Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Wow, it's been over a year since my last post; kind of crazy to think it's been that long. I'm still in Korea, just finishing up my second year soon. It's kind of funny when people ask you how Korea is; there's never a good answer. I mean, it's like asking people back home, "How's the US?" Generally, you talk about the weather or something political that just recently came up. But how do you really sum up a whole place and culture and experience? It's been good, that's about it.

I've been hearing from some random people that have made the trip over that they have seen my blog, so I wanted to at least touch back and try and give a few more updates before the whole wild ride is finished. After this, my girlfriend (whom I met last summer here in Korea, a foreigner from Iowa) and I will be traveling for a bit, then stopping off at home for our sisters' babies to be delivered, and after that, it looks like we've gotten a job in Shanghai (China Trippin'? Dum, dum, duuuuuuuum!).

I wanted to set up an open invitation for anyone that happens by the blog in the next few months; if you want to post any questions, get any more specific information, or even get some photos or such, drop me a comment and I'll get back to you.

One quick note, since I did mention the weather: it be crazy this year! Snowfall in Seoul all winter, and some even got down to Busan. Now it's pretty rainy and dreary; we've had bouts of warm weather, but it invariably drops back down and we break out the winter gear for another week. Spring is coming, but winter's kicking and screaming all the while. The Yellow Dust also made a brief appearance. In case I haven't mentioned it, the dust blown off of the Gobi Desert over in China gets sent as far as Korea. You can see this haze that settles over the city, and it's holy murder on your breathing. One teacher was out most of a week due to a bronchial infection and a severe asthma attack, and my girlfriend caught some nasty cold with a lingering cough that she can't quite shake. I even resorted to buying us a couple of those ever-so-stylish masks that they sell at the pharmacy particularly to stop particulate.

1 comment:

Joey said...

Hey,

A few days ago I decided to apply for teaching jobs in Korea, and was wondering if you had any advice for someone following in your footsteps (potentially). The first place to get back to me was CD Busan but unfortunately it is difficult to get information on them. I did however find your blog on their website. I have a phone interview with them Friday night, but I don't really know much about the program in particular. Anyway, I was hoping I could ask you for some advice- the quality of the program, your experience with it, etc. I don't want to clog up your blog with all these questions in just a single comment box though, so I guess email would perhaps be better? If you don't mind, I'd really appreciate it if you'd email me at jchadwick@wesleyan.edu, so that I could ask you a few things.

Thanks a bunch,

Joey
Future Korea Tripper