Dubai confirmed to me that I needed a change, a big one. No matter where I was in the US, I never really felt like myself, but the moment I stepped off the plane in Dubai and felt the salty Arabian air hit my face, it all melted away. I was me again.
When I got back I started looking into Architecture jobs all over the world: London, Copenhagen, Sydney, Dubai (obviously)... but I wasn't really excited about the prospect of "same shit different country" ... So I decided to take a blind leap and go for change... BIG change.
The current economic crisis gives me the perfect excuse to deviate from my norm. Unlike last time, I don't have to leave a "good job" to pursue my new intrests, since I have no job in the first place!
So, without further ado.... I'm moving to KOREA. (yes, South. I'm not completely crazy and I really don't think Kim Jong Il would let me in his country anyway!) I'll be teaching English to cute little Korean kids.
And I'm moving soon. About 3 weeks to be exact.The embassy called me Wednesday and by Thursday they had Fed-ex'd my contract to me. I've been accepted into a program through the Korean government to teach in public schools. I'm not sure of the specific village/town/city yet but I do know the Province "Gyeongbuk-do" It's a pretty big province so I could be anywhere on the the East Coast to center of So.Ko. (towards the Japan side). It's all kind of relative though, Korea is only the size of Tennessee.
Needless to say, my family is kinda irked. But they aren't exactly shocked either. I have to be in Seoul by Feb. 19th. It's a 24 hour flight so I might be leaving on the 18th or 17th. I have a week or so of orientation then I'll be sent to my village/town/city.
I'm kind of freaking out. Which is an odd feeling for me, since I usually have no problem jumping into things head first. I think my jaded heart is scared because of what happened last time. I've never fully recovered from the heartbreak of coming back from Mali, I'm just terrified of what will happen to my heart if it happens again... but I have to stop thinking of that. That will just drive me nuts. It's time I shake it off and just go with an open heart and open mind and hope for the best.
I'm sorry for breaking the news to most of you this way. I've been really guarded with this secret. I didn't want to say much until I was certain I would go... I'm certain now. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I'd be leaving so soon. And again, I'm trying to avoid a big scene like last time. I want to just pack my bags and be gone. I won't do that, but it's tempting.
