Week 13, Friday

A day of accomplishments:

-As I have neither a scale nor a full length mirror, I measure my body composition change in terms of clothing looseness. Happy to report that Korean food, city living, and gym (probably least of all) have contributed to lost inches. I think.

-A 6-3 girl who is very quiet in class asked me after “teacher do you know SuperM?” At which I nearly lost it:
“Of course I know them! Who’s your favorite? Mine is Lucas. Hey where are you going—“
(She likes Baekhyun and EXO, the classics, excellent taste)

-The subject teachers had another tea time after which I ended up with pizza, chocolate truffles, croissants, and a promise of blackberry jam. They told me I don’t eat enough (ha) so every week I find myself with an assortment of snacks.

-During tea time I understood a lot of conversation and showed them videos that mom sent me of various Florida creatures setting off the motion sensor in the front yard. “What’s the word for forest?”
“숲”
“Soup? Haha.”
Wekiva State Park is apparently bigger than the district I teach in.

-Two words I picked up from Nana yesterday I suddenly heard today. Often my best Korean learning comes in the most unexpected and least classroom-like situations (I learned what is essentially present perfect tense from a tour guide outside of 경복궁 palace).

-The books I ordered with my small budget arrived and I started to read one on the train. The collection of Korean folk tales is written in Korean and English; the stories get progressively more complex but I read the first two with ease and noticed 숲. Language learning can come in waves sometimes. Suddenly the five or so words I learned this week have exited the shadows to reveal more meaning in everyday conversation.

This job is such a departure from anything I’ve done before: the planning is easy, I’m constantly surrounded by people, I never take work home. I had that realization as I locked up today: it’s a lucky spot. While I have some small goals (finish that video, hike Jirisan, maybe start a blog, invest, visit Elsa and Mark in China, establish passive income) my plan right now is just to enjoy this life.

*Future me still acknowledges these goals. They’re solid.