Back to the blog...

According to my mom my "readers" are requesting some new content so I decided to spend this evening catching up on old episodes of CSI and NCIS and updating the blog a bit! 


I've been back in Seoul since August 3rd and it feels like I haven't slowed down since.  Next day back I was off to fill the fridge at Costco and Homeplus with some friends.  My new apartment is fabulous (photos coming soon) although it did take a substantial amount of time to unpack and re-arrange until  it felt like everything was in its place.  The last several weeks have been HOT and really humid, so I'm thoroughly enjoying my air conditioned abode and spending a substantial amount of time with my nose in a book while I beat the heat.


I'm thrilled to be back for year two at Seoul Foreign School.  I love my science colleagues and this year we've added another woman to the team--that makes it 6 ladies and 2 gentlemen:).  I survived another year of teacher inservice meetings and I've had students back in my classroom since August 17th!  Despite the chaos, it feels like I just picked right up where I left off from last year (I think that's a good thing, isn't it?).  I'm only teaching 4 classes of students, but this year that means I have three entirely different courses to prepare for which is a LOT of work!  I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water, but I hope that will get better as the year goes on.  One of the best things about this year is that I have one of my groups of students from last year back for a second year.  We started out the school year feeling a bit like family and I know I can be myself and have fun with these kids while teaching them science.  I'm still learning the names of my other students--poor kids, it's going to take me until the end of September to get everyone's name down.


This year I've decided to add a few new things to the mix in addition to teaching.  Since I love being artsy and crafty, I volunteered to help advise the yearbook (ask me in the Spring if I still think this was a good idea).  I'm still working on my online Italian class and making slow, but steady progress.  I'm so blessed to have a friend on campus who speaks Italian and we're meeting once a week to practice together!  The two of us have started planning a Discovery Week trip to Venice for next May (remember my stitch n' bitch posting from last May?) and we're hoping to get the go-ahead to start recruiting students soon!  I was invited to join a ladies bible study and I'm loving the Beth Moore study that we're going to be working on this year--it's called a Woman's Heart and goes through a good amount of the first few books of the Old Testament.  Most of the ladies started with me here last year and it's great to know I'll be seeing them every week.  In a moment of insanity I also signed up for another online graduate level chemistry class that I'll be working on until winter vacation.  Throw in a couple of sessions of yoga each week, lots of planning/grading, and general survival activities like laundry and grocery shopping and I've got myself a very busy schedule! 


Somewhere in all of this craziness I'm going to try to find time to update the blog with my newest adventures.  At the moment I'm working on posting pictures from my summer travels to China and the UK.  What incredible memories I have from both of those experiences!  Overall, I'm exhausted but life is good (Sono esausto ma vida e buona!) so I can't ask for more.  


In just one week I'll be hosting my mom, dad, and Daniel as they cross the Pacific for the first time.  I'm excited for the family to get to experience my daily life here in Korea and I'm loving the opportunity to play tour guide and do some sightseeing that I haven't had a chance to do since I arrived here a year ago!  Bring on the good times!