Long awaited
Current mood: hopeful

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. This is my rainy-day attempt to catch you up on all the craziness.

Roommate issues. I have had two roommates since the day I arrived in Korea. I've adored, respected, and become fast friends with Robin since the moment we met. Unfortunately I have never really had any sort of relationship with the other roommate, who found entertainment in being an overall jerk and also being a little bit crazy. Recently, it became enough of a problem that I choose to simply avoid home until bedtime, which has become my habit and coping mechanism. After a ridiculous amount of conversation and stress with my supervisor at work, it was determined that I did, indeed, need out of my current situation. Luckily, a single apartment about the size of a walk-in closet is about to open up, and I will be moving into this tiny space just in time to not have room for a birthday party. So it goes.

6 Months in Korea. I've been spending some time reflecting on the fact that i am over halfway through with my contract. On my six month anniversary of arriving in Korea, I took my first sick day. I honestly feel that I had been so stressed that I made myself physically ill. After the requisite visit to the doctor, I spent the day sleeping, reading, and trying to make myself feel human again. Last night was the welcoming/going away party for the departing and arriving staff members. There are four teachers leaving, four have arrived. The supervisor that I've been working under since I arrived is leaving, and our new supervisor is already in place. We lost one desk teacher and another is leaving soon. With these staffing changes, and my impending move, I honestly feel as though the first half of my contract was an entirely different experience than the rest of the year will be. Time will tell. I hope it only gets better.

Robin's Birthday/BEXCO. My roommate, the one that I adore, had her birthday on the 23rd of June. We hosted a party at our apartment, then moved the party to a foreigner bar called U2. We had a great turnout and everyone was just lettin gloose, drinking, and having a great time. We were dancing for hours at U2 when Robin approached me and asked me to come with her and our friend Amy to BEXCO, where a large outdoor screen had been constructed to show the 4:00 a.m. Korea World Cup game. It was the experience of a lifetime. I was engulfed in a sea of red t-shirted people wearing lit up devil horns and carrying long, inflated red tubes for clapping. For a while, we just wandered around, taking it all in. We bought some devil horns and joined the crowd. We didn't stay for the entire game, but by the time we left BEXCO it was light outside.