I might need to start a whole category of MoI posts. It’s one of the larger departments of my anxious, polyphonic mind. Here’s a glimpse into the murk.
I am leaving Chiang Mai on Wednesday morning. I will be going to Laos and then Vietnam. This much is certain. As for the rest… I need to make some decisions pretty soon about staying in Asia and teaching or sticking with my original plan to fly (recklessly) on to Istanbul and from there, tour Eastern Europe. If I’m going to the Balkans, I’m leaving 4 March, which leaves me only ten days to zip through Laos and the northern part of Vietnam, then get back to Bangkok and go halfway around the world again. That’s sounding a bit crazy right now, even to me.
I’m nearly ready to start applying for teaching jobs in Korea, once I get a copy of my diploma from home (still waiting on the university, but it’s in the mail). The thing is, most teaching jobs in Korea will pay your airfare into and out of the country. It’s one of the major draws of working there, in addition to high salaries and loads of other benefits like free housing. So really, I can fly to Korea from anywhere in the world, once I get a job. But, since I’m aiming for ASAP positions (like, starting within a few weeks), it would be sort of crazy to fly to Turkey, range up into Bulgaria and Romania, then turn around and fly back to Korea.
Then again, if I don’t, I’m SOL on the cost of that plane ticket.
I could try to find teaching work in Eastern Europe, which was my original plan — but then again, my original plan involved a TEFL certification that I bailed out on.
Anyway, this matter will remain under MoI jurisdiction until tomorrow. Then it passes on to the Ministry of Certainty, and from there will progress either to the Ministry of Good Decisions or the Ministry of Bad Decisions. I don’t need to tell you which one of those is the larger department.
The Traveling Yokel 