Long Bio
One year after graduating from Angelo State University in 2012, I moved to South Korea to teach English. (Jindo Island from 2013 to 2014; Gangjin in Summer 2014; Daegu from 2014 to 2018.) It was the best decision ever. And everyone should jump at the opportunity to live abroad at least once in their lives—teaching jobs are a dime a dozen in Asia. Even though I left South Korea in 2018, I still enjoy studying Korean and watching 무엇이든 물어보살 on YouTube. Getting a Korean-language certification has been on my back burner for years, but at this point, I should probably get one so I can attract more Korean clients.
Reading has been my favorite hobby forever—the kid me read stuff he probably shouldn’t have been reading before he could even drive. Somehow, my interest in horror movies and cryptozoology turned me to true crime, noir crime fiction, and Goosebumps. R.L. Stine and James Ellroy, especially, were my favorite writers for the longest, and I have a vivid memory of buying Robert Bloch’s Psycho from Hastings (those who know, know) around Y2K. Nowadays, my morning routine includes reading for 45 minutes. If you trapped me on an island with only one book to read, I would choose Lost City of Z by David Grann.
Over the years, I’ve had many jobs, odd and not so odd: translator, forklift trainer, parking lot maintenance, social media blogger, food (and toy) delivery driver. Just lots of randomness. Currently, I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, studying Psychology at Tulsa Community College. In my free-time I research grants, watch webinars about publishing and writing, learn stenography (for a future in psychiatric transcription and court reporting), and probe the best ways to make my website look better. Sometimes I’ll just think of something random and then update it.
While in South Korea, I made every effort to meet as many Koreans as possible. Some of my cultural activities included radio and TV appearances (I once auditioned for a comedy show), Korean speaking contests, and tour guide stuff. I don't have the links for many of them, and every time I try to find the really good ones, I end up in a rabbit hole of K-content. Here are some articles I've appeared in.
Daegu Newspaper: 한글로 이름 쓴 외국인들 “예뻐요” (August 2015)
Yeongnam Ilbo Interview: [이 사람] 미국에서 온 유치원 영어교사 데븐 퍼부시 (May 2017)
MediCity Daegu: 메디시티 대구 SNS 홍보단(메디터) 발대식 개최 (July 2017)
SME Daily Newspaper: 세계인이 참가하는 ‘한국어 말하기 경연대회’ 열려 (October 2017)
Fun facts about me:
- My favorite song is "It Keeps You Running" by The Doobie Brothers.
- I once rode a bus through the Baltic States—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—in the dead middle of winter.
- I got braces in 2025, at 38 years old.