Another update

Well, the last couple weeks have been pretty uneventful. Work, work, study a little bit of Korean, work, and more work is all I have been doing. I am still teaching on Saturdays which isn't too fun. I am hoping that I won't have to teach Saturdays in July because that is the start of summer break and there will be more students during the regular workweek. My classes are still a challenge because I am constantly needing new material unlike most other teachers who can use most of the same material month after month.

For socializing, I went to an adoptee organization picnic. It was a long ways away from where I live, but it was at a campground near the Han River, which runs throught the middle of Seoul. I managed to meet quite a few different adoptees and some of the people who work or volunteer for the organization (G.O.A.L.).

Also, I found out that I received a scholarship to attend Ewha's Women's University Language Program (yes, the program is co-ed). For ten weeks starting at the end of June, I will be taking Korean classes for free, which will be nice because currently, I am spending about $350/month for Korean lessons. There is a trade-off for the free lessons. I will have to commute about one hour each way to get to Ewha and the classes are only three days a week. Limited days might be good because I have reached a point where language acquisition is difficult and not a novelty.

Last week, I have been given a couple more hours of work at Pagoda. I am finding out how good my English proofreading and writing skills are. I spend a couple hours a day in the R&D office helping with developing TOEFL material that can be used for Pagoda written textbooks to be used in the classroom. The work is different and challenging. It will definitely help increase my pay this month since I am only working about 25 paid hours a week. Normally, I have closer to 30 paid hours and too many hours of preparation that don't get paid, but that is the life of a teacher.