It has been quite a while since I last updated, and quite a while since I was last able to sit down and write. It is, in my opinion, rather unfortunate that I haven’t been able to write lately. I have been both under a lot of stress, and been quite busy to the point of not being able to merely sit down and just write. I am uncertain if over the next few years any of this will change, but I am going to be hopeful that I will be able to get some writing done.

I’ve decided that I’m going to actually say what’s happening. For the next four months I’m going to be working a minimum wage, unskilled labour job in another city. I’ll be moving there with my boyfriend. We have rented an apartment for the summer, and I’ll be leaving to meet him there in less than a week. It will be an adjustment. I have had a single month to see and say goodbye to my entire life here, and it has been relatively jolting, stressful, and full of far too many tearful goodbyes. I am going to miss my family, my dogs, and my friends, all of whom have supported me, laughed with me, and been there when I’ve needed them most (as I’ve done for them). I am used to the life that I have built here, but it appears to be time to start a new one.

From the new city and the unskilled labour, minimum wage job, my boyfriend and I will then be moving overseas and travelling to South Korea. Yes, we are well aware of everything that is going on in the news right now. We know the risks, we are aware of the conflicts and how far back it dates, we are aware of the locations of the military and naval base locations on the peninsula, and we know what’s going on. Ever since we decided to look at South Korea for teaching positions, I had been focusing on the news coverage. I have been well aware of the history of Korea, the war between North and South Korea, how it started, that it ended in a cease fire, and what’s happened since the cease fire, and to where it is now. I’m aware of the tensions between the North and the South, between North Korea and the U.S, and the involvement of Japan and China. So we are well aware of the possible risks we are taking, and the history of it all.

On that note, we are still planning, at this point in time, to go there to teach. We are looking at a small coastal city in the southern part of South Korea. We are in the mids of discussing the contract with our recruiter/school, and finalizing details. We have a few months before we’d leave, so that also gives us time to see how things will play out. If war breaks out, then we don’t go, if it doesn’t and things de-escalate, then great. Either way, we’ll stay on top of it.

Now, it’s a scary, new start. My family is both terrified and uncertain for me. A part of me is very excited at the opportunity for us to be taking this on together. I feel like a lot of what I’ve been through, and this change in my life, has finally given me the chance to really be happy and to feel good about myself. I know my parents don’t want me to go, and I know their concerns. It’s not so much leaving the nest, it’s more the distance. They understand my decisions, both financially, and for education and experience reasons. There are many factors that came into this decision, and it wasn’t, for lack of better phrasing, simply to travel the world with my boyfriend. Luckily, they understand that. I love my family, and I always will, and I could not be happier or luckier to have had such amazing parents and siblings growing up, and to be so close to them as I am now. I’ve been able to tell them this recently too.

Okay, I feel like I’m getting off track and it got very, very personal there. Let’s try to get back on focus.

In light of the travels, and the teaching, and going back to school to upgrade my teaching qualifications, I am going to try to write at the same time (anyone else think I take on too much?). I plan to adjust slightly the way I’m posting. I’ll post when I write (of course), but I think I’m going to also use this to document my travels too. I’ll post about whatever adventures we might have gone on, whether it’s hiking through the mountains, or finding temples, or simply making it to other cities, or marketplaces, or hidden gems of places within the country. It won’t be about the day to day activities of a teacher (don’t worry). I’ll post pictures occasionally as well, as I’ll be bringing my camera with me. I hope to make good use of it, and I’m really quite looking forward to using it, and getting some really good photographs.

I hope that everyone is doing well, that they are continuing with their writing, their lives, meeting their goals one day at a time. We’ll all get there. I wish you all the best of luck, and I will do my best to be more active. I’m sorry for my lack of presence.