The Sunset Post
Jumping the Asymptote has been running almost 17 months now. I no longer live in Korea. I spent about six months after that in China, and have since then flown to my homeland. For those wondering what I’m doing (or how I’m doing), I’m doing well. I’ve taken over as CEO of a company and am doing what I love: innovating. Since I was fifteen I’ve been doing things people said couldn’t be done, or things nobody has ever done before. And I’ll continue to do those things.
Jumping the Asymptote was a place where I let the world into my head. I’ve had unprecedented access to various echelons of Korean society. Scenes that flash through my mind as I write that include getting drunk with an ROK Air Force general on a regular basis, while working on a ROKAF base; having dinner once a month with a doctor who was a good friend; farming gochu, sweet potatoes, and other crops in a village near Iksan with another good friend on his family farm; being allowed past the AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY – TOP SECRET SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED sign at the Busan International Airport’s control tower to hang out in the Radar Approach Control Room while air traffic controllers landed planes; and lastly standing up in a meeting composed of National Assemblymen, immigration officials, professors, and human rights lawyers, and scolding the immigration officials, expressing my disappointment that the laws they were proposing to restrict foriegners’ rights (fingerprinting and extrajudicial deportation) were illegal.
As I’ve noticed interesting similarities, parallels, and differences between Korean culture and my own, I’ve tried to note them. When done in a systemic, scientific way, this is called ethnology. When done the way I do it, it just makes for interesting reading, and maybe brings some insight to the jaehan waegukin (resident foreigners) who read it.
This is my farewell post. I’ll leave the blog active as it is linked to and referenced by The Grand Narrative and other blogs. For those of you who have been with me, reading, I thank you.
Congrats on being happy. My hat is off to you, and hopefully we’ll run into each other at some point. Cheers and beers from a fellow expat — Chris
Sorry to see you go but we all totally understand. Thanks for what you’ve done and we all hope to read from you again!
Best of luck to your new projects, Tony. I’m sorry Asia is losing you.
화이팅!
I’m disappointed you won’t be blogging here any more, but it’s an understandable decision. I’m one of those other bloggers who’s linked to you over that period, and I hope if you come across something you feel is worth writing about even though you’re not in Korea any more you might throw it up here.
I love the fact that you only post on here when you have something interesting and worth saying, which makes every post worth reading.
Good luck in you business!