I just booked more plane tickets in the last 7 days than I have the last 7 years, drank more coffee in the last 2 hours than I have the last 2 days, taught more classes today than I have all week, and written more blog posts in the last 7 days than I have the last 7 months. What I'm trying to say is it's time for a quick update on some exciting things that have been happening lately.
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| Itaewon Freedom |
Alright first of all, I need to make an official blog-worthy farewell to some great, great people I was fortunate enough to spend ~7 months or so with. Even though they left well over a month ago, I never got around to bidding them adieu on my blog. And since my blog is supposed to be about my life here, what better way to do exactly that than a photo montage of the one and only Greg and Tay?!
Greg and I were roommates during the GEPIK (Gyeonggi English Program In Korea) orientation back in Fall and since then we: went to a Surfing Festival, went skiing, bungee jumped, played numerous games of Madden, Tiger, euchre and screen golf, and knocked out the 1st two seasons of 24. It was one hell of a ride and I'm definitely going to miss those 2. And I don't want to jinx anything with the (hopefully) upcoming NFL season, but the Packers travel to KC in December to beat up the Chiefs and, assuming there's a season, you know I'll be there, Greg.
Ok, next important issue at hand. It's already July! Which means I have now been in Korea for a whole 10 months! Scary. The last few months have gone by especially fast because of the our-time-is-running-out sense of urgency we've all had lately. The good old "let's go out in Hongdae!" weekends have turned into "let's go to Seoraksan, the DMZ, green tea fields, and other things we haven't done yet." Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying I miss the good old days when there wasn't a huge countdown looming over our heads. But as with all good things, they must come to an end. Just ask the anti-Kim Jong Il graffiti in Pyongyang.
On to the next one...a month ago I officially told my school I wouldn't be coming back. It was definitely a difficult decision, but in the end, and as much as I loooove the benefits of teaching here, being a teacher just isn't in the cards. I'd be delaying job-hunting and real-world-ing just another year. Time to grab the bull by the horns!.....or at least just move back to The States.
And speaking of America, I'm heading South this weekend to hit up the dynamic city of Busan (for the 3rd time this year) to celebrate the birthdays of my buddy Brian and AMERICA! (first time not working on the 4th in suuuuch a long time)
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| Sweet jesus... |
Alright what else is left? Mentioned G and T, Busan, America...ok here's a shortlist of blog posts to come:
-Skiing in YongPyong
-Bungee Jumping
-Hong Kong
-Macau
-green tea fields
-hiking Seoraksan
-DMZ
-more stuff on day-to-day life in Korea
Yikes I have a lot of posts to go (damn fantasy baseball). Ok and as for stuff coming up, I already mentioned going to Busan this weekend. In 2 weeks I'm going on a teacher field trip to some island in the West. Apparently it's an alcohol-filled, hiking-heavy (because those go together...) 2-day 1-night excursion with a bunch of teachers. I'm actually super excited for it. It will be a little sad at the same time because it will feel like a "last hurrah" with many of these teachers I've become close with over the months.
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| Jakarta |
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| Yogyakarta |
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| Bali |
And then today I purchased my flights home (which is exciting and terrifying at the same time), so my September plans are looking like this...
INDIA from September1st to the 8th! Jules and I found ridiculously cheap round trip tickets from Seoul so we're using the 10 days in between contract expiration and visa expiration to travel to India.
We then will have about 12 hours to kill in Seoul. Many tears will be shed, last-minute souvenirs will probably be bought (cuz that's how I operate), and lots of kimbap, donkassu, and galbi will be eaten (did I mention tears?).
AFTER that I'm flying to Honolulu to spend some quality time with my bros Matt and Peter for a few days...
AND THEN I'm flying to San Fran to meet my parents, brother, and sister-in-law to celebrate Bryce's bday...
After THAT, we'll be driving back to Wisconsin (to SEE BABY NOLAN), but not before stopping in national parks like Yosemite and others.
Yikes it's going to be a crazy September but I'm super lucky and thankful it's all working out (fingers crossed). Happy 4th of July everyone! Go America!
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