Future Plans

I have gotten pretty used to balancing my on-line graduate class, Korean studies, and teaching. I'm usually out of the house and busy morning until night, either at the library, the office, or at a coffee shop meeting Korean friends for language exchange. I'm busy, but I'm busy with things that are interesting and fulfilling. 

At the end of January I celebrated the Lunar New Year by going to a buffet with my friend Seran and her extended family. It was a real privilege to be invited. I am so grateful for her friendship. She is also a Christian (I met her at Japanese church), and we often encourage each other. She recently got a job at Korea's largest airport in Incheon, so she had to move out there to the dormintory. We can't meet as much as we used to, but she had a day off and was able to meet me this morning. It's such a treat to spend time with her. 

Last month I asked for prayer for a young person I met at the library who is trying to get into college. I ran into him 3 times over the last month around town and even in Seoul, which I think was definitely God at work. I told him about how I've been doing language exchange, and he told me he was interested in doing it, too. Since then, we've started meeting twice a week. It's very convenient for both of us because we live in the same town and don't have to travel downtown to meet. He's been helping me with Korean conversation and I've been helping him improve his essay writing skills. We're become friends and had some good conversations about our beliefs. I don't have many friends in the community outside of work, so I'm glad that we can meet and learn from each other. 

In a few weeks I will finish my current on-line class (towards getting my MA in TESOL) and start another one. Next month I'm also planning to volunteer at church to lead an English discussion group for high school students. The topic for the discussion is "peace." I miss interacting with high school students and have been looking for a way to get more involved with church, especially outside of the small English service I attend. I was very excited when I heard about this volunteer opportunity at church this week. 

I have been in Korea for close to 6 months. While I'm flexible to what the next year holds, I'm planning to finish my contract at Connexus Language Institute in September and begin an intensive Korean language program at a university. It will be expensive and involve a lot of work to get to that point- changing my visa, moving, etc.- but this is something I really want to try. I have such high motivation to learn Korean and would love the opportunity to take 4 hours of classes everyday and be able to devote more of my time to studying and doing language exchange. I am happy with the progress I've made in Korean in the last 6 months, but I have high goals for myself and it will take a lot more work and dedication to reach them. I would like to be proficient in Korean sooner rather than later, and I'm hoping this investment in full-time language classes will help me accomplish my goals.