The Lone Teacher

It's sad to say that as of this morning, Chris is on a plane back to Boston. That means I'll be the only western teacher until at least the 25th, when a Canadian girl is coming. Then, two weeks after her, another American is supposed to arrive.

That means I could get screwed in my schedule. Of course, it will be pretty hard to give me much more work, since I'm almost at full capacity as it is.

At least we made the most of Chris' last weekend in the area.

On Friday, all the teachers went out to a local place in Onyundong for some food and drinks. I always love going out with my co-workers. The cool part was that even after the party broke up, Vicky, Wendy, Cindy and I went to another place to drink some more.

After that, I was surprised to hear them say to me: "Now we're going to your house." Maybe I should've cleaned a little better, haha. So the four of us got some more beer and went back to my place, where we pretty much just listened to music and drank and hung out. It was still cool to have people in my house for the first time -- three Korean girls no less!!!

On Saturday, Chris and I went to Shinsagae to hang out during the day. We got some lunch and met up with some old friends of his. After that, Chelsea showed up and we hung with her for awhile.

Then, in the evening, we made our way out to Bupyeong to meet up with Jake. Of course, a group of the westerners from Yeonsudong were out there. It was cool to run into them since I haven't seen them for awhile.

Sunday was a lot more laid back than the typical drinking nights. It was also filled with some firsts for me.

Vicky picked me up and we went out to Shinsagae to meet a friend of hers. The plan as to go see the movie "Eagle Eye". Once we got there, though, they started making different plans. To my surprise and delight, Vicky's family wanted to take me out to dinner.

So to kill some time, the three of us got some beer in the the square before heading out to meet her family. Her mom, dad and sister all came out, and none of them speak English really at all.

So while Vicky was translating, I took some pride in knowing that I actually could understand a lot of what they were saying. I guess my Korean studying is paying off a bit.

Either way, her family was very nice and we had a cool time. It is the first time I have ever hung out with a Korean family, so it was a new experience.

After dinner, we went to watch the movie, which I liked despite weak reviews. It was in English with Korean subtitles. Even though Vicky can speak well, she said movies and television shows usually move way too fast for her to totally understand.

When I got back, Chris came up for a bit to drop off some stuff and say goodbye. The good news is he'll be back in a month or two. But keep him in your thoughts as he spends the next 30 hours on a plane home. Thanks for everything, Chris!!!