Beginning of the End

The concept of time in Korea has been the subject of many a conversation and has found its way into a few of my previous post, but it will be the star of this one.

It is one week shy of the two month mark for the end of my original contract here at GEV and I get the news: no short-term contract extensions. Monday morning I woke up thinking I had many more days, weekends, months in Korea. I had so much time. By Monday afternoon this illusion was shattered by the harsh reality of quick change in Korea. I in fact do not have much time. I only have nine more weekends, two more vacation days, a much skimpier savings account than I had hoped, and conversely, a much larger list of "things to do before I leave Korea" because I had been putting some of it off for another day, another weekend, another time. Well, looks like there's no time like the present!

This is not to say that I am not giving up on staying in Korea until June; it just means I have to be creative, that's all. In the coming days, more things will surface as far as ideas and options, but for now, I am trying to embrace the frame of mind that it's only three months and I can do anything for three months.

So besides trying to find some source of income to bolster my bank account before I head out, the list of things to do looks something like this: go to the DMZ, party with my friends in Seoul at least one more time, open-mike night in Busan, eat at the dino meat restaurant, teach Steve how to use the washing machine, sort through belongings for what goes on the next leg of the journey, what goes back to the States, and what goes out for donation, go skiing and/or snowboarding, visit the penis park and caves, and explore the island.

Now that it's all written out in front of me it doesn't seem like all that much, but it's the cost of it all (which is in exact opposition of my goal of saving money) that is the problem. That I the fact that I quite enjoy having a nice quiet night at home after a run, a shower, and dinner. But, it's nine weeks left, better make the most of it! I have time for quiet nights later on down the road somewhere.

So that's it then, the beginning of the end in Korea. The end of the beginning of my two years away from the States. And the beginning of a lot of other ends. The end of a lot of other beginnings. And the hands on the clock keep moving forward.