Getting back into the swing of things

 Since it looks grey and boring outside on Jeju right now, more Philippines pictures!!

As I said last time, with the end of our Philippine adventure, we've returned to Jeju and our normal lives.  At least normal for Korea (ie.. why is that person in a pig suit high-fiving random people in city hall?  why are we having a fire-drill at 4am?  why is my girlfriend wearing a cat-suit onesy to a restaurant in city hall?  the answer to that last question is "for fun" and of course i thought it was hilariously awesome!  That was the first time I've been completely ignored on the streets in Jeju.)

Ok so maybe normal isn't the right word ...... but we're back!  And since the weather isn't cooperating (my definition of cooperation is sunny and warm.  Jeju seems to disagree), we've started planning for the rest of the year.  I'll lay out our basic thoughts here with the caveat that we're still making our plans, so they're about as solid as a politician's morals.

We'll continue to teach here until ....

July
when my contract expires at the beginning of the month.  However Vicky's contract doesn't finish until mid-late July.  And our apartment lease runs until August 10th.  So i plan to be a total beach bum for the entire month.  That will change in .....

August
as Vicky and I prepare to leave Jeju.  We're planning to get visa extensions through around August 22nd when we will leave Jeju and fly to Europe.  Our theory goes like this, since our employer will pay for a plane ticket to where ever we want to go and since we don't have to start a new job until we want to and we'll have saved enough to afford a vacation, why go straight home when we can detour through Europe on the way.  We're in the process of planning a 5-6 week trip now.  I'll let you know what it looks like here once we've hammered out more of the details.  As a huge bonus it looks like two of our friends will get to join us for part of it.  And if any of my friends or family reading this want to meet us in Europe for part of our trip from late August to early October, just let me know.  That will keep us busy all the way into ....

October
when we'll finally get back to Texas after a long time away.  For now we're planning to spend the rest of the year there visiting friends and family and setting up our next job.  Once ....

January
rolls around, we'll probably head out again.  This time Taiwan is the clubhouse leader for where we'd like to live.  Naturally all this could change on a dime but for now this is the plan we're working with.  Hope I get to see everyone reading this in the Fall.  Maybe sooner if you feel like a Continental holiday :)