Sunday, June 21, 2009
Nothing new.
Sorry folks. Nothing really new to report. Twitter seems to be the new method of micro-blogging so I have kind of migrated between FB and Twitter. If anything interesting happens in the next few weeks I will be sure to update.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Repatriation Journey
Those of you that follow me on Facebook know that I flew my mother to Korea to assist in repatriating me because the three screws that attached my femur to the femoral head of my right leg managed to unwind, creating a gap where the original fracture is. I can't begin to explain how excruciatingly painful the unwinding process was, but when it did happen it seemed like almost daily, over a period of a couple weeks, my slight limp became more pronounced... Then even more pronounced, then on a Friday evening, on my way home, I stood leaning up against a tree with fear and contemplation of my next steps. Should I crawl on hand and knee? Could I bear the pain?
Sweat poured down my face and upper body even though it was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit and I was wearing a light jacket. The stress of the road ahead wore heavily on my mind. The locals remained indifferent as they passed by. The ones that did notice gave me the scrunched up look of pity with a look of wonder at a foreign beggar in their country. Luckily nobody gave me any money.
I did make it home by clutching any nearby immovable object I could find. My only weakness was the crosswalk. I had two more to go and wasn't sure what would happen. Half way across the "Don't Walk" light came on. I was lucky tonight as most people in cars, buses, and taxis politely waited for me to get to the other side. However, the little monsters on those damn delivery scooters refused to heed public transportation and safety laws and whizzed through the crosswalk around me in all directions; on my left, right, and across the street on the sidewalk. I despise them all, except for the Pizza Hut delivery scooter guy. He is ok as long as my pizza is delivered hot.
Anyways, I did make it home and spent the weekend in bed contemplating whether or not this would get better or worse, and decided it was time to get some crutches. I got those on the following Monday and hobbled around on them for the next week while the screws continued to unwind and worsen my condition. By the following Friday I'd had enough and decided to make the call home. "Mom, I am coming home." She almost had that sound of relief in her voice, the kind that made me a bit nauseous at the thought of being forty and living with my parents; the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end even as I write those words. I continued, "I need hip replacement surgery as I believe I have Avascular Necrosis of my femoral head. It's when the blood supply gets cut off from the femoral head. My doctor that fixated the fracture with the three screws in my leg said that I'd have an 80% chance of getting this and needing THR. The other thing you should know is that I will be out of work and rehabilitating for three to six months post-op."
She handled all of this pretty well. She even got a bit excited when I asked her to come to Korea to help me repatriate my 70+ pounds of baggage. I spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out how I'd repatraite myself in my condition. I was concerned that at my mothers age she may not be up for the journey, or even healthy enough. In the planning I tried to minimize the amount of time she would have to lug my baggage with significant effort. We'd stay in hotels and let the bell desk handle them, take taxis, hotel shuttle buses, use the airport luggage carts, etc. Pretty much my only concern was getting six bags of varying weight and size from the nineth floor box I called hell...I mean home, to the sidewalk just outside the front door of the building so I could hail a taxi. It wasn't a very efficient sight, but with a bit of her stubourness, that she gave me an abundance of, she got everything down in one trip; she even got some help from my neighbors that felt pity for us. We must have been a real sight for sore eyes.
The remaining four days were uneventful as things went pretty smoothly. There are a few stories, but I will save them for paper for those of you that enjoy that medium. We pretty much spent three nights in a flash hotel suite in Seoul and bummed around some of the many interesting things to see. While we didn't see much because I was in a lot of pain and pretty immobile, we did enjoy what we did see, and always retired to the comfort of the suite, which we enjoyed the hell out of.
We got back to LAX at 8:30AM in the morning on December 16, 2008 and had the car service drop us off at my parents house at around 10:00AM. We ran a couple of errands, then Mom and I crashed on the sofas till around 6:00PM. For the next nine and a half hours I slept a couple hours on and off and got up with my mother around three thirty in the morning. As we sat on the sofa watching TV few words were said, but the expressions on our faces spoke louder... "Jet lag is a bitch!"
It took my mom a few days to get her body adjusted and me a bit longer. Once I saw my doctor, two days after we arrived, and got some good pain killers it only took another week for my body to relax without pain and crash from exhaustion and relief. This last week I have been sleeping pretty soundly and even dreaming some pretty funny and strange dreams. It has been good and is clearing my head and putting me in good spirits.
My first Christmas in the US in six years was pretty unusual, but special in that I actually started to get in a Christmassy mood. While 2006 Christmas was one of my favorites as I spent it at a friends house in Vanuatu drinking kava and having mexican food on the back patio in a tropical paradise listening to the sounds of holiday music played by local string bands, this year was all about family. Christmas Eve we went to my uncle's house and had a pleasant visit with his new wife and two kids. The following day we went to my sisters house for traditional seasonal dinner and watched the Lakers beat the Celtics in a very close grudge match. Overall an extraordinary experience.
Fortunately the circumstances that I find myself repatriated under have squelched the effects of reverse culture shock. It is further helped by the unusual amount of patience my stepfather is exhibiting. While I have only been back about three weeks things are still holding up well, but I know that I'll need to get away soon for a few days to give us all a break from each other.
It is NYE and the weather is so good that we'll be having a BBQ and crack open a bottle of bubbly at the stroke of midnight. The sun is finally setting on two challenging years and dawn is coming on a new decade. My thirties have been some amazing years--The last half remains my personal favorite, and since I have so much time on my hands now don't be surprised if my updates are limited as I feel the need to culmunate them into one space comparing and contrasting the unique experience of living abroad in two radically different cultures on opposing hemispheres.
Sweat poured down my face and upper body even though it was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit and I was wearing a light jacket. The stress of the road ahead wore heavily on my mind. The locals remained indifferent as they passed by. The ones that did notice gave me the scrunched up look of pity with a look of wonder at a foreign beggar in their country. Luckily nobody gave me any money.
I did make it home by clutching any nearby immovable object I could find. My only weakness was the crosswalk. I had two more to go and wasn't sure what would happen. Half way across the "Don't Walk" light came on. I was lucky tonight as most people in cars, buses, and taxis politely waited for me to get to the other side. However, the little monsters on those damn delivery scooters refused to heed public transportation and safety laws and whizzed through the crosswalk around me in all directions; on my left, right, and across the street on the sidewalk. I despise them all, except for the Pizza Hut delivery scooter guy. He is ok as long as my pizza is delivered hot.
Anyways, I did make it home and spent the weekend in bed contemplating whether or not this would get better or worse, and decided it was time to get some crutches. I got those on the following Monday and hobbled around on them for the next week while the screws continued to unwind and worsen my condition. By the following Friday I'd had enough and decided to make the call home. "Mom, I am coming home." She almost had that sound of relief in her voice, the kind that made me a bit nauseous at the thought of being forty and living with my parents; the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end even as I write those words. I continued, "I need hip replacement surgery as I believe I have Avascular Necrosis of my femoral head. It's when the blood supply gets cut off from the femoral head. My doctor that fixated the fracture with the three screws in my leg said that I'd have an 80% chance of getting this and needing THR. The other thing you should know is that I will be out of work and rehabilitating for three to six months post-op."
She handled all of this pretty well. She even got a bit excited when I asked her to come to Korea to help me repatriate my 70+ pounds of baggage. I spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out how I'd repatraite myself in my condition. I was concerned that at my mothers age she may not be up for the journey, or even healthy enough. In the planning I tried to minimize the amount of time she would have to lug my baggage with significant effort. We'd stay in hotels and let the bell desk handle them, take taxis, hotel shuttle buses, use the airport luggage carts, etc. Pretty much my only concern was getting six bags of varying weight and size from the nineth floor box I called hell...I mean home, to the sidewalk just outside the front door of the building so I could hail a taxi. It wasn't a very efficient sight, but with a bit of her stubourness, that she gave me an abundance of, she got everything down in one trip; she even got some help from my neighbors that felt pity for us. We must have been a real sight for sore eyes.
The remaining four days were uneventful as things went pretty smoothly. There are a few stories, but I will save them for paper for those of you that enjoy that medium. We pretty much spent three nights in a flash hotel suite in Seoul and bummed around some of the many interesting things to see. While we didn't see much because I was in a lot of pain and pretty immobile, we did enjoy what we did see, and always retired to the comfort of the suite, which we enjoyed the hell out of.
We got back to LAX at 8:30AM in the morning on December 16, 2008 and had the car service drop us off at my parents house at around 10:00AM. We ran a couple of errands, then Mom and I crashed on the sofas till around 6:00PM. For the next nine and a half hours I slept a couple hours on and off and got up with my mother around three thirty in the morning. As we sat on the sofa watching TV few words were said, but the expressions on our faces spoke louder... "Jet lag is a bitch!"
It took my mom a few days to get her body adjusted and me a bit longer. Once I saw my doctor, two days after we arrived, and got some good pain killers it only took another week for my body to relax without pain and crash from exhaustion and relief. This last week I have been sleeping pretty soundly and even dreaming some pretty funny and strange dreams. It has been good and is clearing my head and putting me in good spirits.
My first Christmas in the US in six years was pretty unusual, but special in that I actually started to get in a Christmassy mood. While 2006 Christmas was one of my favorites as I spent it at a friends house in Vanuatu drinking kava and having mexican food on the back patio in a tropical paradise listening to the sounds of holiday music played by local string bands, this year was all about family. Christmas Eve we went to my uncle's house and had a pleasant visit with his new wife and two kids. The following day we went to my sisters house for traditional seasonal dinner and watched the Lakers beat the Celtics in a very close grudge match. Overall an extraordinary experience.
Fortunately the circumstances that I find myself repatriated under have squelched the effects of reverse culture shock. It is further helped by the unusual amount of patience my stepfather is exhibiting. While I have only been back about three weeks things are still holding up well, but I know that I'll need to get away soon for a few days to give us all a break from each other.
It is NYE and the weather is so good that we'll be having a BBQ and crack open a bottle of bubbly at the stroke of midnight. The sun is finally setting on two challenging years and dawn is coming on a new decade. My thirties have been some amazing years--The last half remains my personal favorite, and since I have so much time on my hands now don't be surprised if my updates are limited as I feel the need to culmunate them into one space comparing and contrasting the unique experience of living abroad in two radically different cultures on opposing hemispheres.
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Visa Run Part 2
I made it to Busan via the KTX high speed rail from Seoul. I did a red eye, left my house at 11PM on the bus and loitered at Seoul Station until 5:10AM. I got her in Busan at 8:25AM on Friday. In two more hours (12:30PM) I will get on the hydrophoil boat for a three hour ride to Fukuoka (which I want to say sounds like F#%k-u OK?), but it really is pronounced "Foococa."
So this trip looks like a long weekend of stuffing my face with Tuna Sushi! I doubt they will have any left when I leave. Those of you that know me well know that I love my Tuna Sushi! More later!
The Visa Run - Part 1
So I go to work today and get a phone call from my recruiter... "Nam Tasa, guess what? Your tourist visa is going to expire on October 12th and because immigration is still processing your working visa you need to leave the country. We suggest you go to Japan for the weekend via the ferry from Busan. this way when you come back your tourist visa will be good for another 30 days and will give us enough time to get your degree verified and be able to send you to Japan again to get your E2 visa. You can go next weekend if you want, but that might cost you more money. Besides tomorrow (Friday) is a holiday and it will give you more time to explore."
I get the news around 5PM and begin making my plans around 8PM Thursday night. They were semi-finalized around 10:30PM, but with complications... My flighty boss had to book the hydrophoil boat ride from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan because they would not except my credit card on the internet. I booked the KTX high speed rail tickets myself, and now I need to change my return ticket from Busan because I arrive way after the boat lands in Busan.
Well, in spite of that minor hiccup, I went to my boss' house, grabbed the ticket and caught the 11:00PM bus from Incheon to Seoul Station and now have another 3.5 hours to wait before the train boards for Busan. I am not too worried, but will have to force myself to sleep on the train and the ferry so I can keep my head as I travel on such a spur of the moment.
Believe it or not, life here this time around has been really awesome. The kids at my academy are awesome! So awesome, in fact, I am already considering an extention for a third year. There have been a few issues that we are working on, but overall it is great. I live in a bustling city by the ocean within nearby reach of Seoul's famous Hyungdae area (made famous for the fantastic night clubs). Also noteworthy are all the great western food establishments walking distance from my house (Mc Donald's, KFC, Outback Steak House, Popeye's Chicken, TGI Friday's, Burger King, etc.) I also have two subway stations within a 15 minute walk from my house, and there is a bus that can get me to Seoul in about an hour.
Work is tough in that there is a lot of it and I am working overtime and til late at night, but the people that I work with are so very supportive and helpful that I love it.
well, that is it from me. Will write more on my return from Japan.
Cheers,
Nam Tasa
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Greetings from the South Pacific
Yes it is true. I made the 36 hour journey here from South Korea. I think that the journey in and of itself was one in which I needed to reflect on my time spent. One cannot integrate into a society in one year (maybe one can, but it is pretty difficult). On my departure I knew I would be back, it is just a matter of time. For me, I needed to break away and come back here, but even in coming back, so much has changed that it hardly seems like the same country I lived in for four years.
Don't get me wrong, my experience here has been great; it is just that I need to bridge the gap between two different worlds. Asia and the South Pacific are vastly different in cultures, people, ways of life, etc. The problem is that I have not mastered Korea yet and I want so very much to understand the people, language, and culture very much.
So at this stage, I am interviewing heavily from my present location. My hope is to be out of here in a few weeks. Strange enough, I actually miss the randomness of the country! Not to mention that they are doing an admiral job at the Olympics in Bejing!
Don't get me wrong, my experience here has been great; it is just that I need to bridge the gap between two different worlds. Asia and the South Pacific are vastly different in cultures, people, ways of life, etc. The problem is that I have not mastered Korea yet and I want so very much to understand the people, language, and culture very much.
So at this stage, I am interviewing heavily from my present location. My hope is to be out of here in a few weeks. Strange enough, I actually miss the randomness of the country! Not to mention that they are doing an admiral job at the Olympics in Bejing!
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Nam Tasa's Chief
The custom dance Chief Caspar and his clan performed prior to Nam Tasa's departure from Vanuatu. This is where and when Nam Tasa recieved his custom name from the Banks Islands in Vanuatu.
