Word up.

Things have begun to settle down for me. Every day continues to bring something new, but I feel like my roots have begun to take hold here; it's becoming more real, less like a vacation. I know how to read a little Korean, so I can actually pronounce (or at least try to) the names of foods I'm trying to order. I have my regular food places where they recognize me now (and thankfully remember things like my not wanting ketchup and mustard on my toasted ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches -- sick). I know how to venture out more than three blocks from my apartment and not get lost. I can complete a transaction at the convenience stores without seeming like a total fool. And so on...

Teaching is still going well. After a few conversations with Mr. Han I've learned he chose me out of a dozen or so other applicants. (Musta been the stellar picture I sent in with my application). Also, I learned that Young Jae Elite is one of the top-ranked private schools (hagwons) in Pusan. For me this means I'm supposed to churn out five students to get into the Minsa (no idea if that's spelled right) High School -- pretty much the Ivy League of high schools in Korea. So I have intensive English speaking classes with these five students multiple times a day. Wow are they incredible in terms of how quickly they pick up on things. So rewarding. I feel a new pressure, however, knowing how high the suicide rate here is among teens for the very reason that getting into good schools is everything to these kids. So if I fail as a teacher, they'll fail too, and I don't even want to begin thinking about what that could mean. But I'm confident we can do it.

I still can't believe how much schooling these kids do daily. Monday thru Saturday they attend one school from 9 am to 4 pm, and then come to Young Jae from 6 pm until midnight. That's 13 hours per day! Absolute insanity, but I guess that's why they say Asia has the smartest people in the world. I just feel a little ridiculous for ever having complained about school growing up.

There are lots of things I've taken note of here in Jangsan, but one thing especially sticks out daily: Because affection here doesn't have gender boundaries (as homosexuality is pretty much nonexistent) people treat people lovingly regardless of being men or women. So friends young and old alike walk hand-in-hand through the streets. Still, it's weird to see guys walking around holding hands all over the place and tickling each other or whatever -- but I'm getting more used to it. Not sure what I'll do if some dude tries to grab my hand, though... Yikes.

Well, my day at school is almost up (I get done at 10:30 pm, even though the school runs until after midnight.) They gave me this computer to have to myself, which is really nice that I can read the news daily without being in someone's way, and I can turn the settings to English, meaning I don't have to continually ask things like "what does this button say?" or "how do I change the print settings?" That's probably why they gave me my own computer, actually -- I was probably bugging the crap out of them.

ALRIGHT, time to go home and relax. There's so much to write about that I can never fit in nearly as much as I want in these posts, but I guess I do have a whole year here -- plenty of other opportunities to share. Okay, Annyong hegeseo!