Fall has slowly and painfully come to South Korea. I say slowly, because it feels like its taken forever; painfully because there were times in Seoul that it felt worse than when I was working in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Living in the third floor of a house with two small families has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages, such as the problem of hot air rising.... Right now, things have cooled significantly, and when the long-time residents of Korea tell us that "fall truly is the most beautiful season in Korea", we can actually see what they mean, and its only just begun. Murphy's Law dictates that after we've had a beautiful stretch, the weather will drop off again, and slow down our life with 100 degree Fahrenheit heat, not including humidity, but hey, I've seen what I can look forward to, and I'm beaming.
This upcoming month is going to be strange for me. Firstly, I'm coming up on finishing up six months, and times starting to go by quickly. This past month was especially quick for me, working from 9:40 until 8:20 every MWF, and 9:40-5:20, with a two hour break in the afternoon on TTh. Now that its done, I'm grinning like a fool, because next week, when I get paid, it will be with a whole slew of overtime, something I didn't really need, but I'll take anyways. Working so many hours in a day made me appreciate my otherwise cushy schedule, working from 2:30-8:20, and 2:30-6:20 on alternate days. Sure, I work hard....Really.
Second, one of my roommates who I've really gotten along with well is leaving to go to England to live with his girlfriend, soon to be fiance, whenever he can afford it in Britain on the pound. Usually with teaching, teachers come and go so frequently, a few each month or two, that you just don't get to know them that well, unless you go drinking with them, in which case you see a totally different side, one that doesn't rear its head when they're teaching. It will be weird to see him leave, because now I've got to find a new gym partner, and lazy morning roommate to bond with. He opened me up to the profitable world of tutoring privately, got me both jobs (one of which I've been removed from because of new government regulations - ie. The risk of deportation...), and generally has been an all-around great guy. His lasting legacy on me will be getting me addicted to the magazine, the Atlantic. Overall, I would consider myself to be mildly well-read. I've read my share of books, some not so good, some better than others. But he has got me hooked on this 10 subscription a year magazine, that's ridiculously priced at 12,000 Won, or 16 Canadian. Normally, its a modest 4.95 US, but things are different here.
Thirdly, associated with my roommate leaving, I'm suddenly moving up to the fifth most experienced person on staff. Two other teachers who have stayed for a year and a half are also leaving. Suddenly I've got new teachers following me around, because I'm supposed to show them how to properly do things. Over here at my school, you just get into a habit of doing the same thing over and over again, that you forget why you started doing it in the first place. Nothings sounds more convincing than telling a new teacher "uh, I don't know why I do it; I've just always been doing it, and nobody has complained, so I just keep doing it..." Yup, that sounds convincing. Real convincing.....
Well, I need to get going - for those of you who have written me e-mails, now that I go back to normal schedule on Tuesday, I'm hoping to get back to writing things, rather than using my schedule as an excuse.
take care all, and God Bless
Bryan