Saturday, April 24, 2010

Last Korean Post!

After spending some time at a friends home, I came home and was rummaging through a suitcase to find some cards friends had given me before I came to Korea. In the farewell card my former coworkers gave me someone had written "don't forget to update your blog" which got me to thinking it had been a while. I've been meaning to write but have just been unable to either because of writer's block or being busy, so I am making an effort to write a little update for you guys. With that said, I've decided to write just a little about my current status and let you in on "Everything Chris".

So as some of you may or may not know, I am leaving the Republic of Korea in some 3 weeks (change that to some 4 days, started writing this a couple weeks ago). My impending departure has brought on various feelings. First of all, I'm excited as I'm planning on taking some time off to travel a bit. So finishing contract equals new and more exciting travels. Hooray! Currently, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and Sumatra are on the itinerary but the rest of the trip is still to be decided. Possible sites include Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Coupled with the excitement travels, my excitement has been multiplied by the idea of moving towards something more aligned with what I want to be doing with my life. Don't get me wrong, I have had lots of great times here in Korea, lots of good memories, but at the end of the day, being a baby-sitter to Korean kids just doesn't seem like the career choice for me. For those that read my "what am I doing with my life" post in November, just to update, nothing concrete after Southeast Asia trip has been planned. I am still looking at universities overseas and also looking at possibilities in the stateside. I think if one were to put a gun to my head now and say pick and make some decisions, tyler durden style in "fight club", then I would be in some masters program in a spanish speaking country come autumn of 2010. With that said, my bank account just threw up in its mouth.

Sandwiched with the high is the sadness of leaving Korea. In the past 18 months or so, I've come to love lots of things about Korea. For one, I've met lots of great people, both Korean and foreigners, here. Furthermore, I've gotten accustomed to a lot of things Korean and it will definitely a bit reverse culture shock going wherever I go. Eating with forks again? No kimchi with my meals? Not being able to walk/ride a bus to everywhere? What am I to do? It saddens me even more to think of all the marvelous people I will be leaving as I go off to new things. I've met so many fine people in my stay here and I honestly can say that without them I may have been lying face down in a ditch somewhere. Or maybe, because of them I did end up lying face down in a ditch somewhere. Anyway you slice, all of my Ulsan people (if you're reading this and have spent time in Ulsan while I was here, this means you) thank you for the good times and memories.

Lastly, the preparation for my exit from Korea and the uncertainty that follows has brought on a load of stress that would trouble even an air traffic controller, or so I make it to seem. In true Chris fashion, I have left as much as possible to the last week just to make my life even more fun. Even this post was started 3 weeks ago and is now being finished days before I'm supposed to leave. I am that awesome! I will say that I have been trying to enjoy my last days with friends as much as possible. Ok, that's an excuse for me being lazy, you got me. Anyways, I'm now sitting in my half clean apartment (which means dirty for normal people) thinking how I am going to finish everything before I'm supposed to be leaving. One of these days I will learn.

Ok, so to sum up, I'm still as crazy as I ever was, still as unsure about things going forward, and still trying to maximize the fun quadrant. That is all for now, will catch up soon.....maybe...

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