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Jae Sang-Kyu - Professional Wanderer


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General Information-

Name: Jae Sang-Kyu
Date of Birth: 06-27-1993

Place of Birth: Mount Zonah Medical Center, Rockford Hills

Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian

Status: Single


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Part I: Kids In America

 

“I find that he is happiest of whom the world says least, good or bad.” -Thomas Jefferson

 

Jae Sang-Kyu was born on June, 27th 1993, the oldest of three children. His parents, Min-soo and Ji-woo Jae, were Korean nationals, living in Los Santos on the worker visa program from Seoul South Korea. Though they worked for the Kayton Banking Group, Sang-Kyu or Jae as he became known during his youth grew up in a fairly modest household despite his parents’ wealth. He was raised into a traditional Korean household with his father holding the seat of their table. He was raised to have respect for his elders, and above all else, hold his family closer than anything.

 

Being raised in Vespucci Beach, he spent most of his childhood outdoors, taking in the local beach scene. Soon he was surfing and free diving with his friends in his spare time, becoming a fixture down near the Del Perro Pleasure Pier. During his teenage years, his parents revealed to him that their modest living was not for nothing. They had saved most every penny they had earned to set him, and his two sisters up with a trust fund, to help them through college and into adulthood. Immediately Sang-Kyu saw this as a blank check for buying whatever he wanted but those dreams were quickly dashed by his father, who was less than thrilled to come home one day to see his eldest son polishing the rims on a Jester. His father from then on tightened down on Jae, teaching him the value of money, the hard work it took to gather such money, and how to both invest and properly manage the capital. With guidance from his parents, and his own academic achievements graduated with honors from Vespucci Beach High School in 2011. Wanting to stay close to his friends and his family, he chose to conduct his college career at The University of Los Santos, San Andreas. His father very much wanted him to continue his path in the banking and financial world, however, Sang-Kyu wanted to cut his own piece of the pie from the city, and not only own his own business, but assist others in planning for their dreams. With that notion, he set out to major in Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies with a minor in Asian Languages. During his time in college, he developed his love further for the outdoors and has hiked most of the terrain features in the state, as well as the hiking hot spots throughout America. He took a vested interest into what the world had to offer, and often saw the beauty around him in even the smallest things, a patch of flowers tucked into the side of a mountain path, or the white caps breaking among the sawtoothed rocks along a coastline. In the midst of his studies, he also became incredibly fascinated with the cultures Asia, delving deep into any piece of information he could find about them.


 

After four years of university life, Sang-Kyu graduated in the top his class, receiving a Bachelor’s of Science Degree. His father, further wanting Sang-Kyu to flourish as an adult insisted that he travel, now a young adult, he could understand the lives of those who lived in other countries. As a supplement of his trust, his father provided the financial backing for him to leave the city and go.

 

 

Part II: Home Is Just A State Of Mind

 

“ I'm in love with cities I've never been to and people I've never met.” – John Green.

 

Jae set off with a small group of friends, departing from Los Santos International, bound for Seoul, South Korea two weeks after his college graduation. He was immediately enamored with the city, the culture, the people who lived there. How they functioned, why they did the things they did, Jae took extreme note. He looked to one of his idols, Anthony Bourdain for guidance and went off the beaten path wherever he went, looking for the places the locals frequented, took in their social scenes, and ate what they ate. He tried to become one with the culture that surrounded him. He loved it. South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China, for months his small enclave of travelers soaked the places in. And they partied every step of the way. It wasn’t until when in Vietnam did something so life changing happen to him that he sought a different meaning in the travels. It was a night like any other for them, drinking their way through Ho Chi Minh City. They partied through the night and into the early hours of the morning. They went to bed as the sun started to come up. But his best friend, since childhood, Ji-Yun never woke up. The local hospital said that he had drowned in his own fluids, a victim of alcohol poisoning. Ji-Yun and Jae were as close as brothers, and it shook him to his core, so much that he felt alone in the world. And it changed his perspective. After Ji-Yun was shipped home to be buried in the United States, Jae stayed behind, with the idea that he would finish what they started, and he would go see the places that Ji-Yun had always longed to see. From there he went to Laos, Cambodia, Australia, The Philippines, and Singapore. That finished the leg of his own personal travels. Against his families wishes, he then went to South America, traveling up and down the Western coast of the continent, hiking the Andes and seeing Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, Torres del Paine and Patagonia. At every destination he arrived at in South America, he left a small memento for Ji-Yun, a picture of them, a charm from his traveler’s necklace, and it was at Angel Falls in Venezuela Jae buried the full necklace, along with a bracelet that his friend had given him as children. It was the one place his friend had always wanted to see, it felt right.


 

Part III: Go Instead Where There Is No Path And Leave A Trail

 

“The thrill of coming home has never changed.” – Guy Pearce.

 

Jae cracked the door to his parent's condo, virtually unannounced. He was sun and windburned, carrying himself in a much different manner than when he departed. He spent the first two weeks of his life back in town with his parents, showing them pictures, giving them gifts from each of his destinations, and regaling them with the stories he’d lived through in his travels. His once clean body, now covered in tattoos of various artists from around the world, covered him in the tapestry of his story. He and his father talked at great length about the state of the world, and how lucky he and his family was to have grown and taken root in a place like Los Santos.

 

Since his return, Jae has opened up a small business consulting company, lining out business plans for prospective small business owners, and helping them achieve their dreams with a focus on helping develop Little Seoul and assisting those amongst his culture. He has dreams of opening his own business to provide an outlet for the community and help cultivate other cultures for those in the city to enjoy.

 

To be continued...

Edited by SaintBatemanofWallStreet
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