Summer Begins

Well its been a busy month since I got back from Hawaii. Work as been INSANE recently. I'm starting to envy those times when Brit and I would be bored out of our minds trying to find something to do. Since we started franchising, we have to get everything ready for the new locations, which means finalizing lesson plans, going over material lists, and hiring new instructors. We had a visit from Michael (Romp n' Roll's CEO) a few weeks ago and since then things have been non-stop.

With all the craziness of work, I have really been trying to enjoy my weekends as much as possible. Originally, Brit and I were switching schedules for the summer (so that I would work Tues-Sat). However, since we aren't running any Saturday classes, my boss decided (after much not-so subtle prompting) to keep both of us at Mon-Fri. Therefore, I get to do so many exciting festivals and weekend trips.

A few weekends ago we all headed out to Korea's Ultra Music Festival. Ultra started in Miami and has now spread to a couple other countries. This was the second year they had the event in Seoul and it was SO much fun. There were three stages, each with about 8 DJ's each day. The place was completely packed (we nearly got trampled at one point and so decided that maybe being 3 feet from the stage wasn't where we wanted to be) and I had an amazing time. I definitely can't wait for next year!

Stage at Ultra

Jac and I during Armin Van Buuren

Day Glow All Day

Other summer adventures so far have included: beach trips, park picnics, small hikes in sweltering humidity, exploring Seoul's French Quarter, and much more. So far so good! Coming up: another music festival, Mud Fest (pretty self explanatory), bungee jumping, sky diving, fly boarding, and possibly a trip to Beijing/Taipei. I have to say, I really love my life.

Hamilton Hotel Pool Party on a Sunny Sunday

Yoga on Achasan

Speaking of loving Korea, the past few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for me. I had been become a bit fed up with always standing out and being different here. I was over having old men stare at me, having old women touch my hair, and constantly being referred to as a waygook (foreigner) by everyone, even people who know my name. I missed being in the melting pot that is America, where people don't stare at you for looking different. Then I found an article about Native English Teachers (NETs) from a Korean perspective that was fairly negative (I mean, really, how can you say precision in pronunciation is not important when if I say ONE letter wrong in Korean the entire sentence is incomprehensible?). So I was frustrated.

Then we had a huge, province-wide mandatory seminar for all foreign teachers. With a thousand foreigners gathered at City Hall, I became immensely aware of my privilege in the world. Because of essentially random luck (my skin color, my nationality, my education), I've been given amazing opportunities. Therefore, when some of the other foreign teachers started acting in a completely ridiculous and disrespectful manner towards our hosts, I was both astonished and ashamed. Until that point, nearly every foreign teacher I've met in Korea has been wonderful. While we all complain every now and then about our jobs (who really wants to go to a seminar at 9 AM on a Saturday), most teacher's I've encountered truly care about their job and their students, regardless of what their long term career goals. However, if what most of Korea is seeing are simply the "ugly foreigners" I saw at the seminar, I can understand why they would resent us.

To end on a positive note, Brit and I were just told that we will get another week off at the end of July! Last minute vacation research was done and I am going to..... Hong Kong and Taipei! I'm so excited to explore these cities and am super lucky I get so much vacation time at my job!