The Comeback (Vacation Time and Thanks to Korea)

I like how I look here, despite the beer in hand. 

Tomorrow I fly back to the US to spend a month revisiting family and friends before starting the new semester in March. It’s become a cliché statement for people to casually throw around thoughts and surprise on how fast the year has passed by. It always seems to come crawling to back to people, as they look back fondly at the year that has quickly passed them by, so many happy memories like the chapters from a book read long ago.

I can’t speak for those who had a rough year, for those who endured a year of grueling cultural differences and hardships that didn’t equal the long venture from their country of origin. I know quite a few people like this and for them, I feel sorry. Life has a tendency to be a real bastard sometimes and giving someone a difficult time in a foreign country is a cruel fate to subject a person for a year.

Luckily, my experiences have been incredibly positive in Korea. Sometimes it seems that your attitude is instrumental in determining how you will respond to differences and challenges, and that a positive attitude triumphs over all eventually. If anything, a year working overseas has helped to change my attitude towards many things in life, gaining new perspectives and depth on all aspects of life. A year working overseas has made me realize that in the end, no matter where we come from, we all want the same thing.

We all want to be happy and healthy. We want success for our family and friends. We want to wake up every day with a sense of purpose, asking ourselves “What are going to do today?” rather than “Why am I waking up today?”

We all want fulfilling experiences. People always have a way to fall into the trap of becoming set on a routine, choosing the ordinary and safe route to achieve goals and make their way through life.  Many of us yearn to break out of our daily grind, to do something different and exciting, to prove to themselves that their life is more than a factory assembly line.

I understand that for some, the daily grind can be difficult to stop or alter, especially when others depend on their routine for survival and support. That is why I appreciate the opportunities constantly presented to me. For I have an advantage others do not: I have age and time on my side to branch out and explore. To truly take chances in my life and test just what I can and cannot do.

I’ve meet wonderful people I can’t imagine being without. I’ve traveled to places I previously only read about, never once thinking that I would be able to witness their intricate beauty and majesty, putting even the most high resolution photos to shame. 

There are times to act silly and times to be serious. This was a  hybrid of both. 

Going home and marking my one year anniversary of working abroad stands for much more than a relaxing vacation and reuniting with friends. It stands as a timestamp on my memories for a point in my life that served to create an incredible year. It stands as a place in time where I was able to shrug away the restrictions and routines that we can so quickly become accustomed to.

That’s not to say this isn’t possible anywhere but Korea. Whether you go to a town just outside your own or the deserts of the Mojave, a new location with new faces always helps to invigorate your life again. A cleansing of the soul and chance to start over, to forget the vices and missteps of the past and strive to become a better person. To achieve the person we all dream of being, but some never seem to make. It could have happened anywhere, but Korea just happens to be the country I ended up in, and therefore making it a place that will never be forgotten in my mind.

There are too many people to thank, and not enough gratitude to express in these short paragraphs. I hope a simple thank you will suffice.

Thank you Korea for providing me with the life experiences I will never forget. Thank you to the people who have entered and stuck around in my life. Thank you to my co workers and those willing to help me with my first awkward steps.

I didn’t do things perfectly, and made plenty of mistakes. I didn’t get to say my goodbyes to all the people I wanted to. I didn’t get to travel to all the places I wished to, nor did I always take advantage of situations presented to me. However, that’s the great thing about vacations with old friends and family, time to think and process. Time to improve for the future.

I will enjoy seeing old friends and family, but I am always anxiously looking forward to the future, for even better days than those I have had and preparing for the times where it can possibly get worse.

I dream of tomorrow, an even better year. An even happier year.

Ended the last night of the old year singing and being merry. Bring on 2013!

Parties are a reminder to have fun

I rarely stay out all night with people. I usually become bored or tired by the time the 1 AM mark comes around, wanting more than anything to go home to my quiet apartment rather than spend another minute in some smokey bar where obnoxious, loud music would be my only lullaby for the night. I'm picky like that with my socialization, it has to be the right people and the right place in order for me to feel comfortable and able to forget the hours passing rather than count them down until the first train back home. Maybe it's because I'm getting older. Maybe it's because I'm selfish and a bad friend. Maybe I just hate partying. The answers and their solutions could be endless, more than I have the time to investigate or care about.

Last Saturday was a special day, the birthday celebration of one of my friends, one of the first English teachers I met last year, and fellow film enthusiast. From the very beginning it was clear that her party was not intended to be an ordinary gathering of friends, booze and headaches in the morning. There would be plenty of that, but she wanted the party to be something special. Something that not only celebrated her day of entrance into our world, but also her favorite past time as well: the celebration of film and the moving picture.

Together with a few other friends, we planned her party and the details behind it. She wanted it to be a costume party, a party where guests came to dinner in costume, character or both and enjoyed each other's personalities come alive. After having her friends vote on each person and their respective character, we had time to assemble our costumes and characters before the party. Out of all the people, I was picked to be Christopher Walken. Personally, I would have loved to have been Harold Raimas from Ghostbusters, but if people wanted me to be The Walken, than damn it, I was Walken for a night.

Once the day came, we gathered at a restaurant large enough to fit a sizable group of people and not too long after the final guest showed up, the rediculousness began. I sat next to Aaron Johnson from Kick Ass, a shy introverted young man who dreamed of becoming a super hero. Across from me sat The Dude from the Big Lebowski, calm and laid back as in the movie, not quite understanding why Erin Brockovich was getting so upset next to him.

Velma from Scooby Doo was there and not too far from her was Michael Cera from Superbad looking as awkward and personality-less as ever. His girlfriend, Rosemary from Rosemary's Baby looked to be in good spirits despite having a (fake) demon baby growing inside of her. At the head of the table, sat the birthday girl herself: Penelope Cruz from the film Vicky, Christina Barcelona. Full of spite about her failed relationships and her apparent lack of not existing, her bitter and spiteful personality was on full display, taking any opportunity to insult and belittle guests who dared to speak to her. As for myself, I acted as cool as I could because, Walken, as we all know, is always cool.

After the weird rogue's gallery of assorted movie characters finished their meal, we made our way from the restaurant to go from club to club until we found a suitable spot. Luckily, the weather was not too cold, making the trek from place to place pleasant and all the more jovial since we were in good company. 

The city of Daegu was one of my favorite metropolitan cities in Korea for its clean streets and the close proximity of small shops and restaurants. It was often difficult to navigate around the city due to the building's close proximity and lack of decipherable landmarks, however this just added to its charm. It was a small maze of bright lights and little coffee shops filled with people walking everywhere. In Seoul, you could often feel trapped by the massive concrete pillars looming over you. Here, It felt like a leisurely downtown stroll.

We finally settled on a small night club called Jeep. It was tiny, dark and smelled like a ash tray that should have been thrown out years ago. The music they played ranged from bad pop to enjoyable beats. The song choices and atmosphere mattered little as we started to dance not long after settling in. Good and bad songs. Hip hop and hits from yesterday. We danced and danced until the early dawn and the first train prepared to leave the city. It was exhausting. It filled out lungs with smoke and our bodies with alcohol, but we didn't mind. Everyone was laughing and dancing. They didn't care about any of this. We were with each other, the ones we spent the most time with, the ones we came to when we were in trouble and the ones we relied on whether we wanted to admit it or not.

As I rode the long train home, I talked to one of my friends sitting next to me about a topic that I had no real knowledge in, nor anything useful to contribute. I simply wanted to keep talking, to enjoy the positive energy and make the party last a little longer.

I was reminded about a lot that night. I remembered how the right people can always make an event fun, and sometimes even more fun than it initially seems. I reminded myself to enjoy these moments and remember them, for like all things in life they pass along too quickly. I also reconfirmed that I was a horrible dancer. I don't know how to dance at clubs. I will probably never learn and don't really want to. My friends danced like they didn't care who was watching and despite some curious onlookers who eventually joined us, they weren't there to show off or look good in front of a crowd, they wanted to dance.

So they danced.  

No one uploaded pictures from the party yet, so here is a birthday cake. Yep. Delicious birthday cake. 

2013 Will Be Awesome

It's been too long. It's been too long since I've updated this. It feels awful. There's that weird balance of not knowing what you want to write, and therefore not writing anything and feeling bad that you haven't written in so long, that you have to write something, anything to make sure you completely don't loose your sensation of writing.

It's hard to tell where I'm at now, a lot has happened to me, a lot of good things during the last few days of the old year and the early beginning of the new one. In less than a few months I will be going home for a month to see friends and family again. I have re-signed my contract and agreed to stay on for another year. I've officially survived one year, and it feels pretty great.

My thinking and priorities have changed during the past few months. Things like living on your own and the expenses that come with them take on a bigger significance in your life. Not to say that the living expenses in Korea are terrible, far, far from it in fact. Rather its the knowledge that the amount of money I will have to spend when returning back to the states that has my concern. Suddenly the things that English teachers in Korea take for granted like apartment rent, auto insurance and gas prices become a very real prospect. Living on your own is expensive.

As someone once told me: "Kyle,  you have to pay for water."

For most people having high paying job with little expenses is usually an excuse to forget about this, for me however, it is only a reminder of what one day will come.

Another thing that has changed is my own view of living and companionship. I used to not mind being alone. In fact, I enjoyed being alone more than I would have probably liked to admit. I didn't use these feelings to be a recluse however, I often would take the time to socialize and engage with the outside world, but in the end enjoyed the peaceful serenity of an empty apartment at the end of the day. I liked the empty silence and cold emptiness to be a soothing reminder that my thoughts and my worries were my own, hidden away from the outside world separated by only my door and a reassuring smile. 

Things changed drastically once I started dating in Korea. Where I had once appreciated solitary living, a few visits and weekend stays have changed my mind. I still appreciate the silence, but I notice the unpleasantries of being alone more than before. The nights seem a little colder. The echos of my walls a little too loud and quiet drip of water from my sink a little too monotonous. I was missing her more than before despite now only being a few hours away. We were talking more about our lives and dreams. We were sharing things about ourselves that we very rarely told anyone. It's a connection that I never felt before, but hoping will last forever. It's a good feeling to be with someone, to know that you're not doing things alone and that at the end of the day, can have someone to come back to to share all of the triumphs and help you forget the defeats.

Even my work schedule has changed from its normal 9 to 5 work day, now only lasting from 2 PM to 5 PM. It's a weird change to get used to. The day always feels incomplete, like my priorities shift to the middle for a few hours, with the rest of the day spent with ample amounts of time and me not being sure what I want to do with them. Until my schedule goes back to normal, I need to make sure that this newly acquired free time does not go to waste. Things like Korean class and writing need to be the main objectives.

For 2013 a lot has changed, more than I have written here and more than I currently have the ability to adequately express. In time they, like all thoughts, will be met with solutions or disappear to the back of my mind like so many other random thoughts lost to obscurity.

Like every year before it, and like every year ahead, I hope 2013 will be a great year. I am eternally optimistic that every year will be a good one, even if its incrementally. Inch by inch and day by day. 

*I visited Jikjisa Temple early in the year and saw it was populated by tons of snow people> Like this cold chap here, I'm approaching the new year with a smile.