Approaching Three Months

We have now been here for well into two months. The time has had it's ups and down, but I try to be an even keeled person when it comes to personal things, although some might have me pegged as a bit impatient, or spastic (a spaz) but we are still here. It is harder then I would like to keep in touch with people, and that has made my life slightly more lonely here as of late, but there is always something to help you get your mind right. This weekend it was a fun day with Hana and Sara, last weekend it was going to Seoul and getting some re-exposure to Western culture, next weekend who knows what it will be. There are times when I feel like I could spend many years abroad, and there are times, sometimes during the same day, where I feel like I cannot wait to get home. The weather is beautiful, the scenery is beautiful, but we will see. Who knows what will happen in the rest of our year here. For now, we will sit back and enjoy it.


As far as details of what we have been up to since the "Night of the Living Slugs", I will try to keep it brief. Last weekend we took our first trip out of Yeosu, going up to Itaewon, the foreigner district of Seoul. Anthony "Upscale" joined us. It was a lot of fun. We got Mexican food, Subway, Middle-Eastern Food, delicious late night eats, met some new people from all over the place, and basically felt like we were back in America for the weekend. At the same time, it got played out fast, people trying to get you to buy things, prostitution, etc... That stuff can get old. It was a great place to visit, but it made Megan, AJ and I appreciate the exposure to Korean culture we are getting in Yeosu. It gives you a slight feeling of pride to know that you've made it in a place where there are less then .01% people like you in the population, and not many things that bring the comfort of home. At the same time, it made Yeosu feel like a home away from home - the feeling you get after arriving back to your apartment or house after a long weekend away. There was also some cool perspective for me because I visited some shops, and remembered some alleyways from when Mom and I visited Jeff back in 2003. I cannot believe that trip was five years ago!!

I think Megan and I are beginning to be settled in at school. I am not going to claim that teaching the students is by any means easy, but we know what to expect. I now know what a good day teaching entails, what a bad day teaching entails, and at least have some ideas of how to make a class go smoothly. In the grand scheme, I know that I can handle what I deal with on a daily basis for the rest of my time here, but that doesn't always mean it's easy. I think anyone here can get a new found respect for teaching, and realize how exhausting it really is. I come home exhausted everyday, but I also have a feeling of satisfaction for conquering the students that day. I know it's a strange way to put it, but sometimes the kids can manipulate you, and really hurt your feelings if they want to. At the same time, a fun lesson coupled with interested students can make the day fly by... Sometimes that just isn't possible with 7 different leveled classes rotating day by day, but when a class is fun, it is awesome!



This weekend we kept it low key. We both were in no mood for an exhausted Monday, so we stayed in on Saturday night. Megan caught a cold, so she has been battling that, and I was just plain tired. We hit up the open market to get some Curry, fruits, veggies, and the whole sale store to pick up chicken and some frozen snacks. We snapped some photos of an experience that is becoming strangely typical... We hung out with Jeff, HG, and the Girls all day at Dolsan park, which was a lot of fun. The weather was about 72 and sunny all day. We have a lot of photos, and will get them up soon. We hit up Lotte mart on Sunday morning and made a much needed upgrade to our food supply. We are finally getting a feel for what we actually eat and what is just a waste of money... Sunday afternoon was a "Canadian Thanksgiving" party, thrown by the many Canadians in town. We came expecting kind of a show up and say hi affair, but we ended up staying for about 3 hours. We played Frisbee, catch, and just had a great time with another beautiful day of weather. The local Yeosu-ites were in awe to see such a large group of foreigners out. Many people stopped by to say hello, try throwing the Frisbee, and to check out what kind of food "wayguks" eat.

We will see what this week brings, but a few things an English teacher can begin to depend upon: The sun will rise in the morning, the people in the town will stare, the kids will shout hello, the Yeosu traffic will still be counter intuitive and our students will show up for English class. Looking back at my post, I hope I didn't come off negative, positive, I am just writing off the top of my head. Some days it seems difficult, and life here can be hard. Most days are good, but it is hard not to miss your good friends and family... However - There are still those moments in which you are walking down the street, looking out the window, teaching a class, shopping at the mart, where you just take a step back, give yourself that deeper perspective and think to yourself... "Wow, I am in South Korea... That's pretty incredible!"

Here are some photos...

The trip to Seoul... 12 photos.

Open Market, Beautiful Yeosu, Dolsan and the Cart Man... 40 photos.