move on

Tomorrow morning, I move out. I'm leaving my beloved Seoul for one of its several satellite cities: Goyang, inside of which is the region known as Ilsandong-gu, or just Ilsan. I'll have only eight or nine boxes of possessions plus a few "loose," i.e., unboxed, goods: a vertical lamp, an electric fan, and one or two other knickknacks.

It'll be sad to leave this grungy part of central Seoul. I'll miss being right next to Namsan, the little mountain that's been instrumental in keeping me healthier than I was two years ago. I'll miss being walking distance from Dongdaemun and Jongno. But Goyang/Ilsan will have its own sights to see, and soon enough I'll have new paths to walk.

I've also asked my boss at the Golden Goose whether I can split my allotted eight hours a week over two days, so starting this semester, I'll be working in Daechi-dong for four hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days I finish on campus by 11AM. This means commuting six or seven hours a week (it's a longer commute to Daechi from Ilsan than it is now), but the payoff is that I'll always have Fridays off: a whole string of three-day weekends. That seems worthwhile to me.

I've also got a new crop of students to look forward to. Will they stab me in the back like the previous crowd? They're going to be mostly med students, so I'm hoping they'll prove to be more mature. But we'll see, and it doesn't matter much, anyway, given that I'll be jumping ship at the end of this semester to join the Golden Goose.

But first things first: I have to move tomorrow. I'm supposed to meet the realtor in the afternoon, and I need to ask the landlady to get working on establishing Internet service for me. I also need to tell the trucker that we're picking up some extra items after we pack all my stuff at the yeogwan: a table and two bookshelves from a local seller, then a desk and chair from Joe Walther.

Saddle up.

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