Finally, An Update

While I never updated about Thailand, I can tell you it rocked. Pictures are available through Facebook and the links below:

Bangkok

Phuket

Phi Phi Island

And now for an update on life in St. Cloud, Minnesota. First of all, it has been a bit crazy the past 6 weeks (I can't believe I've only been home 6 weeks!). When I first got home I whisked my mother away to Manitowoc, Wisconsin where we stayed at a beautiful bed & breakfast (The Westport) and enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Courthouse Pub. Days later, my family (minus my sister, whom I still haven't seen!) packed up our cars and headed to St. Cloud. We took in a few Twins v. Indians games in the process and got moved into my apartment. The day after I was all settled, I began training at St. Cloud State University (from here on out, SCSU). I was lucky enough to receive a graduate assistantship in the College ESL program. I currently teach ESL 201: Listening & Speaking for Academic Purposes. I have 11 awesome students and I'm the sole teacher of the class, I'm not a TA which is a pretty cool and rather unique experience. Life at SCSU has been made easier by having a great advisor, "boss," co-workers and some great new friends (and some old ones...yay for Cottey girls all over the world!). The first few weeks of teaching went well and I have high hopes for the remainder of the semester. The classes I'm taking are good and of course I like some more than others. I'd have to say my favorite class is Phonetics & Phonology. It's hard, but my professor is great and I seriously learn something new everyday.

In other news, I have registered for my first ever 5K!!! I'll be running in SCSU's homecoming 5K on October 10th. Thanks to Joanna, I have a running plan that I have been sticking to and I just added some swimming and weight lifting to my daily routine. In addition to crossing one of my goals off that Life Aspirations list, I'll be getting into and STAYING in shape.

In addition to Thankful Thursday posts, I hope to update more frequently as I'm finally settled and have a routine (which of course, I love). Keep an eye out for updates and hopefully I'll still be living an exciting life outside the confines of Korea (and yes, I do miss Korea. Less and less everyday, but I miss the heck out of my kids, my friends and daily adventures.)