yeah it was perfect and i hold it in my mind

as i sit in the back of my classroom at my make-shift desk (because my actual office is freezing and the computer decides it doesn't want to work half the time) the cleaning girls come into the empty classroom and take it over cleaning. first with opening all the windows, sweeping the floors, mopping the floors, wiping down tables, cleaning the whiteboards and wiping down both my desk and my co-teacher, jungwha's desk. all while this is happening i sit here and still can't believe i decided to stay a second year in korea. 

i remember during my first year about half way through... i was talking to my friend jennie. she was getting excited to go back home to america after being in korea for almost a year. she asked me if i was staying another year and i remember telling her a definite "NO". i was so sure that i was going to leave korea at the end of my first contract and go back to america and be done with my experience of living abroad. but somewhere between august and december something changed. i don't know if it was that i was scared to go back to america when it's in such an economic crisis and with the presidential election looming over the countries heads. or if i was nervous to go back to america with no place to really call my own, no car, no job or income to pay my loans, and no real plan in mind. either way i told myself that i couldn't go back to the states. i wasn't ready to go back. 

after going through the hassle of moving my life from daewha to hwajeong, preparing all my documents for my new school i have situated myself into somewhat of a routine. my new apartment is set up differently from my other place. it's probably a tiny bit smaller, i have a smaller bed, but i have a couch now, i have less closet space which is actually fine cause it's just what i need, and i have a ton of storage space, like way more than i would ever need. *if i find the time, i will maybe make another video to show my new apartment* i take the bus to and from work everyday. i'm teaching 3rd, 5th and 6th grade, with two kindergarten classes on monday and two after school classes on tuesdays as well. this means the only grade i am not involved with at this school is the 4th grade. they keep me pretty busy.

on top of teaching i still have my grad school classes going on. as of now i am on my final week of my 3rd class. this means i only have 6 classes left until i am officially done with my program. which means 6 classes till i have my master's degree. so far it's been good, i've had a good time with it. and i've actually learned a few things along the way. my current class, Child and Young Adult Literature has actually been a lot of fun, except for the fact that i became the tech guru for my class. how I became the tech person i am not entirely sure, but i guess i'm not half bad when it comes to technology. on top of grad school i also have some extra stuff i have been working on. so between all of it, i keep myself pretty busy. and since i decided that this second year, i was going to be saving money/paying off some of my student loan debt, the extra workload comes with a nice extra pay increase that is helpful. i just hope i don't spread myself too thin or run myself into the ground in the process... 

as of now i have my trip home in august for a visit to look forward to. i had two other trips to look forward to as well; a long weekend trip to DC to visit a friend, but since we aren't really speaking as of now it looks as though that's out of the question.  and then there was the trip that my sister was supposed to take in june to come and see me. but she refuses to save her money and would rather visit her so called "boyfriend" than come and visit me. so after two failed attempts and planning things, i'm refusing to plan anything else, cause the way i see it, they aren't going to work out even if i want them too. 


as of now i'm just keeping myself busy. i'm looking forward to what this year is going to bring me.