Tuesday, July 27, 2010

One more month to go!

I've been so busy with classes - reports, testing, the start of intensives - and travel planning the last few weeks that I've neglected the updates, even though quite a bit has been going on.

Two weekends my friend in Seoul (the one I lived with in Argentina) came to Chuncheon for her last visit. It was really rainy, so we spent Saturday at two of the biggest museums in the city - the National Museum and the Museum of Animation. I wasn't expecting much, since Chuncheon isn't Seoul, but it was all pretty interesting.




Rainy day view from the Animation Museum

That Sunday, we went to what is considered by most people to be the "prettiest place in Chuncheon" - Nami Island. Though it takes a train out of town, followed by a taxi and a ferry boat, Nami is pretty. It's kind of like a folk village, with less "folk" and more nature. It was the setting for the one television drama that Chuncheon is known for, Winter Sonata.






Last weekend, the first of the Chuncheon goodbyes began. Chuncheon sees the biggest turnover of teachers in August, so when I arrived a lot of other people were also in the process of doing the same thing. It was really nice because we were all starting something strange together, but now it means that this month will be full of going-away parties.

In a few hours I'm off to China. The trip is very loosely planned, so we're hoping for a bit of luck. We plan on spending a few days in Beijing and two in Xi'an (where the terra cotta soldiers and a panda rescue are). I probably won't be able to access email most of the time, so it's a bit scary, but I'm really looking forward to the trip.

Friday, July 9, 2010

So far, July has been filled with preparations.

The most pressing upcoming event is my summer break in Beijing. There is a definite plan, but we encountered our first roadblock when we found out that the visa application for China had changed. For two days there was panic as we tried to sort out a way to get around the new rules. As it stands, we think it's taken care of, even if it's not the most honest thing I've ever done.

There's also the issue of the final day of work. We still don't know when the last day of work is, so we haven't been able to make any plans for the Southeast Asia trip (which is, in itself another huge obstacle to work through).

I've spent most of the last month consumed with the World Cup. For a while it was fun because all of the kids were so excited about it, but since Korea was eliminated the WC is no longer spoken of. I'm excited because Spain is still in. Spain is the only reason I care about soccer, since it was forced on me while I lived there. This weekend will be very exciting, though I will not miss going to bed at 5:30 in the morning when the games end!

Only about a month and a half left!