Move and a 27th Birthday

Today is the last day of Winter Intensive!! Tomorrow we will back to a normal teaching schedule which will be really nice. Only 30 hours of instruction and a few extra breaks. Good thing because this month I have a gazillion tests and report cards to prepare. It's pretty insane to think that not only have I been in Korea for (at the end of the week) 7 months, but I've also been teaching for 7 months. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching, even with the pitfalls and bad days. I feel like I learn something new everyday. It could be something about a student or it could be material I am teaching (believe me, I have learned A LOT about American history by teaching Social Studies classes). It has been a wild, but amazing ride so far.

Anyway, on Saturday I moved out of my apartment and into a new one. It is 5 floors up and on the opposite side. I have a crappy view, the apartment building next to mine, but the place is super clean AND I was able to score some sweet wallpaper. Think orange flowers on the stems and then think 1970s. I'm only missing orange shag carpet, or better yet, olive green shag carpet. My place would be killer. I was pissed about the move, but now I'm all settled in and it's not a big deal. This place is quieter (no street noise, but louder neighbors) and darker (due to the lack of space for the sun to make an appearance). This is only bad when I don't want to wake up in the morning. It is quite conducive to sleeping in. Also on Saturday, we celebrate Loren's 27th birthday. We went to On the Border in Sinchon for dinner and then headed out in Hongdae. We had a ton of fun, mainly looking for the bar we wanted to go to (couldn't find it), but later settled on an old favorite, FF. They have live bands and then dancing. They play some pretty cool music and at one point we rocked out to the oldies. Again I met some new people who were awesome and I can't wait to hang out with them more. I am so in love with Korea and Seoul. This place is nothing like I expected and yet everything I expected and hoped for. Amazing people, food, culture and great times.

This upcoming weekend I am going to try and get some culture in. I haven't done anything cultural or artsy in awhile and I think its time to explore an art museum or re-visit a temple or two.