The Hump-ty Dance

Well, I have now officially surpassed the 6 month period of my stay here in South Korea. With more than half of my contract completed, I started thinking about the first 6 months I have been here and all of the ups and downs I have been through. While I must admit that there have been plenty more ups than downs, there have been trying times to go along with my times of elation. In order to facilitate your understanding of how the first 6 months have treated me, I will supply you with a Good Times and a Bad Times list and you can decide for yourself if i am having the time of my life or not. Well...here it goes:

Good Times

• My trip to Osaka, Japan to get my Visa. It was fantastic, but ultimately too short (1 day and 1 night).
• Haeinse temple in Daegu. The directors of the school I worked at there took me and it was a slice of culture heaven.
• My first trip to Busan on Korean Thanksgiving. The beach, a monster hotel room, and Wndball Extreme 2006. Need I say more?
• Many drunken nights in Seoul. Espescially the night we got a hotel room on Hooker Hil. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.
• Going to TaeJo San to see the 60 foot Buddha with Jaime and Kelly. It just happens to be on a mountain by my work.
• My trip to Thailand. I'm sorry it's still too early to re-open the wound that I had to actually leave heaven after haven tasted it.
• Bowling on Mondays, Pool on Wednesdays, Poker on Fridays. Although they sometimes get redundant, they really give me a sense of normality in a strange country.
• My second trip to Busan. Hanging out with Erin again, House Party 2007, seeing the whole city of Busan from the top of a mountain, and the beach again. I can't wait to live there!
• Just hanging around with people that would probably be my best of friends back home. Our little group does have its little squabbles, but we tight.
• Hanging out with John. He's turned out to be a pretty good roommate. Just more proof that you don't have to know people well to know if they're good peeps.
• My kids that I teach. They are really starting to surprise me and grow on me. They're such cute little buggers too.

Bad Times

• The first week I spent in Daegu. I didn't know any Korean, I didn't know any foreigners, and I lived in a tiny box of an apartment. That was definitely the make-it or break-it era.
• Being sick for 80% of the time I've been in Korea. I just can't seem to shake it!
• How cold my apartment is (see above statement). It costs an arm and a leg to heat the floors and our heaters keep burning out.
• When John was in the hospital with pneumonia. That was pretty scary and shitty for John.
• Seeing really good friends leave and having to say goodbye. Definitely the hardest part of this gig. I have 3 really good friends leaving in the next month and a half.

So as you can see, the good times definitely outweigh the bad times. Of course, this is not taking into account how much I miss my awesome friends and family back home. Oh well, at least I know that I'm over the six month hump and I'll be seeing y'all soon enough.