Hi, everyone! Happy New Year!
If you had told me a year ago that I would be spending New Year's Eve 2003 in Seoul, there's no way I would have believed you. As I may have mentioned, Vivi is away at "winter camp" for the next three weeks, and Rob is back in Florida with his family, so I spent New Year's Eve with my friends Mike and Brian and some of Mike's friends. Mike got us invited to a party at a nightclub pretty close to our apartments. Four girls had gotten together to rent out the place and throw a party. Admission was about $30 and that covered all the booze. There were about 60-70 people there at most, and there were about nine foreigners and everyone else was Korean.
The music started off with rock and even some punk, but around 11:30 switched to hip hop and techno (so that people would dance, I guess). At midnight we counted down "tasot... net.... set... tul.... hana.... Happy New Year!" and lit sparklers and waved them around. I don't know if that's the tradition, it's just what everyone else was doing. People were dancing and having a great time but at about 2:00 the music inexplicably went from upbeat hip hop to depressing ballads. At first we thought nothing of it, but then after Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" we were like "uh, what's going on here?" The party was scheduled to end at 4 and we speculated that because they were running out of alcohol, they were trying to drive us out. The place started to clear out soon after but we stayed and drank whatever we could get our hands on. We stuck around until 3:30 waiting for some of our friends to complete their last-ditch New Year's Eve desperation hook-ups (I don't think any were successful) and then called it a night.
I was a bit sad to say good-bye to 2002. It was a great year for me, possibly one of the greatest in my life. There's no question that 2001 was a horrible year for me (my job in London was a disaster; Julie and I broke up; I had to pay a six-digit tax bill; Sept 11) and so at the beginning of 2002 I thought "this will be the year of ME". I wanted to do the things that I wanted to do and live a bit more freely than I had in the past. And I think for most of the year I did that. Maybe it was something I simply had to get out of my system because I knew I couldn't last the whole year doing that. But I'm glad I did and that's how I ended up where I am today.
So why was 2002 a great year? Here are the highlights:
* Travel: I managed to hit four continents this year. I started off by going to Australia and New Zealand, something I had wanted to do for a long time. I met a lot of people and did all sorts of crazy stuff (canyoning, sky diving, bungee jumping). I tried living the "backpacker" lifestyle for a while and though it's not really for me, at least I tried it. Then I had a quick trip to London to get a bit of "closure" with that city. I think that's a good thing. My brother, his friends, and I had a great St Patrick's Day trip to Montreal, and then of course I came to Korea.
* Job: I left the world of high-tech in 2001 but was sort of drifting and not really sure what to do next. In the spring I was very close to moving back to San Francisco and looking for another high-tech job, and I was also contemplating moving to Sydney to go back to work for ATG. But fortunately I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that The Princeton Review needed teachers in Korea for the summer, and I thought "that sounds perfect for me". I was open-minded to staying here longer and continuing to teach, and that is how it worked out. I really enjoy teaching much more than being in high-tech and I suspect this won't be my last teaching job.
* Weddings: Somehow I managed to miss three of my friends' weddings but I was really happy for all of those couples. The wedding I did manage to make was, of course, my brother's, and that was a very special event for our whole family.
* Sports: Okay, not really a major thing to most people. But the Patriots won the Super Bowl, Arsenal won the English Premier League and the FA Cup, and the UConn women went undefeated in basketball. Plus the USA made it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Now if the Red Sox could just get their act together....
But saving the best for last: 2002 was the year I met Vivi. I didn't really expect to find a girlfriend here in Korea (it doesn't exactly go with "the year of ME" theme) but I just wanted to make friends and ended up falling in love (awww). We are both really happy with each other and are both putting a lot of work into the relationship. We've cleared a few hurdles already and know that there will be lots more, but are happy to try to overcome them together.
So what will 2003 hold? Well, in a sense I have always dreaded this year because I was born in 1973. Do the math. So I am sure I will be freaking out in July. However, virtually all of my friends from high school and college will also be turning 30 this year, so I guess misery loves company.
I am contractually bound to my job here so I know I will be in Korea until at least the end of September. So I guess my free-wheeling travelling days are over. And I really like my job anyway, so I don't foresee wanting to change it. So my whereabouts and my job are pretty much set (unlike in past years). But this year I am hoping to learn a lot more about the Korean language and culture, do a lot more writing and start to think about going back to school to study journalism, and obviously I'll be focusing a lot of energy on my relationship with Vivi and my other friendships here in Korea.
About six years ago, Chris Greacen got me started on thinking of a "theme" for each year (as opposed to New Year's resolutions). I haven't really thought much about a theme for this year, to be honest. I definitely don't think this will be "the year of ME" but I also know better than to lose my identity entirely. So maybe it will be "the year of me (and other people)".
I wish you a very happy and very safe New Year!
Chris