Lately...

I have had the strangest feeling, with no vivid reason here to find...
     Name that song!  In other news, I have settled into a prosaic, lifeless routine here.  Most days I wake up to a grey sky, a constant reminder that I'm not in the land of milk and honey anymore.  How I miss the fresh air and breeze of the South.  Teaching at the hagwon has gotten easy and I've since got into the swing of things.  My students' initial reception of me as a teacher was filled with a cold disinterest, but I soon turned it around and most of them are coming around just nicely :).  I ended up not being able to have a real debate class because the level of English isn't there with the kids so it's turned into a presentation/creative writing/storytelling class, which I'm perfectly fine with!  I remember back in the day in junior high when we would have creative writing/free writing sessions and I loved every bit of it.  Words would flow out like an endless stream onto the paper and I'd be completely in the zone.  This is the reason why I'm surprised to see that the kids here aren't so keen on it.  I mean, how hard is it to just write about anything?  What did you do today?  What did you have to eat and was it good?  They've been told their whole lives to study this and that so much that it's hard for them to form their own opinions and thoughts, let alone be creative.  They're all good kids and I like them all so I wish to expand their minds and help them see that there is a life beyond just tests and college.  With that said, the harsh reality these kids face is an unyielding and unforgiving admissions system to college and even work, which focuses mainly on their grades and the college that they attended.  Such a hierarchical society is not conducive for self exploration and development, and for that I truly feel for these kids.  This reminds me how lucky I was to have grown up in the states, even though I got booted later, hehe.
     A little less than 3 weeks from now I'll be in boot camps for 5 weeks.  I'm a little nervous, mostly because of my shoddy Korean and the fact that it's going to be absolutely freezing by the time we start.  I've been lucky recently since the weather broke a little, it's been around the mid 40s.  After being in low 20 to teen weather, 40 feels AMAZING.  What else...I broke my headphone jack off into my laptop so I don't have sound, but my dad bought me a USB headset, thus the problem is remedied for now.  The medicine I'm taking for my weak ass heart is making me tired.  Some days, when I wake up, I just lie there and watch tv shows or movies in bed because I simply can't move or don't want to.  It's like someone gave me a big dose of FUCK IT.  Other than that, I miss all of you dearly, and we shall be reunited soon.  Love and miss y'all.
~JK