i'm back in seoul. it feels pretty good. just wait until i start complaining though.
9 weeks in canada. i can't begin to describe just how much i feel like canada has changed. it really feels as if the place is set up so that the average 2000-bucks-a-month wage earner will never be able to get ahead.
everything has become more expensive - from housing to general needs such as coffee - and if you want to live halfway comfortably, you either have to have no extracurricular fun or you have to make sacrifices... like not having children.
it's different in korea. the wage-to-lifestyle ratio is so different, so much more liveable. there's very few really fucking stupid laws that curb fun and commerce (this being a double-edged sword, of course - no laws also doesn't curb environmental devastation in favor of commerce).
but i think this extended visit home rammed home why i think canada - as an economic wasteland - can eat a bowl of my diahrrea. sure, the place looks nice, but EVERYTHING has an extra surcharge, tax, exorbitant monthly payment.
i much prefer it here. sorry everyone.
working hours - 30 per week
rent - free
cellphone THAT WORKS EVERYFUCKINGWHERE - $40/month
internet - $35/month
utilities - $20/month in summer, triple that in winter.
so - with my 2.7 - 3.4 million won/month - 3,156.086 CAD - 3,967.409 CAD... depending on the month
i generally have a lifestyle where i can blow 500 CAD a month and send home anywhere from 1500-2000 CAD.
"when are you going to come home for good?"
"oh sean, money isn't everything."
it's really not hard to see this place as a giant pot of gold at the end of a rainbow coated liberally with garbage and feces.
yes, of course i miss everyone... but right now this is my home.
