This will be my last post for a while. My wonderful time as a foreign English teacher has come to an end, for now. I'll be heading back to the US. I was able to spend the Chinese New Year's winter break traveling around Thailand and Cambodia, two very beautiful countries, and even in the middle of February sweltering hot! Many pictures on Flikr. The pictures suddenly stopped about halfway through my trip because my phone was stolen. An interesting story, but one best over talking; unfortunately I have no pictures of Ko Chang or Shen Zhen because of it, though I should be receiving some shortly. Of the things I've seen in my time abroad, I can undoubtedly say that Angkor Wat was by far the most impressive. The size, extent, and level of detail were unparalleled.
If I can imagine you're reading this because you're interested in some ideas that I've had this whole year abroad. I have found life and lifestyles on the other side of the pacific tremendously diverse. The two places I'm most familiar with, Miryang Korea and Taichung Taiwan, were more different from each other than any two places I've seen in the US, and I imagine more different than the US is to England or even France or Germany. Exposing my ignorance, I'm willing to surmise that many of the differences arise from Korea adopting Confucianism (sometime around 1700 CE according to my old co-worker) completely, and then laying over on top of it Modern Industrial Capitalism sometime more recently. The two don't seem to go together well which has seeming made the older generation (50+ or so) slightly ostracized (but still respected in traditional ways). My vague understanding of Taiwan is that it too adopted Confucianism but it kept around (or perhaps additionally adopted later) Taoism and Buddhism. As Modern Industrial Capitalism started to flourish in Taiwan, it seemed to do so while keeping pockets of all of its old traditions (which are seemingly seen as one tradition) alive and well within the city limits and almost daily life. I don't know how, but I fathom that this has to do with Korea's civil war being much longer and actually taking place on Korean soil. I am happy to be returning, I have lots of plans, not sure of the path to accomplish them, but traveling indeed has made uncertainty a little more familiar.
It’s great to be back, I hope to see every single one of you soon.
You learned a lot about the human condition, son. Being familiar (comfortable) with uncertainty is a good thing. You have no barriers ahead of you and can do (or be) anything you want I love the way you are.
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