Passing Time


Well, it has been a while, has it not?

We quickly approaching the five month mark which seems ridiculous in two very different ways. On the one hand, it feels like I've been living here for such a long time. On the other, it feels like I just got here and am still getting my feet wet with teaching and living on my own. The past few months have been a blur and I cannot believe how quickly Christmas is approaching! How is it the middle of December already?

Looking back on the past year (as I'm sure you are all doing as well), I cannot believe how much has changed. A year ago, I was stressing over whether or not I could actually write my Honours Thesis and if it would ever get finished. I was worried about applying to teach in South Korea and how I would ever get through the last 4 months of my degree.

Now here I am. In Korea, teaching, one major eighty-one page thesis under my belt, graduated with Honours, and still stressed about the future. How far I've come...

Truth be told, I am doing much better about leaving anxious thoughts about the future in the hands of One who knows it better than I do. But I still fret--is teaching right for me? Do I stay at this job? Do I look for a new school? Do I look for a job in an area closer to my field of research? Do I stay in Korea?

That last question's answer, I'm pretty sure at the moment, is a yes, yes I do stay here. But for the others, I am still wondering and praying and trying to listen to that still small voice. We'll see how it goes.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am still quite young, despite gaining two years when coming here (in Korean age I am 25, soon to be 26 when the New Year hits). I have time to change my mind and find different jobs. I don't have to have it all settled now. It's hard not to compare myself to high school friends and feel like I should have my life more together. After all, they do. But perhaps we all feel that way. There's always someone who is more together or has a better plan or a better career (or so it seems). I need to focus on figuring out me and who I am and then just be me with confidence.

Meanwhile, our head teacher is in the hospital for about two weeks with some kind of kidney problem and we have Winter Intensives coming up. These intensives will have us teaching from around 10am-8:30pm (with some breaks, depending on the day) for three weeks in January. I've got Christmas day and New Years day off and then my next long break is a week somewhere near the beginning of February.

To finish this off, here are some pictures from the past couple weeks. Note the progression from lovely October to the cold of December!







 경복궁(Gyeongbukgung Palace)


 This day was suuuuper cold and I was suuuper sick, but determined to go.

 한복 (Hanbok) buddies


We weren't actually allowed in. We missed the last admission by 20 minutes




The Front Gate, featuring: my face


A beautiful day in sunny  별내 (Byeollae)!

I sat in this cafe and studied Korean for an afternoon or two

The view from the cafe windows

Winter came this week--though a fair bit of the snow had melted by mid-afternoon.


Comments

  1. debDecember 24, 2018 at 5:20 AM

    Merry Christmas Hannah!
    Wishing for you a Healthy and Exciting 2019 - wherever you will be, I know you will make all the right decisions.
    Hugs,
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  2. derkDecember 31, 2018 at 10:06 AM

    Happy New Year to you from all of us here in Canada.

    ReplyDelete

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