Long time

So it's been kind of a while since I updated this blog, whoops. Nothing too exciting has happened really. I've been spending a lot of weekends at home just kind of relaxing. Last weekend I went to Yeoju to see my friend's band play, which was fun. This weekend there's a Van Gogh show in Seoul I might go to. I should do some more planning for my winter camp though.

So my winter vacation is from December 29th to February 11th. It was going to be from January 5th to the 11th, but some things worked out and I can teach my winter camp during the week of the 17th, when a bunch of the kids will be at English institutes elsewhere. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of the country in the first couple weeks, then I'll be doing some international travel afterwards.

I'm looking at going to the Philippines with some people toward the end of January, which will be fun. We've got a nice hotel for pretty cheap, and just found a cheap flight. We'll be there two weekends, so I think we'll have plenty of time to do some fun stuff. The fellow who has family in the Philippines has been doing most of the planning, but I hope to get a travel guide soon so I can pick out some spots that would be good for me.

Then I'll meet up with a friend from the US in Japan early in February. I might end up going a little early so I can tour the country a bit and get the most out of the two week rail pass I'll have to buy(for about $400). I need to study up on my kanji though, so it will be a little easier to get around. But I'm excited about the trip, I've wanted to go to Japan for so long it's hard to believe I'm only months away. Even if it turns out to be a horrible place, I'm sure I'll still be happy to be there.

So I'm thinking about those plans a lot, more than I should be. I still have to prepare for two more weeks of lectures and the winter camp. But I've gotten a little better about lesson planning, and teaching has been a lot less stressful lately. I've kind of relaxed my noise restrictions a bit, and let the students who talk in the back talk as much as they want. I just make sure they're quiet enough that the ones with desire to learn can still hear me. Even this can get out of control in some of my 2nd grade classes, but for the most part it's been pretty good. I just have to remember that I'm an assistant teacher and don't really have that much authority over them anyway. Also if I waste too much class time trying to get the groups of noisy people in line, the students who want to learn are going to suffer.

The picture is of construction on the subway line that's going to have a stop right outside my apartment. Unfortunately it wont be done until 2010, so even though I have to endure the noise at 3am on Sunday mornings I wont be able to reap the benefits. But it's kind of a pretty picture isn't it? I was hoping to catch it when the sun was a little less bright but in the same position, sometimes it's a really nice red. But this worked out I think.