I've been in Seoul, South Korea for 259 days! wow!

Seoul is an awesome city! Its one of the largest cities in the world. Its way overcrowded. The population is 10 million. There are many things that are great and just as many things that annoy me. Its definatly an experience and a big change from what I'm used to. I grew up in a town of 700 people. The largest city I ever lived in had 500,000 people.

My adventure has been a rollercoaster! Its full of ups and downs. Mostly on the downside on the job front. For those of you who don't know I'm teaching English--Speaking, Conversation, and Writing to Korean elementary and middle school students in a private language academy.

I'm also learning some Korean. I can read Korean, but its pretty difficult to speak. I'm learning slowly. And I'll forget it all when I come back to the USA because there is no reason I'd ever need Korean in NC. I'd never met a Korean before I moved to Seoul. I plan to become fluent in Spanish when I return to the USA. I may even try living in South America for a year. That's my next goal.

I'm halfway through my contract!! In 5 months and 3 1/2 weeks or @180 days I will be back in the USA!!

I don't really write here since I keep a Korea blog. I'll return to this blog in March of 2010.

Update: I've been at my new school for 13 weeks. 39 weeks to go....37 of those will be teaching weeks.

I hate my job!

I love living in Seoul. I like going to the gym almost everyday. I'm hoping this will be the year that I finally get into shape. I know I can do it.

Wow things are really moving along. I got an email from my recruiter saying that my visa was approved and that I needed to call the Korean Consulate office in Atlanta to set up an interview.

So I called and left a message. the woman called me back today and set up an appointment for 3pm on Thursday the 18th. I hate that I have to drive almost 300 miles one way for a short interview. there's no getting around it...I have to have an in person interview. I know Atlanta traffic is horrible. Its almost 5 hours to get there so I need to leave a good 7 hours in advance maybe. I need to allow plenty of time to get there. I'm not looking forward to driving that far. I dont know how my car will hold up! I think I might have a gas leak and Im suppose to be getting it fixed tomorrow. but still I've never driven my car that far in one day! I wish I had someone to drive me down there!!!

Then tonight I got another message from my recruiter. He is trying hard to move my appt from Thursday to either Monday the 15th or Tues the 16th. They want me to be in South Korea by the 18th so I can observe some classes. Then my classes start on the 22nd.

Hopefully all my packages get here before I leave..I'm waiting on: 2 webcams and 2 headsets so I can use Skype. (and I've got to install them and show my mom how to use it!)

WOW...I could be in South Korea in a week.

I did some packing last night...my suitcase and my carry on are getting full quick! I've got to sort through all the stuff I put in it and figure out what really needs to go.

all this stuff is getting expensive! I had to get another passport photo taken tonight to put with my visa application. why do they need so many photos for every document? I've already sent in 4 pictures with my visa documents. Tomorrow I have to get a $45 money order for my visa. And I have to pay to send the forms by Express mail and pay for a SASE Express mail so my documents can get back to me. Then I have to pay for gas to get to Atlanta.

I'm going to go broke soon! My old roommate makes me angry. She didn't give me my security deposit back. I could use that $200!! I need it but she wont answer my emails! maybe I should email her everyday until she sends it. I didnt damage anything so I'm suppose to get my security deposit back. and Im leaving soon so she needs to send it pronto!

I need to buy a power adapter but I wont be able to afford it so I'll have to get it when I get there. I wasnt able to buy the translater or the video camera. I'll have to buy those once I get my first paycheck.