the days gone by...

After MESP I found myself as a rather directionless college grad wearing a tool belt as I worked at my old summer construction job and lived with my parents. I followed a couple of job leads over the summer, and but nothing really panned out until mid-July when a former professor emailed me and my best friend out of the blue and asked if we wanted to teach English at a Korean university which has a sister school relationship with Dordt College. We followed up on his proposal, and after a few emails and phone calls and only five days, I signed up to move about as from home as possible.

I never thought I’d be here. I had thought about teaching English in Asia before but more or less dismissed it as something that I wasn’t interested in. However, this has been a nearly perfect fit for me. I teach mostly conversational English and a few general English communication classes too. Almost all of my friends are Korean allowing me to enjoy the beauty (and difficulties) of cross-cultural friendship. Just like the Middle East, I’ve found Korean culture as a mirror to see myself in. Also, I’m actually not that busy usually with work so I have the chance to do a lot of reading on my own to follow up on issues that I encountered during MESP. Currently, I’m reading “Strange Virtues” by Bernard Adeney. It’s one of the books Jim and Heather recommended about living cross-culturally and at times it feels like I’m talking to them. By the way, if anyone has read Paul Gordon-Chandler’s book, I’d be interested to hear your opinion.

Besides the joys and frustrations of living in another culture where everyone speaks a language foreign to me, I love living with my best friend, am able to save what seems like a fair amount of money to me, and have the chance to travel during my vacation time. I spent two weeks back in the States around Christmas but regrettably only had the chance to see two of you. Since my spring semester doesn’t actually start until March, I’m taking off next Saturday for a three-week backpacking trip thru Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.

Even though I’m a college graduate and have a job with benefits, I don’t feel all that grown up. I’m still pretty unsettled on a variety of things, geography among them, but I’m learning how to live within a sacred tension. I’m going to be here at least until August when my contract expires, but the president of university told me I’m welcome to stay longer. I’m not sure what I’ll do. I think grad school is hiding around a corner somewhere down the road, but it’ll likely be a couple of years before that happens. If I’m not in Korea, I think I’ll be abroad somewhere else—Egypt, Malawi, Nicaragua, India, the Philippines, anywhere really. I waver back in forth between depth and breadth of experiences while trying to heed Jim and Heather’s advice to think long-term.

Some aspects of what I do here remind me of MESP, but it’s radically different as well, just as moving to Cairo would be different now without all of you and the study experience. I live in a foreign culture with several different religions, but since I’m not studying my surroundings, the experience is far less intense and draining. I mean, my Saturdays are more likely spent sleeping in and reading a book at a coffee shop than jumping on a bus to see another part of the country. Even though I’m not studying the culture, I still try to be a culturally aware foreigner which is part of the reason why I’ve chosen not to join the ex-pat community here but to have Korean friends instead.

Well, I suppose I’ll just leave it at that. A more detailed and picturesque version of what I just told you is available on my blog at justinvanzee.blogspot.com. I’d love to hear what you guys are thinking about for the future as graduation looms on the horizon for many of you. If any of you have questions about teaching in Korea, I’m willing to help you out. There’s a lot of people here trying to pay off college loans or save for grad school. Just a thought.