One year in this country was not enough. At times over the past year I told myself I needed to get away and never come back, but that was mostly during Winter or during times when I was getting hit by taxis or living with Korean grandmothers. Towards the end of my first year in Korea, though, I regained my love for the country while taking camping and climbing trips with other teachers I had become close friends with here. I also began to realize how much I loved my students, once it hit me that I would be leaving them. Needless to say, leaving Korea once my contract ended was a bitter-sweet experience, complete with missing my flight out and being stranded in Busan for an extra day.
I decided I would take a 3 month vacation, starting with a month in Ecuador and moving on from there to Florida, Tennessee and ending in California. Highlights of the summer include the 5-day intense trek with my dad to a remote and very active volcano in Ecuador, a family vacation to the jungle, experiencing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my cousins in Florida, hiking bits of the Appalachian Trail in TN, seeing my grandparents there, and meeting up with college friends and family in California (and watching my brother play college soccer!). Needless to say, it was an eventful vacation.
Now, after a great summer vacation, I'm back to college...or at least back to living at college. That's right, I now have a dorm room and a roommate and I say things like, "are you ready to go to the cafeteria?"- something I never thought I would say again after leaving Vanguard. A friend of mine was just saying how she misses college life and I realized that I'm right back in it. I'm surrounded by students, living in a dorm room, eating in the cafeteria and spending time each day in class. The difference is, of course, that I'm the teacher this time around. My flatmate is also a teacher, my bed is a king-sized bed, and I spend a couple hours each day planning lessons. I'm fully grown up. I now teach Business English classes to Junior and Senior students from 6:30pm to 9:20pm every night, including an Interviewing class and a Presentations class. I have the higher-level students so their English is fairly good, and they are highly motivated to learn. The hours also leave me with endless amounts of time during the day to do with as I choose. Did I mention this weekend is Korean Thanksgiving? This means a four-day weekend. Life is good :).
