Starting off the Lunar.

So, this last week has been fairly uneventful; other than the ending of our Winter semester. The new semester starts Tuesday- with a new schedule, new students and new grade levels. The entire structure of Avalon's (my school) curriculum is changing, so it's time to adjust. Before, we were given almost all of our materials- books, activities, tests and quizzes. Now, we are only provided with books. So, now, much more prep and thought is needed to be put into the classes. Which, I quite enjoy. I know I will be spending more time worrying about class, but it will also make my life a little more interesting- at least while I'm at work. I have much more freedom and room to work. I'm really excited. Also, I'm teaching higher levels this semester. Before, I was teaching fairly low level classes and the material I was teaching was boring for me. Now that I get to teach higher levels, the material will become a bit more interesting for me. Also, I have been given the opportunity to teach a Middle School preparation class. I'm very happy about this. I want to teach Middle School in the states, eventually, and with this, I will be able to catch a small glimpse of Middle School curriculum.

Friday night was a blast- since the semester is over, and a couple of our workers are leaving (one is getting married in May and the other is moving to Canada for an English internship) so we were all treated to a lovely dinner at a Korean BBQ joint. I could eat this stuff everyday. It is called Sum Gyup Sal- or BBQ pork. Super delicious and generally inexpensive. Although, it didn't matter because Avalon was paying for it. I had such a great time eating good food, drinking some soju and being able to converse with my Korean co-workers outside of work. They are all incredible, fun, and great people. I think we had four hundred photo-ops. And, of course, I forgot my camera... but stole some pictures for those that took some. Dinner was fantastic and afterwards we headed to Kyungsun University to meet up with other friends. We even convinced two of our Korean co-workers to join!

Yesterday, Sunday the 28th was the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. And on Haeundae Beach, there is a large ceremony dedicated to this day. People in masses gather to write their dream on a paper house and add it to the large fire. Unfortunately, my friends and I missed the initial ceremony, so we weren't able to burn our dreams. But we caught the burning of others' dreams. The fire was massive. I have never seen a fire so large. It was amazing; positioned in the middle of the large beach... looking over the water and under a full moon. It was awesome, and we all really enjoyed it. Also, a new friend- Jahanne brought sparklers. So, we stood in a circle and lit up our little fireworks and pretended to be 8 again. It was fun.

Cheers till next time!