Seouled Out

Seouled Out by Andrew Henderson-Henderson

In a theme similar to “Eat, Pray, Love”, a young man writes about his journeys in three different locations.

Seoul, South Korea

After graduating from law school and not knowing what to do with his life, except not become a lawyer, Andrew set out to run from Sallie Mae and decides to teach abroad for a year.  Landing in Seoul, South Korea, in what he thought was to be a 2 week training period before leaving to teach in Japan for a year, you begin to feel for Andrew with what happens to him constantly, a running theme of “what else can go wrong.”  Unfortunately for Andrew, 2 weeks was to become the 1 year of so-called teaching for children, college students and adults.

A bit of history and politics of Seoul is also added in, explaining the dislike for Japan, the United States, China and Russia, as well as some incite to the culture and drinking habits of the people who live in Seoul.  One year late, Andrew had had enough and left Seoul with very little money and even less documentation.

Thailand

In an almost 180 degree turn around, Thailand was warm and had friendly people.  It seemed like heaven compared to the nightmare he had just gone through for the past year.  However, he was still without money, a place to stay and a job.  The money situation never changed, with one excuse to another why no funds were ever transferred to his bank account.  Luckily, those new friendly people offered a place to stay, and a few small jobs.

Still, things were not as Andrew had wanted, so he decided to leave Thailand and return to the United States.

Boise, Idaho

A bit confusing, as Andrew was no longer referenced, but seemed to become Owen D’Monet.

But Sallie Mae doesn’t ever give up looking for the money due to her from all the student loans.  No matter what job he applied for, he was always refused.  No apartment would lease to him.  A bad credit rating was all he had, and it kept him from getting ahead to even attempt to try to live a normal life, and even begin to repay his loans.  Luckily, he could get very menial jobs to make enough to squeak by.

Overall, a good read.  How one man can have so much bad luck and so much go wrong, makes you feel for him.  The old saying holds true, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”

On Amazon.com