Settling In

I have been in South Korea for eight weeks now (officially two months this Friday--the 18th). I have begun to find my rhythm, a rhythm that I like. It goes something like this:

Monday-Friday: Wake up ~7:30-7:45am. I make tea, I make some sort of breakfast--usually nothing more than cereal unless I have a lot of time--and some other small tasks for about an hour. I arrive at work around 9:00am. Depending on the day, I have things that I have to get done. The kids arrive by 9:40am and I have to formally begin teaching at 10:00am. The kids learn basic English...and there is a lot of coloring involved. I have 50 minutes for lunch, starting at 12:10pm. I usually make a quick run and get some gimbap:

The kindergarten-ers leave at 2:20pm. Then, I either teach elementary kids from 2:40-4:30 or 6:30, depending on the day or how much my schedule has randomly changed.
At night, I have a wide variety of options. On Wednesdays, I usually go out with my friends from home for some dinner or other random shenanigans. Other days of the week, I meet up with other friends from the hiking group or some of my Korean friends. Some days I do absolutely nothing and come back to my apartment.

Saturday: I enjoy spending my time with a group of rock climbers organized by a couple Koreans, Mr. Kim and Alex Lee. I owe so much to them. In the past few gatherings, I have met people from Lithuania, Mexico, Sweden, England, Canada, all over the United States and more Koreans. I really enjoy the people. The activities we do are very enjoyable as well. We have done rock climbing, hiking, rafting, bike riding, and yoga...all in the last 4 weeks! I plan to spend as many Saturdays as I can with this group.

Sunday: I am lazy. I try to do at least one thing on Sundays...something that will get me out of the house. Usually this involves shopping and spending money at some of my favorite stores here (read: Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo, Giordano, Xara, Puma). But sometimes, like today, it involves traveling to see something that is significant to the Korean culture. Today, I went to the Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, a UNESCO Heritage Site, with Jessica (another rock climber/yoga enthusiast from Saturday) and her friend Brandon:
That is usually how my week goes...with slight deviations. This weekend has been a good weekend. It was needed.

Here are a couple videos from last week:

1.) Me explaining a bit of my work life as well as the area where I live.


2.) A video of the Banpo Bridge, which I live near, and the water fountains that are on it.


Alan =)