Update

So it has been nearly 3 months since I arrived in Korea and it is finally starting to really feel like home. Every says that when you teach abroad the first three months are the "Honey Moon" phase where everything is new and exciting and interesting. They also say that months 3-6 are where you grow to hate Korea. I'm hoping the latter doesn't hold true for me.

To be perfectly honest, I really do love life in Korea. I've heard some people say that my blog has been lacking in the "culture" department lately but that is just a result life here becoming somewhat mundane. Things that fascinated me when I arrived don't even get a second glance any more. I'm fully adjusted to living in another culture and I'm feeling more Korean everyday. Looking back at the first month of blogging I had tons of exciting news to report and everyday I found something that I had never experience before in my 23 years. While Korea is an amazing place full of incredible sights, sounds, and experiences, after three months it just feels like home. I can't really blog about exciting, new things any more because, frankly, nothing is really that new to me anymore. I tend to spend my weekends being more low-key and relaxing rather than running around all corners of Suwon and Seoul exploring. It is easy to feel like this is some sort of wild vacation when you arrive; I suppose after 90 days you realize you're in for the long haul and sort of dig in. I do apologize for the lack of pictures. I really have no excuse; I'm just lazy and don't like carrying my camera in my pocket. I'll make a committed effort to post some pictures soon.

Also, I don't want my rants to be interpret ted as Korea hating. Many, many, many ESL teachers here spend their days complaining about things they hate about Korea and are constantly saying "Well, in the US..." or "If only Korea had..." and I really don't want to be like those people nor do I share their feelings. I came here to embrace a new culture and I've genuinely enjoyed the people, the food, the city, everything about Korea. But those who know me best know I love to rant and I need to keep the blog going so I try to find elements of the culture which are interesting and explain them the best I can. And, to be fair, I'd hate propaganda trucks anywhere.

I also want to see how I'm doing on my commitments for Korea.

1. Try everything once. I think I've done really well with this. I can't remember turning anything down (OK, I've skipped out on a few seemingly disgusting meals. read: boiled silk worms and minnow heads).

2. Learn the language. Well, I've royally failed in this department. I can read and write Hangul but I probably know about 20 words total. I read the other day that Korean is the 2nd hardest language to learn (behind Japanese) so I don't feel terrible. It is just so difficult to commit the required amount of time to learning a language when your days are spent teaching. I don't ever feel like waking up early in the morning to study. I get by quite well without Korean so nothing is really forcing my hand. I would love to speak Korean but I'm not willing to put in the time and effort. I'll continue to expand my vocabulary slowly. It is sort of funny the words I do know are so totally random because I learn them from kids; not sure when I'll need "vomit" or "dwarf" in conversation but I've got them down. At least now I can read signs, menus, etc. so I can survive completely without English if needed.

3. Travel. I've seen most of Suwon and a good chunk of Seoul. We've got some trips planned, both in Korea and also to other parts of Asia (Thailand and the Philippines specifically) so I feel OK about this commitment.

4. As I mentioned, I suck at taking pictures. I'll try to do better.

5. Staying in touch with friends and family has been quite easy thanks to the Internet. AIM/Skype/Facebook have really helped me stay connected with the people I care about most.

That's all for now. Take it easy but take it.