Since it has been a very long time between my last blog post about what I have been up to and now, I felt it was time to make a brief update on my life.

Where to begin…

• First, I’m still living in Busan and loving it! Although at some point and I don’t know when, I have become so accustomed to the culture, language, and differences that most of the time I don’t notice that I live in a different country than where I’m from anymore.  It is very strange and interesting when I reminisce on what it was like for me here upon my arrival and compare it to now.
• Second, I’m still dating and living with the wonderful YeYe. Everything is mind-blowingly great there. She is beautiful, has a great sense of humor, puts up with my nuisances and nuances, etc… the list goes on.
• Third, I am still working at the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. teaching English to people who are far smarter than I am. The job began as a dream and has morphed into something much less than that. I’m sure lot’s will be blogged about this later.
• Fourth, still have wanderlust and all signs point to that not going away anytime soon. So expect me to stay on the road for a fair amount of time (although I do miss the peoples back home and In & Out Burger).
• Finally, it has also reached that time of year when the people you have become friends with in Korea start leaving in troves for other shores. Just part of the cycle here in Korea…but it is not one I’m too fond of. Already saw Tyler go (see here when he first arrived) and this week Megan leaves too.

Anyways, much to catch the intarwebs up on and much more to blog about in the future. Including my birthday this weekend and an impending trip to Shanghai/Beijing, China towards the end of the month. Let’s just hope I don’t drop the blogging ball so to speak with all this activity.

Cheers!

So recently I have taken a new job here in Korea. Which means my journey here is being extended by at least another year. I recently took a job with the Korean Hydro & Nuclear Power Company which I’m quiet excited for. So Ryan teacher will go from teaching elementary students to teaching nuclear engineers that most likely far out stripe me in the intellectual realm, which I think will be awesome! So far the job seems to have many awesome perks: good salary, good people (get to work with my friend Murry and my new boss Sunny seems pretty legit), cool working environment (well at least a different one from the norms here in Korea), and just a change of pace (which is good for my sanity). There are two draw backs which aren’t bad just need time to adjust; first being an early morning schedule and second being a commute with an early morning schedule. That will be okay though because Murry and I just got a car together (“you know how I know your gay” jokes are bound to ensue).

Also I recently have moved into a new place in Jangsan with YeYe. It’s a groovy little loft on the 12 floor of a much nicer building than the last one that I lived in. So far things have been great although I’m lacking on certain key items of furniture and kitchen supplies (i.e. plates and silverware…probably could purloin some silverware from local eateries though). Everything seems to be setting up super nicely for an amazing year! Now the next step is just to save copious amounts of capital to fund my round the world excursion!

Since I have been in Korea for about…340 or so days now, I have fallen into some routines. One particular routine is my walk from my apartment to the subway/work (they are in the same spot) that I repeat multiple times a day. I know it sounds mundane but I think it is something that I will most likely never forget.

So let’s begin with right after I lock my front door. I look left out the window at the end of the hallway to check the weather (i.e. rain, sun, etc…). Then I take the stairs, since I refuse to take an elevator for 3 floors. As I leave the stairwell I check to see if I have any new mail and then check out the massage chair store to see if the stoic lady who runs the shop to see if she registers me passing by; I walk by that shop everyday and I don’t think she has once looked up to see who is passing by her windows which always struck me as odd. Next, I take a left past the the LG shop and give a casual nod to the guys who have to stand outside and solicit business from the pedestrians, being the first of the many hellos or annyeong haseyos I deliver along my walk. There has been a few times when I changed this up in the case of the guy who really enthusiastically wanted to speak english every time I passed, or the girl who would never smile when I said hello so I slowly escalated the energy of my hellos till I made her smile finally crack.

After that, I pass by an art gallery that shows some absolutely exquisite art. This art gallery seems to have everything from traditional Korean art, to more European styles, then on to styles which are enjoyable but I lack the sophistication in my art knowledge to know how to articulately describe. There has been more times than I can count on both hands that the passing glance I give into the store has resulted in a momentary stall in proceeding to my destination to admire some new piece the gallery has moved in. That brings me to the last point about this gallery; it must be the most successful gallery in Busan by the rate it moves art through its doors. The art in the gallery seems to be rotated out weekly or at least biweekly, which just strikes me as an incredible pace for anything art related (I tend to think the world of art dealing is a slow, careful, and calculated sort of business and not something that would move that fast).

Next, I say hello to an older Korean man that I have dubbed the Happy Ajoshi (ajoshi being the Korean word for older man). This is a man that regardless of the day, weather, or fact that he works from well before sunrise to late after sunset 365 days a year running his little mart seems to be indelibly happy. It may be that he just enjoys his life in that mart that much or the fact that I have seen him cracking open the makkoli at 11am, but I am always thankful for that happy smiling old man face and his “bongawayo”s I receive from him everyday. Something about knowing that no matter what mood I am in when walking down the street I will at one point be greeted by his smiling face seems to always shine a little light on any gloom I’m feeling. On an interesting side note, I once had to go to his shop to by some garlic for some fettuccine alfredo I was making only to find myself stumbling out of his store an hour later after sharing two bottles of makkoli with him.

After parting ways with the Happy Ajoshi, I get to dish out my last regular annyeong haseyo of my normal walk. The last is an ajumma (Korean for older women) that makes these black bean paste filled pastries that are shaped like fish in a street vendor stall she sets up on the corner of an alleyway. She watches me walk back and forth on my walk sometimes up to 8 times a day depending on my days errands; always greeting me with a nod, a smile, or a simple hello in what must be one of the raspiest smokers voices I have ever heard. Sometimes I almost feel embarrassment at what she must be thinking because of how many times I walk by a day, at least it seems to give her a laugh.

The little things such as my walk to work or the subway and the many hellos I pass out to people I see or places that I look at that seem to be some of the most memorable. Slowly my little walk has become something that I look forward to almost everyday even though it is so mundane to think about. It is nice to find such a routine so enjoyable since I so regularly find routines to be tedious and mind numbing. Stole the idea for posting my morning walk from my buddy Heath.