Preparation

This is the very first blog entry of my time in Korea. 대박! I'm currently sitting in a dorm room in Seoul on my second day of self-isolation (more on that in the future). I'm tired, but happy to finally be doing something.

Preparing to leave America was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Leaving a comfortable job for the great unknown in a country where you barely speak the language; not something to be taken lightly. On top of that, how do you decide what to take with your for an entire year of your life? What are you comfortable not having? For 27 years all of my belongings were close by. Now, for the first time I truly felt like I was moving out, and some sacrifices had to be made.

Here are some things I took:

• Books, lots of books. Probably too many books. I have an e-reader now, so my future book purchases will all be digital.

• Photos. I wish I had brought more, but everything is buried in boxes in my room right now.

• Polaroid camera, to make more memories.

• Board games. I'm not too familiar with the board game scene in Korea, but lots of these games come in small, travel size boxes, making it ideal for traveling. I brought Coup, Love Letter, and Cartographer.

• Nintendo Switch. It's simply the best game console, especially for traveling.

• Art supplies (pens, pencils, sketchbook). Everything is small and I don't want to rebuy my pens.

• A laptop. I'm sure everyone brought one, but I wanted to call it out because I put a lot of thought into what laptop to buy. First and foremost, I wanted something lightweight. My laptop in college was a brick to carry around, but this new one is much more convenient for going out. The HP 15 laptop was the cheapest I could find that still could also play games, and it's served me well so far. Highly recommended.

Here are some things I left behind:

• Even more books.

• Knick-knacks, doodads, keepsakes, trinkets. Working at Blizzard, I accumulated so much stuff; toys and special gifts and things that, while cool to look at, don't really do anything. The things that I did bring either had some practical use (See Hearthstone mugs and blanket), or some sentimental value. I ended up giving away a lot of my Blizzard trinkets to people who would value them more than me.

• Instruments. I really wish I could have brought a guitar, but it just wasn't realistic.

Things that I wish I had brought:

• Nothing yet!

Now that I'm through the mad scramble to get all of my documents ready, I can actually sit down and focus on the things that I want to do. I hope that you can find something of interest in this blog, which I plan to update every week.

I'm sorry I couldn't see more people before I left, but given the global pandemic crisis going on right now it seemed safer to stay home. If you're reading this, I really appreciate you taking the time to check-in with my life. Stay tuned for more soon!