Aloha: goodbye and hello

· by · in EPIK, Play, South Korea, TEFL. ·

One of my favourite books ever, non-comic book that is, is Scepticism Inc. It’s about a man who opens a metaphysical betting shop in which you can bet upon anything as long as it can’t be proved. The book is narrated by a shopping trolley. Throughout the book reference is made to the word “aloha” which means both “hello” and “goodbye”. This kinda popped into my head the other day and I’ve found it hard to shift ever since.

I’ve been working for Edinburgh Council for 10 years as of this month. The time really has flown. I started in libraries, moved into housing repairs and then where I am now, working in local democracy/community engagement. Its been a blast and I really enjoy what I do but its time to leave. Over the past year A LOT has happened in my personal life. Much of it good but some pretty bad stuff too. I would share some of the details of these darker events but I feel that it would be inappropriate of me to do so on a public forum. Lets just say the bad stuff has really made me appreciate the good stuff but also remind me that my time, just as everyone elses, is finite.

I started looking around and decided that as much as I enjoy what I do I’m not ready to keeping doing it until I retire. I need to go and make some bad decisions first. So, I’m leaving my current employer.

However, I’m not leaving the public sector just yet. I’m just moving to work for the government in South Korea. I’ve been accepted into South Korea’s English Program In Korea (EPIK) as a native english teacher in one of their state schools. Its been quite an experience over the last few months going through the interview and selection process, one which I will be blogging about soon. I will be starting my induction in Korea sometime around the middle of August so there are lots to do. Although I’ll still be ranting on here about my projects for another couple of months yet.

I just wanted to do this post to say “goodbye” and “hello” to everyone who has read and contributed to my blogging on work over the past couple of years. Its meant a great deal to me to have folk to bounce ideas off or even just know that I wasn’t the only one have the dilemmas and problems that I was having. I’ll be doing the same for my new work but instead of the digital focus the main subject will be travels and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), which I’ve never done before, so I appreciate that this might not be areas you’re particularly interested in.

I suppose my last dilemma is in my new role do I still qualify as localgov for the purposes of the Weekly Blog Club? 😉

12 responses to “Aloha: goodbye and hello”

  1. Wow, what a change! That sounds REALLY interesting, Graham.

    I for one would love to hear how you get on and #weeklyblogclub would be a great place to talk about your experiences.

    WeeklyBlogClub isn’t limited to local gov – the ‘About’ section of the WBC web site says: “…people who work in or with the public sector or with charitable trusts or voluntary groups or communities…” Admittedly, it does then say “in the UK”, but I’d ignore that bit if I were you!

    Looking forward to hearing more about it. Cheers, Mark

    • Thanks Mark. I’m really looking forward to it. I also go between extreme excitement and the fear too though. Ultimately I’m sure the excitement will win. 🙂

  2. We’d love to hear about your new adventures, Graham! The guidelines on membership are rather squidgy – we have had contributors from as far away as Australia – and you’re already a member so it would be great if you stayed a member. I’d love to see your exotic photos of places I’ll never go myself 🙂

    • Thanks Janet! I don’t think I could help from reading the others Weekly Blog Club posts even when I’m away so it would be great to keep my membership up while I’m off gallivanting. Might finally get round to a photo blog post too. 🙂

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  5. Big step, I hope it goes well. My brother went to Japan to teach English, three years later he came home with a very lovely and feisty Japanese wife. I now have a totally gorgeous half-Japanese nephew. So you never know…!

  6. Sorry for the late comments but just got round to reading this. Best of luck in the role. How exciting. Spending time abroad was one of the best things I ever did and I’m sure you won’t regret it.

    • Thanks Ross! Its not late at all, I haven’t left yet. It’s pretty exciting…and scary too. Looking forward to continuing to follow your adventures. 🙂

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