One thing about being here is that it always feels like a time of transition. This time, though, I might be justified in thinking that. On Tuesday, Justin will be leaving Korea for his year-long trek across Asia. It seems very strange to me that he'll be gone and I won't be able to ask him questions, talk to him about the random stuff we talk about, or have him kick my ass at Halo. I'm not taking it as hard as our neighbors since I know I'll see him in the Northwest but I'm still going to miss him. For one thing, this means I can't share the coffee expense with anyone.

I also have to say I'm incredibly grateful to Justin for the way he introduced Seoul and Korea to me. I've recently met some people who've been in Korea for years and they were woefully ignorant about the culture, food, and people. They had no idea about things I've taken for granted, like dongdongju and pajon. Thanks to Justin, I was thrown head-first into life here and never went through an "I don't eat Korean food" phase. I learned the Korean alphabet so quickly because I thought that was expected of me. I shudder to think what my life here would have been like had I not known the joy of dongdongju. This weekend will be the last hurrah for Justin. A few of us are going to the beach on the west coast of Korea. Should be good drunken fun!


The other big change is that I've started my new job. Instead of teaching at an academy, I'm now teaching at a bunch of different places, all of which is arranged by my agency. So far, I've taught businessmen at Samsung and Posco, a major Korean steel company. It's been great, I only taught about 4 hours this week but next week, I'm subbing for a kindergarten and starting another business class, so I'll be very busy. I like it so far, very nice not to be on CCTV all the time! I also like how I'm moving through the city all day, I'm getting to see parts of Seoul I didn't know about.