SouthEast Asia

The last few weeks have been very, very pivotal for my journey. Life in Malaysia has definitely been more settled and routine driven than in Turkey. At first it caught me a bit off guard, because I was so used to moving homes on a weekly basis and not having fixed working hours in Istanbul. What started here as a simple way of making money has quickly developed into an incredible experience and an amazing opportunity for me to see what it's like to teach as a profession. Time has kind of just kept passing and passing without me really stopping to think about how long I want to continue here. Well life works in beautiful ways sometimes...just when I was starting to get stuck in the doldrums I got a wake-up call. My current accomodation here is only going to be available to me until October...

No accomodation...what to do. Maybe it's time to go home. I do miss it...I would like to start my new life there. Ok it's settled I'm coming back in October. Let me go on one last epic quest up North though...Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam; after I'll fly back to Germany. I started to research and plan everything, even going as far as writing people on www.couchsurfing.org asking them for places to stay come October. It was as good as done, until, and not for the first time on this trip, my plans got completely flipped turned upside down. (I hope you caught that Fresh Prince reference ;) )

I went to tell my boss that I was leaving. She responded with a plea. Please stay till the end of November, which is when the first half of the school year ends. Ummm I have no accomodation. She insisted that I stay at her place. Just to elaborate on that though...many students come from Korea for summer courses and they always stay with her. So she always has someone staying with her, and has plenty of space. Everything I had been starting to think about the future development of my journey was tossed out the window. I somehow still wasn't convinced that it was a good idea to stay though.

Then I really started to consider it. Lately, I've been getting more and more classes...which obviously means more money...which in turn means more possibilities to travel. If I could earn that kind of money on a consistent basis for the next 2 months I can easily go see most of the places I came here wanting to see. I also started to think about the experience I could gain from this opportunity. Every teaching gig I've ever had has never been longer than 3 months. If I stay, in November I will have taught quite a few students for almost 6 months. It would be the first time ever for me as a teacher to be able to see (or hopefully see :p) some long term progress. That would be incredible and very rewarding. Staying with my boss would also give me an opportunity to live with a Korean family and would be a great chance to learn how to read and write Korean. I have definitely stumbled into a strong Korean environment. For example, Gangnam style (which most of you should know by now) was first introduced to me when it was still at about 1 million views (currently it has 150 million), by one of my first students who we called Kim Jong Teddy. On my first day at the school he told me that his uncle was Kim Jong Un (he was lying obviously :) )and that his English name was Teddy. I quickly learned that everyone simply called him Kim Jong Teddy. It's just a simple reminder of how great of an opportunity this could be to learn the language and the culture...the latter I have already learned tremendous amounts about. 

This entire trip I have always stuck with the mentality of not thinking ahead too much. Things will find their own way and for now I will just play by ear. It doesn't work out all the time, but overall it has proven to be a very successful strategy. When end of November hits I will have been away for 9 months and will have easily earned more money on the road than in preparation for this trip. What matters most to me though is what I will be able to take with me from this experience. What, in its entirety, that will end up being is still unknown, but if you watch this space you will definitely find out. 

3 more months in Malaysia means more of this:

Seafood dinner with king crabs and prawns

Awesome but crazily spicy Korean food called daakgalbi

Late night prawn fishing

Shenanigans with old friends and new ones

Travelling and seeing amazing things

Hangin with the kids

This weekend I head to Singapore, mainly to renew my travel visa, but also of course to finally go see it. The week after I head to the Perhentian Islands, apparently ranked #6 in best beaches in the world. End of September Borneo is calling, as I head to Kuching to fufill a dream of mine. Life is damn good...