I know I know…I’m the worst: it’s been (~5) months since I’ve written a blog post. Yikes. Who’s surprised? Not me honestly- I’ve been lazy, sorry! Alright so... since it’s been months I figured I would update anyone who’s reading this (anyone still there?) what’s been going on these past few months and give some general updates on life in Korea.
In my last post I wrote that I was going to be going home in August for my summer vacation: it was much needed and a really great trip. I spent time with my family and friends, ate all the foods I had been missing, and most importantly- drank gallons of chai tea. My trip home was short but lovely and I came back to Korea feeling happy and re-energized.
Things have been a bit slow since being back in Korea but it has been nice to not feel super busy or pressure to do much. I have taken a long weekend trip to Seoul over Chuseok break (which is essentially Korean Thanksgiving), explored more of Busan, and started teaching again. So Chuseok was at the very end of September. I decided I would take advantage of having a few days off school and spend some time in Seoul! I stayed in Hongdae in a cute hostel and ended up making quite a few friends with the travelers that were staying there as well: seriously thank goodness for hostels and the ability to make friends from all over the world. I was able to explore new neighborhoods in Seoul that I hadn’t gone to before and finally got to visit a Korean palace which was gorgeous but so insanely crowded cause of the holiday. I also finally got to try a restaurant that I’ve wanted to go to since I moved here: Plant Café in Itaewon, it’s a vegan restaurant and holy moly it was delicious. Anyway, Seoul was super fun and it was nice to get away from Busan for a bit- I can't wait to go back again!
Since then things have been pretty boring. Work has been fine (apart from 6th grade...) and I have been enjoying working with my co teachers and seeing my students every day. Last week we had an open classes (parents and other teachers/staff can watch lessons) and we ended up having about 13 parents, teachers and staff watch one of our 5th grade classes. There's a lot of pressure having the principal, other teachers, and parents watch you teach, especially when you are an outsider. But it went well and was a huge relief since me and my co-teacher, Soojin, were a bit stressed about it. Halloween was also last week and I got to put a Halloween lesson together. I love Halloween (probably more than the normal person) and so it was so fun getting to tell the students about how we celebrate Halloween in the United States complete with pictures from 1999 of Tim and I in our costumes, Halloween music, and clips from Hocus Pocus. They also got to do a project where they go to make their own Halloween monsters- a lot of my students are really creative and talented so it was fun to see their ideas and drawings. One student drew a 'math monster' because math is scary and I 100% agree. They also got to pick a piece of candy when leaving the question if they said “trick-or-treat” (and if they completed their projects).
Earlier this week we took a school trip and went on a boat ride around Haundae and Gwangali Beach. It sounded like a good idea, but the weather wasn’t great: it was cold and windy, and cloudy, and the water was super choppy and so the boat was rocking like crazy and everyone was seasick. So not the best trip ever, but on the plus side it was super pretty to see the mountains in the water and the view of Gwangali Bridge.
That’s pretty much everything, like I said things have been pretty slow these past few months but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I’m planning on trying to get to Hong Kong or somewhere else (kinda) close by during my winter break, so planning for that has been making me super excited for that! It will be nice to finally see more of Asia and get out of Korea for a while.
Oh- one last update- I have decided not to extend my contract at my school so I will be moving home in March or April of next year. I will explain more in my next blog post, but it was not an easy decision and I am pretty sad about the fact that I’m leaving here in a few short months.
So anyway, that’s what’s going on in my (boring) life. I promise my next post will be soon- I’m hoping to have it out in the next 2 weeks- so be on the lookout for that!
That’s all for now!
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