Look who it is.
Gabby has decided to bashfully poke her head out from hermit-dom. Is anyone still here to read this?
I'm sorry everyone.
I have spectacularly failed my new years resolution to write two or more blog posts a month.
I really can't blame anything other than my laziness, but to make it seem like I have an adequate excuse, let me tell you on what I've done the past two months. :)
The new school year started with some big changes like I mentioned in one of my last posts. That was stressful and gave me more worries than I should have had. And only a few weeks in (into the new semester) we had our Fulbright spring conference in Jeju-do and the weekend after that I took a Korean proficienty test (TOPIK) so I actually was pretty busy prepping for that conference and studying Korean every second possible.
Once that was over (around mid-April) I wanted to explore more on the weekends and started visiting other teachers' placements in Korea on the weekend (since I was free from locking myself in to study). But it's not like I traveled every weekend...
But the time to run away from writing is over! I will force myself to finish all my barely written posts about winter break~ Thus showering you dear readers with blog posts!
Well... y'know.. maybe
(if I just trap myself and poop it out)
And when I've caught up, then I can write more about current events (like this week in Hwacheon we've hit 90 degrees!)
For now I just want to give you a very important update. Around this time last year I wrote a post telling you all about my decision to renew and stay in Hwacheon another year.
....
Well this time my announcement is:
I'M GOING HOME!
(just in time for Trump's big election! America, what have we done??)
I'll be back in Oregon around the beginning of September. My contract officially ends in the end of July but I will stay to travel around a bit before crossing the big blue Pacific and making my grand return with suitcases of stuff. Ame---rica~ Ame----rica~
I'm really excited to go home. I went home for about two weeks for the holidays this past winter and I felt like I had been away for too long. Honestly, I'm really proud of my home state, Oregon, and tend to talk it up whereever I go... but maybe I wasn't in the right to. Following my loftly acclaims, some college friends/travel acquaintences have travelled to Portland and asked for my advice... and (besides Powells) all my recommendations were fit for kids (cough OMSI cough). Because I've never really been an adult in Oregon. I don't know what hiking trails or bars to recommend. As someone who still doesn't possess a drivers license, I don't have transportation advice beyond the MAX.
This isn't for forever of course. I still want to travel around the world and very well may spend my future bouncing around abroad, but to be a better cultural ambassador and properly brag about my beautiful home state, I think I should spend some more time there (plus I miss seeing friends and family beyond facebook).
Don't ask me what I'm going to do. I have some jobs I'm interested in... and possible graduate study tracks, but for now I just want to think about my kiddos here and live out my final days in Hwacheon to the best I can.
That's all for now! Short and simple, I'm not renewing my contract. I still love my students and Korea, but I think we could both use some distance to grow and appreciate each other more ;)
Have a great weekend everyone!
주말 잘 보내세용~
GABBY THE OREGONIAN
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