Yes I have a lawyer, and no I will not work mornings for you.

---

How do you even begin to write about the past 3 months that included my parents visiting, calling a relationship off, getting kicked out of my apartment, quiting my job and moving to another part of Seoul. I think the best way to do it is to make what has been described as a "hard winter" into an ammusing antidot for you the reader and well, god knows I need it, me the writer. I also will Tarentino this story, which if you have no idea what that means, watch Pulp Fiction or Reseviour Dogs. Now I should clarrify I guess that I am not going to be throwing out racial slurs or profinty (although sometimes through this story I might feel like it). I am going to be working backwards from where I am at now in my life to where I was 3 months ago. And as I sit here typing away, I have no idea where this is going to go or what path I am going to take. So sit back light up a smoke, a take a ride on the most stressful time in my life. Here comes the drop...
I am in the process of moving from my "new apartment" to a new new apartment that hopefully will be a little more permanent. Since my last job decided that paying a full wage, that was agreed upon, was a little too much for them to do, I have started a new job in a public school running an afterschool position which so far is quickly become the asprin to my life ache. Wow what a sentence. I know the teachers that are reading this right now would be shaking there head, but it sounds good and feels right to keep that sentence chuggin along. I started this new job last week and man I tell ya it seems like a dream. I start work at 12:30, but classes don't start till 1. Then It's 4 classes and I am done for the day at 4:30. I am treated a lot better at this job than my last and the kids are much more managable. I realized very early on in my teaching career (if you can call it that), that I am by no means a kindergarten teacher, and never will be and am completely and underly happy not being one. That age drives me up the wall, and it got to the point that making one of them teary eyed during the day became a personal and satisfy goal. The age of the kids I teach now ranges from 8 to 13. This suits me much more and I don't have to worry about booger eatin 6 year olds who have a nervous breakdown if some one took their crayon. It doesn't matter that the crayon doesn't even belong to them, and in fact belongs to another kid who is too preoccupied scratching his ass because he forgot to wipe that morning to care.
I am the only foriegner at the school and in fact the after school program is only myself and a korean teacher. This is also her first time teaching so that makes me the authority on teaching in our little program. I have found that I enjoying teaching and that I can connect well with the kids, we both tend to learn a lot, them about english and me about patience. My new school is located in Seoul National University area of Seoul and is fairly central to everything that I could want. This is where things begin to pick themselves up and dust them off. Spring is a time of rebirth and this I will hold to be very true. Not because I want it too, but that I need it too. A wiser man that my self once said.."if you will it, it is not a dream". Well I will it.
Just before this transition was a period of intense stress. My last days at wonderland were filled with anger, dissapointment and sad good byes. All of the employees that I was hired with, or that were around when Justin and I arrived had left, and all in the period of 2 days. My last day at wonderland was surrounded by new faces and some of which looked scared shitless about what I called the "transition". There were 3 new Korean teachers and only one foriegner that was hired part time. No one seemed to know about the pay situation and when they caught word, things became uneasy. Two teachers walked out during the middle of the day and I had to teach straight from 9 to 7 on my last day. I can tell you though that the next morning, my coffee tasted a little sweeter than usual. The few days I had off between jobs were spent gathering info for a lawyer and going to the labor board. I also had to get my visa transfered and extended with immigration. In fact the few days off were just as busy dealing with paper work, than they usually were at Wonderland.
I want you to know that I, along with everyone that left that school did more than our fair share of trying to make this school work, but when they owe you a few thousand dollars, and you have no faith left in their ability to pay, there is only one option, and that is to look out for yourself, and get the hell out of dodge. I gave them a month starting in late January to pay me everything they owe me by the end of February or I was going to leave. I gave them this warning and I couldn't back down this time. Well, when the time came I made my move and I am better for it.
This also caused trouble with Yvonne and I. It is near impossible to keep a long distance relationship working and god damn it we tried and we tried hard. I love that girl and still do, but we needed to do what was better for us at that time. I am not going to get into that here, for this is more personal than I care to share and well there are somethings that are best kept between you and you.
Shortly after my parents left I recieved notice that I would have to leave my apartment and move into a smaller joint down the road next to Justin. Now I took this with stride for I was told that the money from the deposit of my place was going to help pay our wages, and well if me moving out was going to help people eat, then who am I to stand in the way of that. I did whine a bit, and won a few pizza's off the deal. After hearing about the my future move, I walked into the managers office and asked for 4 large pizzas for my fellow co workers and myself. Cokes would also be nice I said with a smile. 20 minutes later all us bitter teachers were stuffing our faces on delicious pizza while washing it down with ice cold cokes. I felt a little bit like Andy Dufrane, and it was the best thing to come out of the whole moving process.
My parents arrived a few days before Christmas and It was great to see them. Yvonne had left a few weeks ago and I was feeling a little home sick. They arrived and my spirits rose quickly. I met them at the airport and told them after they just got done with a 15 hour flight that we would have to take a hour and half bus ride to my part of town. They are rugged travelers and have found that I get a lot of that from them, especially on this trip. After we got to Cheolsan (찰 산), spirits were raised and we headed out to the nearest dong dong ju joint for binda dong and dong dong ju. I didn't feel like telling them that there are no chairs in this establishment and I will leave it up to your imagination what that scene was like. My parents arriving after 16.5 hours of traveling to sitting on the floor of tiny Korean establishment. I am sure that nothing I write will be as funny as what you imagine happened, and you are probably 95% right. The next few days we shuttled around Seoul checking the local sights and met many in my personal circle of friends. We spent Christmas with 18 of my friends at the hilton downtown where the food was underwelming, but the company was above average. We then headed out for drinks and my parents made quite an impression on all my friends. This I mean in a good way. I still hear how great they are and how class they were for keeping up with us young folk.
My parents left on first day of 2009. I walked them to the airport bus stop very very very hungover and said goodbye for now. It was great having them here and showing them another part of the world for once, rather than the other way around. I know they enjoyed it, although the food was at times a little much for my mom and my dad never did manage to conquer the use of chopsticks (luckly forks were not too far away).
This is what has happened in a nutshell. I am leaving out details I know, there are stories that were not told, not because I didn't want to tell them, but because I just can't think of them right now. Pictures are coming as well. I am currently without internet and doing all this at an PC Bang (internet cafe). Once I move in there will be a blog dedicated to pictures. I will however now dedicate the next few lines to quick recalls from funny moments in korea.

- Justin and I being called Negros by a very excited Korean man who apparently has never seen a negro.
- Having my picture taken at a internet cafe, and then payed in coke a cola for said picture.
- Shown VHS tapes of a local table tennis owner's previous times of glory running in the boston marathon and around Seoul. I am now seeking guidence from this man in everything ping pong. He has said in broken English, or at least a nod of the head that he will train me in the ways of the paddle.
- Watching 4 irish folk gingerly making there way down the side of a mountain all the while looking like scared little children. I am talking about skiing in this context. Apparently there are not mountains in Ireland and if there are these folk have not been on them.
- Spending the lunar new year with my co worker's entire extended family. It is a lot like thanksgiving back home with more booze i think. At one point the grandma was giving her granddaughter a piggie back ride through the house. I ended up getting far too drunk and showing them my angelic voice in a noribang (kereoke room).
- Telling the owner of Wonderland that "tomorrow" would be my last day, and his rebutle was seeing if I would work mornings for them. I told them..."sorry, I just don't see myself doing that".

In short, my last three months have been one of ups and downs, strikes and gutters, but all of it life in a nut shell.

---

Comments

[saam]

Life sure is crazy. But, when you are 100 years old sittin' on that porch in the rockin chair exchanging stories with family and friends you will look back at this and know that you didnt have any regrets and you seized the day. We miss you here and maybe we'll see you in Korea sometime soon! :) hugs!!!! "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain