Think that went well! nice couple of young lads they seemed to like the size of the rooms... Fingers crossed!
Rob Oakley (sent via Samsung mobile)
Saturday, 28 May 2011
1st viewing!
We have the first viewing on our house today at 2:30! Which is good as the house has been on the market only 2 days! ... Fingers crossed!
Rob Oakley (sent via Samsung mobile)
Rob Oakley (sent via Samsung mobile)
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Another Goal before I go
Another goal before I go is to lose some weigh and generally get a bit fitter. I have (For the past 14 work days) been cycling to and from work.
Using the livestrong website I have entered what I have eaten and my Cycling route to work, I also biked to town at lunch time so I have burned 332 calories.
Unfortunately I have yet to have my evening meal today... and I am meeting up with some friends for a couple of beers tonight.
I will update this on the blog as we go along as this should provide me with some motivation to at least think about it!
I set my target to lose 2lbs a week which is 0.14 Stone in English money and 0.90kg - I shall see how it goes
Using the livestrong website I have entered what I have eaten and my Cycling route to work, I also biked to town at lunch time so I have burned 332 calories.
Unfortunately I have yet to have my evening meal today... and I am meeting up with some friends for a couple of beers tonight.
I will update this on the blog as we go along as this should provide me with some motivation to at least think about it!
I set my target to lose 2lbs a week which is 0.14 Stone in English money and 0.90kg - I shall see how it goes
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
language!
another thing i want to do before i get to Korea is to learn Korean properly!
I have been quite busy / lazy over the last 7 years and am still a beginner!
I can read and write Korean quite well so i have a good head start and one me my esl students from Cambridge Korean church is teaching me Korean.
I don't need to speak to Korean to teach go Korea but i am not just going there on a has year so if i want to fit in to Korean society i really need to do this!
I have been quite busy / lazy over the last 7 years and am still a beginner!
I can read and write Korean quite well so i have a good head start and one me my esl students from Cambridge Korean church is teaching me Korean.
I don't need to speak to Korean to teach go Korea but i am not just going there on a has year so if i want to fit in to Korean society i really need to do this!
Monday, 23 May 2011
What do your children think? and So much to loose and so much to gain !
I am not a bad parent... at least I don't think so (?)!
However I have been asked by a number of people whether my children are happy to be moving to Korea or what they think about it. Now I am all for empowering young children to make decisions and form their own opinions but my children are (nearly) 2 and (nearly) 4. I don't think we have said "do you want to move to Korea" but i have definitely said that we are going to move. My son sways between being excited and saying he doesn't want to go, but harsh as it may sound there is not a lot that he can do about it. This again (like many aspects of this move) makes me feel uncomfortable. But I have decided to do it and I may live to regret it, but I would certainly regret it if I don't try it. There are so many "what if's", "if only's" and "i wish we had's" about this situation that at times I feel quite confused about what I actually do want to do.
There is so much to consider. But deep down I know that my children will not suffer from the experience, we may move somewhere else in the future and moving now means that we still have tome to move back to the UK on to Australia or stay in Korea before my children reach the age where they need to concentrate on their studies.
My parents are devastated about me moving their grandchildren so far away from them and have so far managed to come up with a number of convincing and as many unconvincing reasons why we should not do it. That fact remains that my children are mixed race and we have always bought them up in a culturally mixed environment too. I plan to ensure that this is continued wherever we base ourselves. They will be bilingual and they will be brought up with a broad knowledge of their heritage.
So the children are powerless about the situation, but being so young should adapt quickly. My wife is Going home so no major problems here... that leaves me The move will be most difficult for me, the pressure will be greater for me as I have the additional responsibility of being the main breadwinner. My wife plans to work, but the children need looking after too so it really is up to me, to support the move emotionally and financially and to keep the peace with my family.
I feel quite stressed at times and as I mentioned, alleviating my stress and clearing my own thoughts is the motivation for this blog, that and that hopefully in the future my children and other family members may find it an interesting record of the move. At the moment there is no one following this blog although there appears to have been visitors from Germany and the US over the weekend but this is about me really ad at the moment the posts have been quite self-indulgent although in the future I hope to provide some useful information about anyone planning a similar move and I hope also to invite people to follow me on this journey. At the moment I would prefer a certain amount of anonymity as my employer does not know the plans that are afoot... or do you?
However I have been asked by a number of people whether my children are happy to be moving to Korea or what they think about it. Now I am all for empowering young children to make decisions and form their own opinions but my children are (nearly) 2 and (nearly) 4. I don't think we have said "do you want to move to Korea" but i have definitely said that we are going to move. My son sways between being excited and saying he doesn't want to go, but harsh as it may sound there is not a lot that he can do about it. This again (like many aspects of this move) makes me feel uncomfortable. But I have decided to do it and I may live to regret it, but I would certainly regret it if I don't try it. There are so many "what if's", "if only's" and "i wish we had's" about this situation that at times I feel quite confused about what I actually do want to do.
There is so much to consider. But deep down I know that my children will not suffer from the experience, we may move somewhere else in the future and moving now means that we still have tome to move back to the UK on to Australia or stay in Korea before my children reach the age where they need to concentrate on their studies.
My parents are devastated about me moving their grandchildren so far away from them and have so far managed to come up with a number of convincing and as many unconvincing reasons why we should not do it. That fact remains that my children are mixed race and we have always bought them up in a culturally mixed environment too. I plan to ensure that this is continued wherever we base ourselves. They will be bilingual and they will be brought up with a broad knowledge of their heritage.
So the children are powerless about the situation, but being so young should adapt quickly. My wife is Going home so no major problems here... that leaves me The move will be most difficult for me, the pressure will be greater for me as I have the additional responsibility of being the main breadwinner. My wife plans to work, but the children need looking after too so it really is up to me, to support the move emotionally and financially and to keep the peace with my family.
I feel quite stressed at times and as I mentioned, alleviating my stress and clearing my own thoughts is the motivation for this blog, that and that hopefully in the future my children and other family members may find it an interesting record of the move. At the moment there is no one following this blog although there appears to have been visitors from Germany and the US over the weekend but this is about me really ad at the moment the posts have been quite self-indulgent although in the future I hope to provide some useful information about anyone planning a similar move and I hope also to invite people to follow me on this journey. At the moment I would prefer a certain amount of anonymity as my employer does not know the plans that are afoot... or do you?
A Life for sale and how much can you squeeze into 3 cubic metres
I am selling my life on ebay... well not quite to the extreme that Ian Usher did (Alife4sale.com) (I have an ESL lesson plan on this somewhere I will link it soon) but we have started to sell things on ebay and this has made me feel quite sad, however the income from pieces of furniture and baby things (Stair gates, playdens, cots, car seats and book cases are some of the things we have sold this week) will be very useful in financing the move.
We are, for financial and practical reasons (how big will our place in Seoul be) trying to condense our belongings into 3 cubic metres!!! How much space is this? Is it possible? I will reserve judgement until I have either succeeded or failed!
We are, for financial and practical reasons (how big will our place in Seoul be) trying to condense our belongings into 3 cubic metres!!! How much space is this? Is it possible? I will reserve judgement until I have either succeeded or failed!
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Saturday, 21 May 2011
House for sale
We have decided to sell the house rather than rent it out... I feel quite sad as it is a really great house - excellent layout and lots of space and the one thing I will really miss is the garden.
If you want to buy a house in Peterborough, let me know.... It has a conservatory and covered decking area.
It will be on the market from next week!!!
If you want to buy a house in Peterborough, let me know.... It has a conservatory and covered decking area.
It will be on the market from next week!!!
The decision and some of the so far....
The decision
I have been cautiously considering moving to Korea since .. well since I met Ji Gong really but there always seemed to be a reason not to... but with (persistent) gentle persuasion from Ji Gong, I finally arrived at a place in my mind where I felt I could actually do this.
Lets wind back a few years <<<<
I left school did a eurorail trip around Europe... there is a number of good stories in this adventure somewhere... I went to the local technical college and really wanted to study journalism I didn't get on the course I wanted and took my 2nd choice... a diploma in media studies. After completing this course I quickly found that it was not enough to get me a job in media production so I was faced with a choice study for a degree or get a job. By this point in my life I had decided that beer and nightclubs were more my thing rather than lectures and exams so I swerved university (Who needs a degree these days anyway, my youthful bravado told me - I was later to be proved wrong) so I started to work for a large multinational finance company in a document storage department, I transferred to a call centre role became a supervisor and in what was the best financial decision I have ever made bought a house, aged 21.
I was faced with another decision caused by a company restructure, apply for my own job or leave. Being asked to attend an interview for the job I had been doing for several years left a bitter taste in my mouth so I decided to part company with my employer and during a dazed and confused walk home from an all night party with my best friend we decided to go and work in spain. 2 months later I arrived in Salou (41°04'40"N 1°07'44"E) (There is a whole book of stories in this one) I ended up in Australia and over a game of pool and an informal English lesson I met Ji Gong.
>>>>>> Fast forward now to 2005...
married for one year and working for Europe's largest motor auction group in trade sales of premium German Automobiles. I decided... / was persuaded to get a degree. This is the first requirement for teaching English in Korea.
I had a passing interest in computers and networks so decided to study a Bachelors degree in computing and information systems. I graduated in 2008 and in this time as well as achieving a 1st class degree with honours I had paid of the mortgage on my first house and also the best thing that has ever happened to me.... We were blessed with the birth of our first child Harvey in the summer of 2007!
I returned to work full time with an uplift in pay and a new role as a business analyst courtesy of my degree
>>> fast forward 2 years...
... Bundle of joy number 2 a beautiful (if slightly chubby, baby girl) arrives in the summer of 2009, and house number 1 is sold and number 2 purchased.
>>> A year later
I started seriously thinking about moving to Korea, I had the degree and had been focussing on the children... and to be honest my relationship with my wife was suffering... In October 2010 I decided to start a CELTA Course. I chose the Part time option, twice a week and I got to leave work early (thanks guys). The only downside was it was a 45 Min drive away in Cambridge. I also started teaching English at Cambridge Korean Church to get some additional hands on experience. I passed the CELTA and really enjoyed the experience.
Well that has bought you up to speed, I will now blog as I go through the process of moving to Seoul, South Korea...
I have been cautiously considering moving to Korea since .. well since I met Ji Gong really but there always seemed to be a reason not to... but with (persistent) gentle persuasion from Ji Gong, I finally arrived at a place in my mind where I felt I could actually do this.
Lets wind back a few years <<<<
I left school did a eurorail trip around Europe... there is a number of good stories in this adventure somewhere... I went to the local technical college and really wanted to study journalism I didn't get on the course I wanted and took my 2nd choice... a diploma in media studies. After completing this course I quickly found that it was not enough to get me a job in media production so I was faced with a choice study for a degree or get a job. By this point in my life I had decided that beer and nightclubs were more my thing rather than lectures and exams so I swerved university (Who needs a degree these days anyway, my youthful bravado told me - I was later to be proved wrong) so I started to work for a large multinational finance company in a document storage department, I transferred to a call centre role became a supervisor and in what was the best financial decision I have ever made bought a house, aged 21.
I was faced with another decision caused by a company restructure, apply for my own job or leave. Being asked to attend an interview for the job I had been doing for several years left a bitter taste in my mouth so I decided to part company with my employer and during a dazed and confused walk home from an all night party with my best friend we decided to go and work in spain. 2 months later I arrived in Salou (41°04'40"N 1°07'44"E) (There is a whole book of stories in this one) I ended up in Australia and over a game of pool and an informal English lesson I met Ji Gong.
>>>>>> Fast forward now to 2005...
married for one year and working for Europe's largest motor auction group in trade sales of premium German Automobiles. I decided... / was persuaded to get a degree. This is the first requirement for teaching English in Korea.
I had a passing interest in computers and networks so decided to study a Bachelors degree in computing and information systems. I graduated in 2008 and in this time as well as achieving a 1st class degree with honours I had paid of the mortgage on my first house and also the best thing that has ever happened to me.... We were blessed with the birth of our first child Harvey in the summer of 2007!
I returned to work full time with an uplift in pay and a new role as a business analyst courtesy of my degree
>>> fast forward 2 years...
... Bundle of joy number 2 a beautiful (if slightly chubby, baby girl) arrives in the summer of 2009, and house number 1 is sold and number 2 purchased.
>>> A year later
I started seriously thinking about moving to Korea, I had the degree and had been focussing on the children... and to be honest my relationship with my wife was suffering... In October 2010 I decided to start a CELTA Course. I chose the Part time option, twice a week and I got to leave work early (thanks guys). The only downside was it was a 45 Min drive away in Cambridge. I also started teaching English at Cambridge Korean Church to get some additional hands on experience. I passed the CELTA and really enjoyed the experience.
Well that has bought you up to speed, I will now blog as I go through the process of moving to Seoul, South Korea...
Friday, 20 May 2011
About us
First a bit about us...
My wife... Ji Gong you could say that she is the reason for this chapter of our lives. Originally from South Korea I met her in Sydney, Australia in 2001 and fell deeply in love.
We got married in 2004 and have lived together in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England since 2003.
This is Harvey, he is 3 (Nearly 4!!!)
This is Erin she is 23 Months (Nearly 2!!!)
and.. finally this is me Rob Oakley ... I was born in Peterborough and except for travelling (Spain, Thailand Australia, Korea, and numerous holidays abroad I have lived here all my life.
My wife... Ji Gong you could say that she is the reason for this chapter of our lives. Originally from South Korea I met her in Sydney, Australia in 2001 and fell deeply in love.
We got married in 2004 and have lived together in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England since 2003.
This is Harvey, he is 3 (Nearly 4!!!)
This is Erin she is 23 Months (Nearly 2!!!)
and.. finally this is me Rob Oakley ... I was born in Peterborough and except for travelling (Spain, Thailand Australia, Korea, and numerous holidays abroad I have lived here all my life.
Seoul Ambition
Welcome to Seoul ambition. The purpose of this blog is really to provide me with an outlet for my fears frustration and excitement as my family and I embark on a life changing journey.
We are moving 5,473.9 Miles (8809.3 Kilometres / 4753.5 Nautical Miles)
From :
Peterborough coordinates:
latitude: 52° 35' North
longitude: 0° 15' West
To:
Seoul coordinates:
latitude: 37° 35' North
We are moving 5,473.9 Miles (8809.3 Kilometres / 4753.5 Nautical Miles)
From :
Peterborough coordinates:
latitude: 52° 35' North
longitude: 0° 15' West
To:
Seoul coordinates:
latitude: 37° 35' North
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