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| Page Views: 2,967 | My Story: The Very Tame and Abridged Version ;o) by Hmmmm - last update: Apr 26, 2005 |
| My Brother Dan and I in Seoul, Korea. |
My name is Aaron Irving and below is the condensed story of me. However I must warn you that what you are about to read is the abridged version. All items that may be detrimental to me, or that may paint a less than sunny image of me when it is read have been ommitted. |
| New Zealand By Night. Action packed Huh? |
...Alright, so I entered the world on an isolated Island Archipelago called New Zealand. Quite modest little land, totally isolated but filled with remarkable things. I was born in the North Island, in Tauranga, a scenic city that is famous for nothing, save drunkeness on New Years Eve, and even this revelry takes place in Mt. Manganui, a town a few clicks east of Tauranga itself. So there you go. I grew up as a wee tyke, in the rather pungent Bay of Plenty city, Rotorua, or as we affectionately call it; Rottenrua. If you have been there you'll understand why, if you haven't, you should. There aren't many places in the world where the the air always smells of eggy farts. |
| Me in Parnell Village, NZL. Pic by my brother Dan |
In retrospect, I was very lucky to grow up in New Zealand. It was clean, green and safe. But most of all it was fun. I spent my childhood in Rotorua with the neighbourhood kids having 'adventures and #@%*'. We'd play war with sticks and sound effects, we'd all have competitions jumping the creek, we'd float into town on rubber tyres, negotiating snags in the river, we'd fish, ride motorbikes up steep cliffs and freak out our mums, or we'd go on walkabout.... When we moved to the country in Taranaki, it was more of the same. I remember riding on cows, eating corn straight from the plant in the middle of Mr Tarrants corn field, riding bikes with no hands, playing on the beach, learning to surf and rugby on frosty ground, no shoes and a ball the size of my torso. |
| The Hinanaulua Project. Moloka'i Island, Hawai'i |
But as I got older I used to watch the planes way above fly past, and I started to dream. New Zealand was all alone in the middle of the biggest ocean... and there was big big world full of fancies just beyond it. I started wanting to catch one of those planes. Not long later I got my chance. I moved to Sydney Australia, where I studied drama at New South Wales University. But that didn't last long. Before I knew it I was in Amsterdam, sharing a flat the size of a shoebox with no bathroom and then living the total opposite in France, where I stayed in Domaine du Palais, a 'being' renovated 15th Century Cistercian Abbey. |
| My GF smiling beneath a mask. Pic: Aaron irving |
Years later I returned to New Zealand and moved to Dunedin in the DEEP south. In Dunedin I went to university, I studied EVERYTHING, except dentistry but ended up as a geo-archaeologist. I worked on a few Archaeological site surveys in New Zealand, and then I was back on a plane again. To Hawaii, doing a Prehistoric Settlement Patterns Survey on the Hawaiian Island of Moloka'i. Before long I was off again. I went back to Asia, Europe, blah blah blah. When I was in New York I met a wee Korean girl. A girl who I had met a half a year before on the other side of the world. You can see her in the picture, smiling beneath a face mask, she loves snow. I wish I did... Anyway, I found myself doing what I had done before, moving to another country because of a girl. I moved back to Korea. She moved back too. |
| Two little Bumble Bees. Pic: Aaron Irving |
I have been in Korea now, since late January 2000. I'll never forget the day I first arrived here. I left Sydney, Australia the day before, from a beautiful summer day of about 30 degrees and arrived into Seoul's Kimpo Airport shaking to a frigid -17. It was soooo chaotic. But exciting. I am still here. I've done a few different jobs, teaching Kindergarten, School Students and University Students, I've published web sites, and I've written text books. But for me the most rewarding thing I did was teach little bumble bees (kindergarten students). They can be naughty little beggars, but overall the are cute as buttons. You can see in the picture here, two of my students dress in Hanbok - traditional Korean Costume, they are celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. |
| My Friend Scott and I in Jeju Do. |
After a few years in Seoul, I have come to know some great people. People from sooo many countries. This is a thing that amazes me somewhat about ex-pat culture, the fact that we can become people without borders, that it is perfectly possible to transcend national and political borders. To love another country, that isn't your own, with people who aren't from your country of the country in which you are living. And the love you do have for your adopted country, its not a nationalistic love, a parochial 'we are better' kind of love, its a quiet 'I like being here' kind of love. Its sad that we have so many nations, with so many borders, with some many nationals fighting over those borders. |
| Me, after being nailed at Songkran, Thailand |
So yes I've been in Seoul, for nearly four years. But in that time I have looked around Korea well. Korea is a fascinating country that is too often shadowed by China and Japan. There is a cross over of cultures yes, but inspite of this Pan North Asian Cultural complex, Korea remains distinct, with a proud culture that has managed to stay true to itself despite the cultural and physical invasions from its neighbours. In addition to travelling around Korea I have also managed to have a good look around East Asia. Korea has a good selection of airlines and a competitive travel industry so seeing the rest of Asia from Seoul as a base is very easy indeed. But I think I will leave Korea soon, in search of another place. |
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 Comments for Hmmmm about World | | | | |
Youdi Wed Jul 22, 2009 15:50 UTC
Hi there, just saw ur note while checking out things I haven t seen in Seoul ^^ only 8 nights to sleep till I m back in Seoul again ~ | Antji Thu Feb 19, 2009 14:45 UTC
I am seeing you are not online long time...but I wanna wish you a Belated Happy Birthday!! hope, things are doing well! Greetings from Germany | zanzooni Sun Feb 15, 2009 08:21 UTC
Once again, we only speak on B-days. What ever are you doing these days?? Hope your day was awesome, dude!!~ | singhsomen Sat Feb 14, 2009 16:46 UTC
Happy B'day . Have great year |
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