Thursday, July 25, 2013

Everyone is on Vacation But Me :(

Hagwon's and public schools all start vacations this week and so the majority of my friends here in Korea are off to Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan etc. Not me though.

The advantages of Moonkkang vacation is that there is more vacation time and you can book it. However, it means that I am working when everyone else of on holiday.

Not that I am that upset, I have 2 weeks off in October, but my next week should be quiet until Friday, when Bobby comes down. He got back this week after four months in the US and travelling.

Anyway, a quiet week might be nice.

Paper Done

My first paper for school is done and sent off. It is due Wednesday but since it is done I figured I would just fire it off.

I think it is good, though not my best. The learning curve was intense as was the amount of research. I feel like this paper is going for a pass and a better understanding of how to get an 'A' paper.

Now all I need to do is finish my students report cards and I can enjoy a month of relaxing, reading, watching baseball and not studying.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Feb. 2015

Ok, it's a year and a half off, but barring something ridiculous like some $70,000 a year job it is when I will leave Korea.

My dissertation starts in February and I want to be able to focus on that. I have a few options when I leave. Go somewhere like Taiwan, the Philippines or Cambodia, work p/t and write/research. Go back to Canada and work and write or a third location like the Middle east to work.

Those options are also the order I am considering them. I can make more than enough to sustain myself in a place like Thailand working 3 days a week. Taiwan offers p/t work but often wants year commitments. I can rent an apartment in Cebu city or Phnom Penh for $200/m and the length of my visa is determined by the size of the bribe I wish to offer (at least in Cambodia).

Canada is an option but I would need to secure work first, plus being that it'll be late Jan/early Feb a choice between SE Asia and Canada seems easy. However Canada is a good long term bet (like a job in Vancouver or Toronto = a career). But for now at least, this living in Asia thing is fun. Not sure I'll be ready to give it up that soon.


My other reason is that I have been here too long. Not because Korea is notorious for 1-2 year expats (cause in Taiwan the average expat is 6 years apparently and Japan is 4) or because the work isn't good, but it is getting played out. It no longer feels like an exotic place. Daegu is just where I live now and if that is the case better to go back to Canada. The long term expats here are either married and working at a university or own their own business (which is great but not what I want to do) or they are washed up. Feb 2015 will have me here a bit over six years, which is long enough.

Anyway, it's in print now.

Korea: The Future as Imagined in Blade Runner

this is also true of Japan and to a lesser extent Taiwan and Hong Kong.

There is this image in the world that Asia is ultra-modern, at least northeast Asia. Bullet trains, neon lights and robots. The thing is that it is all true. Imagine Harrison Ford in Blade Runner in 1982. Trains moving 300kph, cars that talk to you and take you where you want to go automatically (not totally dissimilar from talking  GPS), neon lights everywhere, men with crazy fashion that often look more like women then men, miles of huge skyscrapers, strange electronic music blasting everywhere. Thing is is that is Korea, or at least Seoul.

But then there's the stuff that reminds you that it was made in 1982. Harrison Ford has a wristwatch, he needs to get a fax from his boss cause apparently email was discarded, using computers is difficult and ultimately an inconvenience, people use nothing but cash, computer games look ten years old rather than futuristic. I'll add the fact that most Koreans still use Internet Explorer and you have Korea as well.

Notice I made it through without a single clone joke.


Sunday, July 7, 2013

No I Haven't Stopped My Blog

I have just been busy.

School paper writing is on me and I average 2-3 hours a day reading and writing. I am almost done now but for a couple of weeks it was hard work. Add to that a Busan trip and a busy weekend this weekend and suddenly there is not a lot of time left over for blogging.

The good news is that my paper is almost done and I'll send it off for review this week. I'll then clean it up and submit it, but the majority is done.

Hopefully more blogs and stories this summer.