a year in review

i started 2006 in tokyo with Brian, Eric and Brent, drinking sake with a few hundred thousand people and throwing coins and rings into a temple for good luck in the early hours of January 1st. in many ways, it's been a great year. not perfect, but i'm smiling.

work
i finished teaching at ECC in August and have since moved on to a public school position. ECC wasn't ideal (i hear laughter across the world) but i did learn a few valuable lessons regarding teaching english and class prep etc. i also found myself throwing my ambitions out the window every few days. they keep coming back, but sometimes i'm too busy having fun. i really enjoy what i do during the day, but after classes, it's not always fulfilling. will keep going for the moment.

home
i've swapped Shihwa for Samcheon-po. there's a joke in Korea that, if you've gone off on a tangent, you've gone to Samcheon-po. how apt is it for me to be here?! anyways, Shihwa isn't my kind of town. dirty, highly polluted, densely populated (for a boy from Christchurch suburbs) and few social options beyond drink, shop, playing golf and dodging porn fliers windswept around the place.
the 'po is very nice, has its own beach and mountains. it's small, and a little isolated, which is a drawback, but i'm hoping spring and summer will bring out the best in the place (apparently late Feb will be warming up!).

i lived with Andy and Brian (teachers from ECC) for most of my time in Shihwa, which was awesome. i didn't realise how good we had it. then Andy was replaced by a relatively scary person (also teaching at ECC) and, short story long, after 3 months, i left the apartment. i packed my bags in the middle of the night and walked out, never to return. in 3 months, i lost a lot of self confidence. his opinion was the only valid one, no compromise, and nothing i said would get thru to him, so i felt pretty helpless. when the abuse came flying, i had two options. when i chose to leave, i felt like a coward, but as regrets go, regretting not having kicked someones teeth in is a pretty good regret to have, i feel. believe me, if i wasn't concerned about placing my job security and work visa status in jeopardy, i could be regretting something very different.

luckily, i moved in with Heidi and Jeanine and we had a great time for the final few weeks of my contract. a slob like me probably wouldn't be the ideal roomy, but we seemed to laugh most nights, or watch prison break. okay, usually both.

a visit home
my contract ended and i visited NZ, mainly family in Christchurch, but i got up to Wellington for a couple of days to visit my friend Andy's resting place. i didn't really know what to say. maybe next time, i'll have a better idea.
when i got back to Chch, my grandfather, at the age of 94, passed away. the timing was a little spooky for both my aunt and me to be in the CITY let alone the country. and a lot of the family got to the funeral. a very Catholic service it was, and a send off i hope he would've enjoyed. my cousin's boy, 5 years old, full of questions, lightened the mood a lot. a pleasant day, and i was thankful to be there.
while i was in NZ, i got my fill of rugby by watching most of the world cup games which we didn't win, as per usual. so my four yearly reopened scar occurred again (as it does for all nz rugby fans). still, there were some entertaining matches to enjoy.

the 'po
the night of the funeral, i was fielding calls from schools in Korea and was offered a position in the south, which i accepted. a few weeks later and i was back in the classroom teaching. it all happened pretty fast.
i swapped classes of 10 at ECC for classes of 35 at Munseon Elementary School, which is quite difficult in some ways, and easy in others. the curriculum is kind of easy to teach and easy to learn for some kids while others don't even know their abc's. it's tough to watch some kids sit there bewildered while the new vocabulary and phrases just keep marching by.
my instinct is to stop everything to make sure all the kids understand before we move on, but that's not necessarily the best move. still struggling with that one.
but the kids are nice, and actually many seem to respect me. scary, isn't it.

Korean
my struggles in this country continue. i've been here over a year and i can't understand a friggin word. i can understand numbers, usually, but my language learning ability here is just useless. it's a bit of a downer really.

some old people here seem to think they can get away with anything. a few weeks ago, i was at the supermarket checkout, paying, and the lady next in line was ramming me in the ribs with her shopping cart. i looked at her and she just drew the cart back to ram me again. i grabbed the cart and told her 'kirarayo', meaning wait. kirayoyo(?). i would've said something a little more polite, but she kept ramming me! anyway, she pointed and yelled and of course i was the one who was stared at. i didn't really understand what was being said, but she was practically spitting her consonants on me. i muttered a few swear words that the younger people around would've understood and finished paying and left.

my shell
since returning to Korea, i've been a bit isolated, and i think i've reveled in it. few foreigners in town, few english speakers at work. over Christmas, i really struggled to be around my friends for a few days. i really wanted my alone time. i owe an apology or two to people whom i've let down.

the year in highlights
- the coins and rings and sake for new years in Tokyo
- hanging out with some cool cool people plus making a friendship or two that drove me to get...
- a new tattoo!! actually, i got two this year, but i got one for Christmas! RAH!
- teaching - i really had a great time teaching kids, playing games etc. maybe not my life's calling, but it's definitely fun for now
- coaching Korean middle schoolers in touch rugby!!! (they need a bit of practice)
- time with my family in September
- READING!!!! i only finished one book in the previous year, but i'm reading again (currently Life of Pi by Martell(?), for which the jury is still out)

not highlights
- Andy's passing
- not making it to his funeral (i'll feel guilty about that for a while)
- being placed in a difficult situation, living and working with a very difficult person - now, i like to think i can learn a thing or two about myself from such challenges, but for now, i'm still struggling. i've been a selfish, self-centered person for a while, and this experience did make me take notice of things i do to others. ugly. damned ugly.
- Shihwa - with apologies to people who like the place, i'm not a fan

future options
- i have the money to travel. i could go tomorrow if i want. and i want. but i'd like more money to do more travel than i want to do. if that makes sense.
- study - i'm quite keen to study some history, photography, geology, education, languages, the list goes on. Asian history is the one that tops the list this month
- continue teaching - yeah, that's probably what i'll do for now
- writing - i'm still writing a few short stories every now and then, and i enjoy them too. wonder if i could supplement my travel by writing a few shorties for publications. should look into it.

topics not addressed
- illnesses - i had a few, but the doctors say i'm okay
- women - i'm questioning whether women are the complicated ones or if i am (okay, probably both)
- injuries - hurt myself skipping rope, but nothing major
- health and fitness - i've let myself slide, but i'm back at the gym, need to diet
- property ownership - bought a couple of toys, things i'd save from a fire but give to a man with a gun. i'm trying to not buy things anymore. cut out the needs from the wants, the fads from the interests. actually, it's working. no great equation, but i'm happier for owning less. i do endorse it.

thanks for reading