Hi! It’s been two weeks since I’ve written my Sunday newsletter. Not much has happened recently, so I haven’t felt as motivated to write. But I want to share some updates with you, so I’ll make this quick.
Job Hunt
The job hunt is continuing at a steady pace. A couple of weeks ago, I was offered a job teaching English in South Korea. The monthly salary is low compared to the USA—just 2.6M KRW ($1,879.85) if they find an apartment for me or 3.3M KRW ($2,385.96) if I elect to find my own housing—but the prospect of returning to Korea is exciting. If I take it, I’d move to Korea in August 2024 and work there for one year.
I’m still weighing my options and looking for work with my Computer Science degree. I have a few upcoming interviews, including one for a paid coding boot camp with New York State ($31 an hour) or a web developer position for a local community organization ($24 an hour). Those sound somewhat promising and stable, so I will follow up to see if they make sense. I’ll stay in the USA for another year if I get a solid job offer by early July with a good salary ($65,000 or more). If I don’t hear back, or the offered jobs don’t sound exciting or fulfilling, I’ll return to Korea.
I could see myself being happy in either place. Even if I return to Korea, I can keep working on my Master’s Degree in computer science and return to the field next year. I have enough friends in Korea, Albany, or Boston to keep myself busy and happy anywhere. And DDR will always be there if not.
Business Updates & YouTube
For now, I’ve decided to put my Upbeat Web Services project on the back burner and focus on getting steady employment. Starting a business is still the end goal, but I think it’s more important to be in a secure financial place since that will put me in a better position for the short term. I still plan to pursue other side business ventures (like merch, social media marketing, etc.), which I’ll update you on soon.
I’m still working on growing my YouTube channel to 500 subscribers. In addition to my daily DDR Grand Prix videos and YouTube shorts (clips I’ve taken at the arcade), I’ve released a few miscellaneous videos. Check them out!
- DanceDanceRevolution WORLD – Licensed Music Preview: I took the ten announced licensed songs from DDR WORLD and edited them into a nice, digestible video with samples of each.
- DanceDanceRevolution A20 Original Soundtrack – All Songs: I edited 90+ songs from DDR A20 into a video for easy listening. I’m particularly proud of the editing here.
- 🔴 Talking about DanceDanceRevolution WORLD (and maybe playing a game afterward): I did this live stream on Friday night, discussing the new information that KONAMI revealed about DDR WORLD. Then, I played Sonic Adventure 2 for a bit. It was fun! I wanted to stream again last night, but my computer couldn’t hold a steady frame rate. I’ll need to toy with my settings until I can get something presentable.
I’ve been playing more DDR Grand Prix at home, so I plan to release more videos throughout next week. Make sure to subscribe!
Leisure Activities
Lately, I’ve been visiting Dave & Buster’s about twice a week. Here are some scores I’ve shared on X:
Last weekend, I drove to Boston to visit the aquarium and eat hot pot with a new friend. I’ve also been going outside on nature walks more often. I’ve been sharing pictures of this on my Instagram in case you’d like to see more.
Besides that, I purchased a membership to the town pools where I live. It cost $140 for the entire season, which I initially thought was pricey. However, I visited three days last week and had the pools almost entirely to myself. It’s been amazing! I’m finally getting a tan, and the Vitamin D keeps me in a good mood. I planned on visiting again today to enjoy the nice weather, but it was overrun with kids, so I just came back home.
I’m listening to Kokoro by Natsume Soseki for my online book club. I planned to cancel Spotify this month, but Jack told me the audiobook was included with Spotify Premium, so I’m holding out for just another week. I’m enjoying it so far.
That’s all for today! Talk to you later.
