Who'd have thunk it?

Who'd have thunk it? I'm in Korea. When I was just a child, who'd have thunk I'd be where I am now? Halfway around the world, with a little experience in 3 different cultures, countries, and languages. Reflecting back, I wonder what the steps were, small, or huge decisions, to bring me to this point....

I can't say I didn't come to Korea because of some of the influence of my Korean friends. That had at least SOME to do with it, although I CAN say with confidence that one or more GIRLS alone did not convince me to come for the simple purpose of trying to find a romance (although, granted a FEW of my friends here are foxes and tons of fun to be with, I actually prefer Japanese style, culture, and women). But anyway,

IF IT WASN'T FOR YoungJin's phone call (over an hour) in Daisuke's house in Japan one day when I was alone, applying for jobs in Japan, I never would have even considered coming to Korea.

Break that down, YoungJin and Daisuke. Here my path diverges, we'll take Daisuke's route first.

IF IT WASN'T FOR Daisuke, I never would would have been in Japan in the first place. Thanks brother!
IF IT WASN'T FOR Daisuke's damn broken laptop, and Keisuke's suggestion to come see me to fix it one Sunday morning, I never would have met, or befriended Daisuke in the first place. (And actually, if it wasn't for my family's generousity to keep Dai with us for the entire Christmas break, his family may never have accepted me in their house in Japan. But that's a side note, that may or may not be the case).
IF IT WASN'T FOR Shinze, I'd have never known Keisuke.
IF IT WASN'T FOR Resnet, I'd have never fixed computers.
IF IT WASN'T FOR Scott Phelan, I'd have never known Shinze (Scott's roommate).
IF IT WASN'T FOR Eric Christensen, and InterVarsity, I'd have never known Scott.
IF IT WASN'T FOR my change of majors from Architecture to Computer Science, I'd have never done Resnet.
IF IT WASN'T FOR my parents, I'd have never considered IV in the first place.
IF IT WASN'T FOR my parents, (and a scholarship offer), I'd have never declared Architecture in the first place.

Now we'll take the YoungJin route.

IF IT WASN'T FOR Jakeo, Cory, and Heejei, HyeSeung, and JuHae (girls from the previous BIP Seoul Women's University program) I never would have met or befriended YoungJin in the first place.

Regent.

IF IT WASN'T FOR Regent, I never would have met any of these people, because Regent introduced me to all of them.
IF IT WASN'T FOR changing majors to Computer Science I never would have been required to take a foreign language.
IF IT WASN'T FOR my language requirement and Katrina Reed (partially, her interest in China made me stop to think about what I really wanted) I never would have taken Chinese (I had actually wanted to study Japanese for as long as I can remember, it's always been what I wanted, now I don't know why I didn't, or why I'm sitting in Korea. Although, it's been a good ride so far, I think at SOME POINT, I will HAVE TO go back to what I was originally passionate about. A man can only wander so far from his destiny after all, at some point he has to wander back. But I can't help but think that all my previous experiences have helped prepare me for what is yet to come. Without them, I don't think I would ever have actually realized my dream (as of yet still unrealized, although far closer to achieving through my blunders and apparent missteps and lack of planning, than if I'd sat down and planned every step along the way)).

Anyway, here we diverge again, but only briefly, we also come back full circle to aforementioned situations.

IF IT WASN'T FOR Evie Reed, I never would have met her sister (I'm also thankful for how generous their entire family was to me for a while, and they remain generous to my family out of memory of me, nice).
IF IT WASN'T FOR InterVarsity, Scott Phelan, Tony Archer, I never would have met Evie, or become such good friends with her.
IF IT WASN'T FOR coming to Laramie, and my parents, I never would have done InterVarsity.

Chinese.

IF IT WASN'T FOR taking Chinese, I would have never done the study abroad in Shanghai for one month.
IF IT WASN'T FOR the study abroad in China for one month, I never would have worked so hard to go back to China, and found my brother and I and a friend, Nathan, English teaching jobs there for the month of July, 2005.
IF IT WASN'T FOR the English teaching experience that month, I never would have considered teaching in Asia again.

And here we come full circle again.

IF IT WASN'T FOR my time in China, and Daisuke, I'd have never thought it likely, probable, etc, that I would ever ACTUALLY GO to Japan.
IF IT WASN'T FOR my time in China, AND in Japan, I'd have never become so curious about Korea and so tempted to go there and learn about it.

And THAT is how I got here. Of course, unfortunately, of ALL the people listed here, I only regularly keep in touch with Scott Phelan, and Jakeo (MSN). I've called Daisuke a few times, and YoungJin as well, but the rest of the people almost slipped out of my life completely. Too bad. If only they knew what a significant impact they've all had on my life. If only I could tell them.

And here are a few more unfortunates about the whole deal:
I studied Chinese for 3 years, but now don't live in China, and don't look like I will go back very soon, and so may not become fluent in Chinese as I'd hoped.

I lived in Japan, and LOVED it, and it had always been my dream to learn about Japan, to learn Japanese, and to LIVE in Japan for an extended period of time. And now, I'm not in Japan, so I may not become fluent in Japanese as I'd hoped (although I do plan to go back and live and teach there for some time after my contract in Korea expires late this August).

I now live in Korea, but I'm not impassioned much by it. I came here with the specific purpose in mind that I could learn about the country, and learn some of the language (before I got too old, or committed to a girl, or content in one country), and then return to Japan (or China), but I've only slowly learned. I learn some of the history, and some of the language, but slowly. It's not like I'm really trying to learn about it, it's just that I kind of ABSORB SOME knowledge about Korea just by being here. But there is so much more I could do.

Regardless of all this, it seems the next place I am likely to be will be Japan again, for at least one more year. I read something online about Japanese robots (from their early beginnings, hundreds of years ago, until now) and it impassioned me to want to study robots, and in a country that is so "robot centered" in some ways. Therefore, I do truly want to learn Japanese, and go to a graduate school in Japan to study robots someday.

This doesn't help my other goal, of becoming fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean much for the simple fact that Japanese in this case takes number one priority (if I am to study robots in Japan), besides that, Japanese has always been my passion, and Japanese people I've met are among some of the BEST people I've EVER met.

Chinese, obviously takes second place for a few reasons: because I've already studied it for 3 years, I've been to China twice, China is growing huge and likely to be a huge power (therefore someone who speaks Chinese will be highly desired), and the Chinese characters facinate me and are the basis for Japanese kanji, and nearly 70% of the Korean language (words).

And therefore, Korean takes third place in this whole thing, regardless of the fact that I'm living here now. In America, I was taught so little about Korea, except that the Korean War HAPPENED, and in SOME cases Koreans don't seem to know how to make their history "touristy" and so impassion people to want to study it. And although Korea is home to some of the best GIRLS I've ever known, that's just it. It houses some of the best GIRLS I've ever known. At the end of the day, is THAT REALLY my motivation? The GIRLS? No wonder I'm ready for a break.

Korea seems to hold the least passion, and the least interest for me. Don't get me wrong, Korea is a BEAUTIFUL country, and I absolutely LOVE living here! I wouldn't trade what I've got, or the choice I've made in a second. All I'm saying is, I can't picture myself dying here. I can't see myself staying that long.

Korea's hold over me is, in all actuality, MONEY. You can SAVE so much more money in Korea than you can in any other Asian country as an English teacher (and that is one of the biggest things I talked with my parents about (one of their biggest worries) when I decided to come here (they felt much safer letting my go to Korea, a Christian country where I could make lots of money easily and live comfortably, rather than stay in Japan, a non-religious country that one of the most expensive in the world. But I've never been one to want to live comfortably. I've never been so driven by money. I don't mind smaller things, living with less, living simply. In fact, sometimes I CHOOSE that path).

Japan is too expensive, and the conversion rate of Chinese money to US Dollars is such that you don't really send home that much money (although you can live like a KING in China because things are so cheap, and by Chinese standards you do get paid alot). And since money has NEVER been my number one priority, you can see why Korea's hold is not nearly as strong as it could be.

If money is the only thing keeping me here, I'll never be surprised to have left. Money doesn't bring with it a passion for the country, the culture, or the people. Money is only that, money, it is a means to an end, giving a person the ability to provide for themselves and their families. But so often, men are greedy, and money seems like an end in itself, bringing instant happiness just with the acquisition of more wealth. I move around so much, and have given up so many things that I cannot just sit on a mountain of wealth and watch it build. More than likely, I'll do something drastic, and give it all away, or just leave it on a whim.

So, you see, Korea and it's money, though a good experience, haven't captured my heart. Even with the girls I know, even as I'm with them, or in my class, or with my friends, my mind wanders easily, because my heart already has.

Because it's never been about the money...or the girls...it was all about the experience, the wisdom to be gained, and though it's not quite over, I can see already that I won't be staying...