immigration

Friday March 14th I went to the Suwon Immigration Office to renew my visa.  Different areas are served by different offices, so we don't have a choice about which office we go to.  Because I live in Yongin now I had to go to the Suwon office.  I went here once before in 2012 when I lived in Pyeongtaek.  It was a terrible experience.  I was there literally the whole working day.  In 2010 and 2013 I went to different immigration offices and it wasn't bad at all.  I was hoping this year would be ok, but it was just as bad as 2012.  I got there around 11:30, and my ticket number was 490, with 371 people ahead of me.  I wanted to go there right away in the morning, but I was told I must come to school first so I can be marked as "leaving early" rather than taking a whole day off.  The whole thing took more than 7 hours.  This time wasn't as bad as last time cause I spent a lot of time at McDonalds and a cafe.  I found out too late, that you are able to make appointments online.  I'll do that next year if I'm still here.

New job

I will be be staying one more year in Korea.  In march I will be starting a new job at a middle school in Yongin-si. I don't know if this will be my last year in Korea or not.  Every year I say I want just one more year.

USA trip

Last month I went to the USA from the 14th till the 27th.  It was the first time I had been back to the USA since I left February 29th, 2012.  I mostly spent the trip eating food I can't get in Korea, meeting friends and shopping for clothes.  I also got a new driver's license.  Mine expired over a year ago so I had to take the driving test again, which was silly.  It was good to drive again, I just wish my parents had a more fun car to drive.

Visiting the US

I'll be visiting the US Jan 14-26.  This will be my first trip back in nearly 2 years.  I can't wait to eat hot dogs at Portillo's.

Summer vacation plans

In a few days I'm taking a trip to Singapore and Indonesia.  August 8-19.  I'm not sure what I'll do in Singapore, but I'll only be there a couple days.  Going to Borobudur in Indonesia is the main purpose of this trip.  I'm going alone, and no, it's not "sad" or "too bad" that I'm going alone.  I like solo travel.

this year, last year and this blog

My time in Korea goes by so quickly.  I'm already 4 months into my 3rd year here.  My original plan was to stay here 1 year, maybe 2.  I didn't think I would like it so much.

My year in Pyeongtaek was great.  I was pretty busy.  I usually hate being busy, but I was busy doing things I wanted to do, so that was ok, except sometimes I was really tired.  My school was good and I liked most of the students well enough.  I couldn't stay a second year because they didn't have money for a foreign teacher.

I'm teaching at an elementary school in Hanam now.  Hanam is much better than the previous two cities I lived in.  The city isn't that different, but it's much closer to Seoul and has buses running to and from Seoul till late.

Teaching elementary school is very different from teaching high school.  In some ways it's better, in some ways it's worse.

I'm busier at school this year than I was last year because I teach more classes and I have to do more lesson planning each week.  It has affected my Korean study and my jewelry design.  I don't have much free time at work like I did at my last two jobs and in the evening I am usually tired.

I'm disappointed in myself for not keeping this blog updated.  But it's just not something I feel much like doing.  It's easy to keep posting things if I both have something to say and a lot of free time.  But like I said earlier, I have been busy.  I also don't have much to say, at least nothing interesting.  I am generally happy with my life here, I just don't have much I want to say about it here.

Last day at my school

Today is the last day at the high school I teach at in Pyeongtaek.  I'm sad, I really liked it here.  Next week I'll start teaching at an elementary school in a different city.