Who is Sanakin?

I saw someone else has done this and, since I haven't been able to put up anything really telling about myself, and I'm certainly not above someone else's idea and filling it with original material ( this isn't plagiarism, all writers read what other people have written to get ideas ) I figured now was as good a time as any.

Screenname

The screenname Sanakin, or 산악인 is the Korean term for " mountain man" or "mountain woman" ( the Korean term is gender neutral ). I stuck with the Korean term because I have spent countless Saturdays on the mountains around Seoul, the city I've called home for the last three and a half years.

Professional

I came to Korea in the summer of 2005, fresh out of college. Coming from a lower middle-class family in Tennessee, it was only my second international trip, the first being a beach trip to Cancun, Mexico in the summer of 2002. The plan was simple, I'd come here, teach for a year so I could travel, then go back home to the large-breasted upper middle-class girl I was dating then, go to grad school and eventually become a history professor. I was a teacher's assistant for the history department and did some tutoring the last year of college, and had gotten the job in large part because the profs thought I'd make a great professor one day.

One month later I broke up with that girl. Before the end of the year I realized that 9 years spent living near the poverty line as a grad student and then not being guaranteed a job as a professor and having no other job options in my 30s and finishing school so late that I might not be able have a family wasn't exactly my cup of tea. Why the family thing was important to me at the time is something I'll never understand, because I was one of the most immature 22 year olds I've ever even heard of. In retrospect, I think that was more just because I wanted to read The Chronicles to my kids at night. I've stayed in Korea because, up until a few months ago, I couldn't really imagine myself being happy anywhere else.

Ironically, it's also given me a love of and understanding for children that I never would've gained otherwise, and even though I definitely cannot see myself teaching for the rest of my life, even if it weren't for the experience of living in a foreign country, I would still consider it to have been worth doing because I wasn't comfortable around kids when I started teaching, whereas now I smile to myself and think it's cute when I see kids being loud and annoying everyone else in sight in public places.

Life Abroad

I haven't seen my family in three and a half years, and although I miss them at times, my family isn't that close. My mother passed away when I was 19, my father was always a distant figure in my life, even though we lived in the same house and I never once saw him harm or abuse my mother in any way. He mostly just ignored me or made me do chores when I was growing up. We've since made peace, but I don't think we'll ever be as close as we would be if he had spent time with me while I was growing up. I'm not saying I'm angry at my dad. I was for years, but with my old age ( 26 at the time I'm writing this, just old enough to start feeling the effects ), I've grown a bit more understanding of people. Consequently though, I don't really miss my family that much, and could really see myself just visiting home to see my family once every five or ten years for the rest of my life. As long as I can see my Dad again before he dies ( he's 61 now and men in our family usually don't live long ), I'll be content. I enjoy traveling, but because I grew up in a big tourism town, I like to bond with the locals and do the things they would do. I've had more great times with my Korean friends than I could ever possibly count. Like all foreigners who love spicy food, I think the local cuisine is great. Consequently, if you don't like spicy food, I'd recommend never going to Korea. You'll hate the food and that will make it hard to get into the Korean social dining experience that's so big, and one of my favorite things about this culture. Obviously there are a lot of things that I don't like about Korean culture, but you're going to find that anywhere you go. Much like my second home of Philadelphia, I find the positives far outweigh the negatives. I'll post more in a couple of days, but I think for now I better keep this post short enough that people will actually read it.