Food For Thought And Time To Wonder.

There are 6 more working days until I am finished at Avalon. 8 days until I fly back on my long awaited vacation to see my family. It has been 2 and a half years since I saw any of them...... Wow! I can't believe it has been that long!

The one thing about leaving this time is that I am not rushing to get away from anything or to get somewhere. I have no personal issues and have some money in my pocket. I am quite content with my life and I must say, I am very comfortable in my own skin at the present time.

My life story since early 2000 has involved a lot of rushing and leaving quickly and not saying the proper goodbyes. Sold my house in Canada, sold all my stuff, took the TESOL course and then rushed to get to Korea.

This time, I will be able to say goodbye to my students and co-workers and not have to rush or worry about getting to somewhere or back from somewhere at a certain time. The world is my oyster!!!!!!!!!!

Since I left Korea for the first time in July 2001, my life has been rush, rush, rush. I had to get a job in Canada, go to university, go through all the personal issues. I ended up being in Uzbekistan for 3 months, was engaged to a Russian girl, left there broken hearted, but things have a way of turning out for the best.

I came back to all the bullshit of child support issues and back-pay and going to court and on and on and on. Quite boring actually and not worth getting into details about.

I started university in September 2002 and graduated from The University of Toronto in September 2004, 2 years of all around school with no stops plus a 5 week bursary spent in Quebec City. Graduating at age40; one of my proudest accomplishments.

Then I rushed out of Canada to get a job in Kyoungju, Korea without even knowing my final marks. I didn't even have my degree yet! I had to wait until November 2004 to finally get it. My Mum and Dad haven't even seen it. I will fix that problem in about a week or so; I will have it with me when I vacation in Canada and they shall both see it.

Then 3 trips to Japan because of my director's screw-ups, 2 more times again in the next 6 months.(one to get a visa upon arriving in Ulsan, then Tokyo in December to see Liverpool and then one more time to get another visa once I came to Avalon.)

I rushed out of Kyoungju, rushed to Ulsan, rushed out of Ulsan, rushed to Bundang. This time, I am taking my time and everything is going great. No dates, no schedule. Only the time that my flight takes off. Everything else is up to me...... awesome!!!!!!

Number one priority when I arrive in Canada is to buy clothes. My fashion designers will be Irene Campbell and Jackie Yigitoz plus some supplemental help from James Campbell and maybe Nuri, Kate and Jamie Yigitoz. Can't wait to look like a normal fashionable man instead of a cheap bum..... well not that bad, but not far off.

Life has certainly turned around for the best over the last couple of years. I lived with a Korean girl and realized that I am not ready for any of that sort of commitment and don't think I will be for a very, very longtime. Saying that, it taught me a valuable lesson and I can now confidently say that there is nothing I need from a woman to make my life complete. If I meet someone in the near future, it will only enhance my life, not be my life as it was so many many times years before.

The time has gone by this week. I can't believe that it is Friday tomorrow, already. It should be a fun weekend. I have some final classes to teach and to try and set-up for when I come back, but for now this weekend will be saying goodbye to some of my students and I will see them again in late March or April.

Things are quite subdue in my school at the moment and like I said before, things are just not the same with Wayne gone and Erin. There is a different atmosphere and I am quite glad that I am moving on to a new adventure. The guys are fine, don't get me wrong, but I think it is a combination of wanting a new challenge and not having had a break from teaching in 2 and a half years.

I am off to meet Dave now for a few drinks and to meet at our favourite place; Okinawa. It has a Japanese theme, but is totally Korean. The girls all wear red Chinese kind of tops and long sharong skirts. They are all really cute and the other reason we go there is also because the manager is a really nice chap. He always greets us when we come in there and gives us extra food and soju and the like. He is always so friendly to us and Dave and I like going there because we have a good gab usually.