Plans!

I woke up feeling Monday morning feeling happy and generally stoked about the future. It's not a feeling I often get; excitement is mostly smothered by anxiety. But it's Wednesday morning and the feeling still hasn't gone away. There are so many things happening- very soon- to look forward to!

For starters, this weekend is Christmas :) It's my first Christmas away from home, and though it makes me sad to not be with my family, I'm happy to be with my friends here in Jinju. I feel more and more lucky to know them as the days go on :) Friday at school, I'm throwing my students a proper school Christmas party, and I'm going to surprise them by dressing up as Santa, haha. Saturday night, my friends and I are all going to a performance of the Nutcracker at the Jinju Art Center, and then to a big steak dinner at Outback. Then we're having a group sleepover at CR's house, followed by a big breakfast and potluck lunch! The weekend can't come quickly enough.

The next week, I have two days of vacation to use however, and then of course it's New Year's Eve! Plans are still solidifying for that week/end, but I know whatever I do, I will be with my people, and it's going to be 100% great.

The Monday after New Year's, January 2nd, starts two weeks of "winter camp" for me, which is basically a continuation of school, but with less students (I'll be working with only about ten students, instead of my usual 110). I really wasn't looking forward to this initially, but I made a plan today to make it a "Hollywood Camp," and for two weeks, I'm going to teach my students how to write scripts, act, direct, and make movies in English. I've scoured the internet for tons of materials, and I feel prepared and excited about it. I'm predicting it will yield hilarious results.

After camp, I will have my first visitor in Korea- Ian is coming! I can't wait to be a tour guide.
After Ian comes, we will fly out of Busan together, and I'm going to Thailand for a week!!! Even better, I get to see my sister in Bangkok the night I get there!! It will be my first solo vacation, and I could not be happier about it. I can't wait eat heaps of delicious street food. The good things just keep coming.

I know the next two months are going to just fly by with so many amazing things happening. After I get back from Thailand, six months will have passed since I've been here! Winter will be almost gone and the events and destination weekends will start piling back on (March is the beginning of festival season, which lasts until late November). Then comes the time to start evaluating things....

More soon!