Don't think twice, it's alright

Holy hell it got cold all of a sudden. Realistically it's not actually that cold, only about -10C (for my non-Canadian readers this is basically beach weather) but it's been comparatively warm lately so it feels a dozen times worse than it is in reality. The other day I stepped out of our building to get some lunch in between classes and forgot to grab my jacket. One of the women who works at a cellphone retailer on the first floor started yelling things at me and pointing to my bare arms. I don't know much Korean but I can recognize "Put a jacket on you stupid son of a bitch!" in basically every language.

January is well on its way at this point and my second semester as a teacher is nearing its end. Next week is level-up testing for my students which basically means I get to sit around while they do work, which is virtually no different from what I currently do (Just kidding, current and future employers, I'm a very hard worker, no need to check that CCTV footage like you're absolutely going to). After that it's only a few more weeks until the semester ends and I get a whole new group of students.

And, as it should turn out this time, a few new teachers to our school as well!

I'm not sure why I feel so anxious about this. It's pretty typical of life as a foreign teacher; you come in on a set contract at, most likely, a different time than most of your co-workers. Contracts end regularly every three months or so, and if you stay here long enough you'll eventually watch the entire staff change from what it used to be to something completely different. So I guess that's part of it, really. It's not just that I've grown comfortable with the people I currently work with, but they've become very good friends and I'm going to hate to see them move on. 

The other part is that, now that I'm one of the more experienced people at this school, I suppose I'll have to actually show people around a bit if they've never been here before. Which they haven't. No one's been to Pyeongtaek, not even people who actually live there. The thought of that is strange as well; even as I approach the six month mark, I still feel kind of new. I'm still discovering things and learning stuff, which I guess is pretty normal for living in a foreign country even after a few years.

On the other hand, I have settled into a pretty regular routine, and I feel like I could probably be fairly helpful if I actually tried. It's hard to explain really but I probably know a lot more than I know that I know. Holy crap does that sentence ever not make sense. To put it another way, I lived in Kingston for a few years and when I actively thought about it there wasn't a whole lot I could say, but when I actually started to describe it to someone else I kind of realized that the knowledge is actually there. It's just buried somewhere in the mess of other nonsense that is my brain.

So overall I think I'm excited! Maybe a little nervous but excited nonetheless. We'll see how it goes.

Today's title:

Next year

I think I was originally planning on doing this on New Year's Day, but the thing is we partied pretty hard and I'm only just now waking up again. So before I stumble over to the toilet and vomit out my central nervous system, let's talk about the holidays!

They sucked!

Actually I had an amazing time the past couple weeks. Christmas Day we got out from work early and went up to Songtan for dinner and drinks. On a whim we decided to check out a little Irish pub off the main street and ended up having a great time there. I even helped the  bartender change a keg half way through the night because I apparently have an infinite capacity to consume beer. I also discovered this bar has an honour wall that you can get your name on if you drink more than 100 pints so now I know what I'm going to be working on for the next few months.

I managed to have a glass of scotch in hand when the ball dropped on New Year's eve so already 2016 is off to a good start. I also have a few resolutions I'd like to work on, so I'm gonna list them here. If my hopes and aspirations for the future are of little interest to you (they are) you can just skip ahead.

1. Maintain weight loss - The food here is too god damn good and the beer is too cheap and easy to get. It's not fair. As a result my weight has gone up a little bit. Not a terrifying amount, but I would like to lose 10-15 pounds and then maintain for a while. My work isn't as physically demanding as it used to be (I used to work in a warehouse which involved a lot of lifting and walking and trying desperately not to choke someone) so I need to adjust my workout a bit. Shouldn't be too difficult - I'm still ahead of where I was in January 2015, which is a start.
2. Travel more - Future Justin, if you're re-reading this entry in like six months and you still have places to travel that you haven't been to yet I will punch your face. This winter has been bizarre, which is making it hard to schedule things. It's been warm enough that getting around generally isn't much of an issue, but I don't want to travel way out in the country and get caught in the freezing weather which is evidently weeks overdue. Still, I'm compiling a list and making plans. I think I've settled on Thailand for my vacation next semester. You read it here first, kids!
3. Learn Korean - I've been looking into some local language tutors but am having trouble working that into my schedule. Basically though I would like to learn more of the language, either through a tutor or Rosetta Stone or something. I've picked up the alphabet, can read at a preposterously slow speed and understand bits and pieces but I definitely want to learn some conversational basics at the very least.
4. Stop doing that weird thing I haven't told anyone about - Seriously, that's enough.

All in all it was a pretty enjoyable holiday season, if it can even be called that since I worked exactly the same hours as every other week of the past four months. Damn we work a lot. Considering this is the first time I've spent the holidays away from family though, it actually went pretty well. There were some melancholy moments here and there, but not nearly so many as I expected. The best part is I was lucky enough to be with an awesome group of people who were all in the same boat as myself, and I think we managed to make it fun. Or at the very least I had fun. Literally gallons of fun.

Today's title: