkers from Canada, America, New Zealand and of course, Korea, it's a nice mixing bowl of culture and experience. My main class is composed of nine Korean kids, ages 5-6 (6-7 in Korean years), myself and my Korean co-teacher Lucy-teacher who helps me keep my “Rabbits”
Grad gear
rockin the robes in line and less covered in milk and kim-chi. It's hard not to compare everything around me to my Japanese life, but one aspect that I can say I really enjoy here is the fact that I spend 4-5 hours with the same students every day, and there is a much greater opportunity for positive impact (both from me to them and vice versa). Although it's a language school there is a lot more that is exchanged with that much contact and interaction. I do teach all subjects, including math, science, art, drama, and P.E, so of course headstands and flips are an essential skill that is being transferred to Rabbit Class on a weekly basis! Lol, more importantly though is the chance to pass on some of what I've learned about life, how to live and respect each other and the natural world, trying to introduce the idea of intrinsic motivation and the rewards of compassionate actions (that's a tough one!), perseverance, mindfulness and tranquility, appreciation of beauty, creativity and courage... and how to dunk plastic food into our food group nets like a pro!
So work is busy and sometimes overwhelming, but when I realize that that's
Rabbits, attention!
Gotta dance to keep them interested! mostly due to my own expectations and desires, I can take a step back and enjoy it without as much pressure. It's still extremely rewarding and by really giving it my full effort and attention it makes moving away from my friends and family more worthwhile, and essential for me to be content with my decision to come here. I've had more time recently to do the more adventurous and exploratory excursions that I've become addicted to, and it's opening my eyes to another breathtaking land and a deep and developed culture. I have too many new experiences and observations to go over after such a long message already, so I'll save all those stories for the next posting. Funky food, bike trips, new soccer teams, meditation retreats, camping trips and mountain hikes are what awaits in the next message!
p.s. I'm on skype in the mornings before work (from 6:30-7:30pm standard eastern time) most weekdays and my ID is Sloan Crawford or sloancrawford@msn.com so come say hi sometime to a kid in a nice little box of a room!
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