I'm Back!

I'm sorry I haven't blogged for a while. Shortly after my last post, I found out I was moving in a few days instead of in a few weeks like I originally thought. Needless to say, it has been a very stressful and busy past couple of weeks with packing up, moving, and trying to furnish and arrange the new place. Moving in Korea was certainly different from back home. A few days before I moved the moving company came to my apartment and dropped off a ton of reusable boxes and large plastic containers. These were for me to pack in and have ready by the time moving day arrived. At 11am on February 9th as promised the movers showed up at my door. They loaded all of my furniture and boxes into a truck and I was outside my new place with all my stuff within 1 hour. I felt bad that since I'm on the second floor apartment the movers would have to carry all the heavy items up the big flight of outdoor stairs to get them into my place. I was mistaken. No sooner had we arrived at the new place with the moving truck that another truck pulled up. Instead of a truck bed there was a flat metal surface which, after being loaded with a few items, was lifted upward like a crane and movers on the second floor simple pulled my items off of it onto my balcony and then in the door. So there was no carrying anything up the stairs! I was impressed. I'm finally getting settled into the new place. It's much more homey than the place I was in before which, despite being clean and new, was hopelessly tiny. Living in a studio gets old really quickly. I will post pictures of my new apartment soon but there are still a few finishing touches to do before I'm ready to show it off.

Work is going well. We started a new school year this month so I've been getting used to a new schedule and new students. Overall I seem to have good kids this year. No one sticks out as a problem-child yet but there's plenty of time for that to change and kids are always dropping out and joining throughout the year which keeps things interesting.

I'm excited about going to my first concert in Korea. I'm seeing Jason Mraz (singer/guitarist) in Seoul on Saturday so I'm very excited for that. I've been a fan of his since freshman year of college and I never thought I'd be seeing him live in Korea!

I've been enjoying the Wii and Wii Fit I purchased recently (they are much easier to get and a lot less expensive here in Korea than they are in the States). I'm not really a big video game person but the interactive and social aspect of the Wii is really enjoyable especially when friends are over.

I'm not 100% sure and it's still a long way off but I have a 4 day weekend in May and I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze in a Beijing trip then. The travel agency with whom I booked Thailand, Hong Kong, and Cambodia/Vietnam (I can't believe I've been to all those places!) has a 4 day/3 night Beijing sightseeing tour where you see all the big things. Obviously a longer length of time would be preferable but just in case I don't get the opportunity again, I want to make sure I see the Great Wall while I live in Asia.

On a more general note, I am really loving life right now. I am glad to be back in Korea, work is going great, and I am so comfortable and happy in my new apartment. Now if only I had enough money to fly home and see the people I miss whenever I want!