the view from the roof of my apartmentmy flat

toilet/shower

Hello everyone,

Apparently I now live in the world's 2nd largest metropolitan area: Seoul. This is a bit of a strange change considering that in January I was working in Chetwynd, which, respectfully, is the armpit of the world.

I will be teaching an English immersion class for 6-year-olds at a private school these next four months or so. I would have liked to stay in PG, but I couldn't find a suitable job and my listlessness reached the exploding point. Sometimes when overwhelmed by inertia (read: laziness) you just have to make a decision to get out of the rut, even if the decision isn't ideal. Objectively, it was probably a good idea for me to come here, since it will put a good dent in my schooling costs next year. Subjectively, I'd be a lot happier working at a gas station in PG, because then I'd be near Roxanne and other family members. I miss them already.

I was going to write a paragraph here about how hectic my departure was, but Roxanne covered that on her blog. I'll just say that I got an average of 3 hours of sleep over my last 3 nights. I've had two 10-hour sleeps since I got here, so I should be normalish now.

The Korean Air flight was pretty legit. They had about 50 movies and 100 albums you could choose from, plus Tetris and chess, which (theoretically) you could play with other passengers. I watched Flags of our Fathers (terrific!) Casino Royale, Marie Antoinette, and The Prestige. I also listened to Stadium Arcadium, which is surprisingly soothing on a hot plane when you have a headache.

I was quite anxious about using "e-tickets." No, that's not the right confirmation number, please go home; your trip is ruined. I was also leary about entering Korea without a visa, but it turned out not to be a problem. I will go to Japan to get my working visa in a few weeks.

After China, nothing seems overly weird here. One unusual thing, however, is that at night you can see a lot of orangish-red neon crosses. Each, apparently, is afixed to a church. Presumably, the neon bibles are inside.

My apatment is small, but clean, cozy, and efficient. The floors are heated, which apparently is pretty standard here. And they'll probably be heated for a while, since I can't find the thermostat.

Anyway, I'll probably be pretty busy getting settled in teaching next week, but I'll get an update up at some date. Absence makes the heart grow fonder; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (etc.). Still, I miss you all alot--especially Roxanne!!!