Home

Going home after a stint abroad is always interesting, but it seems to get easier with each consecutive trip.  It’s often a bit bewildering, coming from a place where you’re never quite 100% sure what’s going on and arriving in a place where suddenly everything is (for the most part) oddly familiar.

In a lot of ways that’s nice.  As a tall white dude with long hair and a mustache, I stick out in Korea.  No matter where I go here, I’ll always be on display for better or worse.  I can’t tell you how many times a student has come up to me at school and said something along the lines of, “Teacher! I saw you at the store yesterday!”  I’ve come to expect and kind of enjoy the curious stares I get, but it’s still a little unsettling knowing that I’ll always be scrutinized any time I leave my house.

I lose all that when I come home.  I’m once again just another millennial hipster.  I can walk down the street and know that no one is watching me, wondering who I am and what I’m doing there.  It’s refreshing, really.

In other ways, coming home is indeed tough.  I’ve had a year’s worth of exciting and new experiences that I would like to share, but the reality is that most of them will go untold.  Everyday life in Korea simply isn’t relevant or interesting for most people back home.

And I’ve discovered that’s quite alright.

If there’s one thing I took away from this two-week trip back home, it’s that friends and family back home have been living their lives as well; they also have a year’s worth of different and exciting experiences that they’d like to share with me.

When you live abroad, oftentimes a sense of superiority can develop with regards to people back home.  Indeed, our current culture glorifies the whole ‘ditch your corporate job and travel the world’ mindset.  People back home are just sheep following an established order, but not you, adventurous world traveler!  I sometimes fall into this flawed line of thinking; the fact is, it’s hard to not feel at least a little special doing what I do.

But if there’s one thing living abroad has taught me, it’s that there is no right or wrong way to live your life.  People taking that corporate job or not leaving the hometown are living life just the same as me, only the experiences differ.  Thus, while the things I’ve seen and done in Korea are immensely exciting to me, there are also countless other immensely exciting things going on back home in other people’s lives.

Life happens back home just it happens over here.  It took quite a while for me to fully grasp this simple truth, but those past two weeks really carved it in stone for me.

And so, I’m incredibly grateful for the amount of time I’ve been able to spend abroad over my short 25 years thus far, and even more grateful for a supportive family.  It was indeed, a very good vacation!

Happiness?

I had somewhat of an epiphany the other day regarding happiness, and I wrote it down in my journal.  As it was something new to me, I figure I might as well put it here in hopes that it helps someone else out too.  Anyway, here it is:

I’m really quite happy at this point in my life.  I want future me to remember that this is really what happiness is – just being very content with everything happening in your life.  It’s not constant stimulation and excitement, but rather like being in sailboat with a nice, easy breeze, looking about you and enjoying the serenity of the moment.  No doubt, there will be rough patches in my future, and that’s why I write this.  In those future moments, I hope to read this and remember that despite all difficulties going at that time, all it takes to be happy is to just change what can be changed and be content with the rest.  Always seek improvement, but more than that always seek contentment.

Teaching in Korea has brought me lots of free time and isolation (hence, this post haha).  Free time because I get to leave work every day at 4:30 and forget about it, and isolation because I live in a relatively secluded part of town.  When I first arrived here I struggled with that a bit.  I wanted the exciting life of an ESL backpacker/teacher.  After my first semester here, however, I have learned how to appreciate my quiet/distraction-free life I have right now – in other words, I’m content…and happy!!!

Maybe it makes sense to you, maybe it doesn’t.  Either way, I’ll be sending happiness vibes your way!

Happy Sunday and much love,

Gnardaddy

A Week in the Life

I’m coming up on 9 months here, and to celebrate I thought I’d write down what my weekly routine over here has developed into.  Probably not that exciting to read, but it’s always nice to take a moment and reflect on everything going on in one’s life.  I’ve really come to appreciate the lifestyle I have over here, and I guess I hope that by posting this I’ll always be able to come back and remember the day-to-day life I created for myself halfway around the world.

Let’s begin with Monday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

This semester I only have 4 classes on Monday’s, although they are all 2^nd grade middle schoolers, which means sometimes they can be a bit of a struggle.  2 classes before lunch, 2 after lunch.  When I’m not teaching on Monday’s I’ll usually spend time at my desk studying Korean if I’m productive, or trying my best to look busy while exploring the infinite rabbit holes of the internet…lately it’s been more of the latter.

After work on Monday I’ll come home around 4:40 and take a nap until 5:10 (I know, how lucky am I to be able to schedule naps into my day?!).  For a while I was volunteering at a local English-speaking theatre program for kids from 6:00 to 7:00, but that ended recently so now Monday evenings are usually my gaming nights at the PC room.  In bed by 11:00 (hopefully).

And on to Tuesday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Again 4 classes on Tuesday.  Two 1^st grade and two 2^nd grade.  Three in the morning and one in the afternoon.  If there’s lesson planning to do, I’ll start it on Tuesday when I’m not teaching, otherwise it’s pretty much the same as Monday.

Tuesdays after work are a little busy, but I’m still able to get my daily after-school nap in!  From 6:00 to 7:00 I volunteer at the local English-speaking theatre and then from 8:00 to 10:00 I go to a language exchange for some Korean speaking practice.  In bed by 11:00 (hopefully)

And Wednesday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Wednesday is truly hump day this semester.  I have 6 classes, all three grades, three in the morning and three in the afternoon.  I don’t have much down time on Wednesday’s, so any time I do spend at my desk is usually spent trying to figure out the most inconspicuous way to nap while sitting up.

During the summer after work I’d usually go downtown to the city park for skate night with the Ulsan longboarding crew, but it’s been a bit too cold for that lately.  These days I usually just chill at home and study or read.  In bed by 11:00 (hopefully)

And Thursday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Another four-class day.  3 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, all grades.  I’ll usually finish up whatever lesson planning there is during my downtime on this day (if there is any) and then study Korean/browse the web.

Thursday after school is definitely one of my favorite times of the week.  First, I head down to city hall for a Korean language class from 6:00 to 7:00 and then head out to Ulsan university around 8:00 for TTT!  TTT is Thursday, Throwing, Trivia.  This is where a few of us get together and practice Frisbee throwing for a while, and then head to a convenience store/bar (it’s exactly what it sounds like) for drinks and phone trivia games.  This little Thursday ritual is probably one of the things I’ve come to love most about my time here.

And FFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRIIIIIIIDDDDDDAAAAAAYYYYYYY

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Fridays are my favorite days for teaching. Four classes again, two in the morning, two in the afternoon, but they’re all 3^rd grade students!  I really enjoy teaching the 3^rd graders at my school because, despite all the constant studying and tests they have, they still show up to my class excited and well-behaved – much more than I can say for myself at that age.  I’m very grateful for this.  It’s pretty hard to do much of anything productive at my desk on Friday’s, but I have been practicing a Latin dance routine in the afternoons with the other 3^rd grade teachers for a performance we’ll be doing at the end of the semester… that should be interesting!

Friday after school varies.  During the Frisbee season, I try to stay in since Saturday and Sunday tend to be filled with lots of partying and running around.  Otherwise I might go into town for some drinks with friends.

Saturday is always different, but generally consists of either Frisbee tournaments or hiking…and sometimes beer and soju.

Sunday is well, Sunday – usually a day of chilling at home.  If I’m feeling motivated I’ll do another Korean lesson, otherwise I miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight be nursing a wee-bit of a hangover.  Oh yeah, there’s also trivia night every other Sunday, which is always a nice way to cap off the weekend.

So… yeah, that’s it.  Again, not that exciting, but I’ve really come to enjoy what I’m doing here.  I have copious amounts of free time to focus on things that I want to do over here, and I really appreciate that. 

If you made it this far, congrats and thanks for reading!  I wish I could give you a cookie or something…

Much love,

Gnardaddy