August 20th marked one year in Korea for me. That is 365 days of looking around and saying " shit I can't believe I live in Korea." 365 days of asking myself why my Korean isn't better. 365 of K-Pop which is enough to drive anyone mental. It is also 365 days of thinking I made the right decision coming here even if it has it's ups and downs. It is 365 days of not doubting my career choices or my future as an educator and 365 days of knowing pretty amazing expats who have made this experience so memorable. I really wonder what this next 365 days will have in store. I decided to make a list of reasons I love my job!!
1) My kids call me Maggie Moo and we have a pretty awesome relationship. Despite their occasional craziness, I really do love my job and consider myself to be incredibly lucky!
2) I have my own classroom and blast Reggae at all times of the day without interference
My latest obsession...
3) The staff are pretty awesome.The teacher's bring me random Korean gifts, are super inclusive and really help me with my language skills.
4) I am constantly amazed by the students I work with and the profound things they have to say and do. It's easy to forget that your students are people with opinions and feeling,s when you spend so much time teaching and disciplining them on occasion. They remind me of how complex/confused/angsty I was when I was their age!
sometimes they also remind me that they are still immature kids...tried really hard not to laugh at this one
5)My rent is paid for me monthly. It takes a lot of stress out of "being an adult" for the first time, when you only have to worry about gas/maintenance fees. This means there is a ton of potential to save money in Korea, I on the other hand, like to spend it quickly booking trips to as many places as possible!
6) My school lunches are F&%*@#* awesome...even if eating Kimchi Spaghetti with chopsticks is SUPER difficult!
 |
| Kimchi Spaghetti, Bulgogi Burger, Dill Pickes, Sweet Apple & Yogurt, Kimchi and Rice Soup |
7) My school encourages me to teach my students about myself, my culture and my hobbies. For as much as people say Korea isn't very open minded, my school is rather progressive. They asked me to explain the cultural significance of my tattoos to my kids, as well as discussing my back ground growing up biracial and sharing my love of sports.
8) Vacation time. When I first heard that I only had 21 days of vacation I kept thinking, what, that's all? But I soon realized when it was combined with national holidays I really had a ton more vacation time than I thought. I played my cards right and basically had all of February off and still had 7 days left over. During my first contract I managed to travel to: The Philippines, Macau, Hong Kong (3 times),Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and numerous places around Korea.
Even when I'm having a horrible day, I take all of these things into account and I realize just how blessed I am!
