Principal American STEM Prep-Daegu

 It was a real whirlwind, but not I'm back in Korea. On December 16th, I arrived in Daegu to join American STEM Prep as the founding principal of the Daegu campus. ASP has campuses in Gwanggyo and Songdo already in Korea, so the Daegu campus will join the growing community of ASP. I'm excited to join the team and happy to be back in the Land of the Morning Calm.

International Principal?

My job title changed. I'm not sure if my job description changed. I'm not sure, because no one has actually had a meeting about this change with me. There was a rather vague comment about parents and students not understanding what a "Director of International Programs" meant, but no official meeting, no official job description. Many people would be understandably stressed out or upset about this situation, but I've worked at other new schools before, so I know that the situation is fluid and requires flexibility. With that said, it would be nice to know exactly what is going on with my job title and job description. Communication is such a huge and important part of any organization. I try my best to never leave our teachers in the dark on decisions made or the direction we are going as a school.

Director of International Programs at Westview Cambodian International School

Those that have followed my blog are aware that during the last year I have been floundering for inspiration. It has been a long journey to rediscover the passion and drive that I initially had when I started blogging. I would say that I'm still not back to that level yet, but I have found my passion for education again. I won't get into the personal/professional situations that led to me coming to Westview Cambodian International School (those are stories best left for face-to-face discussions), but I'm very happy to be here. Although I miss many of the conveniences of Korea, I'm really happy in Cambodia. I'm enjoying the exploring and discovering that comes with living in a new and completely unfamiliar place. The job his exciting, because I'm helping to build a high school program once again. We have up to G10 this year, so it will be another couple of years before we have graduates. There are the challenges of a small and growing school, but I'm enjoying setting policy and building culture. I'm lucky to work with a very diligent and strong team of Khmer and foreign staff who are eager to teach and nurture students. So I wouldn't say I have rediscovered the passion that drove this blog in its early days, but I have rediscovered a passion within me. One that required a little more challenge in my personal and professional life and I have found those here at Westview and in Cambodia.

Kraemerlee Brewery, Gapyeong, Korea

Kraemerlee Brewing street view.

For my first blog about food and travel, I want to write about Kraemerlee Brewery in Gapyeong. It is located right across the street from the Kensington Resort, so very easy to find. From the ITX station, you can take bus 36-1 and you will drive right by it. We visited on a Sunday and we were both super glad we did. Due to Covid, they are currently running a simplified menu of fries and pizza, but the pizza did not disappoint. Seriously some of the best pizza I have had in Korea. Of course, the beer is the real star of the show at a brewery, so we will focus more on the drinking than on the eating.

Round One: I ordered the Imperial Stout and my girlfriend ordered the Oatmeal IPA. The Imperial Stout

was delicious with a notes of malt, chocolate, coffee, and roasted nuts. The roasted nut favor came at the back of the throat and was a pleasant surprise to me. I don't offered encounter a flavor combination with roasted nuts, but it complimented the other flavors very nicely. I'll give the Imperial Stout a 4.5 out of 5 for taste and smoothness. Very easy to drink, I could have downed a bunch of these.

Round Two: Cream Milk Stout and Sour Citrus. We mixed things up this time with my girlfriend ordering a stout and I got a sour. I have only recently gotten into sours and this one was fantastic. The balance of the sour was perfectly aligned with the citrus favor, so although it was sour, it wasn't overly sour. It didn't

Round 2: Milk Stout & Sour Citrus

make my lips pucker up, which I appreciated. Very strong notes of lemon and orange, but easy to drink for sure. Other sours that I have had are one pint only for me, but I felt I could drink a second or even third of this delicious blend. 4 out of 5 for taste and smoothness. So far we felt like Kraemerlee was pitching a perfect game for us. It is worth noting that our pizza came during round two and paired very nicely with the pepperoni pizza we had. 

Blog Rebrand

During the last year and a half, I have struggled to continue my blog. I haven't really felt inspired to post content. At first, I thought I was dealing with Covid fatigue, but after some time, I realized it was something else entirely. I have decided to rebrand my blog to be about food and travel, two things I'm passionate about, but don't really have an outlet for these two topics other than Instagram. I will still occasionally post about EdTech or education, but I feel like those two topics dominate enough of my life that I would like my blogging to be about other things. If this turns you off, I'm sorry, but this is my blog and this is the new direction for me. I will be posting about some food and travel experiences here in Korea and then about my move to Cambodia. 

2021 ADE Reflection