Wawawa, it’s been over a year since I last posted an update. Lots have happened since then.
Soon after coming back from Rwanda, I prepared a conference proceeding and presentation for the 4th International Scientific Research Conference at the National University of Rwanda. I also presented my findings in front of my colleagues and researchers at IDRC which was very exciting. Finally, I completed a peer-review-ready manuscript and submitted just after I finished my work term at IDRC in January 2012. What a year of research immersion that was. It was intense and overly demanding at times, but I survived and more so, found myself enjoying this work.
Compare to 2011 my 2012 post-IDRC was quite unconventional. I worked as a sushi kitchen helper, and then went on to live in a rural town learning traditional cheesemaking and dairy farm work. After an intense summer of cheesemaking, I travelled the Great North of B.C. and passed through a bit of Yukon and Alaska. Between all these disparate dots of experiences, I moved five times excluding my trips (from Ottawa to Montreal to Vancouver to Agassiz (x2) and back to Montreal). Naturally, I had to reduce the number of my possessions (travellers’ golden rule #1: travel light) significantly and to make the most of what I have. By practice and belief of ‘simplicité volontaire‘, I have become materially simple. Not knowing exactly where my next home will be, I will let the wind take me there – like a kite in the wind.
(photo: Mount Cheam in Agassiz, BC)
Sung Kyu Kim 