Walking around Sarabong

 The Lighthouse at Sarabong, Jeju

For those of you waiting on an update, sorry it's been so long.  I've been busy and distracted the last few weeks and frankly forgot to write one.  Plus I didn't have any new pictures until recently.  But without further adieu and with no more gilding the lily, i present your new update.

The last month has been good but busy.  Both Vicky and I have constantly morphing schedules.  For the last couple weeks, the middle school students here have been studying for their midterms constantly.  So Vicky especially had a lot of classes canceled because the students wanted to use the time for test preparation.  She didn't complain.

I've had quite a few classes added to my schedule.  Some I like a lot, some less so.  But that's all part of working.

Cool looking temple on the side of Sarabong

The biggest news/decision in my life right now is figuring out if I want to apply to grad school for a PhD.  My options for next year when we finish here in July are A) start a PhD program  B) try to find a job in Texas  C) find another teaching job abroad if I haven't quite got traveling out of my system.  Now making decisions for what I will do next July/August would seem premature except the application deadlines for most PhD programs for the semester next Fall are anywhere from Dec 1 to January 1.  And getting the necessary paperwork, recommendations, essays, etc together will probably take at least a month.  So it's decision time.   Right now I'm completely neutral, not leaning towards any of them.  I'll let you know when I decide which way to go.

One funny story from school (and pardon the one bad word in this story but it wouldn't be funny if I changed it).  In one of my smarter classes, we finished a little early. Daniel (the smartest one in the class) started using the computer. It was horribly slow as usual. I sent him to Google Translate so he would have something to occupy him.  I set it to translate Korean to English.  He promptly typed something in Korean, then pointed to the computer. I glanced down at Google's English translation and saw only one word. "SHIT"

In between riotous bouts of laughter, i told him "yes it is Daniel".

Oh before I go, Vicky suggested I add a comment about our plan to save money on heating this winter.  Just as I did last year, we will be employing a combination of occasional floor heating and a hairdryer.  Why a hairdryer you ask?  Because in winter I don't care if the whole room is warm.  I only care if I'M warm.  Next time it's cold, try this experiment.  Get under a blanket, then turn a hairdryer on and blow the hot air under the blanket.  It will A) feel amazing as the waves of heat wash over you and B) keep you nice and toasty warm without the expense of heating the whole room.  But reason B is secondary to me.  I just love the way it feels :)