Today being June 25th, I realize that it's been nearly TWO FULL MONTHS since my last post.
Naturally, this is unacceptable, since I'd committed myself to writing and documenting as much as possible during my year teaching English abroad in Korea.
As you would expect, however, sometimes life takes over, and you end up being so busy and exhausted that sometimes even taking one hour per week to just sit down, focus, and write becomes a sort of burden giving everything else going on.
This said, I remain fully committed to sharing all of my experiences, of which there are many.
So what have I been up to?
Well, first of all, I should mention that I've been working many more hours since the start of March than I had been working when I first arrived. My academy has seen an influx in enrolment, and so there are many more hours to be worked. My average day now begins at either 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning, and it's rare that I'll leave the office before 8:30, though often it isn't before 9:00 PM. I'm not one to complain, because this is what I signed up for, but working so many hours certainly is quite exhausting, and does limit my free time.
Now, a few days after writing my last post two months ago, where I talked about the Japanese food chain Ichiran Ramen, I headed off, like a crazy person, for a three day vacation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Indeed, I embarked on two overnight, 6.5-hour flights between the Malaysian capital and Seoul. Naturally, adrenaline got me through the three sleep-deprived days in KL, though I was shot upon returning. All of this, of course, not aided by the fact that the planes were quite uncomfortable and, for some reason, I was not able to get any good sleep.
I will further discuss Malaysia in a future post, but throughout the exhilarating three days I did see many amazing places, including the Petronas Towers, the Batu Caves and even the historic town of Malacca.
I returned from Malaysia on a Tuesday, and just three days later, on the Friday night, I was headed to Tokyo. I was to meet my friend, Matt, in Tokyo for a couple of days. Matt has obviously been one of my best friends since our high school days, and he had spent the year teaching English in the north of Japan, in a town near Sendai. He was in Tokyo for the weekend, so it just made sense to meet up.
It was great to see Matt for a few days, but it was also really amazing that my mom came all the way from Montreal to visit me in Korea. She first headed over to Japan, where we spent a week together travelling throughout Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. We had a really nice week, and she then spent a week at my place in Seoul, where I was happy to introduce her to Korean culture. A truly amazing experience!
Less than a week after my mom took off, Matt came to visit me here in Seoul, and stayed nearly two weeks, which was a great opportunity to spend lots of time together. One great experience was when we went to Seoul's Canadian bar, and enjoyed a Stanley Cup Finals game over breakfast one morning.
And now, well, my friend Vianna from Montreal has been offered a job as a tutor at my academy over the summer, and she just arrived this weekend, so I'll be showing her around and getting her accustomed to this new lifestyle here in Korea.
Combine this with my continuous desire to go on excursions here in Korea, such as hikes offering spectacular views, exploring new neighbourhoods or even going to a baseball game, and my free time has been even further reduced.
Overall, it's all been quite the exhilarating last few months, filled with excitement, adventure and incredible time spent with friends and family. I certainly can't complain, and I look forward to ending my time here in Seoul on a high. For those of you who don't know, I have extended my contract until the end of August, which means a two-month extension. These additional two months will give me the opportunity to have a fun summer, make some extra cash, and enjoy all of what Korea has to offer.
And then, of course, I'll be travelling throughout Southeast Asia for 2-3 months, so it'll all get pretty exciting.
Looking forward to sharing more of my experiences going forward!
-Daniele
