Ende des Herbst...schon ein Jahr in Korea

I've dusted off the keyboard and cleared away the cobwebs to make a one-year anniversary post.
I don't care much for blogging, particularly because I've become busier and busier with work and life in general.

Coming back to this blog feels a little like looking at a Geocities-era web page.

So, a lot has happened since my last blog post. In sum (because in reality I don't feel like writing much at the moment), I went to Taiwan for my summer vacation. I stayed with an old friend from university and had a really good time. I'll pour out my thoughts of Taiwan later.

I celebrated my birthday with some new friends, and more importantly, with my best friend from back home.

Fall came and is almost gone. Today I realized that one year ago was my first day on the job in South Korea.

I've become more fond of Korea the longer I've stayed here. I'm taking language classes three times a week. I don't put as much effort into it as I would like to, on account of so much work that I do outside of actually being at work. The past month has been a real pain in the ass. I have even noticed gray hairs that have prematurely manifested themselves on my head. No doubt that it has come from the long hours.

But, griping aside, I do want to express that I'm very satisfied here and I love living in Korea more than I did before. I got a new apartment, simply by requesting it...which was more a mixture of luck and good timing on my part. So, that's pretty awesome.

I haven't saved as much as I should have in 12 months, but I have enough to get by.

I'm thinking about going to Vietnam for Christmas vacation. I have to purchase my tickets soon, and I'm waiting on a friend of mine to confirm if he can join me. I went to Taiwan alone, and I know I'll have fun in Vietnam on my own if I end up going that route again.

I'll write more later...

,,Der Lenz ist da..."

I have to say that Spring here is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Granted, I come from a place that has one and a half seasons, so I think when I see normal things like snow or blooming flowers I get a little excited as if it doesn't exist anywhere else.

The weather is nice; during the day it sometimes reminds me of back home, but not as humid (yet). The evenings are very comfortable. It's a time when I always enjoy being outside.

Since I wrote my last blog post (which I admit was a long time ago), many cool things have happened. Spring has come, and with it I've seen many changes in the look and feel of my surroundings. Also, people are more active and interactive. I went to a cherry blossom festival and it was one of the coolest things I've experienced. On Easter I woke up and hiked up what could technically be called a mountain, but not as big as the ones outside my city. Still, it was refreshing. I'll post some pictures. I constantly admire the beauty of this place. There are so many places outside Korea that I want to see as well, and I hope that my summer vacation (the entire WEEK of it) will take me to an unforgettable place. There are multicolored lamps hanging above the streets of almost every city in my area and it is beautiful at night.

I am still trying new foods, thanks to my Korean friends, and it is awesome. My friends have cooked Korean meals for me in my home and those times are some of my favorites that I've had here.

I haven't reached all of the goals I set for myself in the last post, but I'm having such a fulfilling and rewarding time that I am not upset by it. I did make a sincere attempt to enroll in Korean classes; however due to schedule conflicts and the fact that there isn't enough interest to constitute the formation of a new class (at the level I need to begin at), I was told I must wait. I know there are other options to take lessons, such as other academies that are somewhat far away, but I am looking for something close that is convenient for my Sunday commute. I also didn't join a gym, but I have been consistently working out at home every night in freshman-year-of-FSU Army ROTC fashion.

Part of the reason I have been slow to update my blog is the fact that my work schedule has become ten times busier than last semester. I am staying on top of things, but I don't have free time like I did last semester to have fun with my classes and get to know them outside of the lessons we study. However, I now teach a middle school class about current affairs and we also debate topics we read about in the news. It is probably my favorite class because 1.)  I am a news addict myself, so I can answer a lot of questions related to the issues we briefly read about in teenage-level magazines, and 2.) these students are articulate enough to comprehend almost every single word I say. It is truly awesome. Maybe in the future I will teach adults, who knows?

I don't own a TV, so my news comes from the various international news source websites that I visit multiple times a day. One of the few television shows that I watch regularly is The Daily Show, and I have to say that while it provides me with some much-needed humor after a long day at work, it also makes me very happy to be away from a lot of things that I would be exposed to if I were back in the US. For example, as it is election season, the nausea-inducing state of politics back in the States is much worse than it normally is. Thankfully, my exposure to that is controlled entirely by me; I don't have to be submitted to Fox News or CNN or anything of that nature if I walk into a store or a business establishment here. It is truly refreshing to be away from that atmosphere.

I have a lot I wanted to write but have forgotten. I'll end with this:

My favorite thing about being in Korea is, without a doubt, crossing the Han River at night/ in the early morning as the lights of the city reflect on the water, while the city and the streets are unusually quiet and calm. It is something I'll never forget.

"...And I opened my eyes to the beautiful things that make my world spin around."

The end of the semester is fast approaching. It's been a great 3 months, and I've gotten used to life here.

With the new semester comes change: more students, more classes, longer working hours, etc. Apart from work, I aim to implement changes in my schedule. I want to exercise more and join a gym near my house apartment, and perhaps find other positive things to fill my free time with. Most of all, I want to learn Korean. I have learned the alphabet, and have learned phrases here and there; however, I really want to become conversational.

I really want to explore Korea outside of the city. I love the city life, but every time I look down a street, I can see mountains in the background, quietly resting above the hustle and bustle of my urban surroundings. Its like a constant reminder that there are places that are not here, and they beckon me to escape the noise of all of this, to enjoy the Korea that has always been here.

I've been offered to go to Busan quite soon, but I have been told by the experts that I should wait until it is warm outside to go. I think that a coastal city would probably be best enjoyed in such conditions.
I really want to go hiking up a mountain. I need to get some proper mountain hiking attire (aka not brand new Pumas or Nikes) and enjoy the cool weather that we currently have. I think that maybe being alone in nature instead of alone in an apartment in the middle of a busy city might have a nicer effect. I'll see.

I have been meaning to go to the War Memorial of Korea for a few weeks now, and on Saturday I am finally going. I was waiting to go with others but now I see that if I want to get certain things done here, I need to assert myself.

Plans are easily ditched here in Korea. A friend of mine and I recently talked about this dynamic; He mentioned that since foreign English teachers are here for a finite time (usually a year or two), they have this mentality of "this is not permanent, so I'll treat it more like a vacation" as opposed to college life, where most people accept that they are going to be there for at least a few years. I have to agree with this observation. I am learning a lot about that.

I have never been so financially comfortable in my life, and the economy is great here. There are no obvious signs of recession. This prosperous atmosphere, along with the fact that most everything is new and "different" to me as a 외국사람, leaves me with little feeling of being homesick. I do miss my friends and family, but there is little to miss about unemployment and existential stagnation. If my friends and family could magically move here instead of the States, I doubt I'd want to go back, save for a visit.

I know many people who, despite enjoying Korea, really look forward to leaving. I understand that I am still very new to all of this, but I suppose some people really give a shit about American amenities to the point where they will allow that to determine their path in life.

The good thing is, my life is mine, and I'm not worrying about how long I'll be here or when I am leaving. The autonomy to feel it out / play it by ear, so to speak, is a wonderful thing. I do not feel pushed to leave at all. If anything, I want to continue this adventure and truly Wander.

Ein neues Jahr

2012 is finally here and so is my friend Chris. He got in tonight, and is staying pretty far south near Gangnam University until he gets his apartment, which I assume is near his school (about 200 meters away from my apartment). I didn't get to see him (in person) yet, but we did Skype and I am excited to finally have one of my best friends who has been through a lot with me in the past 5 years be here with me. I do not feel too lonely here, although I am alone more often than I ever have been in my life.

The balance of being alone and lonely is one that I think a lot of expats deal with, but now it will be so much better since he is here. I have a lot of cool friends here already, some from North America who can share the same humor and pop culture references, and some from Korea who can teach me a lot and show me new places. However, having a friend who is from the same small town area of Florida that I'm from, who experienced the good and the bad that comes along with it, and who went to the same university and had the same circles of friends as I did, is the best thing imaginable. The only thing that would make it better is if my brother came back.

As for work, it's been fine. I came back from Winter Break last week and the only tough thing adjusting to was the sleep schedule. I didn't have much money my first month here, because I hadn't been paid yet, so I stayed here in Jukjeon and went to Seoul on little day trips instead of venturing to Busan or elsewhere in Korea. I really enjoy my job, and feel a real sense of pride for my students who, in my estimation, are a lot smarter than their American peers as far as English is concerned. For example, my kindergarten students are 6 years of age (in western age), and all of them read 4 paragraph speeches today without having difficulties with any of the words. Granted, they might not know what "unique" or "origin" mean, but they pronounce them with ease. I constantly compare my students here with the students I taught in Florida, and am constantly amazed at their ability, despite it being their second language.

My older kids are great too, because they get more of my humor and they are also a lot funnier - things that come with being older and with a better command of English. I am truly blessed to have the job I have and to be where I am right now.