Six Month Anniversary

Last Thursday marked my 6 month mark in Korea.  When I think about the last six months, part of me can't believe how fast it's gone.  It seems like yesterday that I was moving in, meeting people, exploring the town, and figuring out the public transportation system.  But the other part of me feels like I've been here for much longer.  I know what's expected of me at work, I see the same people everyday, I know who my students are, I eat the same foods...as much as I love routine, sometimes this gets a little monotonous.

Do all grown-ups in the working world feel like this?  I can't believe that after college we go right into a job....and work....for the rest of our lives.  Thinking about working until I'm 65, well frankly it makes me want to vomit.  Don't you get bored?  I guess that's why people change jobs so often.  

Back to Korea.  Since my last post, I've decided that there's no way I could live here for another year.  I could stay for a few extra months, just to save the extra money, but a full year is out of the question.  Teaching has some really great things about it.  I love being around kids because you never know what they're going to say or do.  It's a fairly flexible job in that I can tweak my lesson plans depending on how I'm feeling or what's going on with my students.  Being a teacher can be really rewarding when you see your students succeed.  Teaching, at least teaching English in a foreign country, can be a total drag.  The communication barrier with my students, co-workers, and bosses can be really disheartening.  Things get lost in translation and I feel like I'm always the last to know about everything.  I feel like they expect more from me than anyone else and sometimes I feel like I can't live up to the unspoken standards they have.

I've learned to let things roll off my shoulders and my patience has increased ten-fold.  I don't get stressed as easily and have learned to roll with the punches.  Spontaneity is not a strong character trait of mine, but I'm slowly letting go of my "I can't go there or do that because I hadn't planned for it" neuroses.

When I get back to the U.S., here are some of the top things on my to-do list:
1. Eat as much granola as I want
2. Plan a Vegas weekend with my 21+ cousins and brother (Linds, Whit, Chad, Nathan, Breann, and Jonathan)
3. Go to NYC during Christmas time
4. Go back to Austin to visit the Paulsons
5. Fly to LA to see all my LMU friends
6. Go to D.C. and then make my way up to Boston
7. Go to Nashville to see the sights and embrace the country girl in me
8. Happy hour!!!
9. Eat real dessert (not the nasty fake cake they have here)
10. MEXICAN FOOD!!
*This all, of course, comes second to seeing all my friends and family in CO

6 months down, 6 to go....