Archive for December, 2007
I’m in Seoul
One of the wonders of the modern age is how long flight actually takes. If you think about it, I woke up at 7 AM and only arrived at my destination hotel around 7 PM – that is for a city that is merely 2:30 away by airplane. Some of it was my own over-reaction (I got to the airport 3 hours early), but most of it is just supplemental transportation – getting to the airport, getting ready, etc… I met some people who had it much worse – hours of waiting for flights that were delayed or what-have-you.
I’m staying at the Seoul Backpackers hostel – 22 or 23 dollars a night (depending on the exchange rate), but it has a distinctive odor. Something like sweet corn when you pull it out of boiling water. Nice for a while but slightly nauseating after a long time.
I managed to get onto a DMZ tour and will be hauling my camera with me. We’ll see how it goes.
Old pic (just to shake things up)
Yeah I know, terrible pun.
Going to Korea.
Just so you understand the time scale involved:
Hibarigaoka -> Narita International: 2 hours
2 hour wait
Narita -> Incheon: 2 hours
Incheon -> Seoul: 1 hour
Wow, that’s awful. 5 hours of transit and waiting involved in a 2 hour flight.
Heading to Seoul
Rather than return to Montreal, I am headed to Seoul, South Korea. The weather seems to be a bit cooler than Japan (ranging from 0 to -8), but it isn’t bad – especially for someone used to far worse.
I look forward to a lot of things – but particularly a chance to visit the DMZ. North and South Korea are so utterly different, I wonder if I will be able to see anything at the border. It will also be nice being in a more dangerous place than my brother, for a change.
What to do now?
Getting home after a walkabout, I had a message waiting from my brother. He obviously saw the deal with me apparently not getting the job at Match.com, and was clearly worried for me. My mom too has been calling me twice a day demanding I come home immediately.
Unfortunately for her, that isn’t happening.
Fundamentally, my problem is in acquiring a visa and getting a high paying job so I can justify being so far from home. I am making a little from my little Google ads setup – enough to defray my rental costs at least (I have to give more than half to my partner). Other than that, I am sorta stuck until I get a job. It is only a matter of time, but it is admittedly annoying waiting. I currently have two ideas in the pipelines that could progress to the point where they resolve my problems.
1. Start a property company in Japan (I could start a company in Japan and start buying properties for rental purposes. I think I could break even with this very quickly, turning a profit within an year – I mailed a few friends about this already)
2. Keep looking for another job
3. Start a translation company in Japan
4. Move to Singapore/Indonesia (I can get a visa through Soundpedia, who I do some stock-only work for)
I am leaning towards #2 and then trying #1 if that fails. I’ll keep upgrading my skills too (I’ve been doing some stuff on the side with MSSQL, for example). Regardless, I’m not going back to Canada if I can avoid it. Why should I be made to feel like a 1940s black man in Texas because I wash my feet before I pray?