Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

I�ve finished all the goodbyes and all the packing that I�m going to do. The stuff that will be left behind has been hauled down to the dump at the end of the complex and the stuff that I�ll take with me has been sorted and is ready to go. The movers will be here in the morning, between 7 and 8. They�ll do the real packing and carrying. At least they had better because that�s what I�m forking over W900,000 for. I�ve paid the gas and water bill, the electric bill and the apt management fee. I�ve arranged for KT to transfer my phone number and computer account to the new place. I�ve done all the outside stuff that I know to do.

I know starting over is an illusion. I�ve learned that the hard way. We never can start over. It�s all just a continuation of the same journey, but with all the baggage moved to a new location. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to start over, but if I could it wouldn�t be �me� and if it isn�t me, then it isn�t starting over. As someone I know says, �Oh, well.�

We all came to a new country, not knowing anyone, not knowing the language, the customs, not much of anything but maybe the location of a dot on a map, and we all (I think) thought about a new start. A chance to try to do it better than it was where we left. Sometimes luck is with us and it does turn out better. Sometimes it just isn�t and we pick up and try again.

I think there is always some kind of regret about leaving a place, even if I hated it. I didn�t go �there� in the beginning in order to hate it. It just worked out that way. I wonder why it worked out that way. It could have been different. How much of it was me and how much of it were things beyond my control? How much of my reactions to it were carry-overs from some place before?

Oh, well.

Tomorrow morning one chapter closes. Four months of intense stress following eight months of growing stress will end. Another kind of stress begins: find the good restaurants, the good stores, the quiet spots out in the country away from the hassles, the good people to spend time with.

I don�t usually have real regrets. I always try to do what I think is the right thing for me at the time, so I don�t regret what turns out to have been �mistakes�. They are just �less pleasant experiences�. This past year has been a �less pleasant experience�. There was the potential for it to have been good. It wasn�t. I see the leeway for some harder effort on my part to make a bigger impact on what happens to me. I will try in the coming year to focus on those. Other, unanticipated things will happen. I just hope I am not so focused on what happened before that I miss the chance to deal with the new things in a more constructive way.

This is the time of year when people are sitting at home waiting for their first E-2 visa to arrive from the consulate, or they are changing jobs, like me, or they are finished with Korea and are heading off to a new country or back home. They are all ways of starting over. People working in public schools and universities are starting over with new students in new classes this month. Even hakwon teachers will be starting a new month soon, with some new students. I guess I just want to say, �Good luck�.

[RobinH]

Cheers, Yata!

[Zark]

Well said!

Life is a journey. But - if we learn a little at each stage as we go - the journey becomes easier and more joyful as we go.

Good luck Yata!

[pegpig]

900 k ?! Holy crap!? And you're staying in Korea? Ouch.

[Ya-ta Boy]

They are HERE! Ten minutes early.

Ladies, if you want to meet some guys who look a whole lot like the hunks on the Hunk thread, hire this moving agency. There are three tall, good-looking young men with lots of muscles doing all the work.

Yeah, I'm moving from one end of the country to the other, with my big-ass refrigerator, stove, couch, boxes and boxes of books. The guy at school ordered a BIG truck. I have a whole apartment-full of stuff to go, but not that much. They even brought an ice chest...which means my W55,000 went to waste.

Hmm. They even put my kitchen chairs in a box.

Go, boys!

[Matilda]

Beautifully written Ya-ta. As my Mum always said "wherever you go, there you are".

Good luck with your move! May your favourite glasses remain unbroken.

[JAWINSEOUL]

Good luck at your new place Yata boy.

[kimchi_pizza]

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields and,

Until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.


G'luck boy-o

[craigwalsh]

Hey, Life is a Garden, Dig It!
and
Whatever is for you, wont pass you by!

[joyfulgirl]

great post, ya ta boy

[tzechuk]

Ya-ta boy, have you got a new job somewhere??

[Ya-ta Boy]

tzechuk, girl, ya gotta be quicker on your feet to keep up with the changes going on in my saga.

I came up to Geongi-do this Wednesday and signed on with a private high school. The school is a lot larger than my last one, but the town is about the same size. I'm living an hour outside of Seoul...an hour and a half north of you (at least it took my bus that long to get to Daejon from here).

I think it will be a better job. I've got my fingers crossed.

[rawiri]

Another year in pergatory aye.

Good luck man.

Where are you in gyonggi do? i'm in paju. It's ok, a bit boring, but seouls o0nly an hour away and to be honest I suppose the old adage "only boring peolpe get bored" is right aye.

[cubanlord]

[skinhead]

You're going to Paju-shi? No matter where you were before (Taegu?) your good memories will flood back real quick, take it from me. Unless you were dragged through real dirty stuff in the last place, you'll quickly shed the resentment of the place itself and when you head back again, you'll cop the positives just like the early times. The doldrums just come automatic with moving digs, no matter where you are or where you're going. Change is as good as a holiday, mate. Live it up.