Fri Sep 24, 2004
Yes, I’ve been momentarily enticed back to my journal… I finished my course a few weeks ago and graduated with flying colours, if you’ll excuse the expression. My instructor even pulled me aside and offered me his job, as he was being promoted to a university prep. course. Unfortunately, my instructor is full of extremely hot air and the reality of the situation is that the owner of the school is a bit of a… Well, it’s not my place to say anything. I read in the newspaper the other day that some guy working at Starbucks got fired for saying that his boss (who’s name had been changed for his protection) was a bit of a wanker or something to that effect. I would never say anything so derogatory about potential employers, no sir, not me, mmm mmm…especially anything relating to their masturbatory habits, that would be totally uncalled for, oh yes, how shocking…mmm.mmm.mmm… Anyway, the bottom line is that, although the prestige of being a TESL instructor is not to be sneered at, it would be somewhat overwhelming given my limited experience. Not to mention that solid lecturing from 9:30-5:30 is very very intensive.
So anyway, being unemployed again is no fun, especially here in Vancouver where you have to sell your soul to make it, I’m hoping I won’t end up in the same impoverished situation I was in before I left for Korea. I have some interesting, albeit morbidly existentialist, pieces of writing from that time though. I’ll have to try dig them up and post them. For no other reason than to give this lame journal some credibility. So what else? I’m currently living with my brother, his girlfriend and her eight year old daughter. It’s in a nice house in a nice suburban neighbourhood in godforsaken Coquitlam…these days though I’ve come to enjoy the abundance of nature in this area and don’t have that horrible feeling of being trapped in suburbia anymore. Unfortunately it’s hard getting around as the bus only services this area once every half hour or something like that. I need a car! I’m seriously thinking of spending the last of my savings from Korea on one. Yes folks, it’s hard to believe I haven’t been working since Korea, but look at all the stuff I’ve done with the money! Went on an awesome holiday to Mexico and central America, went back to school for a few months…I’m just hoping it’ll pay off in the end because things are looking a bit dismal right now. Well, let me clarify, life is not ‘dismal’, my life has been rich and rewarding, even self-indulgent, but I have to reconcile myself to the fact that it is ever-changing changing changing, like a constant and furious storm that constantly reshapes the landscape…the landscape of my life and of my mind. I still have the hope of finding an oasis of calm within the storm, a time and place where I can settle down and develop a deeper appreciation of the social and physical dynamics around me from a static perch of stability.
I would like to stop wallowing in my cumbersome and wayward thoughts and send a few shout outs of congratulations to some people. Firstly, congrats to my brother who received not one, but two scholarships from the music department at the college he is attending. Nice going man! Congrats to my dear girlfriend, who has been offered a position in the United States with a substantial salary. It’s in a really cute seaside town called Port Townsend in Washington - about a four hour drive from here (or a two hour ferry trip from Victoria). She’s living the dream! A huge congrats also to my best friend from High School Adam and his wife who recently gave birth to an adorable baby girl. They live in Bath, England at present and are very busy and happy. A big big Congrats to my friend Brian in Korea, who I’m sure is reading this right now…(thanks for your comments Brian) I’m so happy for you man! After a few years of teaching kids in Korea he landed a great job in IT for his church organization and now wears a suit to work!
Well friends, it’s time for me to go and face the world once more. I will return, oh yes, I will return…