My parents brought their second of three sons home to Cedar Park soon after bringing him into the world in Austin, TX. My mother is a Chicago native. My father hails from New Zealand. If they can't call them selves Texans, however, I don't know who can. They've owned the place for over 30 years.
Like most, I don't recall terribly much from my early years. I attended three different elementary schools even though we never moved. Cedar Park was growing so fast that they had to re-draw the districts surrounding our house just about every year. Elementary was a pleasant experience as I recall. My memories are mostly vague feelings by now, but consist mostly of recess and story time. One can't go wrong in life with recess and story time.
My formative years were spent at Cedar Park Middle School. I met my best friends there. Friends who, I suspect, will be so for life. I played Saxophone for a year in the band and played soccer for the school. Mostly though, my time was spent milling around the mall with friends. Looking back it sounds very cliche, but I enjoyed watching movies and loitering.
Most of my peers loathed high school. I, on the other hand, rather enjoyed it. I ran cross country and track as well as played soccer. Between AP courses, I socialized with friends. Twice a week I would practice with my comedic improv troupe after school. On the weekends, I'd party around my sports schedule. By graduation I had emerged from my awkward adolescent's cocoon as a social butterfly of a young man.
At Texas State University I had the time of my life. My freshman year I pledged Phi Kappa Psi. In my five years at San Marcos I earned a degree in Communication Studies, made hundreds of friends, and found a new place to call home.
The summer after graduating I applied for a job in Garmisch, Germany. To interview for the job, I took My American Odyssey to Seattle. My trip was an amazing way to see my country.
While working in Germany, I started this blog, and traveled as much as possible. I was able to visit Austria and Italy in addition to seeing much of Bavaria. My time in Garmisch was amazing, but unfortunately short. I was only able to complete approximately 5 months of my 13 month contract before having to pack my things and return to Texas. My father had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
As I had just returned from living abroad, I had no job, and so I spent most of my time upon returning to Texas helping my dad run the family business and get around to his various doctor's appointments. After several months of doctor's, and chemo-therapy, and fighting, my father passed on June 1st of 2011.
After my father's death, my family made the difficult decision to shut down our family business as it was my father's really, and none of us had the energy or drive to continue it. For the next year of my life, I ran the business until we shut the doors. During that year, I started on my TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) Certification and started shopping for jobs as a teacher overseas. Eventually, I decided to apply to the Korean Public School System as a GET (Guest English Teacher), and, two days before my birthday, on September 13th, 2012, I moved to Namhae, South Korea.
Namhae is a beautiful island (or rather group of islands) just off of the Southern coast of the Korean mainland. It is a rural community of mostly farmers and fisherman, and is most well known for it's natural beauty in addition to their chief crop, garlic. I have been living in Namhae for the past two years, and will stay for an additional year before I move on to my next adventure.
This autobiography is a fluid work in progress. Last Updated Oct 1 2014
