^_^

So I haven't posted since Jessica and Rachel left, but not much has happened.
I'm feeling better these days. I'm less stressed out, really excited about what the future will hold, still lonely but I have great friends here who keep me busy and keep my mind off it.
I've registered to start an online course to get my TEFL certification. Hopefully, this will help me to get a job somewhere else in the world. Although, Korea pays the best. Since teaching isn't really what I want to do - it's more a way of making money, traveling, and having some adventure in my life - money is a big factor when choosing a job.
I want to go back to OSU next year, Winter quarter and maybe Spring, to finish up my Ancient History degree. After that I think I'd like to get another teaching gig somewhere. Maybe back here, maybe Taiwan or Japan. I'm not really sure.
I've also been reading a lot. This week I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time". The Five People You Meet in Heaven was really interesting. I don't really believe there is a god or that things happen for a reason, but I do know that all people's lives intersect in some way. You don't always realize how you affect other peoples lives, even with the smallest interactions or a decision you make that in turn affects other people. The Curious Incident... was really good as well. It is written from the perspective of an autistic boy. It's really neat to see how the world is seen from a different perspective, how the things we say everyday can be confusing or misunderstood by others. I find language to be a really interesting thing. Not only between people of different cultures and languages, but even how we say things to each other when speaking the same language. I'm always interested in how phrases like "the apple of my eye" and such come to mean what they mean. I'm not going to ramble too much about that, it's just something the book made me think about.
Next on my reading list: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, and I'm going to re-read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
I've also decided to start Kite Boarding. I'm really excited! I'm hoping to be able to start lessons next weekend!
Not too much else. Today I went downtown with Harry, who is a new foreign teacher in Gyeongju. I bought myself a pencil case. (the pencil cases here are really cool- I love korean stationary!)It's a small box and the lid closes over the side magnetically. It also says "feel affection for successfully become popular" and "Today, because of you what I learned from you every choice I made was different and my life has completely changed". I love the English sayings on things in Korea. Yesterday, one of my students gave me a Teacher's Day card, in which she wrote "선생님 사랑해요." I had to ruin it by reading the small print on the back of the card-which as printed by the card company read: "Loving you is more than just a dream come true. Making love with you is all I want to do." I've also bought a sweatshirt here that says "this is prolly my awesomes shirt". Yes, it is awesomes. hehe^_^
Anyway, enough rambling. Sorry for the messy, random post. Tonight I'm hosting a little dinner party and I need to get the apartment ready!