Brians Adventures in the World of Cycling in South Korea and Global Expeditions!: English is a Big Business in South Korea!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

English is a Big Business in South Korea!

I completed a mega-teaching experience over the past 12 months, crossed the finish line, and saved $ for the baby expenses coming soon! We moved immediately following the contract completion. I'm in a Chicago-ish city 1 hour from downtown Seoul. I haven't ventured out yet on my own. I've only taken a cab to work on Thursday (first day at the new job) and rode the bike yesterday. It's only blocks away (1 metro stop) from our Officetel, which is a giant and modern living complex that has studio units with heated wood-floors, and is cozy. With a baby, this one-room bungalow will be really small. Mi Sung is almost 7 months pregnant, we know it's a boy! His name will be Matthew James. Of course, Mi picked his given name, I chose his middle name (middle name chosen to remember my #1 friend from the UK/USA...James P.), and the name combinations are quite unique. We're excited, but we just snug and spend quiet time together now awaiting his birth. Mi quit her teaching job last Wednesday with me, she worked there for 16 months, and I worked there 12 months. Glad to move on...and I never worked so much in my life as I did in the past year. I've started another teaching job at an Empire English Academy, they have 1000+ after-school students at one location, with 5/6 other schools around Seoul! I estimate this academy grosses $350~400,000USD per month at this single location. English education is big business in South Korea. Anyways, Christmas is just 24 days away. I wanted to get this note off early. Hope to hear from all my friends and family. Blessings and hope all is well for everyone back home. Have yourself a warm and cheerful holiday season! ^^++ Brian in Korea.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hi Brian- thanks for sending me your blog link. It is really interesting & entertaining. I love learning about new cultures. I am half way through the blog and plan to catch up on the rest this weekend. Don't be too home sick - Canada is nice, but I bet you not much has changed since left windsor. Congratulation to you and Mi on your little one.
Erica Sartori; Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 11:43:00 PM EST
Dave said...: Congrats Bro on that baby!!! Keep us all informed on your life and travels. Its always interesting..... Dave in USA (Michigan); Friday, December 7, 2007 at 1:07:00 PM EST

About the Korean-World Author

Brian Perich was an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lecturer for a decade, father, and adventure cyclist based in South Korea.

Previously, Brian has led Canoe adventures in Quetico Provincial Park, Atikokan, Ontario, Canada (1993/1999); led Grand American camping adventures (2000); lived at Paramahansa Yogananda's SRF Ashram for 5 months (see the film "AWAKE"), formerly worked in titanium welding at Agilent Technologies, formerly worked in Winery industry in Marin County with Kendall Jackson in California; Surfing and Meditation continued for several years in California, British Columbia, South Korea, Yoga training in California 1999-2000.

Between 1994-1998 - Brian completed his own adventures with motorcycles. His motorcycling marathons took him across the United States and central/western Canada, while traveling solo over an astounding 24,000km in 60 days! Brian endured 900 mile/1300km average days in the motorcycle saddle and apparently loved every minute of those adventures.

Today, he has given up motorcycle adventures altogether, but finds an outlet for his enthusiasm in outdoor recreation while bicycle touring and micro-blogging about those experiences on his mountain bikes.

While employed as an English teacher in South Korea, Brian has became an advocate for bicycle touring on his mountain bikes. The Korean-World blog originated from those small adventures in Korea, now expanded to cover his recent trek down the TransMongolian highway to the Gobi Desert, cycling 900km east through the Khentii grasslands and in 2012 crossing Mongolia in 45 days, 2500 kilometers 1553 miles. HimalayasX expedition Brian previously cycled across western China, the Taklamakan Desert, the northern Himalayas of East Turkestan Xinjiang/Uyghur Autonomous Region, the corrugated back roads and mountains of Kham Tibet. Brian successfully completed his 2011 mountain bike expedition with 3200 kilometers / 1988 miles unsupported, on/off road MTB adventure cycling.
Brian has completed his second mountain bike journey, MongoliaX expedition - Crossing Mongolia 2012, an unsupported mountain bike MTB expedition across 2500km of Outer Mongolia from Ulanbaatar to Altai Taven-Bogd National Park bordering China, Russia and Mongolia.

In 2013, as a sequel to a trilogy of cycle tours, Brian enjoyed a more leisure bicycle tour onboard his Koga-Miyata World Traveller seeing the northern tier of the United States and western Canada covering 3400 kilometers / 2000 miles in 30 days. This North American cycle tour was called Totherocktour. Enjoying the adventure of bicycle travel and every great conversation started while traveling on the road - has refueled his inspirations to cycle around the Earth. In 2013, while he cycled solo from the Great Lake State of Michigan, United States to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He weaved through local communities and reconnected with friends, family and community after spending almost a decade in Asia.

Brian is now supporting several non-profit foundations through expeditions: IDEAS Foundation of Canada IDEAS is the acronym for Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society which supports the IBD community, those suffering from IBD-inflammatory bowel disease, also known as Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis.

The second non-profit foundation is ETE.ORG - Education Through Expeditions, UK which supports educational outreach programs inside schools around the world. ETE connects explorers with students in the classroom, through an interactive online program in development (Beta).

Brian is researching support for a 18000 kilometer bicycle expedition across the Americas: North, Central and South America - ONE -Arctic to Argentina

Please contact him if you are interested in helping out.

Media: Brian Peric

Twitter: Cycleagain

Location: Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea or southern Ontario, Canada.