Last Week at Dongsung

Hello.

It's Saturday afternoon, Horyon and the kids are out, and I should be working on this week's assignment.  But it has been ages since I added to the Roblog, so here I am.

Tomorrow is New Year's Day (Solnal) according to the Korean Lunar calendar.  We will have a big, awesome breakfast around 8 tomorrow morning that won't look like anything you would call breakfast, with fried foods, fish, soup, rice, and of course, kimchi.  Gotta have kimchi, right?  The days before and after Solnal are national holidays, so today is a wasted holiday, but we get Monday off.  The last Monday of my school year, with only 6th grade classes!  I could not be happier to miss a day. 

This coming week is my last week of classes at Dongsung Elementary School.  I went out with most of my coworkers last night after work.  Since we finished around 4:30, we had dinner and drinks at a Mexican/Korean fusion restaurant.  The food was excellent, though I'm not sure how garlic french fries fall into either category, but when the restaurant brings you free food you don't complain.

I am ready to be finished with this job.  I am simply not an elementary teacher.  At least, not here, and not with my own kids at home.  My daily portion of patience is rarely sufficient for the day.  It does not help one bit that I feel frustrated with the direction of the English department: our students spend 6 class periods a week with a native speaker, and 4 with a Korean English teacher.  There is so much potential with all of this classroom time, and yet I have students in my 6th grade English class who can barely hold a conversation, comprehend a basic text, or sit on a chair without falling off.  (OK, that's sort of a standard problem for middle school kids, so I shouldn't fault my school for this.)

My lack of job satisfaction is one reason that the Roblog has been on a sort of hiatus.  I don't like to get on here and whine, and I don't expect that my readers would be happier with a sniveling post than with no post.  But now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am hoping it is not a train.

This coming Valentine's Day will be special for us: first of all, we will be moving to a new apartment.  I have posted photos on Facebook (easy to do from my phone), and you can see the difference: more than twice as big as our current digs, lots of windows for light and air, a veranda with a laundry hanger.  No cool roof for parties like our current home, no comfort and security and fun of knowing and working with my immediate neighbors.  It's a worthy trade-off.  Fortunately, Horyon is only teaching vacation classes for the next three weeks, so she will have time to get us settled.  I will have two weeks between jobs, but expect to be somewhat busy preparing for the upcoming Kyungnam College position.

And three days after Valentine's Day (easy to remember), is our 12th wedding anniversary.  It's finally starting to sound right.  I've always felt like we've been together for a long time, even in the year before we got married.  Twelve years doesn't quite reflect the feeling that our souls have always been together, but it doesn't leave me saying, "Only 12?"  I'm thinking that by the time I've been married more than half my life (2032), it will finally seem just about right.

I am hoping that the new job will bring a lot of changes, including more time for blogging, my kids, and my studies.  I will try to keep you updated.

And here's a picture of Quinten on the floor.