(no subject)
It's been a minute since I've posted anything meaningful on here...I was just going through some old posts and really missing Mexico but I haven't really talked about Korea 2.0 yet.
So I've been here about...2 months, which to me means there's 10 left to go. I am counting down the months...it's not that I HATE it here, it's just not my first choice for spending my life.
- The job is way easier than it was my first year. First of all because I have 4 years of experience (which my co-workers and school keep forgetting...my head teacher has been with Shibalon for 2 years and sometimes forgets and tells me I'm the newbie. No. No, I'm not.). Second because Shibalon finally got a curriculum and a syllabus. I go into work at 2:40 and start classes at 4:10. That gives me 1.5 hours to prep. Because I only teach 3 levels, it usually takes me about 20 minutes...if that. Plus we have all these little bullshit "campus event" days scattered in. This week, it's essay writing. It went by so quickly yesterday that I was surprised when it was finally the end of the day. That being said, they still have these bullshit mandatory Saturday "team-building" crap days. This past Saturday, it was a 9-5 sports day event. I wore athletic clothes because of the deceitful name...it was 8 hours of the boys playing soccer. One woman even came dressed in a purple dress, tights, high heels and big earrings. There was an hour for lunch, which was typically Korean, but not that terrible. It was good to eat vegetables. And at the very end I ran a relay race. I've been running off and on for about a year now, but I've never sprinted. That shit hurt. So the day was incredibly boring and a waste of time, but at least I got to sit outside for 8 hours. And the people I work with aren't terrible, so that's nice.
- That being said, I have like...no friends here. My first time around, my friends were always people I worked with, with slight branches to include their friends. This time, my coworkers all have their own lives going on. There are 2 guys that I get along with really well, but they both have their own friends. Our head teacher is super-cool, but has a girlfriend and spends a lot of time with her (she is also pretty cool). The other one is single and super-cool, but it's hard for me to ask him to do stuff...especially if there's not a lot to do. I have some friends who are here from before; the one I'm "closest" to has a bf. The other couple just got engaged...they're really great, but they have their own shit going on too. I just want like...one person who I go and do stuff with. Like saying on a Saturday, hey let's go meet for Indian food in Seoul. Or let's go have brunch on Sunday. I had several people like that the first time around, but this time it's pretty nonexistent. I need to make some g.d. friends.
- The weather's real nice and I bought a bike. I've been biking to and from work every day for the past 3 weeks. It's great. The leaves are AWESOME.
- The boy and I have rekindled our thing. It seems to be more serious than it was before...I guess as much as it can across the world. We have skype dates at least once a week, but sometimes catch each other online at other times. He's planning on coming here in April for his spring break, which is 160 days away. We're trying to figure out what to do when I finish up in Korea...that's a long time from now. Good things about this relationship: no day-to-day nagging, get to spend free time however we want, can live our lives knowing we have someone. Bad things about this relationship: well...it's pretty obvious. There is not even a smidgen of physical contact.
- I have my good days here and bad days here. On the good days, I realize that I'm taking a step in the right direction to becoming an adult. Which I technically already am, but that's beside the point. On the bad days, I yell at everyone while I'm riding my bike, I get exasperated waiting behind ajummas in line, I take everything personally and any slight towards me as racism. It goes back and forth.
- I have started thinking about going to graduate school for the first time ever. Once I get paid, I'm going to set up a time to take the GRE here in Seoul. Yeah!
Ok...I guess that's it for now. Now you all (the "you all" being the hypothetical readers) know what I've been up to...besides the status updates on FB. Yay.
So I've been here about...2 months, which to me means there's 10 left to go. I am counting down the months...it's not that I HATE it here, it's just not my first choice for spending my life.
- The job is way easier than it was my first year. First of all because I have 4 years of experience (which my co-workers and school keep forgetting...my head teacher has been with Shibalon for 2 years and sometimes forgets and tells me I'm the newbie. No. No, I'm not.). Second because Shibalon finally got a curriculum and a syllabus. I go into work at 2:40 and start classes at 4:10. That gives me 1.5 hours to prep. Because I only teach 3 levels, it usually takes me about 20 minutes...if that. Plus we have all these little bullshit "campus event" days scattered in. This week, it's essay writing. It went by so quickly yesterday that I was surprised when it was finally the end of the day. That being said, they still have these bullshit mandatory Saturday "team-building" crap days. This past Saturday, it was a 9-5 sports day event. I wore athletic clothes because of the deceitful name...it was 8 hours of the boys playing soccer. One woman even came dressed in a purple dress, tights, high heels and big earrings. There was an hour for lunch, which was typically Korean, but not that terrible. It was good to eat vegetables. And at the very end I ran a relay race. I've been running off and on for about a year now, but I've never sprinted. That shit hurt. So the day was incredibly boring and a waste of time, but at least I got to sit outside for 8 hours. And the people I work with aren't terrible, so that's nice.
- That being said, I have like...no friends here. My first time around, my friends were always people I worked with, with slight branches to include their friends. This time, my coworkers all have their own lives going on. There are 2 guys that I get along with really well, but they both have their own friends. Our head teacher is super-cool, but has a girlfriend and spends a lot of time with her (she is also pretty cool). The other one is single and super-cool, but it's hard for me to ask him to do stuff...especially if there's not a lot to do. I have some friends who are here from before; the one I'm "closest" to has a bf. The other couple just got engaged...they're really great, but they have their own shit going on too. I just want like...one person who I go and do stuff with. Like saying on a Saturday, hey let's go meet for Indian food in Seoul. Or let's go have brunch on Sunday. I had several people like that the first time around, but this time it's pretty nonexistent. I need to make some g.d. friends.
- The weather's real nice and I bought a bike. I've been biking to and from work every day for the past 3 weeks. It's great. The leaves are AWESOME.
- The boy and I have rekindled our thing. It seems to be more serious than it was before...I guess as much as it can across the world. We have skype dates at least once a week, but sometimes catch each other online at other times. He's planning on coming here in April for his spring break, which is 160 days away. We're trying to figure out what to do when I finish up in Korea...that's a long time from now. Good things about this relationship: no day-to-day nagging, get to spend free time however we want, can live our lives knowing we have someone. Bad things about this relationship: well...it's pretty obvious. There is not even a smidgen of physical contact.
- I have my good days here and bad days here. On the good days, I realize that I'm taking a step in the right direction to becoming an adult. Which I technically already am, but that's beside the point. On the bad days, I yell at everyone while I'm riding my bike, I get exasperated waiting behind ajummas in line, I take everything personally and any slight towards me as racism. It goes back and forth.
- I have started thinking about going to graduate school for the first time ever. Once I get paid, I'm going to set up a time to take the GRE here in Seoul. Yeah!
Ok...I guess that's it for now. Now you all (the "you all" being the hypothetical readers) know what I've been up to...besides the status updates on FB. Yay.