My life continues to be full of Korean studies and meeting with friends. Soon there will be a period of transition at the school where I work as most of the native English teachers move back to the US or Canada and new teachers come. At our language academy, new teachers come one at a time and overlap with the old teacher, who provides their orientation. Next week the first new teacher arrives, and Kate will give her orientation and then leave on July 1st. Even though I said so many similar goodbyes in Japan, it seems surreal to think Kate is really leaving, and a few weeks after her Abby, and a month later Heather & Michael. Then, at the end of August, it will be me! I'm not leaving Korea, so the change isn't as radical for me, but it's still going to be a goodbye for me and a big change. I plan to stay connected with this wonderful community in Deokso and visit at least once a week. I'm so glad that I won't be "starting over" when I leave and go to language school- I will still have plenty of friends in the Seoul vicinity, and I will have my church. Plus, after living here a year, I sort of know my way around Seoul.
I'm still nervous about the leap of faith I'm taking by enrolling in language school. Last week I submitted my application and documents to Sogang University,which is known for having the best speaking-based Korean language program. I plan to enroll in the Korean Academic Program, which will prepare me for graduate work! It seems unbelievable to me that my Korean could someday be high enough for graduate work, but the program is very intensive. The program has 4 semesters a year, and my initial plan is to enroll for 3 semesters.
The biggest decision left for me to make is about my living situation. I'm hoping to find a host family, but the other option I'm exploring is a "hasokjip," which is like a boarding house. A host family could be such a great experience for me, linguistically and emotionally, if I have a good one. I currently have 4 roommates, so the thought of going back to living on my own sounds very lonely.
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| Eating dinner with Juyoung, her husband, and Sarah. Sarah and Juyoung are both fellow teachers at Connexus and I love hanging out with them both so much! |
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| At the night market with my student and her little brother. |
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| Juyoung invited all the teachers over to her mother's beautiful house in the country. Left to right: Juyoung's husband, Juyoung, Sarah, me, Heather, Michael, Abby, Kate, Juyoung's mother. |
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| Enjoying the BBQ at Juyoung's mother's house |
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| With Haeyeon, a wonderful friend I met at the library in town. We meet twice a week for language exchange and also just hang out. On the day we took this picture, we walked around a college campus, went to a coffee shop that reminded me of Northwest Ohio from its decor, ate "bul(fire) jokbal" (spicy pig's feet) with her boyfriend, and went to Costco and then Starbucks. Such a fun, jam-packed day! |
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| Last weekend Friday was a national holiday, so I went camping and hiking with my friend Adrienne. It was so rejuvenating! |
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| On Saturday of the holiday weekend, I met my friend Hyunmi. We took pictures in traditional Korean clothes, studied together, ate Japanese food, and went to a museum. Usually we meet Sunday mornings (before I go to church) to study, but it was fun to meet on a different day and do other things, too! |
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| After meeting Hyunmi, I met Gyuwon and explored a market and another museum. She works at the peacebuilding office connected with our language school. It was really fun to hang out outside of work~! |
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| I went hiking again on Sunday with Soyeon! Korea is a really beautiful place to hike, but it was a little tiring for me to go twice in one weekend. :-) |
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