2015

I am sitting around in Saigon trying to sum up 2015. It was one hell of a year.

I spent nine months working at Moonkkang and doing my MA, which I finally finished and graduated with merit in September. I was very happy to be done with it but also very happy that I did it. It was a neat experience.

(I started this in Jan, edited it, and finished it in July)

2015 was a solid year, though 2016 is the year where I will finally say goodbye to my life in Daegu, and begin working for a Canadian company, which is sending me to China. Yen and I will be back together after long periods of time apart. I am very ready for that.

As to 2015. It was certainly not as good as 2014 (probably my best year in Daegu). I really felt the need to leave Daegu, and get a job that had some prospect of advancement and personal fulfillment. School dominated my time and finances. That being said, it was a very successful year. I graduated with merit (like a B+ I guess? Top 25%) and got my CELTA teachers license (I really should have done that the other way around, but oh well). The MA experience was one of the best things I have ever done, meeting Jon along the way and learning a lot, and later meeting Tobe and getting Will in to it. It has provided and strengthened friendships, and given me many opportunities for professional development. My CELTA experience was definitely more mixed, but looking back six months later it was certainly worth it. I use a lot of what I learned there every day, and more than a few of their methods work very well. It is absolutely worth doing. I also met more than a few amazing people while doing it. That being said, when I think about how many people consider the CELTA to be the only real course of value, the sole determiner of success and professional development (or even a major one), and doing it as a major accomplishment, I do cringe.

Yen and I got to travel up Vietnam, which was a lot of fun for both of us. I also got to see Cebu city, where I talk frequently about buying property and working. I can't see myself affording Qualicum in BC anytime soon, so perhaps Qualicum in SE Asia will do. I also snuck off to Tokyo with Bobby, which was a lot of fun. What an amazing city Tokyo is.

It is also the year I said goodbye to Korea. These few months here have been almost awkward. You know that feeling when you say goodbye to someone you won't see again for a while, and then you realize you are waiting at the same place or going the same way. It is almost awkward. That is how my time here sometimes feels. 2015 was when I said goodbye to the city that has been my home for over six years.