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I have a great life.
No, scratch that - I have a great lifestyle. The whole " work for a year, rest/travel for a year" thang has done me very well since the year 2000 when I graduated and decided that the usual 9-to-5 ethic really didn't sound so great.
There is one fairly problematic issue with it though: the " work for a year" bit.
You see it comes around far too often for my tastes. I'd prefer a more lassé fair style, with the " work for a year" bit turning up but occasionally, maybe asking whether now would be a good time or not, then happily saying " Oh, bit busy are we? Well maybe later then…"
Unfortunately life isn't quite so forgiving, and yes it's again time to pay the Piper. Canada is a nice place to do that though.
Additionally I'm now married and just got back from our Honeymoon in Central America.
We had thought about living in Edmonton, Canada, but that idea fell through after a few decisions were made. Now we're setting up shop in Calgary, staying in Tina's sister's basement again.
Tina has found a job in the Building industry and I'm looking for IT work, although it's tricky as I need a company to sponsor my Work Visa. The plan is to get said visa either through an employer or by Tina filling in all the forms.
Currently though we're both really enjoying ourselves and it's great to be 'home'.
You can read more about the future plans here |
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Previous entry (2004 to 2005):
The Dodgy Barnet is back on the road again! After a year of slacking
in London I've escaped its Siren-like clutches and run off to seek
my fortune in South Korea.
With nothing but a jaunty hair cut, and a big bottle of SPF 4,000,000
sun cream for when the North nukes the South, I've managed to find
myself a tasty little job in Seoul as an English teacher.
It's a good gig teaching small classes of
adults to 'speaka tha languadge'. I'm making a whopping £12,000 a year but with
accommodation included, and living expenses being minimal, I should
have a bucket of cash by the end of the year! (A main meal in a
Korean restaurant is 4 quid at most, beer is 60p, internet is usually
free, DVDs are a quid. Sweet…)
You can read more about what I've been up to recently in my teaching
Blog, or see my overall cunning plan of working in Korea
here on my plans
page.
Teaching adults means that the more nightmare
aspects of teaching kids is avoided. I don't have to worry about
controlling the little rascals, or making sure they don't eat all
the glue supplies.
The only real downside to teaching adults is the hours: teaching
7am-10am then 6.30pm-9.30pm. Now getting up early has never been
one of my strong points, so it'll be interesting trying to get to
work on time each day.
Previous entry (2003 to 2004):
As I write this at the beginning of May 2004 I'm
living in London working as a psychologist for a little IT company.
This is not quite the International Playboy lifestyle
I'm used to, but I have enjoyed being around my friends and family
for a change.
Actually I'm itching to get back on the road though,
despite the uncertainty of my future trip to Korea. Why? Well, when
I look back on this last year (since I got back in July 2003) -
I feel that I haven't actually achieved anything - like I've wasted
a year.
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Warning:
The following is a mini-rant and may unwittingly come across
as a big whinge as I was in a reflective mood when I wrote it
- you've been warned. |
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Yes, it has been great to see my old Uni
friends, and live a settled life with a nice flat and a good job,
but time feels like it's just slipped through my fingers.
Let's take today (a Tuesday) as an example:
8.30 AM - Alarm goes off.
Ignore beeping for 30 seconds till it thankfully stops.
9.00 AM - A flatmate slams
the front door which wakes me up, so I grovel around for the
lamp and switch on the radio in a feeble attempt to wake up.
9.20 AM - Finally sit up prepare
self for day.
9.30 AM - Being male, "getting
ready for the day" takes 10 minutes max.
9.50 AM - Arrive at work all
sweaty and swearing from 4 mile cycle through central London
traffic.
9.50 AM to 5.00 PM
- Surf internet, drink coffee, lark about with work mates, laugh
a lot as the office is fun, do maybe 2 hours actual 'work' which
I actually enjoy anyway (when I avoid/palm off the un-fun stuff).
5.00 PM to 7.00 PM
- Go to pub with work mates, and then cycle home a bit tipsy.
7.30 PM to 1.00 AM
- Eat, work (photography & a bit of website stuff), watch
DVD's.
1.00 AM - Go to sleep.
Now I know people who would kill for such an easy
life, and I agree that I have it sweet, but here's the rub - when
I'm 64 looking back on my days, what can I say about being 26 years
old? Answer: Nowt.
I'm young, fit (excluding developing beer belly)
and about as attractive to women as it's unfortunately gonna get,
yet I've achieved sweet F.A. (Okay I've saved a fair bit of dough
to travel to Korea, improved my CV, and spent time with friends
who I'd otherwise have lost contact with).
So, time to do something about it then!
Action time: I've got a one-way ticket to South Korea and will get
a teaching job to have an experience and save money to see more
of the big blue planet.
You can find out more about my plans for future
gallivanting here, or see where
I've been so far here.
Time in UK:
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