Hi, Ethan. I know you as the guy who meticulously detailed the Korean Driver's License Test (I passed on my 4th attempt!). But it's important for all to know there are real people struggling with real life issues behind the videos they produce. Same goes for each of the staff at the Uijeongbu Driver's Office which basically became my second home for a month! We are all doing our best in this thing called life to make the best decisions for ourselves and those we hold dearly. A decade back I went through a difficult break up in Korea as well. Relatives sent condolences at the moment, but it ultimately was the right decision. We both moved on and are living well these days. It's difficult to see when we are going through these things, but you've got a great outlook. Instead of grieving, I congratulate you both on stepping up and moving forward! Rather than staying in limbo or trying to force something to work, you've found a path to a brighter future. We can appreciate the past for all the wonderful experiences we've had, but there's no need to live there. Onward and upward!
You may have done the best thing for Mayu I hope she is handling the breakup as well as can be expected. That must have been a very difficult decision to make. I think many of your subs will miss Mayu I wish her the best and of course you as well Ethan. Keep moving forward.
She's a chick ...... women ALWAYS have a Plan B guy in the works when she knows a relationship is gradually going south. Quite often they aren't even officially single for a MONTH after a split.
Hi Ethan, I think this is something you needed to do. Having a sense of community and belonging is important too. I think that you guys hadn’t gelled in a 8yrs can mean something…Even though it was a hard decision and took a lot of courage, don’t force the relationship…..Enjoy your Journey🙏🏽
Hi Ethan, I just stumbled upon your channel after watching your ‘buying a property in Korea’ As a globalized Korean living in Bangkok myself (with 20+ years of expat life experience) + a new content creator (hobby), I can totally relate to the personal dilemma you are facing…. Lately, I have been also asking myself the same questions you asked yourself in this video. Ikigai… finding meaningful work that you are good at, the world needs and that pays….I’m almost 41 and I feel like I still haven’t found my purpose. However, the phrase ‘Life is a journey and not a destination’ has been helping me these 2 years… instead of just focusing on finding the ultimate purpose, I learnt to just enjoy the journey by building my multiple passive income stream + making my stories on RU-vid (the only time I can be creative and happy). Thank you for sharing your stories with us, I hope you can find good balance in your life. Next time you are in Bangkok, let me know, seeing as we have similar background, we can go grab beer and talk about life. Cheers!
“People who do things that count, never stop to count them. Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. Try not to become a person of success but rather a person of value.”
My journey has just begun. I am the same age as you and made the permanent move to Asia in December for living and working. I am so excited to start a little family of my own over here. I even started my own RU-vid channel.
Wow that was personal. A well made "personal story video". Made me think, about your life and mine. At the beginning of the video, I heard sadness and regrets, eating you up. You really miss her and feel the loss. However, you explained the process towards your difficult decision very well. (To be honest, I haven't watched many Korea vids since you left Thailand, I am a Bangkok lover living in Saigon for my wife's job.) I blame the CCP virus for so much turmoil in people's lives. I am retired, I've had more losses and regrets. It's life, and overall, I am luckier than most. And happier: the quest is to be happier, which makes us nicer - there is no Happy. Soon we are moving to the states to be with my 95yo aunt, an obligation like you and Maya (?) have had. Crazy life changes. Family is important, the practicalities of working are important, purpose makes us more fulfilled and happier. A close mate is the most important, and the most difficult to lose. The loss will never go away for either of you. At the end, I heard sadness and resolution, that you will both be ok, and hope for a great future. Cheers!
Just checked in on you. I think you'll ultimately regret breaking up with Mayu. It is very hard to find a woman like that. But I understand that you need to be able to stand on your own two feet. I recall that you were having trouble finding anything better than English teaching in Thailand, whereas Mayu had a good job. Sounds like moving to Korea has allowed you to progress in life by getting good jobs. That's important for a man and it's tough for military veterans to build a career after being in the service, especially in a foreign country. If you'd just kept drifting through life having fun, it probably would have ultimately wrecked your relationship with Mayu.
Mayu is also going to have difficulty pair bonding with another man of relatively good market value due to her age (late 30s?) and the length of their relationship which resulted in no marriage or kids. There's no winners here.
Dude run, not walk back to that girl and put a ring on her finger. You are running out of shopping days, if you know what I mean. I don’t know the best of your life is, but I can guess what the worst will be. You’ll be doing something self involved as usual. You will suddenly get a call from maiyu, hey Ethan guess what I’m getting married. Your stomach will fall to the floor and your heart will nearly stop as you try to smile and wish her the best. You can do your job anywhere, but you are not going to find someone that beautiful and giving like her again. Run moron run.
If she called and said "hey Ethan guess what I’m getting married", that would be very cruel on HER part. When you break up with someone you plain and simple have to just cut all contact and rub them thoroughly from your social media.
I was just saying that today , were ate you going tonight, but really I wasn’t leaving my house it was watching people like yourself visiting different countries and cultures, I have cancer and it’s now difficult for me to travel, so on that note keep doing this work I love it thanks 🙏
OMG I am so sorry to hear that… i am both humbled and felt privileged by your words. This is the motivation I needed to keep making videos on this channel. Thank you so much and hope to bring you more interesting content while you fighting the fight and hope to see you out here in person one day
well she got some valid reasons.. she need to take care of her parents when they keep aging. but she seem a good woman and most men are not lucky of finding this person who got your back. but just keep moving forward and maybe u come across with her again.
She is the best woman I’ve ever known and yes I fully respect her decision and her priorities… but you never know life has a funny way of changing plans and maybe we can also be together in the future
It's funny that I also remember watching your old video in the beginning many years ago. That was back in the States. Now I am in 거제. And now I am thinking about expat-ing in Pattaya. I travel (looking for that perfect place) so I don't have to travel. I am clueless.
Expectation of a perfect place forever is probably non existent. I think just finding the right place for now is the expectation you should have and it might be a great place forever :)
Hi Ethan, I really like how thoughtful you are and that time has given you some perspective on things that are worth reflecting on. I feel sure you will find your path, because you are open to it, and when you are ready, love will find you again. I wish you the very best.
Well said Ethan..purpose.....much respect. I'll be honest I forgot about your channel...glad it popped up on my feed. Covid changed the world and changed us...that purpose. As a fellow US Expat in Thailand for the last 15 yrs working in the advertising industry work was always a main part of my purpose, but during COVID I was diagnosed with MS and 3 yrs in relooking at my our purpose. All the best and mad respect brother.
I tried to meet you up last year when i was going through divorce but i guess you were too busy at that time. I took a whole year off from my work and family and went on spiritual journey. I was in Thailand for a month partying like crazy and met girls of my dream. i thought that was what i missed but guess what? it felt so empty.. then i went to vietnam, mongolia, brazil and peru.. there in peru on the top of the mountain after taking san pedro with shaman, i saw what i missed the most. It was my family, my kids, and my wife. And i understood my purporse of life.. it was just living in now and be a being.. experience the life as how it is living in now. Am i happy now? Oh, i get my ups and downs but i know that everything is gonna be fine. I hope you find your answer.
I watch and support many of you ad Miu's vids and i adore & respect both of you. It is sad to hear that you both are taking different paths and i really hope that you both rejoin at some point in your lives because you've done & experienced so much with each other!!! An she is beautiful and so patient ....... Now i have to say this video is currently my most favorite of your videos, WHY!!!!! you have always been honest and genuine in your videos but this vid really shows ppl how real you truly are and you struggle with life just like us. You didnt have to share this with anyone......its really no ones biz.... but i think this will help so many ppl struggling with the same issues as you........ Life really isnt always a bed of roses but MANING UP as my brother says and making the tuff choices we try to avoid and hope for some miracle instead of making decisions that hurt us and may be even the ones we love. But these decisions are necessary especially when it has to do with our own life and happiness........ I have been on a journey myself searching for that thing that makes me feel satisfied & am not sure even at my age if i have found it or ever will but i do know CHANGE always brings growth, but CHANGE is hard and SCARY. Thank you ETHON letting us into your private space & letting us know that we all arent alone in the struggles..... We will keep supporting both of you BRO!!!!
Awww thank you so much for your support over the years. And it’s comments like these that motivate me to continue making videos regardless of how well I perceive they may or may not do well on the algorithm and views. If this can help even one person push through in life and know life is full of ups and downs I have done my job. Wish you the best with your struggles as well and hope to one day see you on the other side as well
Ironic that you finish this video with footage of that statue, that memorial park, where I said goodbye to somebody who was a major blessing in my life, and an episode of my life that is in the past, as we all continue on our journeys, often separate ones... the solace I have is that those are my memories, I own them, they're mine forever, and regardless that person cherishes or remembers them, I do, they're mine. And... I will continue making more, and more, cherished memories, joys, and happiness, hopefully forever. As I was standing there, getting photos with my now long gone friend, I remember somebody from Japan asked if we wanted him to take our picture, and it's one of my most cherished photos in my life. A photo of one of hundreds of cherished friends who made a huge impact in my life. That friend, a true angel sent from above at a time when I was in serious need of a solid foundation to steady myself through the perfect storm, multiple perfect storms, led me to yet other angels, who also helped me to continue forward. As one passed on the baton to the next one. I was the baton. They were the runners. Carrying me to the finish line. Race after race after race. Battle after battle. We wish we could hold onto these angels. Sometimes they stay long enough to become so bonded. I have met many, who saved my life, held my hand, fought battles alongside me, gave me the words I needed to hear, helped take my mind of the pain by playing cards until the sun came up and the pain had eased, pain so severe I would not have survived it otherwise, and then the angel vanished. How many times. I ask God, how can I survive the pain of missing them. So many, all gone, seemingly forever. Friends, family, loved ones. And then a voice said, would you rather have never met them? Indeed. They are mine forever. Although we can't keep them, we must move on, and they move on, each on their own journey, a journey of continued joy, experience, and happiness. Revel in the day, right now, and the people who are with you right now, and if you're alone, get out there and live life, people are all around us, it just happens, although it's definitely not a coincidence. I've been on hundreds of teams during my life time, and it's when its a matter of life and death that you notice it the most, so visible, so obvious, that somehow miraculously only the right people, get put together, always at the right time, right place, right skills, right talent, right flaws, right problems, and miraculous finish, miraculous results. Any classroom, any workplace, any airplane or bus or train or ship, any street, any store, anywhere you go, any organization, group, or even the person who mugs us, nothing is coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. Even if we don't know it, we each have a vital purpose, a vital role that we're playing. And if the Bible isn't just a cook book for a heaven full of cannibals (have you seen that movie?) then maybe it'll be that way, for us, our life, forever. If there is a perfect world, infinitely more perfect than this one, surely we'll have much more time for many more people, both from our past and our future, than we can ever fathom. Happiness is people. And that's the day I'm waiting for with true excitement, right now I'm getting along, making it through it, but what I'm really holding on for is that perfect day, when we no longer need AI and super computers etc because our brains will be perfect, our hearts, our souls, telepathy and so on won't just be scifi anymore. You'll definitely cross paths with the people who were a major part of your life, they will forever be a major part of your life, on that perfect day. One thing that reassures me of that, is the fact that when people die, who then are saved by the doctors, or miraculously come back to life, are asked about what they seen, etc, more than 50% of them are surprised by who they meet, and for 30% it's people they never met, in this lifetime, kin who died before they were born, and so on... if it was just a dream, dreams use our memory... dreams don't create people who are real who we never met, and reveal to us exact details and facts etc that we didn't already know, telling us exactly how to get to certain places and what's inside and the code etc, etc. Main stream doesn't want to publish the infinite number of reports, research, data, all the scientists, etc, that makes it beyond refute that this stuff is real, but we'll know soon enough. Our current brains simply are not strong enough, capable of seeing the whole picture, let alone remembering even half of what we see, learn, know, and do... or recalling it all at once, and so on, our current brains cannot do it, humanity much work together as a team, plus with our computers etc, nobody can do it alone. And so, the majority won't believe, won't know, until after this temporary Broadway show gives way to the final curtain opening to the entire universe, the eternities, all restored to us at last, the things that were wiped away, when every baby is born into this mortal world with an empty brain. It's all for a purpose. Everything is just too much coincidence to be coincidence. Isn't it strange how things always seem to magically work themselves out? How is that possible? And yet, wait long enough, everything gets worked out and things get better and better and better in fact. Most people don't like my rambling and so I'll delete this eventually but only after the eyes who needed to see it see it. God bless!
Bro…this is what I learned…it’s not happiness…it’s purpose…especially as a man…we need purpose. Something that makes us get up in the morning and make the fucking donuts. I salute you brother.
Boy oh boy, we could talk. Have many things to relate to your thoughts. Even more so as a retiree, trying to find a purpose is very, very hard as I am not allowed to do anything. Maybe a side effect of a diagnosed ADD sufferer. I need to find something to do. I think I miss community, which I havent been able to build here.
On another note, most of the time you mentioned purpose, you spoke about work. Your purpose in life will never be a job. I learned just a few years ago to quit sacrificing time for money. No matter how much I made, I always lost.
I am really happy for you. I went through that stage in Thailand 10 years ago and made a video about it actually. This is just another evolution in my life. Wish you the best in your life’s journey
i was really enjoying your vdos when you were still in BKK. Did not miss a single vlog. You seem to be yourself more and the happiest person when you are there. But yes, life is all about purpose.
Incorrect. Japan and Korea don't just freely allow each others citizens to settle in the other like the Trans Tasman Travel Agreement between Australia and New Zealand. He had to have proposed marriage (which he didn't) for each other to live long term in each others country.@@GoMoreHike