Blaze of Glory
You know why I write posts before I fly out on a trip? In case I die.
Redford, why do you even think like that?
Remember when I asked what the last thing people would wear before they turn into a zombie would be? And I got all those replies from my legions of fans? Same idea I guess. This could be the last thing I ever write, and I'm fairly conscious of that fact when I write these blogs. Well, maybe not with my pre-HK/Korea one. I can imagine that being my last post ever. I quite like that poem to be honest, with the exception of using "forming" three times in the last stanza. Then there's my pre-England 2009 trip. Not sure what I was doing there. Well then! This completely discredits my original claim about me worrying about the legacy I leave behind!
I guess I'll close in saying I'm going to haunt you bastards if something happens.
What Do You Want to Be?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I don't know. I'm kinda grown up now, and I'm still not really sure. You have to know who you are first to figure out what you want to be. The problem is that I'm not really sure how to do things. I have a really weird way of sequencing events in my mind. I find it difficult to start from the beginning and work my way to the end. I usually skip through to the middle and the end bits and work backwards or sideways. It's why I was never any good at math. If I was building some kind of Rube Goldberg, I'd start at the very end and then attempt to work backwards to figure out what I need to start with. Only, I get confused and start thinking of the middle pieces, then I'm just left with some kinda clusterfuck of a plan. On second thought, I probably wouldn't be able to successfully set something like that up.
Have you ever seen me write an essay before? It's a mess. I have a thesis. I have a plan. I write the 3rd paragraph, then the intro, the the conclusion, then I get ideas for other stuff and then I just write whatever I want to write and try to piece it together afterwards. Sometimes it works out fine, but most of the time I'm trying to figure out how to order the pieces. Then when it's in order, it doesn't make sense at all!
You know what my brain is good for? Tangents. It's why I can relate things in a conversation that seemingly have no friggin' connection to each other. Sometimes I remind myself of this kid:
Only that sort of comment would happen in the middle of a conversation about something else. Anyway, this is all one long way of saying that I need a job. No, not a job, I need a career. That's what I need. Only, I'm not quite sure how to make use of myself.
Lesson Learned
Today I learned that my experiences playing Call of Duty doesn't really translate to paintball. Aside from strategically flanking the side (which I did at will), I couldn't see what I was shooting half the time because the mask would fog up from the heat. There's also the thing with friendly fire. In COD I can shoot my own teammates without penalty (unless I'm playing hardcore mode), but in paintball they get eliminated. So here I was trying to flank the other team when I heard someone creep up behind me. I turned around quickly and, without really aiming, fired a shot that, unfortunately for the other guy, hit his hoo-haas. "Oh shit, my bad!" It was my teammate.
More Unfinished Business
Every year I post a list of stuff I have that needs to be completed. I have a crapload of books, video games, movies, and television shows that is taking up a lot of space in my room (and computer). When I finally finish everything (and this will take a great deal of effort on my part to restrain myself from buying more stuff, not to mention a shitload of discipline to start and finish everything), I will throw a massive celebration. My calculations* suggest that in the year 2015, I should be able to finally finish everything that I have bought, this is including possible new purchases that I will be making.
Seriously.
Hopefully me in 2015
I need to set a goal of completing one thing a week (perhaps two weeks for the bigger stuff), so I can get some stuff out of the way. Right now I'm reading A Game of Thrones, which, thankfully, has consumed a big chunk of my life because it's addictive. The worst is when you're reluctantly finishing stuff because there's a certain amount of financial and emotional investment involved. I can't believe I feel a sense of obligation to these things, but, the Chinese in me just can't waste money.
*By calculations, I mean completely arbitrary number.
“What Now? I’ll Tell You What Now”
A month back it seemed as if I was heading to Korea for a one year teaching contract. Now, the plans have folded and it's not very likely that I'll be going there within the year. Here's what happened in between:
1.) I was offered a job by my cousin's friend. She gave me the salary, contract terms, the name of the school, and when she expected all of this to go through. Looking good! All I had to do was look into the visa.
2.) I checked out the E-2 Visa process and it looked like a lengthy process. I would have to: get my academic transcript ($$$), get my degree notarized ($$$), go through an interview with the embassy, as well as pay for the actual visa ($$$). This would have taken some considerable time and money, so I wanted to make sure that I was certainly getting this job. I asked for a job contract.
3.) No reply from their end.
4.) I didn't want to go around town doing all this stuff without being absolutely certain that I was getting the job. I told them that the embassy would most likely not give me a visa unless I had that contract. This is true because any idiot can print out an email and say that they have a job waiting for them on the other side, but without an actual contract, no one is going to believe you.
5.) I finally get a reply. She informs me that I'm looking at the wrong visa. I'm positive that the E-2 Visa is the right one, but I tell her that regardless of the Visa issues, I need a contract before I can pursue anything. No embassy is going to give someone a visa based on a job someone told them they might get, and I sure as hell am not running around Toronto for nothing. Thankfully I haven't actually done anything yet.
6.) No reply. At this point I give up. Until I get that contract, nothing happens.
If I'm going to go to Korea, I'm going to go through the normal procedure of going through an organization that sets you up with schools. It's lengthier, but at least I don't have to be the one that deals with that bullshit.