After returning to a freezing Korea, that much colder since I spent the last 2 weeks on a beach, spring could not come soon enough. And it has arrived. February, March and April were pretty quiet, uneventful months. Just waiting for it to warm up enough not to need 8 layers of clothes and trying to get back into the swing of things at work. In Korea, the students go back to school at the beginning of February for one week, then they have two more weeks off, then graduation, one more week off, and then the new school year starts at the beginning of March. I got about 60 new 1st grade middle schoolers and about 30 new 1st grade high schoolers (10th grade) - but I didn't realize I had new middle schoolers until half way through my first class when we were reviewing phrases we learned last year and half of the students didn't know what I was talking about. Oops! So, it was backtrack and rewind time. Followed by a brief introduction and basic hangman instead of review.
So far the rest of the school year has been pretty standard. A few mishaps here and there, usually the result of a lack of coteacher and my girls thinking that meant it was free day and I was wearing my invisible cape. But, nothing too tragic. Midterms were last week for middle school, though I didn't find out until Friday that I was supposed to go home at 12 on Wednesday, not 4. :/ And that after they finished midterms on Friday they had a writing test so I had to stay until "my work was done". Yeah, didn't find that out until I left at 4. I was allowed to leave after lunch if my work was finished. Except oh yeah, it was finished before I even came into work. Oh well. Spent the day writing that novel that was my last post. Then headed to Pohang for the night, Daejeon Saturday morning, Daegu Saturday night, and home Sunday afternoon. It was a great weekend, but long, and not filled with sleep. Think I'll probably be making next weekend a nice relaxed one filled hopefully with lots of sun and beach. :]
In other news, I am still doing taekwondo and tested for my purple belt on Thursday. I will find out if I got it tonight and if I did it will be my 5th belt! Yay! :] (The belts are white, yellow, green, blue, purple, orange, red, red with one black stripe, red with two black stripes, and then black.) So, halfway! But it's like climbing a mountain, the higher you go, the harder it gets. But I will be happy if I can leave here with my red belt. Absolutely thrilled if I could leave with a black stripe. I love it and even though it absolutely kills me some nights and other nights it takes everything I have to put on my dobo and walk to class, I love learning the new sets and skills. And it is absolutely the best feeling to watch myself improve my form and strength. The feeling when I finally nail a set or a certain move is great. There's nothing else like it. And that's what I tell myself when I'm laying down whining to myself about not wanting to get up. haha
I still have my cat, Switch. Although these days it's a wonder I haven't throttled her or thrown her out yet. We've been dealing with her first few real heats and it's been rough. It was one week on, one week off for the first two and it was intense. Like having a colicky infant. Just crying and meowing and yowling incessantly. If my neighbors didn't know I had a cat before, they definitely do now. I'm hoping they slow down a bit and maybe mellow out, at least a little. It makes me not want to be home when she's like that. I can't read or watch a movie or even listen to music because I can't hear anything. And skyping is a real challenge. As soon as someone starts talking (part of the problem with watching movies and music) she takes it as her cue to start in. If I'm quiet she still yowls but it's usually not as loud or incessant. So, hopefully the next time she goes in won't be for a few weeks and it will be easier for both of us. Also, I found someone to take her when I leave!! When I first got her I had every intention of bringing her home to the States with me as I knew I would fall in love with her and wouldn't want to leave her behind. And I was right, I do love her, and I don't want to leave her behind, but I think that this will be best for her and that is what's important. Anyway, it's the same guy that watched her when I went on vacation to the Philippines so I know he'll take good care of her. Also, she loved it there and he has a cat already so she'll have company. It's really good to know that I will be leaving her with someone that will love her as much as I do and will take care of her. That she will be happy and safe. It's definitely still going to be hard saying goodbye, but that's going to be tough anyway. I've met so many amazing people here and made so many awesome friends, but they are from all over the world and while that's really cool to know people all over the world, the reality of it is that that means I won't get to see them often, if ever again, and that's really hard to know. So, for now I'm just focusing on enjoying the rest of my time here and making the most of everyday. And trying not to let any opportunities slip by unnoticed or unexplored.
Hope you are all well back home. Love and miss you. ♥♥
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