#Korea Week 22 – First Week of School!

#Korea is a weekly series on my blog documenting my time leading up to and during to my year in Korea. It’s very much unedited, stream-of-conscious writing! Check out the original post for a longer explanation here

WEEK 20 +21: SEPTEMBER 3RD- – SEPTEMBER 10TH

Thinking of everyone in Irma’s path!

Howdy, friends! What a week it’s been! I have to say, it’s nice figuring out a new routine. I have a super flexible schedule right now, though apparently, I’m going to get a few new classes in October. I’m starting to figure out where everything is and getting into the swing of things.

I do enjoy teaching. I’m one of those people who enjoys English, grammar, and the breakdown of languages in general (it’s why I’m planning on getting a Masters in linguistics after all). I REALLY enjoy teaching adults so far (knock on wood in case I regret saying that in a few weeks). I didn’t realize it, but it’s so much harder teaching to unmotivated middle schoolers or rambunctious elementary schoolers than to motivated adults. Like they WANT me to break down the grammar on the board, and they HAVE the motivation to come up with their own examples. What?!

And if I do ever miss teaching cute kids, I teach after school classes four days a week, Grades 1-2 and 3-4. Still love Grades 3-4, not sure how excited I feel over first and second graders after they’ve already been in school for a full day… It’s like for 40 minutes there’s never a second of silence! God bless parents. God bless my parents, they had 3 of us in 3 years. Double God bless elementary school teachers with kids who deal with the noise all day and then go home to more noise in the afternoon…

Okay, anyway, revisiting that list I made last week. I’ve been doing more research and got some of them:

• Proper cutting knife – kind of done. I got a cutting knife but I could also probably get a better one… Also, I still need a cutting board.
• A cozy chair – Um, DONE! And I put it together myself without going nuts.
• A long table to use for eating – Still looking for one I really like.
• A shelf to hold kitchen things – Done!
• A toaster- Done! Still haven’t seen avocado :(
• A microwave – I need to check if I ordered this or not, but I got an oven similar to one my friends had in Namwon! Also got pumpkin spice from iHerb. Helloooo October bread baking. I’m already excited thinking about Christmas. My mom told me she’d send me Christmas cookies when she sends some of my spring clothes!
• Some more storage boxes + hangers – Didn’t get more boxes, but did get some hangers for my drying rack.
• PLANTS – Still need to get! I found all the plant stores though. I’m just kind of bummed my apartment gets such crap lighting in my main room. I need to make sure I get plants that don’t require a ton of sunlight.
• A table or something to write on – Done! Got a nice little one off Gmarket, and I’m typing on it now. I also had to run out and get a mouse since my trackpad is all funky lately.
• A bike – Okay, this is 100% on my to-do list this week. Please yell at me if I update you next week and I’m still taking taxis everywhere…
• The DSLR camera I want – Okay! I’ve decided I want the Canon EOS 5d Mark III and when I’m in Seoul, I’m going to poke around Yongsan for a 50mm lens. I was talking to a friend and he recommended not bothering with 50mm f 1.8 and getting the 50 mm f 1.4, so that’s my other plan. I found a few people selling their Mark IIIs on Craigslist in Seoul, so I’m going to wait and see how it all pans out. I was planning on at least getting it pre-Phillippines in January, but if I go to SFW in October, I’d ideally like it before then.
• A cat- Still planning ;). I actually did clean up all the packing trash and regular trash this week!

This weekend has been pretty relaxed. Mostly I’m trying to fix my sleeping schedule, and I actually woke up early on Sunday after going to bed super early on Saturday. I’ve also been binge-watching The Financial Diet on Youtube and I just started catching up on all of Song of Style‘s vlogs (I didn’t even know she had resurrected her channel!) while organizing my life and trying to get better at finances.

Oh and I worked out! Only for 20 minutes doing a video called the “Butt Bible”… My goal this week is to also work out at least 20 minutes a day, including running, so I can sign up for the Suncheon race this October. I’m not going to do the half marathon because lol I’m less prepared than I was for the one I did in North Carolina, but I’m going to aim to do the 10K or at the least the 5k!

Some Things I’m Loving:

• Like I said The Financial Diet has been on while I’ve been cleaning up and whatnot. I really like the two girls who do most of the videos. I know for some it might be more common sense, but I also am EXTREMELY bad with money. I actually texted my two friends all the numbers so I had people to be like Samantha, WTF, get your shit together. I’m also limiting my coffee to go, so I bought a French press at Home Plus for like $13 and already have a pot of cold brew in my fridge! I decided I’m only allowed to go to the coffee shop near my one center once a week. Otherwise, I need to go to the library or sit at the outside tables.
• Also, I’m enjoying Song of Style’s vlogs. I’ve always liked her fashion sense (and heyyy Asian female in an influential US position!), and I even like the few videos she put out ages ago. However, I sadly HATED her IG stories! I don’t know why, but I was just so IDK, disappointed (?) whenever I watched them. I don’t know how to pinpoint it, but I just didn’t dig them. Which is totally fine because I’m sure whenever I do stories, they’re not everyone’s cup of tea either (speaking of which). However, I’m LOVING her vlogs. She did a long one answering questions, and I really do find her take on things refreshing.
• I also started watching “The Good Wife” since it’s on Korean Netflix! My mom watched it and enjoyed it when it was on the air, but I don’t know, I was never compelled to join her. However, I’m loving the first few episodes so far.
• Everlane got jeans! Ahhhhh!!!! I was worried they wouldn’t have a good range of sizes, but they actually went up to a 32 (S14)! I ordered the 32 (also minor motivation for me to workout again) high waisted ankle length in dark wash, so I’m excited to see how they look and feel in person! I’m desperate for a pair of jeans I really like (also kind of need to lose my FUPA… too many sweet things and sitting -_-), and Everlane has always been a hit when it comes to classics for me.
• Okay, maybe not loving, but intrigued by intermittent fasting. I want to do more research on it, but I kind of feel like it might work for me… I’m not a big breakfast person (I LOVE breakfast food but I always kind of like it better midday or for dinner), so I’m interested to see how this works.
• Soy milk! I thought I’d try soy milk since it’s everywhere before I get almond milk, and so far I’m a fan! I had it with my coffee and didn’t taste any difference.

Okay, that’s enough for now! What’s new with you?

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