A Step in a Direction

Life can provide you with so many choices and decisions to make.  As a young adult, I didn't have an established presence in society. I had a university degree with little money, so my options were limited.

I knew in the winter of 2007 that I didn't want to be in Toronto.  Looking back, it seemed that I wasn't ready to settle down and establish myself.  As I mentioned before, my vibrancy was at a high during my time in Japan and I wanted that same feeling again.

My cup was half empty, and I needed more time to develop as an individual.

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Before accepting the teaching position at Icheon High School, I had no prior knowledge or information about the town that I was moving to.

Looking back, I didn't care.  I flipped the coin and accepted the outcome.

Upon arrival, I wondered what I had gotten into.  My girlfriend was back in Japan and I was in a secluded farming village with literally no other foreigners in sight.

I had a week to settle in and then I was off to the high school to fulfill my role as a teacher.

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Fast forward.

My students were passionate, driven, and motivated to excel in their studies.  More importantly, they were well mannered and more than a pleasure to teach! 

I met a good friend there who was a sister to me.   Pak Ki Young, was my Korean English counterpart at the school.  She took the time to share Korea's rich culture with me and taught me so many things that  I wouldn't of had the privilege to learn on my own.

I was a home body. I basically went to school and taught during the day, then would go home to either:

play warcraft, make music, cook, read, or trade stocks.

Even though I was lonely, with really no friends, I had downtime to really think about what I wanted in life.

No pun intended, some of that "downtime" involved being somewhat depressed.  I went through a vicious routine of eating pizza, fried chicken, chocolate, and drinking wine to make myself feel better.

It wasn't long until I got sick.  Horribly ill.  

Back in 2006, I had fallen to the same horrible episode of "flu" symptoms that I had felt in Korea.

Without getting into too much detail, I had lost alot of weight over a short period of time.

I knew there was something wrong with my body, but I didn't know what it was.

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