Last weekend was the Cheusak Holiday and it was somewhat interesting. Here in Korea Cheusak seems to be the largest holiday that they have. Even larger than Christmas. A few weeks before Cheusak all the stores start putting out gift sets. These are gift sets ranging anywhere from toothpaste packages to spam packages. The spam packages were the funniest I thought. It would be a large package with maybe six cans of spam and a bottle of cooking oil, haha! The Koreans love it though! So right before the Cheusak holiday everyone goes crazy with shopping, cooking and preparing. I went into a coffee shop near my school to buy a simple cup of coffee and had to wait 20 minutes because the place was crowded with people putting in orders for Cheusak cakes. It was ridiculous. Then the last day of school before Cheusak I was called into the owner of our school's office. I thought I was in trouble because he never has anything to do with us, but then it turned out that he was giving all the teachers gifts of wine for Cheusak. I was relieved and surprised at the same time. The gift was a set of two bottles of wine and a wine opener. Despite the shadiness of the school, they at least know how to appreciate their teachers on the Cheusak holiday. :) It was nice and I was more than happy to take the wine home. The holiday lasted for three days (I hear it usually lasts for longer, but not this year because it fell on a weekend.) So I spent a wonderful weekend relaxing, drinking my wine, and hanging out with my roomates.
Roomates
Speaking of my roomates, they are awesome. Moving into this 'hole in the ground' apartment with them was the best decision that I have made since coming to Korea. My one roomate Josephine, from England, is miss social butterfly. She seems to know everyone and has been my social connection to all of my latest friends. I was really worried for a while before because I wasn't making many friends. I don't know if it was because I was living on the edge of the city and away from everything, or what, but now I am happy to say that I have more than enough friends. :) I can hardly keep track of them all. It is fun to have things to do every weekend and people to hang out with now. The only downfall is the coming and going of people. It's inevitable here in Korea since most contracts are for a year and a lot of people leave after that, but it's still difficult for me. I hate making friends just to see them leave. It's like a little heart break each time it happens. I think I will only be able to stay here for 1 more year.
Future
I have begun thinking about my future again. I love Korea, but I think that after this year I will only come back for 1 more year. The lifestyle here is just unreal and I think I don't want to make it a habit. It's like being in college again, but having money. The work is fairly easy, yet definitely draining on some days. The money is amazing. The weekends are crazy...as is the night life. It's almost too good to be true. And I meet people here in their 30's who have been doing this for 5+ years. It's a fun thing to do, but I don't think that it is really living life. In fact, I feel like it's avoiding life and the real world. I don't have any responsibilities here other than showing up for work. Besides that, everything is taken care of for me. It's too easy. I almost feel like I'm cheating in a way. I think the longer I stay here, the harder it will be for me to have a life anywhere else. So after another year, I will leave and try to adapt back to the real world of more responsibilities. :) Until then though, I'll enjoy it here to the fullest!
