Always keep your options open

One thing I'm quickly learning (and shocked I haven't learned until now) is always keep your options open for as long as you can. You focus on one thing and close the door on other things and you may not get a second chance. Do not close the other doors until you are absolutely sure you have whatever it is you want.

I work 4 hours a day

I can't help but marvel at the number of hours I work. I teach 4 classes a day, thats it. They are 40 minutes each, so technically I work less than 4 hours a day but add a little prep time and it evens out. I used to work 6 hrs a day but we got a new teacher. His name is Anthony, and so far he seems very normal. It might have to do with the fact that he is in his 40s or 50s. Apparently he also has a Ph.D. in something, but I haven't asked what his doctorate is in yet.

He moved into the officetel next to mine and a couple of weeks ago he knocked on my door with a picture of a Korean woman in hand. He asked if I thought the woman was pretty, and she was. Curious I asked him why are you asking (with thoughts of maybe he isn't so normal after all dancing in my head), oh because my Korean girlfriend is looking for someone to introduce her to and she picked you. I declined because I was seeing Sun at the time. This past Saturday Sun and I had a conversation, at the end of which we agreed to remain friends but go no further. So, with that confusion cleared up I asked Anthony to introduce me to his girlfriend's friend. There is no set date but the next opportunity he gets I will meet her.

It seems everyone has a girl they want me to meet.

Pictures and things

This past Saturday I went to Seoul with my friend Sun (nickname of the girl I'm interested in) to dance at a Salsa bar. Dancing is something I've always wanted to try but never had the courage to do. I'm glad she invited me so I can actually learn how to dance. Right now I'm learning Salsa dance. Sun's favorite type of dance is Jazz, and she is really good too. I met her brother and two of her friends. They don't speak English well but we still managed to communicate. Sun is starting to encourage me to study Korean more and more these days. I promised her I would start studying 1 hour every day.

I keep telling myself that I'm not one of those gifted people who can pickup languages easily. But I've been thinking about that all day today. What it really comes down to is desire. I remember in high school I didn't do very well at all. I hated high school and never put any effort into it. When I started going to college I was always wondering if I was as smart as everyone else, after all I did terrible in high school. I used those thoughts as motivation to study and learn as much as I could. It worked and I ended up leaving community college with honors, and almost graduating with honors for my bachelor's degree. The reason my GPA slipped wasn't because the material was more difficult, I had just lost my desire. By then I knew I was just as smart as anyone else and the desire to prove it to myself went away. Well I think I might be in the same situation now with the Korean language. All I need is the motivation to study hard and I know I can master the language. The good news is that I now have that motivation, my friend Sun.

Here are some winter pictures from the area I live in taken last month.

Lazy

Considering I'm too lazy...I mean busy to update my blog, go read this one instead.

Caught and confronted...

During my last class on Friday the students were busy working on a short speech I asked them to prepare. All of a sudden one of my middle school students asks me if I know Randy teacher. No, I told him. He left before I came here. Another student asked me if I knew Tim teacher. Nope he left before I got here too. From behind me I hear one of my middle school girls ask, Kevin teacher do you know (name of female teacher I'm dating)? I turn around quickly and search for something to say...Why, I asked. Because I saw you two eating lunch together last week, was it a date? No I told her. Then why wasn't S. teacher with you (Canadian teacher)? I don't answer the second question and walk back to the podium to pretend I'm busy. I look up from the podium and notice all the students are staring at me. Your face is red a student says. I quickly blurt out that she just wants to practice her English. Lies, another middle school girl shoots back. Go back to work I tell my students. I look back at my book on the podium and hear another voice softly say "but (blank) teacher is ugly."

Sigh.