Moving back to Canada 09/22/2014

[Seoul_lasers]

Hello,
for those of you I have done business with and helped or gave advice, I will be re-locating back to my home town of Victoria BC on September 22nd.
It's going to be very difficult to go back after nearly 7 years in the Republic of Korea. ( I fully expect to experience some reverse culture shock) :thinking:

I am heading back to school to do some computer studies (Server admin + CISCO systems cert + others ?) at BCIT. I have had it with the domestic ESL market in Korea, and the kind of treatment I have received here being a language instructor. (totally NOT WORTH IT)

I will be changing my address on the forum once I am back.

My journey in Asia has come to a rather disappointing end, but I hope that my relocation will bring my wife and I better financial success, and less stress in the future.

 

[Sigurthr]

I wish you all the best of luck, S_L.

On a lighter note or two;
1) better bring home some kimchii!
2) will you be changing your username to C_L? =P

 

[Seoul_lasers]

I wish you all the best of luck, S_L.

On a lighter note or two;
1) better bring home some kimchii!
2) will you be changing your username to C_L? =P

Perhaps I'll change my user name. We have locally produced Kimchi in Victoria and Vancouver and I can make it too...

:beer:

I'll be bringing home some hard to get vegetable seeds (Gaennip... etc) and maybe some rare tree, M.Thunbergii, Cinnamomum Camphora and C.Japonicum seeds.

 

[ARG]

Are you doing online classes at BCIT? IIRC there's no campus in Victoria

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Are you doing online classes at BCIT? IIRC there's no campus in Victoria

Will be doing them in Vancouver. Nothing in Victoria, I know that.
Got to move back to the Island first before doing anything in Vancouver.

 

[Sigurthr]

Ahh camphor, such a lovely tree.

I wanted to source camphor basil a while back, it's a variant of basil that produces almost pure camphor. Couldn't find a reliable source.

 

[rhd]

I wish you all the best of luck, S_L.

On a lighter note or two;
1) better bring home some kimchii!
2) will you be changing your username to C_L? =P

Lol, Sig, I can tell you haven't been to Vancouver/Victoria

If I were to walk to the closest McDonald's, I'd pass at least 8 sushi restaurants, 3 ramen houses and 2 Korean BBQs on the way - and I don't even live in an Asian neighborhood. I wouldn't be surprised if we're an exporter of Asian food to Asia!

SL welcome back!

 

[Sigurthr]

Ahh man, RHD. That place sounds like heaven.

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

If I walked to the nearest McDonalds, which would
take about 6 hours, I would pass a diner, a
pizza/ice cream place, Applebees, Subway,
Pondsaurus, Arby's, Burger King, Big Boy, and
Wendy's, not necessarily in that order.

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Ahh camphor, such a lovely tree.

I wanted to source camphor basil a while back, it's a variant of basil that produces almost pure camphor. Couldn't find a reliable source.

btw, here's my yard in Canada.
As you can see, I'd like to add a bit more to my collection.
These are all mine btw.... this is my other collection/hobby. I know I am strange.

notice the banana and the palms? That's a Musa Basjoo from the Nansei-jima, south Kyushu area of Japan. Hardy in our area. Produces fruit from a purple flower.
Not edible. Tree on the side is Cinnamomum Japonicum. A variant ( close relative of Cinnamon.

The last pic is of Cinnamomum Parthenoxylon, Saffrole Laurel from Szechuan.
It's an endangered species because it is being over harvested for it's lucrative saffron oil. This tree and the C.Japonicum are both registered with the Federal government for research purposes.
Both trees are Subtropical and hardy to Zone 8. They typically don't do well until Z8b-9a.
My area is a Z9a with winter minimums no lower than -4c (~25F) typically.

 

[busman2]

Good luck and all the best with the move. It is a pity though that you are not leaving Korea on a good note. But going back to BC is not all that bad, looks like a great place to live!

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Good luck and all the best with the move. It is a pity though that you are not leaving Korea on a good note. But going back to BC is not all that bad, looks like a great place to live!

Yup, quite disappointing. Been here for 7 years now... Feel like a commodity rather than a human being.
Time to go. I will come back and visit of course, but I WILL never work for another Korean business
EVER again. Not after this recent experience.

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Back home now in Canada.

I am starting week 3 here. Been looking ( already had a few interviews) at starting an Master's Degree in Education Technology locally.

*I have several interesting projects on the go as well... (I usually do here in Canada as I have access to resources) I am working on a portable Xenon arc flood lamp 55W and managing / expanding my timber bamboo (P.Bambusoides) grove/forest via kelp mulch.

I'm thinking about making an arduino bamboo monitor to data log temp/humidity and rhizome growth. :thinking::can:

Also brought home a wackload of tree seeds from Busan, and sold them already. (About 150 seeds)
I got M.Thunbergii (Persea Thunbergii) * closely related to avocado, Illicium Anisatum (Shikimi) and Cinnamomum Japonicum.

I have my propagator running 24/7 to germinate my remaining seeds. Should have lots of seedlings come November.

 

[Rifter]

Welcome back.

My Uncle just moved back this year after teaching english in japan for over 10 years. Apparently teaching abroad isnt all its cracked up to be.

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Welcome back.

My Uncle just moved back this year after teaching english in japan for over 10 years. Apparently teaching abroad isnt all its cracked up to be.

heh, no ...teaching abroad is usually very rewarding, that's including learning to speak, read and write a new language (I believe this is to be very important.)

I'm fluent in Japanese and an have intermediate Korean ability. Currently working on Thai. Much more challenging as it's tonal.

however, I've been at teaching EFL for +7 years ( 1.4 years in Japan total and 7 years in S.Korea) and need to get back to reality and move forward. I can't do it from S.Korea. I also strongly dislike working in a Korean workplace environment, which is run like the Army. (very strict top-down hierarchy).