Wrap-up Of My First Term As A Teacher

June 7, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.

Thirteen weeks as a hagwon teacher have come and gone, and I thought I should share some general, personal reflections on teaching in Korea so far. Arriving to work usually occurs around 3 pm (after purchasing a much needed caffeinated beverage)- where I set up my classroom, check-in electronically and print out tests or homework […]

Miyajima and Making Deer Friends

May 21, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

On a cool day in October, I stood on the starboard side of a ferry that was slicing slowly through the rolling waves, wind tossing my hair about wildly. As the boat turned toward the dock – a red gate rose majestically out of the waters, announcing the Shinto Shrine beyond. I was about to […]

A Plague of Yellow Dust

May 10, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

Spring: a time of renewal, growth, the part of the year when Persephone gets to return to the Earth after spending some casual time in the Underworld, cherry blossoms. Oh, and in South Korea? Yellow Dust. What I would describe as a parasitic cloud of fine dust that oozes down from the Gobi Desert to […]

Seoul in Love

May 9, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

It’s been a while since I’ve updated, I may be an utter failure at being a proper blogger. But here I am nonetheless making poor puns for my blog titles ;P To summarize the first month or so: The week of training for my job as an English teacher can boil down the words hectic […]

Clumsy Arrival

February 10, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

Well, I made it to South Korea (and to the correct hotel) in one piece -with all the heavy luggage in tow, and am now sitting at a small cafe in Seoul trying to focus on finishing my pre-training assignments before training week begins. “Trying” being the key word here, I’m really too excited to […]

Anticipation

January 26, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

It’s been a maelstrom of preparing for change these past few weeks. Lots of waiting hopefully (and sometimes patiently), putting in notices for quitting the apartment and job, packing up all the stuff I’ve accumulated over the past 8 years in California. And tonight I find myself unable to fall asleep when I should have been […]

First Steps

December 4, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

Teaching abroad has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Really, ever since I was 7-years-old, and listened enraptured to my Uncle’s stories of teaching abroad in Japan. This year, teaching in another country started to seem more attainable, and what’s even better is I have someone who wants to go on […]

Lessons from 2016

December 1, 2016.Reading time 14 minutes.

I believe that it’s a good idea to stop and take some time to reflect on your life now and then. It helps us see how we’ve grown as people, and see how far we’ve come. For me, this type of reflection usually occurs near the end of the year as the holidays begin to […]

There and Back Again

November 20, 2016.Reading time 2 minutes.

With a new chapter already unfurling in my life, I figured that it was apropos to actually start recording it in blog form. I just returned from an amazing first journey abroad in Japan, and am finishing up the long-ish paperwork process of obtaining a job teaching English in Korea – life overall is pretty […]