Teaching: Korea and the US Virgin Islands

Hello to anyone,

I taught on ST Thomas for about two years and now I am in Korea. With all international experiences, one can draw parralles between different places separeted by thousands of miles. Just like in the VI, I meet a lot of ecentric, adventurous and artsy expats. Also, I found the exact opposite: the drunken failures who perputually complain about their host country. The latter is not a problem that is endemic to the VI.

I miss the islands a lot: the students, the weather and the water. I love in the far south and swim on the weekends but it is not the same. Also, pate.

However, there are two things I love about Korea that I did have in the VI. First, a child like sense of safety. In the Ironically, South Korea is one of the safest places in the world. The is no school violence, there is no gun problem, and there are few crimes. Drugs are not a problem. Trust me, you dont want to get caught here with a back of marijuana. Here, one can walk down almost every street at any hour of the night and feel so safe that the thoughtt of safety is not even a thought. Ten year old children ride the subway by themselves!

Second, and less important, is the dating life. In the VI, the Western man/woman ratio was too great. An average looking girl could walk into a VI bar and get the unwarrented attention from a pack of men. Here, it the exact opposite. 90% of the western men date Korean woman. The remaining 10% date the best of the Westen women. Sadly, a lot of my Western female friends have a very difficult time finding boyfriends.