Self-intro

A little about me

I’m new to Substack, and you’re new to my newsletter. I suppose it’s only natural that I tell you a bit about myself.

I currently live in Seoul, South Korea, where I work as a content creator in a language institute, making EFL textbooks, editing, proofreading, creating illustrations, and even engaging in some minor graphic design (I’m still getting the hang of that). I’ve lived in Korea a total of about sixteen years. I’m a fairly solitary individual, so I have a small cluster of very good friends, and I engage in the sorts of activities that introverts enjoy—writing, distance walking, cooking for myself and others, reading, watching videos, cartooning, and being curious about the world. Politically, I’d like to think of myself as fairly centrist, but I’ve been drifting somewhat rightward in my thinking over the past several years, and some ex-friends would probably call me some kind of fascist Nazi bigot intent on oppressing all minorities everywhere, even where those minorities are in the majority.

That’s actually kind of funny, given that I’m half-Korean. Maybe that makes me only half as oppressive as I could otherwise be. Here in Korea, I have the chance to explore and live my mother’s culture (she came to the US in the Sixties and became a naturalized US citizen; I was born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1969), so questions of language and culture are never far from my mind.

In terms of personality, I’d say I have a pretty twisted, irreverent sense of humor. Despite having a Master’s in religious studies and a fairly deep respect for religion in general, I’m not afraid to slaughter and eat sacred cows. A lot of my humor is pretty lowbrow, so it might not be for you if you’re a tweedy academic or a repressed Christian who tries to “stay pure,” so to speak. I can also be deadly serious about certain topics, but in general, I make an effort to be open and tolerant, notwithstanding the wild-eyed opinions of my ex-friends who think I’m a Nazi.

I speak and write fluent French, middling Korean (despite over twenty years in country), and a teeny smattering of Spanish and German. This year, 2022, I’ll be delving more fully into Spanish because my best buddy wants to hike the Camino de Santiago (it’s actually nine different routes; we’ll be doing the final 100 kilometers of the popular French Way, el Camino francés) when we turn sixty, so I’m thinking at least one of us ought to know some Spanish.

I’m still figuring Substack out. Eventually, I want to have several different “channels,” so to speak, so that people can choose what aspects of my discourse they want to read. Some of you might be turned off by my humor, but you might like reading my insights on religion, philosophy, language, education, etc. You should be able to choose which aspect of me you see. Once I figure that out, I’ll let you know.

For now, though, I’m just an excited puppy learning about Substack. I’ll be writing here at first tentatively and periodically, then with greater frequency as I find my sea legs. Bear with me; I’m an old dog learning new tricks. In the meantime, I write regularly at my blog, BigHominid’s Hairy Chasms, which I’ve had since 2003. You can find out a lot more about me and my proclivities by heading over that way (the blog’s sidebar has links to my walk blogs!). There are political pieces, movie reviews, and all sorts of other garbage for you to rummage around in. Feel free to explore.