Prelude

Keeping a journal and doing laundry are the two ways I relax.  My relaxation techniques originated from my parents, who I dedicate this blog to.  My mother gave me a green spiral notebook in middle school and said to me, “Billy, you need to write when you are unhappy,” (because we knew that if I didn’t find a way to calm down the alternative was a life of prescription drugs.)  In middle school I realized the world was not kind, the media never told the good news, and I was beginning to develop a heightened sense of anxiety & paranoia.  Since then I have been writing prodigiously and as it turns out: the world is the same, the media is the same, so Shabbat shalom.  And as for my father and the laundry: it’s his “thing” and it became my “thing” too.  Every day he did one or two loads and always in cold water (to the chagrin of all the girls in my family.)  For years I was oblivious to how lucky I was, since I had friends as young as 13 doing their own laundry and I never did; however, when I went off to college, and cleaned my own clothes, I found laundry to be my “thing” too.  For an hour or two, each week, it was my time to clean the recent past away, whether it was good or bad, dry my clothes and come to terms with my life as it is, then fold…I always use cold water too.  You will see me at my most calm and relaxed with a load of whites in the drier, tapping away on the keys of my laptop, and a cup of tea nearby.

So right now I’ve got the clothes hanging in my laundry room, the cup of green tea to my left, and, in front of me, the preparation of my first blog entry for what I’ve labeled “All Aboard the Little Wolf Express”.  When I chose the name of the blog, “All Aboard…” I thought of a train, conducted by me.  From the head car I would yell out, “All aboard!” and welcome any travelers that wanted to ride with me.  So, when you read this blog imagine that you are NOT reading a blog, but actually travelling with me on my life vessel: the Little Wolf Express…

The Little Wolf Express began in Northern California and the locomotive eventually led me to Southern California, Orange County, where I went to college, UC Irvine.  Afterwards I found myself distant from the Little Wolf Express: I was frustrated because I wasn’t really going anywhere anymore.  I was having trouble getting started as a writer, my art was garbage, and my freestyles were not straight and didn’t rhyme.  I was disinterested in graduate school and needed money, so I started working.  That’s what you do after college, I thought, you went to college, then you get a good job, and everything else eventually falls into place: wife, family, car, house…  But, after graduating I was poor and lacking the “good job” I assumed was waiting for me.  I moved in with some friends who lived in 3-bedroom apartment in Tustin; I was getting ready to move back home with my parents, feeling defeated.  I was listless, sad, not writing.  During the warm nights I would stay up late (I always stay up late) and I would hear the whistle of the 11pm train and think to myself, yup, that’s the Little Wolf Express calling out to me, “c’mon, let’s go, it’s not over—in fact, it hasn’t even begun!”  Tossing the despair aside, I packed my bags, found a job in Korea teaching English, and took the Little Wolf Express, one-way, to Suwon, South Korea, where I currently reside.

And here we are, together: you, me, and the Little Wolf Express.  I will share my adventures, my fears, my stories, my ideas, my hopes, my dreams and even my nightmares.  The ticket to board this train costs only what your attention can provide (so right from the start I know some of my friends won’t even have gotten this far); as for the others perks: it has free laundry service and complimentary tea.  I’ll be your faithful narrator, tour guide, and train conductor…All aboard and please enjoy.

(A few notes: I’ll be changing names of people I meet, so I can be a bit more honest, and I’ll try to update you on the progress of the Little Wolf Express as often as I can.  I’ll try not to embellish or exaggerate to keep my experience true-to-life.  If you’re looking for a guide to teaching ESL abroad or freelance journalism than you may want to look someplace else, because this is an egocentric journal (but, I’ll do my best to include tips/advice for people who want to do ESL abroad and, in general, I stay politically involved and engaged so there may be some political writings periodically.))