How can you sleep at a time like this?

So, I've been looking at options for my next move after Korea. Here are the options I've come across and are considering:

1. Renewing my contract with English World. This means staying in Korea a second year. Although I love my kids and my coworkers and my boss, and am saving real money for the first time in ages, I don't think I can teach ABCs for a second year. I do not believe that this job is intellectually stimulating enough for me, and I believe that I am worth more, and that I'd like to put my training to better use.

2. Teaching English in Australia or New Zealand. Preferably Australia. A friend of mine here is doing this in December. The perks of teaching in either country are phenomenal. In Australia, a lot of jobs are for casual or relief teachers, and the contracts go by 3 month intervals. So hypothetically, I could teach English in an Australian high school for 3 months, and if I love it, continue to teach there for 6 months, 9 months, or 1 year.

3. Teach ESL in Prague. I don't know what is drawing me to the Czech Republic, but it's there and I don't know why and I can't really deny it. Maybe that it was founded in the 8th century. Or maybe that it has the Prague castle and that secretly I want to feel like I'm living in a modern day kingdom where I can meet a man (prince) who drives a black Mustang. We can drink champagne on his stone terrace and chat about political matters that I will pretend to understand. Always an option.

This week, these are my top choices. Although the order would be Australia, Prague, then Korea. I could also teach in South America. I've narrowed the countries to Peru, Chile, or Venezuela. Or I could teach the Aborigines in Australia. Or I could teach in Thailand, Greece, Botswana, or the Cayman Islands. The more countries I research, the more overwhelmed I become. The only thing I can say conclusively and without any hesitation, is that having a degree in education, or at least a teaching certificate, is something that can literally take you around the world. I don't believe I could have picked a better career to pursue. The international demand for English teachers is high and it is everywhere.

My dad's new favorite line is "Rosie, these are problems, but they're good problems". As in, you have all of these options, the world at your fingertips, so you should enjoy the "next move" process. At least that's my interpretation. So with that in mind, I will take the night off from thinking about my next move, and leave you with pictures from yesterday/last night in Busan-- my new favorite city in Korea.

Jewelry overload

Looks like Daegu


At a charity event/reggae concert. Di, Nina, and I.

Annyeoung!

Lists.

This past weekend, I:

[x] Swam in the Sea of Japan
[x] Ate mediocre nachos at a cute Mexican restaurant in Busan
[x] Danced to Bob Dylan
[x] Watched Cold Mountain at the DVD Bong (highly recommend!)
[x] Said goodbye to a dear friend for seven weeks

So far this week, I have:

[x] Successfully transferred money from my Korean checking account to my American checking account
[x] Shopped. Finally. You don't realize how much you miss Target and Forever 21 until the one stop shops are no longer available.
[x] Spent a morning at the lovely Can More restaurant with Diane, sipping on Mango Guava smoothies and chatting about her departure back to South Africa next week
[x] Taught my private about the difference between "giddy", "smitten", "infatuated", and "crush". I'm not sure that is worth her paying $50/hour, but she seems happy to do it. Can't really complain, can I?
[x] Fallen in love with the lyrics to "The Dance" by aKing
[x] Given two hours of oral tests to two of my classes...
[x] ...because of this, had two pizza parties today
[x] Tanned on the rooftop of an 18 floor apartment building
[x] Written and sent letters
[x] Gotten a MASSIVE new fridge which replaced my old broken one. I love cold milk. Who knew?
[x] Practiced with Jay
[x] Booked Jeff's flight to South Korea. EPIC!

The rest of the week/upcoming weekend, I am:

[x ] Playing at a Korean coffee house, Yan's, with Jay. We've been practicing for about a month now, and have six songs down cold. (iwillnotletmynervesgettomeiwillnotletmynervesgettome)
[x ] Going to a Hawaiian themed movie night on Friday
[ ] Helping my students rehearse scripts Saturday morning for an English speaking competition
[ ] Possibly returning to the beach, depending on the weather

* * *

Needless to say, busy busy busy busy. But all of it is fabulous and intoxicating and beautiful and thought provoking. All of it. I have fallen in love with nearly all of my students. They've grown on me faster than rice paddies grow in the summer time.

More later? I need to practice.

Update: Just got home from playing music with Jay at Yan's. I haven't been on stage with my guitar since Xhedo's, and it felt so good. So familiar. Even though my nerves were as apparent as ever, I got past them within the first 30 seconds of the first song, and managed to sing as best I could for the following five. Now it is time for me to rest me weary eyes, wake up tomorrow morning, and Skype Megan Lang... and then proceed to the easiest work day of the week.

'Til next time. :)

Seoul Brother Version 2.0 or British Embassy... ing.

On a whim, George and I upped and went to Seoul this past weekend. When I say on a whim, I really mean he asked me to go on a Thursday, and we were en route to the megalopolis Saturday morning. We arrived at about 2 ish (after having left at 10-- having planned to be on a bus by that time-- yeah, I was late). Although the ride is long, the buses stop for about 15 minutes halfway through.

Once we got there, and George didn't get us lost on the subway,

we booked an overly priced hotel in Itaewon, and headed for the British Embassy to say hello to the British Ambassador to Korea, Martin, his wife Fiona, and their son, Thomas-- family friends of George's parents. Aside from the fact that they had to leave early to have dinner at the Korean Prime Minister's house, they were an extremely normal and lovely family. Fiona showed me around the Embassy; she showed me where they host dinner parties, and their incredibly beautiful English-esque (so she says) garden where events are also hosted. We sipped English tea and peach papaya juice, and chatted about hockey-- don't get me started. Thomas then showed George and I the pool and gave us a more intricate tour of the garden. We only stayed for just under two hours, as they had dinner plans and we wanted to start our evening.

Terrace view of the backyard/garden

Low level view

Terrace

Back of the Embassy

Poolside (sort of)

Suffice it to say, this was absolutely one of the highlights since I've been here. We are planning to go back once Gyeongju FC games dwindle down, and summer takes full effect. As George put it so eloquently (he wants to be a guest writer on this post-- so I'm sure he'll tell you about it in his own words) when we return, we can use the Embassy's amenities to their fullest extent. Swim in the pool, attempt to play tennis, walk around the garden, drink gin and tonic on the terrace. I'm not sure how a weekend could be better spent.

After we said our goodbyes and promised to meet up with Thomas after dinner, we went and ate at a super cute French bistro in Itaewon. Unfortunately, the best part of the meal was George's salmon appetizer and the French wine we ordered, as my plaice was not up to par, and my celery and pumpkin soup tasted like pureed nothing. But after eating only about five things in Gyeongju, pureed nothing and mediocre fish is still better than most things we could get back home.

When we finished our meals we met up with Thomas and his friend Nina for drinks. I wish I had gotten more pictures of the four of us at the first bar we went to, as it was so beautifully decorated and so Westernized they didn't even serve Korean beer. Nina left shortly afterwards, and the three of us ended up at a Mexican restaurant where we drank London Pride, and I answered Thomas' polite questions about Michigan and the Great Lakes-- a topic I am all too willing to discuss.

Eventually we transferred locations to a bar that offered strawberry soju by the pitcher. Not the classiest of drinks. But I did get good pictures.

An ode to MC Hammer

George and Thomas

To be continued.
aka...
I'm almost late for work.

How are you today, _____?

Logan: "I am hot and not so good."

Diana: "I am great!"

Julie: "I am so-so and excellent."

Luis (yellow): "I am kray-gee!"
Daniel (red): "I am good! And bad! And kray-gee! And beautiful!"

This pretty much sums up the first half of each day. Yes, they are cute, but don't let those tiny Korean faces fool you. Although these are some of my best students, some of them make me want to make a fast escape out the window, down the ladder, into the not-so-bustling town below. I have, however, gotten into the groove of teaching all 68 of my students. If you know me (and I'm assuming most of you do, otherwise you would not follow this blog), then you know I majored in secondary education. Come to think of it, I've had already exposed this inner dialogue before. Regardless, let it be known, once again, that I did not choose elementary education for a reason. I would much rather have a real conversation with my students as opposed to having to wipe away their ever so frequent tears, explain the differences between "on", "in", and "under", and break up their fights-- although their arguments can be extremely amusing. If I felt I could accurately recreate one such fight, I would try. But you really need to be there to witness the fickleness that is so apparent in these children.

Issues are often solved with a simple "rock, paper, scissors" game. Or in Korean, "Gah-lee, gah-lee, GOH!" Even my older students who have been friends and classmates at English World for years will get into a verbal confrontation, and then quickly resort to rock, paper, scissors to ultimately decide who is right, and who is rocked. It is not uncommon to see grown men in the streets participating in the same act.

What is even more amusing is the game where students will hold one of their legs in a perpendicular fashion to the ground, bounce around on one foot, and try to knock each other over. Wonder where this kind of resolution comes from? You need not look any further.

Commentator #1: "Holy rice cakes, Byeoung! That pitcher just nailed #51 in the arm! Looks like there's gunna be a fight... oh.. he's going for it... ASSA! The entire team is in a foot-tastic frenzy!"
Commentator #2: (laughing) "Let's hope their children aren't watching!"

As I always say, better foot fights than Taekwondo. Haha! For realsies though. Isn't it always the adults?

Man Eating June Bug versus Puggle Puppy.

Miles!



"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives." -Sue Murphy

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasting time.

The title of this post is a quote by Bertrand Russell (British author, mathematician, philosopher), and I feel it accurately describes the hours I spend chatting with friends over pasta rather than working on lesson plans, stumbling the internet, and reading when I should be (or at least I tell myself) studying the Korean alphabet. It also perfectly describes this past weekend, as seen below. Also, some pictures from the past few weeks, per the request of people who don't have Facebook, and have made some sort of statement regarding my face. So, you (we) go.

Playground from down below

View from George and Steve's roof

Matt, Jay and I

Jay, Kayley, and George's arm

Kayley and I/A&B/Red and Blue

Feelin that TWO-TONE!

The only really recent picture of me, taken this past Saturday. Per the usual, I'm not looking at the camera.

It is officially June, which almost marks my three month anniversary of my time in Korea (short of three days). If I could explain how fast a quarter of a year has gone by, I would. But alas, I cannot, and I can only say that my time here has gone by as fast as everyone said it would. I feel like I need to do a lot more. I want to visit Seoul in the daytime, swim in the sea in Busan, hike Namsan, bike along unmarked trails, and learn how to cook. I want to go to a South African braai, play guitar in a coffeehouse (getting there), and master the Korean alphabet. In time.

I saw this back at home and it made my day. Hopefully it will makes yours, too. A tribute to Miles, pug(gles), and dog lovers everywhere.

Love, love, love.