I am back. Back to Korea that is. I am about to begin my new job, in my new neighborhood, with a new outlook on the experience past and ahead. As most of you know, I took an extended break from the 9-5, although my previous job was not 9-5. I guess what I wanted was a break from Korea and to come home to Portland to see the people I missed while I was away. I arrived about a month ago in and have been waiting to start my new Job in Ilsan. Ilsan is an area of Korea just north of Seoul, and just south of the DMZ (around 25 miles). I am staying with my girlfriend Michelle at the moment while I await starting my new position and finding a place of my ... read more

2 years 2 months...737 days. That is the culmination of time spent in the land of the morning calm. I can't say all of it has been great, but I can't say it's all been terrible either. It is what it is. It was my life...my routine. It seems strange and almost scary to leave the 10 by 25 shelter I call home. That doesn't mean I am not ready to leave. I feel like I have accomplished more than what I was expecting to when I first came over. I have made great friends and shared happy and sad memories with all of them. I have seen what is like to be a minority for once in my life, and grapple with different cultural values on a mundane level. There is not much more to ... read more

This summer I have been able to go and see a lot. I have explored more of Korea and found that although Seoul can be a “soulless” place (pun intended) at times, there is quite a lot of beauty and friendliness outside its borders. Korea is a very mountainous country and most of the countryside resembles a lot of what I appreciate back home. I still haven’t seen all that I want to here, but there is always time, and opportunity. Recently though I have taken some opportunities to go outside the country and explore a much different world than most of us are used too. Borneo was an amazing place, and scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. That being that S.E. Asia is far more interesting that I previously thought. I had wanted ... read more

As soon as I walked into our jungle hut (as it were), I noticed a small spider perched on the wire mesh of the window in front of my mattress. This wasn't a particularly big spider, but did have a lot of stripes and paterns on his body. I have learned that it is not necessarily the big bugs that do the most damage, but the wee little ornate looking ones that can pack the punch. I stood for a while in front of him seeing if he would make the first move. I had my knife ready to go, although thinking back on it, I'm not sure a knife would have done better than a rolled up magazine. We watched each other for a minute or two before I decided to let him live. He ... read more

The title speaks for it self of how hot and humid it has become. It seems that the weather here in Korea is just as sneaky as our short tempered neighbor to the North. Well last time I wrote, North Korea hadn't detonated a nuclear missile, and we were just beginning our heat wave. This is where I will begin, there has been a lot happening lately, including yours truly's 26th birthday. So I woke up one morning (as I usually do) and opened the computer to check the news and emails. As NPR loads, I notice the head line..."North Korean Detonates Nuclear Missile". Well I sat there for a second taking in just the headline and what that meant. Then I went on an adventure in my head of what happened. What played out was ... read more