Super Bears, Super Bowl

These pictures are mixed up, like my head these days. Some are from my friend Ryan's wedding in Busan last weekend. This is the city I'll be moving to soon. This is just one of many beaches surrounding the city. The other pictures are my mini-Bears celebration. I had to work immediately after the game, so I shared the victory with my little muffins. We did chants and I even taught them some plays.

The Next Step

And so this Korean oddysy must continue. The language, no longer a mystery, the food no longer too spicy to eat, teaching no longer a trial-by-error operation, I look further. I was watching Clerks 2 and thinking too seriously into a fart-joke comedy. Randel is explaining to Dante that he wants to leave their hometown because it's what he thinks he should do as opposed to what he wants to do- a criticism on unnecessary change. That's what I felt like when I came here. I liked my delivering pizza life, but I felt I should do something more. Two years later, I know that comfort is good but the challenge is what really excites. I signed the contract last week to stay here another year nad teach at Pusan National University. I was a student a few years ago and now I'm a professor at one of the top universities in the country. I say that not to brag, but to justify to you and myself why I have to stay. This job means more money, much more freetime, far less work, over 4 months paid vacation and a chance to live in Busan, a city larger than Chicago. Unfortunately, this also means leaving a city that's become home, a band I put all my rock into, students whose education I've devoted myself to for 2 years, moving 3 hours away from some dear friends and at least another year away from all of you. I'm ready to come home now so a year could be unbearable but, as my director explained in the interview, "the teachers at Pusan don't leave for at least 5 years." I can't imagine that being me, but those who've taken this step tell me it's inevitable. It really is the best opportunity a foreigner here can find. I'm sure this experience will revitalize me, show me how much there is still to learn within Korea and in the surrounding countries. With the massive vacation time, it's more like Korea is my base but I'll be abroad almost as much as I'm here. Maybe I'll even feel like a professor after a year. (I'll be rocking a tie daily- corporate Korea). I think I'm fortunate that most my friendships remain intact and I'm up-to-date on those I care about, despite the distance. I need that to continue....

4am Monday morning, I'll be alone but with you in my apartment watching the Bears take that next step!
SUPERBEARS SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!!!!

The Road to my Interview

(thoughts as I approach a life-defining moment)

It's a mild day in December as I sit next to a grandmother and together we stare out the window at sprawling landscapes. Sometimes I wish to freeze this scene, study it and see what lives I could create out of one image. Then again, like life, it passes suddenly and that's the way it should be. Wouldn't it be nice if we could watch our lives the same way; a continuous, speeding panorama or all our triumphs, follies, coincidences and consequences? Maybe I'm just reading too much Dostoevsky these days. He's got me thinking about legacies- damn I'm too young for that. But now, on this fateful ride to an interview which could determine my path for years to come, it's necessary to think so dramatically. I believe my youth will once again hold me back from obtaining this job. Sometimes I rely too heavily on my youth and use it as an excuse for my foolishness. I know, I'm not that young, but I'm still younger than almost everyone I associate with here. It allows me to follow and not have to make many responsible decisions. (god I hate those). Next year, I will try hard to move beyond the comfort of youth. I will announce my ignorance and learn how to use goals. I'll make plans to become fuller, more complete. I will no longer linger behind, drifting along someone else's trail. (As I write this, I'm attempting to follow the path of my former co-worker.)

Jammin on the Slopes