A Week in the Life

I’m coming up on 9 months here, and to celebrate I thought I’d write down what my weekly routine over here has developed into.  Probably not that exciting to read, but it’s always nice to take a moment and reflect on everything going on in one’s life.  I’ve really come to appreciate the lifestyle I have over here, and I guess I hope that by posting this I’ll always be able to come back and remember the day-to-day life I created for myself halfway around the world.

Let’s begin with Monday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

This semester I only have 4 classes on Monday’s, although they are all 2^nd grade middle schoolers, which means sometimes they can be a bit of a struggle.  2 classes before lunch, 2 after lunch.  When I’m not teaching on Monday’s I’ll usually spend time at my desk studying Korean if I’m productive, or trying my best to look busy while exploring the infinite rabbit holes of the internet…lately it’s been more of the latter.

After work on Monday I’ll come home around 4:40 and take a nap until 5:10 (I know, how lucky am I to be able to schedule naps into my day?!).  For a while I was volunteering at a local English-speaking theatre program for kids from 6:00 to 7:00, but that ended recently so now Monday evenings are usually my gaming nights at the PC room.  In bed by 11:00 (hopefully).

And on to Tuesday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Again 4 classes on Tuesday.  Two 1^st grade and two 2^nd grade.  Three in the morning and one in the afternoon.  If there’s lesson planning to do, I’ll start it on Tuesday when I’m not teaching, otherwise it’s pretty much the same as Monday.

Tuesdays after work are a little busy, but I’m still able to get my daily after-school nap in!  From 6:00 to 7:00 I volunteer at the local English-speaking theatre and then from 8:00 to 10:00 I go to a language exchange for some Korean speaking practice.  In bed by 11:00 (hopefully)

And Wednesday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Wednesday is truly hump day this semester.  I have 6 classes, all three grades, three in the morning and three in the afternoon.  I don’t have much down time on Wednesday’s, so any time I do spend at my desk is usually spent trying to figure out the most inconspicuous way to nap while sitting up.

During the summer after work I’d usually go downtown to the city park for skate night with the Ulsan longboarding crew, but it’s been a bit too cold for that lately.  These days I usually just chill at home and study or read.  In bed by 11:00 (hopefully)

And Thursday…

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Another four-class day.  3 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, all grades.  I’ll usually finish up whatever lesson planning there is during my downtime on this day (if there is any) and then study Korean/browse the web.

Thursday after school is definitely one of my favorite times of the week.  First, I head down to city hall for a Korean language class from 6:00 to 7:00 and then head out to Ulsan university around 8:00 for TTT!  TTT is Thursday, Throwing, Trivia.  This is where a few of us get together and practice Frisbee throwing for a while, and then head to a convenience store/bar (it’s exactly what it sounds like) for drinks and phone trivia games.  This little Thursday ritual is probably one of the things I’ve come to love most about my time here.

And FFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRIIIIIIIDDDDDDAAAAAAYYYYYYY

7:00 A.M wake up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get ready for work, walk out the door at 8:00. 

Fridays are my favorite days for teaching. Four classes again, two in the morning, two in the afternoon, but they’re all 3^rd grade students!  I really enjoy teaching the 3^rd graders at my school because, despite all the constant studying and tests they have, they still show up to my class excited and well-behaved – much more than I can say for myself at that age.  I’m very grateful for this.  It’s pretty hard to do much of anything productive at my desk on Friday’s, but I have been practicing a Latin dance routine in the afternoons with the other 3^rd grade teachers for a performance we’ll be doing at the end of the semester… that should be interesting!

Friday after school varies.  During the Frisbee season, I try to stay in since Saturday and Sunday tend to be filled with lots of partying and running around.  Otherwise I might go into town for some drinks with friends.

Saturday is always different, but generally consists of either Frisbee tournaments or hiking…and sometimes beer and soju.

Sunday is well, Sunday – usually a day of chilling at home.  If I’m feeling motivated I’ll do another Korean lesson, otherwise I miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight be nursing a wee-bit of a hangover.  Oh yeah, there’s also trivia night every other Sunday, which is always a nice way to cap off the weekend.

So… yeah, that’s it.  Again, not that exciting, but I’ve really come to enjoy what I’m doing here.  I have copious amounts of free time to focus on things that I want to do over here, and I really appreciate that. 

If you made it this far, congrats and thanks for reading!  I wish I could give you a cookie or something…

Much love,

Gnardaddy 

A Life Lived in Transition

I suppose you could say that I first moved out of my parents’ house the day after I graduated high school.  Of course, I’ve had many stints of living with my parents off and on since then, but   that was really the first time I began to inch my way out into what we call The Real World.  I moved out that summer to go work at my life-long favorite summer camp, SpringHill.  I remember being incredibly excited on the drive up there because one of my dreams was finally being fulfilled.  And then, on one of those first nights up there, I sobbed and called my parents.  At the time, I was confused because there I was, doing what I had wanted to do since I was 10 years old, feeling overwhelmingly sad.  Looking back now, I know I cried because I wouldn’t ever live at home the same way I did before.  Home would always be a place I could come back to, but never a place where I would permanently reside.  The weight of that realization sort of broke me that night.

True enough, I haven’t ever really lived at one location for more than a year since then.  Sure, college was in the same city, but each year was with new roommates in a new location.  Add that to studying abroad and lots of random summer jobs and I’m now on my 11^th residence since graduating high school

I’ve come to love all these new locations and new experiences that come with them.  Every residence always has a unique set of memories and people attached to them.  There was the summer with the Zoo Crew at HillCrest, where we screamed Frank Turner and played Smash Bros every night.  Or there was the year in Germany, with (more) screaming of Hallelujah and drinking whiskey in Dana’s apartment.  And now there’s Korea (sadly not as much screaming) where I get to spend my time playing frisbee or gaming at the PC Bang with friends.  It’s a fantastic time!

...for now…

The bittersweet thing about these experiences are their transitory nature.  With each new residence come new, often intense relationships.  I get to know people so incredibly well for a period of time, only to rarely (if ever) see them again.  It’s great and it sucks, all at the same time.  Sometimes I feel as if nothing in my life is constant (apart from friends and family back in Michigan).   

Indeed, it is a life lived in transition.

And yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Creation vs Consumption

Greetings Folks!  It’s been awhile, but don’t worry things are still going swimmingly over here.

Something that’s been on my mind a lot lately is how I’m choosing to spend my time during this period of my life.  Coming to Korea has distanced me far enough from most of my daily concerns back in the States.  It has also given me plenty of solitude to reflect on my life and the direction I want it to go in, something I am quite grateful for.

Specifically, I’ve realized just how lucky I am right now in terms of my obligations.  Apart from showing up to work and doing my job for 8 hours each day, I have no obligations.  No kids, no homework, no nothing!  This obviously isn’t necessary unique to English teachers in Korea, although being here seems to make me notice it more.  Nonetheless, I think it’s important to realize how much time each of us has to ourselves to truly do what we want to do.

And If step one is realizing how much free time we have in our lives right now, step two is utilizing that time.

I always try to be conscious of how much time I spend each day simply consuming things other people have created vs creating/learning things.  Mindless consumption of things certainly brings an immediate sense of enjoyment, but nothing more after that.  In contrast, I’ve found that spending my free time reading or studying Korean generally isn’t that enjoyable in the moment, but it does bring a much deeper sense of fulfillment in my life.

I often wonder what it would look like if I represented a typical day of mine with a pie chart.  How much of that pie would be consumption vs creation?  I always hope I create more than I consume, but I’m not sure how often that’s the case.