"And someone else instead of me seems to know the way."
Lovely Day, by Bill Withers
In just about four weeks I'll be flying back into Florida. The mere thought of being on U.S. soil again makes my sanity happy. I'm going to stock up on deodorant, and powdered gravy, and Oxycontin. Isn't that what the American dream is all about?
Until next time...
Lovely Day, by Bill Withers
There was a time...a long time ago...when the internet didn't exist. When computers were the size of a car. When the iPod was but a mere concept in someone's mind.
My students' eyes were wide and curious as they imagined this world so contrastive to theirs.
"What did they do for fun?" one of them asked me.
Fun? The sky was dark and the earth barren. Nothing was ever fun. This was life or death. It was a time when only the strong and white people survived. This was the 1980's. There were, like, 4 Koreans in America back then.
A collective ooh echoed my tiny and frigid classroom. I looked around at my students, with their hair a muss and eyes blood shot from hours of playing video games. "You boys couldn't survive one whole day without Star Craft, or CyWorld (Korea's Facebook), or water," I speculated. One defended this seclusive lifestyle to Korea's conservative social upbringing. His parents believe it's better he involve himself in computers than outside wreaking havoc on old people.
Whatever my job is, my main goal at this point is to get my students to want to travel and get them out of this internet-dominated culture that Korea's young generation is glorifying. My Global class actually spent a few months in the Philippines and came back with a strong desire to journey outside of Korea AND learn English!
Sunset to Nighttime look at the city I call home: Busan. Note the mesmerizing full moon.
As for me, I still want to travel. I recently applied to work for the Embassy in Australia, but found out today that getting the proper working VISA would take quite awhile and they are in need to fill the position stat. I'm just very happy that they even looked at my application. Though I didn't get the job, it's encouraged me to try even harder next time. It really does look like my options are down to continue teaching in Korea OR go back to the U.S. and apply for Grad school. The latter continues to haunt my sleep.
This past week has been like hell. Well, opposite of hell, actually. The weather has been so cold that it actually made history this past Sunday for being the coldest day since 1915. I've had a couple of friends come over to use my shower, because their pipes in their apartment buildings were frozen. The stray cats have also been more vocal than usual due to the freezing temps. Especially this one cat that struts around with a meow that sort of sounds like "Pao...Pao...Pao...". Like, it's calling my name or something. I ran into it one day when I was throwing out my trash, and it's this fat, black cat. It took a lot for me not to scream "You're freaking me out, mannn!"
My students' eyes were wide and curious as they imagined this world so contrastive to theirs.
"What did they do for fun?" one of them asked me.
Fun? The sky was dark and the earth barren. Nothing was ever fun. This was life or death. It was a time when only the strong and white people survived. This was the 1980's. There were, like, 4 Koreans in America back then.
A collective ooh echoed my tiny and frigid classroom. I looked around at my students, with their hair a muss and eyes blood shot from hours of playing video games. "You boys couldn't survive one whole day without Star Craft, or CyWorld (Korea's Facebook), or water," I speculated. One defended this seclusive lifestyle to Korea's conservative social upbringing. His parents believe it's better he involve himself in computers than outside wreaking havoc on old people.
Whatever my job is, my main goal at this point is to get my students to want to travel and get them out of this internet-dominated culture that Korea's young generation is glorifying. My Global class actually spent a few months in the Philippines and came back with a strong desire to journey outside of Korea AND learn English!
Sunset to Nighttime look at the city I call home: Busan. Note the mesmerizing full moon.
As for me, I still want to travel. I recently applied to work for the Embassy in Australia, but found out today that getting the proper working VISA would take quite awhile and they are in need to fill the position stat. I'm just very happy that they even looked at my application. Though I didn't get the job, it's encouraged me to try even harder next time. It really does look like my options are down to continue teaching in Korea OR go back to the U.S. and apply for Grad school. The latter continues to haunt my sleep.
This past week has been like hell. Well, opposite of hell, actually. The weather has been so cold that it actually made history this past Sunday for being the coldest day since 1915. I've had a couple of friends come over to use my shower, because their pipes in their apartment buildings were frozen. The stray cats have also been more vocal than usual due to the freezing temps. Especially this one cat that struts around with a meow that sort of sounds like "Pao...Pao...Pao...". Like, it's calling my name or something. I ran into it one day when I was throwing out my trash, and it's this fat, black cat. It took a lot for me not to scream "You're freaking me out, mannn!"
I really like this shot. It has a very Perry Mason look about it. The shadowy figure walking down the steps really makes this picture.
In just about four weeks I'll be flying back into Florida. The mere thought of being on U.S. soil again makes my sanity happy. I'm going to stock up on deodorant, and powdered gravy, and Oxycontin. Isn't that what the American dream is all about?
Until next time...
4 comments:
Glorious pictures, even though some of them remind of that song "Singing in the Rain" with all the hanging on lampposts and whatnot. Aw! Yay! You'll be stateside again! If I were free like you, I'd travel the world. I will be soon. One more year...I wish I was fearless like you are. I miss you buddy! Hope you're doing good.
Yo Paolo! What's new in the fight between the Koreas?? You still in one piece SO.! No I'm joking but its good to see you still want to travel. I'll catch up to you one of these days. Nice night pictures of Korea. Must be so peaceful to live there. Peace man!
Where'd you take those pictures of Busan? Were you on top of Busan Tower?
I'll be back in FL on Feb 22nd!
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