Just some random thoughts.....

Fall is on it's way here, I can feel it. Maybe it's the lack of humidity.. at least relatively speaking, or maybe because it hasn't rained in... almost a week. I'm almost starting to feel as if I can safely walk to work without an umbrella, which has become my safety net here. I've even brought it out to the clubs at night... sadly. Autumn is supposed to be the best time of year here, and I'm getting excited for it.

Thursday was my birthday. Nothing really eventful. Long day at work... Tuesdays and Thursdays are my longer days. And it was test day. Actually, test day is not very stressful at all, since I don't have to teach. Just give exams. But this time of month around SLP feels quite crazy really. Everything is due at once. Our lesson plans for the next month (all 10 of mine) are due on Monday. All my tests need to be graded by Wednesday, and the grades need to be entered into the computer. But worse than that, I need to write a paragraph comment for each of my students. All.. 58 or so of them. All of this needs to be done by Wednesday. So, needless to say, I brought home all my books this weekend to do some work. I really should be working now, but I'm not of course. I only have two of my lesson plans finished. I suppose this makes up for the other 3 weeks out of the month where things are quite easy for us afternoon teachers. Not that teaching is easy, but as far as lesson planning goes, there's not much to do most of the month.

I'm settling into my new life here pretty well. My apartment is starting to feel like home, and I've got myself into a good routine. It still frustrates me that I can't communicate, but 90% of the time it's not an issue. I've started taking a Korean class that meets on Saturday afternoons. It's near Sookmyong Women's University station. It's pretty good, but I really need to study more than one day a week. But I find that every week I pick up one or two useful words, which is better than nothing. I do like this school also, because they offer different levels. 0-4 depending on how well you can speak. I'm in level one. I mostly already know the grammar, but my vocabulary is sadly deficient. If you're interested, check out thier site: http://kongbubang.wordpress.com/

My mom and friend from home have decided they are comming to visit me in October for a week. I am very interested to see how they find the country. Neither one of them is accustomed to traveling, especially not to forign countries, and Korea is about as foreign as you can get... at least in certain respects. It will also be interesting to see if three people can really fit into my tiny studio apartment. I guess people have lived in much worse conditions for much longer than a week. I'm sure we'll all survive.

Next month is Chusok, which is more or less a Korean Thanksgiving holiday. We have a four day weekend, and myself and one or two of my friends/coworkers are going to fly to Taiwon. Taipai to be exact. It's only a 2.5 hour flight so we should have most of the day Friday and at least the morning on Tuesday to see the sights. Evidently there is a lot of good hiking and nature to see quite close to the city. I'm sure I'll have at least one if not many more posts about Taipei when I'm home.

Well, I need to stop procrastinating and continue with me lesson planning. Oh joy!