I know you've all been waiting anxiously for my next exciting blog entry, and I thank you for your patience! ㅋㅋㅋ Normally I would begin by apologizing for my laziness and lack of committment to this blog, but I feel that it's rather unecessary this time considering the level of kraziness my daily schedule has reached over the past few months. With that being said, please understand that the number of stories and life updates I have to tell can't be typed in a single work day (no classes today due to final semester exams). So some stories will be short, some stories will be paraphrased, and many stories will be skipped.
School life has gotten both hectic and more comfortable at the same time. My principal has already asked that I try to stay until the end of his contract at the school (another year and a half) and I've reached a point where I recognize or even speak to the majority of the current teachers in the school. Despite some recent unfortunate events over the past few weeks, I still call Changshin E.S. my home and can't imagine teaching anywhere else (for now). I love my co-workers dearly and probably would have gone crazy months ago if it weren't for them. A couple times a week I give them private "English Lessons" in exchange for an occasional post-work snack like fried chicken, pizza, or my korean-favorite, 보쌈 (bossam = steamed pork). Please note that I don't accept any official payment for these lessons, therefore not providing grounds to void my current work visa... haha. My students are becoming increasingly more comfortable with me (which is both good and bad), as are my four co-teachers. Periodically, we hold "English family dinners" which range from simple meals of gimbab (like sushi) or long trips into Seoul for a nice, sophisticated meal.
My weekly schedule is pretty constant... work Mon-Fri with about 3 trips a week to downtown Incheon to meet with western friends or my lady friend, Seunghee. Saturday is reserved for basketball and occasional R&R. And Sundays are still my days in Seoul with Yuri and the rest of my church group. Of course, my weekly routine has various deviations every now and then. For example, a couple of weeks ago I traveled to Busan (South-East coast) to meet up with some friends from orientation for a 3-on-3 charity basketball tournament. My team placed third in the men's league and 2nd in the mixed. Last week, Seunghee and I went to Caribbean Bay, one of the most famous water parks in Korea. Let it suffice to say that it was an amazing time and pleasantly relaxing during one of my most hectic and stressful weeks in Korea.
My hair is slowly evolving into somewhat of a Korean style hair-do... meaning, it's far too long for my liking.
The heat and humidity here are horrendous. It averages high 70s to mid-80s these days, but the humidity is so high that I usually have to change my sweat-drenched clothes at the end of each work day. Also, we're sort of in Korea's rainy season, meaning two days of sunshine and no rain in a row is seen as a blessing.
Most of you on Facebook probably noticed that I've been rocking an iPhone for the past few months... that's because my original phone was stolen from my office..... while I was in the office, somehow. Even though my phone bill has jumped quite a bit, I'm quite happy to have a constant time-waster in my pocket to keep me busy for long bus and subway rides into the downtown areas.
I've been attempting to move into a new apartment recently. My current one has a pretty bad leak and lack of sunlight problem, leading to mold and peeling wallpaper issues that can't be controlled. Unfortunatley, my landlord won't give back the school's deposit unless a new tenant is found or my contract expires, so that won't happen until October. Some might ask, "But Mark, does that mean you're staying in Korea?" The answer is a very probable "yes". Work contract renewals for October GETs is coming up, and I'm currently planning on signing on for another year. I know this may be sad news for friends and family back home, but I don't think my Korean people are giving me much of a choice!
Lastly, as most of you probably know, I'll be coming home in two weeks! My flight arrives in Esky at about 9:00 PM on July 22nd. I'll be home until August 5th, so give me a hollar if you wanna hang out or anything. I'll have two co-workers with me, Youjin and Jinsung. We plan on doing a lot of outdoors stuff, but probably some things like shopping in local shops too.
Sorry if this sounded kinda random and uninteresting, but I just felt like something needed to be said on here. Check my Facebook page for pictures that I was too lazy to put on here.
I have a lot more to tell, but it's time to head home! Look for another update soon (I hope).
