Hello from Korea!
It’s officially Spring over here in the Far East….kind of. The weather reminds me of Kentucky in how it can’t make up its mind most of the time. The good news is we are out winter!!
Last week was the best time to see the famous Cherry Blossoms and my part of town was covered in them. My walk to school was stunning every day and there were signs of new life everywhere. Sadly the blossoms are no more, but once again everything is green and full of life in Korea.
I previously mentioned how the change in routine and classes have been a breath of fresh air. My 4th graders are still the best group of classes I could ever ask for, and my 6th graders are still behaving themselves for the most part. I have a feeling as the semester turns toward summer they will be a little bit tougher to keep under control.
The weather has generally started warming up, which means I get to spend the majority of my lunch break playing soccer with my 6th graders, or rocking the see-saws and jungle gyms with the younger kids. Below are some pictures of my soccer crew. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day!
The first part of this semester has flown by pretty fast; I am currently through 3 chapters of the 8 I need to teach my 6th grade class. I have a feeling the last part of my year in Korea will continue to just speed up…so I am trying to enjoy each and every experience a new day brings.
This past weekend I was able to get together with some friends at my buddies apartment a few hours away. We had a big dinner, played a bunch of card games, spend some time outside in the great weather and then on Sunday went to an English speaking church before catching a movie. The movie was called ‘oblivion’, a new Tom Cruise movie and it was actually really good!
Most of my weekends have been a little more relaxing and with less travel than that one, but that’s going to be changing these next couple weeks. I have a trip to Seoul booked, my birthday weekend, a trip to Busan and then my Dad is coming to visit. There are some great things planned!
Spring has brought closure to the Winter chapter of my Korean year and new excitement for the Summer phase. I am always torn between Spring and Fall as my favorite time of year, and although Fall might be the winner I love how spring brings so much excitement of new things and a fresh start.
My other highlight of the week was getting confirmation on my summer vacation dates, which means I can go ahead and get my flights booked soon. I am most likely headed to Japan to hike Mt Fuji and then spending some time down in the Philippines. Places that normally would cost thousands of dollars to get to are going to cost a fraction of the price to visit…once again a perk of living in South Korea!
Final point, for anyone back home that is worried about the North Korea situation I appreciate all the prayers and concerns but everything is fine over here. The media back in America has turned a pretty serious situation into a drastic and over-blown one. Obviously there is a SLIGHT chance something could happen but life for the South Koreans moves on like normal so I am doing the same. I think it will all blow over in the next few weeks.
As always, I love to hear from you guys back home! Shoot me a message or email and let me know how you guys are doing. Miss yall!
The Adventures of D-Will 