28th January 2009

The Best

1. Yi Ok Seon Halmoni
   So positive, so great, so awesome, than she gets her own page.
   
   
2. The Awesome People I Met
   You know who are.  Thanks for the great ride in Korea.
   
   
3. Wednesday Protest
   The Wednesday protest I attended on International Human rights day and resultant video was just great.  Still kinda annoyed that I didn't get arrested.
   
   
4. Public Speaking
   Talking to a bunch of people about stuff your passionate about is just cool.  The couple of talks I did at Seoul University were just great.  During Cheosok (a Korean Thanksgiving) I gave three in one week. 
   
   Mental note for future talks: If you are going to bag World Vision as part of your talk, make sure the next speaker is not from World Vision...
   
   
5. V-Day
   Getting involved in V-Day itself was great, but the thing I appreciated most was that it gave a real launching pad to get involved with the activist community here.
   
   
6. Rubber Seoul
   Rubber Seoul should of got a bigger entry on this site.  It was an awesome event planned by other people that raised 16,000,000 won (~$US 12,000), half of which went to my little baby GrassRootsUganda.com.  I was just along for the ride, but what a ride it was.
   
   
7. Burma Protest
   Similar to number 5 in that it served as a launching pad for further activism.
   
   
8. The Gay Pride Parade
   Just plain old fun.  I am still getting death threats over the video I made.
   
   
9. Teaching at Benjamin's Hagwon
   Teaching at Benjamin's Hagwon was what I did most of here in Korea.  Kinda cool that it would my "best of" list.
   
   
10. Winning a movie making contest
    Woot.  The video camera I won has been so useful and it is going to be even more useful when I land in the Philippines.
    
    
11. Getting out of debt
    Double woot.
    
    

Interesting to note that compared to my other "best and worst" lists (see here, here and here), there are no actual adventure-type stuff here. Apart from the last few, it is all getting involved and trying to make a difference.  I guess Daniel Dennett is right. (See my home page if you don't get the reference.)

Worst Experiences

1. Kwak's Language Institute
   What an absolute shithole of a school.  One of the main reasons I came to Korea was to learn how to teach.  At Kwak's I was required to be present as a foreigner and teaching itself was optional.  I couldn't have lasted long in that place and it was great that I got a chance to leave with my sanity in place (no metaphor intended). 
   
   This photo sums up Kwak's best.
   
   
2. Mental Health Hiccup
   Just when you think have your mental health under control, it comes back and bites you in the butt.  As some of you no doubt know, I had a major mental breakdown back in the day to the point of being in a psych. hospital for five months for a whole raft of reasons. 
   
   I have minor hiccups (see here and here) every now and then - and they're not terribly present - but I survive and move on.
   
   This time it was at a friend's birthday party.   I was expecting to have some close friends there who I could latch onto.  For various reasons, they couldn't make it.  So I was left alone in a highly sexualised atmosphere with a lot of alcohol being consumed.  For some, this would be a perfect place to be.  For me, it was just terrible and I ended up almost running from the building. It bought back all the bad shit that I thought was behind me.  I did my usual freak out patterns for a while, but I eventually calmed down.
   
   I survived.  I moved on.
   
   
3. Hellen Oting Passing Away
   Hellen Oting was a brave soul whose passing was unfair on so many levels.
   
   

11 "Bests" and 3 "Worsts".  I think that counts as a positive experience!