Today is the first day of my 3 months of travel. I have finally finished my year long Teaching contract @YBM ECC, and will be able to venture home for the Christmas holidays this year.
I'm still not sure how I feel about travelling for 3 months. I know that it will be a lot of fun, but I've never travelled alone before for any extended period of time. It should be enough time to squash the "travellers bug" for some time.
I made this "journal" to replace my blog while I am on the road. I'm sure there will be lots of "internet cafes" with subtle NEON glows wherever I go, but I wanted to have something with me at all times.
I wanted to start my first entry while in Seoul, but things have been so hectic the last few days. I left the last bit of packing until the very last minute, which was a bad idea. I'm terrible for judging time. I always think things will take less time than they actually do. This made for alot of stress on my part when I had to move out of my apartment. I never wanted to leave my place in a mess for the next guy, but there was just not enough time to clean it to my standards. Saturday morning and afternoon was spent emptying my apartment of my belongings, while also trying to decide what to send home and what to leave here for when I return for my second year of teaching. Since my final decision to return in the spring (Feb, March) I've been thinking about the most important things that I'd like to have here when I return.
After a much longer period of time than I originally thought, I was finally out of the apartment and officially homeless. The afternoon and early evening were spent at work, trying to clean out my desk and make sure everything is in order for the new teacher.
That night, I went down to Bundang with my girlfriend Seohee to take some of my belongings to her house; where they will remain until next Feb or March.
I've been a little frustrated over the last few days. Frustrated specifically with some of the Korean incompetance that I always hear about. In my year here, I had not come across anything remotely like what I've experienced lately. It could just be the stress of getting all my things together, while finishing up work and saying goodbye to everyone I've met.
It all started with a little rooftop BBQ that I wanted to have before I left. I searched high and low and found a small camping grill that would work perfectly. The night went smoothly with no real incidents. Actually the party was very small to begin with.
The next work day I was approached by my boss regarding my party. At first I thought she was going to make a joke about not being invited. (I invitee every Korean teacher, but I'm not sure if the invites made it to her). She instead told me that there were several complaints.
At that, I was thinking "so what?". i was leaving in 3 days anyway. The first complain was a noise complaint. Ah, whatever, it was expected. The second was that somebody threw a beer bottle off the roof, which is 5 floors up! I knew this was a lie, because when I inspected the ground around our apartment I couldn't find any traes of glass. No street cleaner would have cleaned it up in a day. I did however throw a piece of meat over the side. I remember going to my room after and seeing a Korean looking up while on his cell phone. So I guarantee he was bitching about "flying meat". The third complaint was regarding damage to the air conditioner compressor cases. Now I am absolutely positive that they did not get damaged at our party. I know that every person who goes on the roof climbs on them to look over the side of the building. I've done it before and I know other people have as well. But it just had to happen that the janitor was looking for damages and saw the compressors. The forth complaint was about the BBQ grill itself. As far as I have heard, the landlord is under the impression that I lit the fire directly on the roof, on the concrete rooftop. The school informed me that the landlord is seeking 300000 Won in damages for the compressors and wants the school to withold 3000000Won in damages if the rooftop leaks when it rains. So, in conclusion, I was required to pay 300000 Won in damages for the air conditioner cases and the school is holding onto my 3000000 Won, what a crock of shit!
Anyway, I am tired of talking about the matter. It affects my travel plans, as I have very little money to travel with. I keep my fingers crossed that I will get my money back.
At this time, we connected through Taipei and are on our way to Bangkok. We arrive sometime around 11pm local time. The new "Suvarnabhumi Airport" recently opened 3 days ago on Sept 28 @ 3:00 am. the old Dong Muang airport now only serves domestic and VIP flights, or so I read.
From the airport, we'll have to get into Central Bangkok which is a 25km trek. I'm thinking we'll immediately try to acquire accommodations for the night and then take a look around in the early morning hours. I think the backpackers hideout which is the Khao San road is our best bet.
We should be setting down soon, so I will close up. Next stop...BKK
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