May

Ok, well here we are. I'm just settling in to the groove in my new job with a medical supply company. I work 8-4 Monday to Friday, I like what I do, and it keeps me busy. Speaking of busy, Andy and I have a lot of summer things planned! I just had my birthday, then next weekend will be Mother's Day so I'm traveling up to Bemidji to see Lois, then the 19th I'm going to WI to spend some lovely time with my mom's side of the family, for my aunt Jan and uncle Lou's 50th wedding anniversary & family reunion.  The very next weekend is Memorial Day, bringing 4 days of camping at our friend's farm, then Andy and I are going to be made up as zombies for the Run for Your Lives. This will be one epic weekend. On top of a couple others. Wow.

This is all in lead up to a training ride and the 4-day, heart-string-tugging Red Ribbon Ride. This will be July 19-22 this summer, and this year I've got a partner. Andy and I are going to be doing this Ride together. This is a big year for me because of this, and also because it is the first year I've been back in the US for the Ride since 2006. This year is the 10th anniversary ride and I feel it's going to be a very powerful time. Andy and I are on the Crew, hoping for First Aid but willing to do anything, anything to help.

I would like to have you look at my personal page for fundraising, if you're willing to do anything to help. $5? Anything. I'm raising money to support all the amazing volunteer efforts of those who are willing to give their time and manpower all throughout the year, and most of all to support those Minnesotans suffering from HIV and AIDS who need our help.

My Dream US Road Trip

So. As you can guess, I'm feeling some severe wanderlust. I have been settled in Minneapolis now for almost 4 months, have had an apartment for 3, a job for 1, and haven't been on a plane or train in far too long! In Korea, I'd be traveling to a new city at least every month, especially in beautiful spring.

The product of my homesickness for travel is this insane plan for a huge road trip around the Southern US. There are a lot of places I've been in this country, from Boston to Seattle, San Diego to Big Sky... but a vast area south of the Ozarks remains to be discovered. Also, I have friends moving back from Korea in droves to places like Auburn, Lubbock, and Lincoln and I'd love the chance to see them again.

The drive itself, without stops, would take nearly 3 days. Of course I'd need to stop to sleep, eat, sightsee and visit, so I'm looking at... 3 weeks?? Well, yeah, right. Like I could take that kind of time off work. But a girl can dream :)



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Over The Ocean. Again.

A short update is better than no update. This has to be my new mantra, so you can feel like there might be something to see here next time you come by. It's my New Year's Resolution, if you'll stick with me :)

So, in my last post, I summarized 95% of my trip back to the US and I had just returned to Korea, enrolled in an intensive Korean language course, and planned to live in a glorified closet for $200/month. Most of you know how well that went, or didn't.

I was drowning in the classes, and I was only in level 2!! What was I going to do? I had the option of dropping to level 1, but I knew the material from the first few weeks of that level: phonics and the alphabet; simple present, past, and (a little) future tense grammar; basic everyday vocabulary... what a waste of my time and money that would have been. But level 2 had started with conditional past and future tense - might have been/might be/might try to be - and that was all just the first 2 days! (@.@) The instructor could tell I was way behind, so she'd not ask me to give examples or present my work until last, if at all, so I rarely got to practice.

So my second option would be try not to feel completely worthless in the 5 hour/day classes, work twice as hard/long on my homework, seek out a tutor (not free), along with teaching English privately to support myself. There just weren't enough hours in the day for this kind of work. The classes are intensive and fast-paced, even for those who come from level 1, i.e. are in the appropriate level course.

This leads me to my third option. I came to this conclusion while talking with 2 Japanese girls in my class who have Korean boyfriends and so want to make a life in Korea. I had thought that life was what I wanted, and eventually maybe I could open a restaurant and put my language skills to work... but... the more I talked with these girls, the more I realized I did not want to conduct my entire life in a foreign language. I had washed out.

I was told weeks earlier by many people that it was FAR different to study and live in Korea than it was to be an English teacher there, and I had waved them off. I mean, I had been living there for 5 years! I thought I knew what it might be like. But, I didn't. They were right. So, I quickly had a decision to make. The sooner I quit my class, the greater percentage of my tuition fee I could recoup, and I needed that money if I was to follow my third plan. I went to the office, filed my paperwork for withdrawal, and turned that money around into a plane ticket back to Minnesota.

Wow.

So within the first week, I had decided I couldn't make it. (Well, I'd been back for over 3 weeks, but hadn't been in the course long at all!) I was back in Minnesota by Christmas.