Again, my friends, I am sorry that it was been awhile since I've posted here. I find that my day to day life is so busy that I often forget to update these things. And I've been so wrapped up in things happening here, that I forget there are at least some people out there across the world that are interested in what my life here in Korea is like.

So, that is what this post shall be about. I'm going to give you all a little bit of a taste of the life of an English instructor in Seoul. It's only a taste because it's simply impossible to fully understand the life and culture here until you experience it.

But anyway...

Every morning I get up around 6 a.m. My schedule this month has me starting at the same time everyday. My first class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is a travel charter class from 7:50 to 8:50 a.m. at a company called NuSkin and on Tuesday- Thursday it is a class at a company called Dong Bang Electrics. I typically teach from about 7:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. with about four to five hours of break time spread throughout the day, depending on the number of classes I have and whether or not they are travel classes. Some days seem longer than others, mainly because my classes are scheduled so that I can't run home for a break. But most of the time I don't mind my schedule. Typically I get home around 9:20 p.m. depending on whether or not I go out to dinner with my co-workers. During the week I try to get to bed around 10:30 or 11, because I have to be up so early the next day.

The weekends are definitely the time that we at Berlitz enjoy the most. We work every other Saturday, but we hang out a lot together and go out for drinks or to our favorite place in Hongdae, FF, which has live sets every Friday and Saturday night. We also take the time to relax and sleep in, since we all get up so early during the week.  Sometimes we go to the casino near our office, since all food is free for foreigners. (And it's really good food, too.) We frequent it the most towards the end of each month, though none of us really gamble. Sometimes someone with put 10,000 won (roughly $10) on the roulette table, but never anything serious.

Most of my students are wonderful. I teach a lot of business professionals and a splattering of university students. One of my students is the Korea product manager for the XBOX at Microsoft, and another is the co-founder of an extremely successful on-line gaming company called Neowiz. I get along well with all of them, and sometimes it's nice because they take me out to dinner or bring gifts (like free movie tickets, yay!). And a few of them become friends after the instructors change for group classes, and we hang out or go out for dinner once a week.

I'm getting along really well with my co-workers. We are like one big family, mainly because our schedules are so crazy we can only really spend time with each other. I'm the second youngest in both my office and the company in Korea, so in a lot of ways I'm like everyone's little sister. A couple of them, James and Matt, particularly enjoy teasing me in the form of head-butting my shoulder or putting me in choke holds. Though, most of the time I egg them on by kicking their shins or trying to hit them back.

I do have friends outside of work as well, though not as many as I use to since business has picked up. I spend time with my two "oppas" each week. Oppa is the Korean word for older brother or boyfriend/fiance. Se Won and Yong Sang are definitely like older brothers. They work at Samsung Networks which is near my office so we often meet for lunch or drinks on a Friday night. I help them with their English and they have been giving me Korean lessons. So far I've learned how to introduce myself, count, give a taxi driver directions, ask where and how much, along with several other functional phrases. I really enjoy our time together which always involves a lot of fun and laughs and interesting conversation about blind dates and why foreign women never date Korean men.

Mostly, though, I enjoy getting an up close view of the Korean culture and history. It's so vastly different from anything I've ever known. I've visited the DMZ and Seodaemun Prison. One is a historical reminder of the trials the Koreans faced against a domineering Japan who wanted to assimilate them to the Japanese culture. The other is a stark reminder of a continuing desire of North Korea to unify Korea by force. And all this has happened in only the last 50 to 60 or so years. I had no idea that Japan had tried to take over Korea, but you can still feel a little of the tension in the older people, which is understandably so once you see the torture they put the Korean freedom fighters through at Seodaemun Prison. Though, fortunately most people are passed holding grudges.  

However, with North Korea, the tensions are still very much there. The younger generations are hoping that the two countries can eventually move passed their differences and work together towards a unified Korean Peninsula, but there is still a threat there. North Korea would still like to take South Korea by force and turn it into a communist country. There is a ceasefire, so there is no immediate danger, but it is only a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.  

But no worries. I am perfectly safe here and things are going well. All in all, life is great.  It's tiring at times and I find myself getting sick more often because my body is not use to so much pollution, but that is a minor deterrant for me. Seoul is an amazing city with so much to offer and so much to see and do. So far I've toured through the main tourist attractions (Itaewon, Namsam Tower, COEX) but there is still so much left for me to do. But there is a lot of experiences that have been amazing. I've had tea and mediatated with a Buddhist monk at the oldest temple in Seoul. (It's about 1600 years old.) I've seen several film crews filming for Korean dramas on my way to work.  I've eaten live squid. I've hung out with Korean rock bands. I've taken pictures of North Korea and seen the inside of the tunnel they dug to invade South Korea. I've been to a public bathhouse which includes walking around naked in front of strangers. (All women strangers, of course.) It's been just mindblowing some of the things that I've gotten to do. And I've only been here four months. That means there are still tons of things left for me to do. I'm so thankful that I've gotten to come here.

And I hope this post will make up for the lack of posts that have come from me in the passed few months. I'll try to update more regularly, but I can't make any promises... ^_^ Annyong, my friends!

Here we are, a little more than a week out. Mentally, I think I'm ready. Packing wise, I've got a long ways to go. But, I won't have to worry about work next week, so I'll have all of five days to get my stuff in order. It shouldn't take too long. I think I'll even have enough time to finish up the sewing parts of my latest costume before I go (which would be preferable since I'll have no sewing machine over there and I'll need this costume fairly quick. Though, I'm still not sure when Steph is coming to visit from Japan...). Anywho, now all I need is my Visa, which I still have not heard from my hiring manager about. I'm starting to feel the panic rise up on that one, but I'm still going to trust that she has it in the works. She doesn't seemed to be panicked so I shouldn't be, right?

Oi, I just hope I can get that part done soon... and that I don't go over the 55 lbs alottment in my suitcases...