It has been a while since I became interested in Korea. Now I am living in Seoul and its everything I had wanted – my life is good, my job is providing, I have a wonderful girlfriend, plus I have a growing number of friends and connections.

There is also a growing  awareness over how much have changed in terms of my beliefs and how I compose myself. Looking back to the first posts in this blog and  about myself, I see a disparity in maturity. I am not trying to compare myself to other people, but I notice the line between ‘those’ expats, and the kind of people who maintain  respect for themselves and those around them.

Likewise, my writing and videos have grown alongside me. I still concentrate on the strange and different, but I no longer rely solely on other expats  for input. Now I experience things on my own. It is no longer a matter of recycling information already in circulation; now I have a basis for contributing new information and experiences for others. There exists a bias when your only sources are online, and people who tend to speak out against the majority views  are open to bashing.  Living outside Korea, it was not always easy to distinguish what should be taken lightly; sometimes it was much easier to have a negative impression of Korea than positive.  Coming here I was actually prepared for the worst, especially after reading so many tales of being ripped off and discrimination. But although I have had plenty of those experiences myself now, they are not enough to deter me from enjoying Seoul.  One thing is for sure though – I am here for the long run.

Three years ago my goal was to obtain an MA in Linguistics, one year after my it was to move to and live in Seoul, South Korea. Another year after, I had both. Somewhere along the line, I managed to make my mark in the expat  community as as a blogger and vlogger.  As such, I have new goals in mind – they are mainly to grow in cinematography and obtain a university teaching position.

However, things are no longer about myself anymore; once there is a community of  people who come to you for help and information, you feel a sense of responsibility.  It is a welcoming sight and I am always willing to help anyone in need unless it’s a Korean couple fighting.  My views and opinions matter now – it is not something that should be taken lightly.  I feel that what I may write or film will impact peoples perceptions about Korea and their decisions to come or not.  The things I film or write about, although they are ‘Korea unedited’, should maintain an objective stance or an open mind. So far the responses have been welcoming and it is a relief that people accept my videos or writing regardless of the content. “A breath of fresh air,” I have been told.

Cinematography peaks my interest, something I study on my spare time. The only thing that keeps me from doing  more planned videos is the lack of manpower and lack of time. It is hard to make a video alone…if I am the camera director. Angles, lighting, camera movement, composition, mise en scene, audio, post production – all need to be considered. As for the lack of time,  focusing on every detail per shot wouldn’t coincide with my schedule.  Asking people to help me is much more of a burden as they are busy themselves. And don’t get me started on post production…I spend at least five hours on each video I make, and I do not color grading each shot individually – I would if I could, but do not have the time.  Yet all the small details make a difference and I am not using my full potential, nor am I satisfied about that. Equipment-wise, I never considered the lack of as a reason for holding back;  considering that the average phone camera has better quality than what was used in the early film days.

These days I spudy photography. I am not interested in photography, its an overly trendy hipster fad that I wish to avoid being grouped with, but some of the same principles apply.  The time I have spent making videos and editing has taught me enough now that the concepts of good photography are no longer intimidating.  I intend to make the jump to DSLR video; although it seems massively inconvenient since DSLRs are made for photography and not video,  but if I am able to master light, the rewards will be fulfilling.  Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lenses, and filters…the change will be gradual.  I also intend on purchasing a DSLR rig and rails.  It is the next step for me.

Career wise, as it remains my priority, I plan to stay with SMOE for at least one more year and then apply to teach at the university level. I do have an Masters degree after all. Many people have told me that I should have gone straight into university teaching here in Seoul, but I much prefer experience and preparation. I consider myself a professional and I do not want to cheat people of their college level education.  I do have university teaching experience alongside a well endowed resume and portfolio, and something that I feel distinguishes me from most is my ability to teach college level writing alongside conversation. A dime a dozen for conversation teachers, but how many have a linguistics MA with experience and ability to teach both conversation and college  writing?

This is where I stand now and the direction I will take.  I want to spend more time to become both a better educator and establish myself in film.  My writings will remain supplementary to my videos, my video quality will be ramped up, and I intend on obtaining a position at a university teaching writing if possible.

The things I write about may sometimes give the wrong impression of my intentions or how I feel about other countries.  I really am in love with foreign cultures, somethings I find just amazing, other times they are quite shocking, but that by no means means have I become a hater of some sort. I simply write about things that I think others will find to be really interesting. Whether it be something crazy and zany that completely leaves the wrong impression and by no means stands for the entire culture, to it being more subtle issues.  I am not here to sugarcoat things, or write only what makes someone or something look good. I write about reality, not cherry picking things.

My aim is to inform and entertain. If I can do both in a single post, even better. I try and make every post I write worth reading and leave a lasting impression enough for readers to come back for another dose.   I am actively researching about different cultures, not just Korea and Japan. In fact, sometimes I literally spend hours or whole nights reading blog after blog about others experiences and other cultures.   I want the world to find the things I find interesting, interesting too.  I want to write about simple things like food, to more debating issues like society and politics, to shocking things like sex and prostitution.

There’s someone out there curious about a topic, searching for it, therefore I will write about it.  I do have a life though, so I cannot update it as regularly as I would like.  I am a full time student, I will be teaching in my University this semester. I go to the gym frequently, and spend much of my time reading about others experiences in other countries, about things that shock them to better prepare myself for those situations, or ultimately avoid them.  Learning different languages makes me happy, trying new foods and restaurants is another pass time.  I don’t like people who try to compete with me or are  on the mission to prove who or what country is better, because I simply don’t care about those things.

“Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.” – Don Delilo

My favorite gaijin video.

About me!

The gist of my includes:

• Master of English as a Second Language Student
• Planning on teaching in Asia
• Graduating in May
• Single

For those who want a more detailed description, well, I have a long read for those who have the time ; )

I used to be a veterinary student, with high aspirations of being a general practitioner. That was the direction I was headed towards until…I met someone really special.  Oh the folly, what a man does when he meets a woman.  I cannot pinpoint the exact actions that led me to her at that time. If I recall, I got a sudden urge to learn Japanese so I joined the first website that said “Japanese language” on Google. One day later I was exchanging emails on a daily basis with a girl I just fell entirely crazy for.

The crazy part goes like this, I decided to take a little leap of faith, and switch from Veterinary studies to English. Somehow over the next few months of my involvement, I came to feel that I did not want to spend the rest of my life living a common life, without seeing the rest of the world.  So, you can guess where I am headed with this. Basically I changed my plan for a girl, yup.

Now…one does not simply give up Veterinary school and end up satisfied with a bachelors degree. Not indeed. Of course, my objective was to move to Japan after my masters (surprise surprise, who didn’t see that coming?) but there might have been a little problem. March of this year was my trip to visit and meet this person and things did not end up so well. No communication, ignored, we didn’t even meet. So, suffice to say, many things have changed since then.

Almost a years worth of depression later.  After a slow painful not exactly recovery where I push everyone away. I start changing my life around a little. I will graduate in May 2011, but there is not longer a girl waiting for me in Japan. No ring for her either, I still have it. I think to myself, well Japan can wait then, this is where I slowly decided I should move to Korea instead, it makes the most sense financially.

Graduating from the University, there is no doubt  I will be pretty poor and in debt to the US government.  Japan as I learned, is quite the expensive place to be, likewise the English market seems a little super saturated at the moment. On the other hand, Korea pays for my flight, pays for my apartment and alongside high pay and a low cost of living, I can save a lot and pay my debts off right away.

Here is where I stand now, finishing my second to last semester, recovering from a huge heart break, and ready to teach abroad in Korea and Japan. Of course, I’d love to go to Thailand, Taiwan, and various other countries in the world…and I will.