Um, does Korea still have internet?

I'm sure you're all wondering where have all the blogs gone? Sorry about that. It's been a crazy past couple of weeks and I just didn't have the energy (emotional or physical) to put anything up on here.

I had a very difficult decision to make a couple weeks ago: quit my job and move to Seoul for three months or stay here? There were a lot of pros and cons (let me tell you!!) but I ultimately had to be real with myself and my motives didn't really line up with the logistics of it all. So I passed. And then I cried. And now I'm regretting it. Drama, drama, drama. Blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I'm moving on now. At least that's what I tell myself every morning.

I've also been pretty wrapped up in what to do after Korea. My contract ends September 1st and I have some pretty big decisions to make. Go home. Go to Azerbaijan with Peace Corps. Stay in Korea. Go somewhere else. Go home has long been crossed off my list (we're talking maybe a month after I arrived here). Stay in Korea was removed sometime around January. Do Peace Corps? Well, after a lot of thinking, I've decided it's not in my immediate future. It just doesn't seem right for me anymore. I don't want to commit to two and a half years in Azerbaijan. One year? Maybe, but Korea has taught me that one year can be a long time and that two years is "a long time x's 2." I don't want to be somewhere I don't like for "a long time x's 2." Plus, PC wants me to teach--I don't want to do that either and certainly not for two and a half years! And let's also not forget that I'd be going off to live--yet again!--in another small town. Not my idea of fun. So I crossed off Peace Corps about a month ago as well.

What's that leave us? Go somewhere else. But where?? I figure I can backpack for 14 weeks and return home a week before Christmas. I've also figured that so far, I've seen something like 24% of the world (if you count via countries). I've got a lot left to see. I should be excited. In some ways I am, but most of the time, I feel a little overwhelmed with options and equally torn between so many destinations, leaving my interest in all of them is so diluted that making a decision is nearly impossible. However, a few ideas have floated to the surface in recent days. Tell me what you think:

Idea #1: Fly out of here to Nepal, backpack through the rugged Himalayas, take a short jaunt through Tibet and end my adventure with maybe a month or two in India.

Idea #2: Fly out of here to Cambodia and backpack across Southern Asia through Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh, and end in India. Two problems: 1. Whether I can travel through Myanmar by land given it's current political state. 2. Whether I can actually make it to Mumbai, India within 14 weeks, and if I do, will I be satisfied? It's likely that I won't be able to really see the other countries with such an itinerary and destination deadline...

Idea #3: Fly to Cambodia, travel through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and end my days on a beach somewhere in Australia. Problems: 1. Once again, that time restriction... 2. Flights back from Australia and stinking expensive!!

Idea #4: Fly from here to Australia, chill with friends in Canberra (met in Thailand), check out some grad schools, fly to New Zealand, rent a bike and cycle around the South Island for two months, and then come home. Problems: 1. Australia is expensive and will surely eat up all my post-Korea cash. 2. (See above #2).

(I'm leaning towards option #1 right now and have even gone so far as to buy a Nepal guidebook, order an India guidebook and start reading an India travelogue.)

The only post-Korea travel plan I am certain of is that I want to go to grad school. I feel ready now. I'm in desperate need of intelligent conversation and I reeeeaaally want to start writing professionally. I've pretty much decided that I'm going to pursue a Masters in Journalism and I'm also pretty sure that the place to do it in is Australia. Good schools. Easy to get a student visa. State health care. English speaking people. Nice beaches. Comparable grad-school prices yet shorter programs (1.5 years as opposed to 2+). And, if I want to pursue a career in international journalism, it might help to start by studying overseas...

So, that complicates things a bit as it makes options 3 and 4 a little pointless and much more expensive (think two flights: one from AU and one back to AU). I do have a few other cool things to think about too though; I found a coral reef rehabilitation program off the southern coast of Madagascar and an underwater archeology dig off the coast of Spain. Both options are appealing. It's just that meantime problem that's tripping me up. So if you have any super cool ideas, please pass them my way! I'm in dire need of something to get excited about...

For now, I chug along with plans to blaze through Nepal and India.

I have lots more to update you on (private lessons, my latest school adventures, Teacher's Day, Seongdaemun Prison, silly little Korean culture things, Children's Day, my last Thailand blog, Tour de Jeomchon Part II, and more). Stay tuned. I'll try to put up more sometime tonight. :)