This time last year I was sitting on a bench atop a hill in Forest Park. Alone on Thanksgiving (for the first time in my life) I experienced a new sense of thankfulness. It was in the absence of the familiar that I could better define that which was important to me. This is partially the reason that I took a job in Korea; searching for the antithesis to my reality that would clarify its meaning.
Now, I’m sitting in a quiet faculty office in a small middle school on an island off the coast of South Korea. It’s not peaceful in the natural sense, but the sipping of morning tea and clicking keyboards amidst an otherwise solemn atmosphere will make due. I’d like to take this time to reflect on what I’m thankful for.
I’m thankful for a social position that’s granted me endless opportunities to lead a relatively optimal existence-low on the pain and suffering charts, high in self actualization. I’m thankful for my wonderful family, especially my parents, who nurtured me along the way and provided examples for me to formulate the role I play today. I’m thankful for my health, my body, and my mind. I’m thankful for the friends that challenge, encourage, and support me, especially my most excellent girlfriend who I largely credit for my sober sanity these days.
I’m thankful for a home, however changing, that continues to exist while I’m away and the people and images that remind me. I’m appreciative of the existence I’m cultivating in Korea and the chance to witness another bit of our diverse humanity.
I’m thankful for the pizza I ate last night and the shitty tasting tea that’s nursing my cold. I’m thankful for new technologies that enhance our experiences and the old ways that inform them. I’m realistic about the outcome of our human race, but thankful for stories of success that inspire me to strive for further success.
I’ll close with a facebook quote from a friend also teaching in Korea:
“Its 11:30 pm on Thanksgiving for me, and even though it is a B.S. holiday that distractes most Americans from remembering the genocide that occured during the construction of our contemporary capitalistic society, it has also become a time for enjoying the company of those we love and appreciate. But until being completely alone with no other Americans in my entire S. Korean city, no close family or dear friends do I fully realize what it means to be only thankful for what you have, but also to be in a state of solem despair for those people that are no longer with us or just out of our reach.”
The sentiment inspired me to write this morning after kinda falling into a rut. Thanks bud.
I am honored. Just glad someone read it
I read your blog this morning, the morning after thanksgiving. Brother Ed read it w/ me.
Thanks for the kind words toward your parents.
We missed you yesterday I secretly hoped it was you, each time the phone rang.
Love you
Thanks mom. Love you too.
Ross
You are a smart young man, and brave and adventerous
to have taken on this job in Korea.
You have much ahead of you.
It is great to hear how you are doing and what you
are experiencing.
Keep writing!
Just one of your moms pals….
Thanks Mariann. I appreciate the kind words.
Hi Ross,
Your mom and I have been sharing info about our ‘sons teaching in Asia’ connection and she shared your blog with my husband, Steve, and me. Ever since, we have been reading, laughing, and growing in understanding from your essays. Both of us agree that you have a rare talent for storytelling and we can see your blog entries as a nonfiction travel book one day. Nonfiction travel books are one of my favorite genre and your writing is as good or better than most. Thanks for sharing the details of your experience of remote island life in Korea. Our son, Aaron, and his wife, Laura, are facing more challenges this year in Dujianyan, China. Their internet connection is inferior to last year’s, the school fired the American principal and is currently run by the owner’s family who have little understanding or appreciation for their foreign faculty, the government appears to have limited access to facebook, blogs, etc. Aaron and Laura are still enjoying their interaction with the people in China, their travels and exploration in Asia, their growing facility in the Mandarin Chinese language, their mountain bike rides, their growing friendships with their international and Chinese coworkers. They actually went to a ‘Tex Mex” restaurant in Chengdu, China’s fourth largest city, an hour bus ride from their home, for Thanksgiving dinner…a touch of home in a far off place. They are looking for a new country and school for next year. Since Aaron teaches AP/IB chemistry, he is hopeful that there will be a number of opportunities. In the meantime, they are thinking of spending the Christmas holiday in Malaysia and the Chinese Spring Festival in Thailand. Thanks again for sharing your adventures. Hugs, Diane
Thanks for the props Diane! Of course, I’d love to get paid to experience stuff and write about it, but for now I’m happy to vent my musings for free (supported by a sweet deal of a teaching gig). It’s interesting to hear about you Son in China. I have some friends over there working for a Stem Cell firm that constantly complain about the international filters that block all kinds of sites emanating outside China. I visited there and it’s quite debasing to deal with that level of censorship. Too bad about their principal, but thank goodness for the “tex mex,” whatever that might entail. We’ve actually concocted our own version of Mexican food, but the U.S. version is sorely missed, as I’m sure it is for your son. It’s exciting they’re making routes to Malaysia and Thailand. I’m going to be in that area for my Winter vacation. Anyways, thanks for checking in on the blog, peace. Ross
I had nachos with strawberries at a Miller Time. I preferred the Caesar Salad with the Waffle cone filled with iceberg lettuce and pink goo dressing served as a course preceding the Salisbury steak with chocolate sauce. Please fill me in on any other Korean takes on the West whenever you head towards civilization.