Life since then

I figured I would conclude or possibly continue the blog with how my thoughts and life have changed since finishing the 1 year teaching and returning to the states.

In about May of 2009, near the end of my stay in Korea, I decided to not renew my contract and return to the US. I was tired of the kids' misbehavior and felt like my efforts weren't making a difference. I still felt like an outsider, despite being able to speak Korean. It was frustrating.

But, at the same time, I had found some peace of mind while walking the streets in the evenings after work. I enjoyed the simplicity. I had few bills, sufficient income, no worries.

But, I went back to the states and completed part of a master's degree program in biomedical science. It was great, at first, and I did well, 4.0 first semester. But in the second semester I felt like I was just doing busywork, being forced into a mold. I didn't fit into the system, and I dropped out. Everyone else thought dropping out was a bad idea, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much.

After that, I worked for a while for the USDA helping preserve various crop seeds. I applied for full-time jobs and finally found one doing tech support in New Jersey for Thorlabs, an optics company. That is where I am now. I feel pretty comfortable in this environment(I was always better at physics and math anyway), but again I find myself thinking about going back to Korea. I still study Korean diligently in my free time. But, I don't know what lies ahead.

Seoul and Moak-San

Last Tuesday I took a bus to Incheon airport to meet Bobby. I had no school the next day, so we stayed in a cool guest house near Hongik-De in Seoul that night and spent Wednesday walking around. Since then we have been in Jeonju and climbed Moak mountian today.

Bike ride videos

Bike ride pictures

I was feeling better today so I took a bike ride north from Jeonju to Samnye. Much of the trip was along a river bank. In an area just past a small dam in the river I came across a group of blue herons. I counted 19 and there were surely more out of view. These were all taken with my old camera but they came out well.

Bought a bike.. shouldn't have since I'm not going to be here for very much longer but I kind of need it during the week and want it to ride outside the city on weekends. Hard to imagine, but this is my FOURTH bike. My first bike got stolen, and the next two were bad quality getting flat tires almost immediately, so I decided to just spend the $150 to get one that wont get break or get a flat. It is basically the same model as my first bike but with one more gear for going up hills.