Long overdue update

Hello. Well, life has been really enjoyable for us lately. I started a new job a few weeks ago. I now work at Nowon English Village which is approximately 5 miles away from Suyu English Village where I live and Dusty still works. It's been such a great change for me. This job suits my strengths and personality much better plus, I've got tons more free time. Yay! Nowon is a much smaller school and is run more like a hagwon than a camp. A hagwon is just a term used for a specialty school. I generally have three, forty minute classes a day. Though I have to go in to work around 2pm, I typically teach from 4:30 or 5:00 to 7:25pm everyday. I'm back home by 8pm every night. Some days I have to go in earlier and teach situational classes but even then I'm only teaching another one or two, thirty minute classes which is a sinch. So, I've got a lot of time now to do other things. I've started studying Korean and I can already read and write. It's the speaking and understanding that's going to really be a challenge. Also, I'm FINALLY starting to study for my National Counselor's Exam that I'm going to have to take when I get home in order to get a job as a counselor. There are lots of other great things about my job that I love. I have the same classes every week with the same kids. This means I get to develop relationships with them even if they are 'little turds' sometimes. I know how to lay the smack down by now. I also work with far fewer people. There are four of us foreign teachers and four Korean teachers here. That's it. So I get to know the people I work with much better. And, having my work be away from my home is much better for me psychologically. I can come home and relax and know that I'm away from work. I also love having more freedom, independence, and time away. I get home and realize how much I've missed my husband and friends. I appreciate them all so much more and actually want to spend time with them versus always wanting to get away like before.

Also, the weather is warming up. I can't express how much better I feel in every way. I feel mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally healthy. FINALLY! The winter was rough on me. It was so dark and cold everyday and I was sick the majority of the time. Plus, being away from family and friends over the holidays and working my bootie off was no fun. I'm so glad that time is over. The longer I stay, the more I feel adjusted to life here... not home, but at peace and relaxed. I know how to get around, I'm used to the food, I'm learning the language, I'm educated about the culture (though I still don't always understand it or think it makes sense), and I get to spend time with my husband and good friends everyday.

With the weather warming up, I get outside to play and exercise as much as possible. We went climbing outside last Saturday which was my first time to touch the rock here. I had such a great time. We took a train down south to a place called Ganhyeon. We met our climbing friends from Arkansas who live about 20 minutes away from there. We all climbed together and had a blast. It was warm and sunny and the air was so fresh and clean compared to that of Seoul. It was the first train ride I've ever been on and my first time seeing Korea's rurual country which actually reminds me a lot of Northwest Arkansas. I feel like myself again. I'm realizing that I really struggle with mild depression in the winters. Looking back, I can see a similar pattern that keeps repeating itself each year. As Dr. Lampton (my psychopathology professor) would say, "It's kind of a low-level yuck". So yeah, I experienced that from about November to February this year. Four months of yuck and now I'm ready for some yipee-eye-aye. My energy level and mood seems to go up with each passing day.

So... Dusty and I have talked a lot lately about future plans. We've been bouncing around ideas for awhile but the latest one has me the most excited. Keep in mind this is only an idea, not a definite by any means. We've been thinking of spending the winter this next year at home in the states. Our contracts finish out at the end of October. Perhaps we'll stop in Greece for a couple weeks on our way home and visit our friend Erin Rowe. Then spend the holidays at home with all our friends and family. Then come January, we would probably take off traveling for a month or so to somewhere cheap and warm. Then return to Korea in the spring for another year of work. Our financial goals keep us comitted to working here two full years. The money is just so easy. I mean seriously, I work like 2-3 hours a day and get paid pretty dang good. And then we have next to no expenses. I'm often astonished that this is legal. There's no way we could achieve the same thing in the same amount of time anywhere else.

Anyhoo, the possiblity of coming home for awhile gets me really excited. I'd love to be able to skip the winter here. It's so cold every day. For someone who loves the outdoors, it can feel like a prison sometimes. The weather in Arkansas is much more mild plus, even if it gets cold, we'll be spending time with those we love most. And, perhaps I can bypass getting sick so much. I've learned not to cling to things too tightly so we'll just have to see what God has in store for us.