Halfway through my first contract

Tomorrow morning I will begin a new term teaching English in South Korea.  It will be the 4th of the 6 that I am contracted to teach in a year with my current language institute.  It's hard to believe I've been here for half a year already.  It's even harder to believe I haven't seen my family or friends in over 6 months.  For some of my friends in Colorado it's been over 10 months.

I still remember waking up at 3:30am on February 13 to head to the airport in Dallas. Truthfully I think I slept about 20 minutes that night.  My mind was racing with excitement, doubt, nervousness, expectations, fear and questions.  As Big Chiz drove me to DFW, my twitter feed was filled with reports that N. Korea had successfully tested a nuclear weapon. That did nothing to help settle my concerns.

With that said, I can't believe how fortunate I've been living here in the second biggest metropolitan area in the world.  I have learned a tremendous amount about life outside of the American bubble.  I have learned an immense amount about myself.  I have met and befriended some amazing people, both native Koreans and other foreigners teaching here.  I feel like my experience has far exceeded anything I could have expected before I came.

Here is a picture dump that highlights my time here so far....

Korean Palace Guards

Korean Palace - Gyeongbokgung

Picture taken in February

Same location, taken in May 

Namsan Tower at sunset

View of Seoul from Namsan

My first basketball game in Korea

My first class in Korea, still one of my favorites

My apartment building

My school's building

My first KBO game

Typical scene in my junior classes

Reenactment of a royal ceremony at a Palace

First visit to the Korean countryside

My first Korean wedding

One of many nights out with friends

A common scene

Hanging in Itaewon with the besties

And their men, in their usual buffoonery

I'm really excited about what the next six months will bring into my life.  I know the time will fly by, just like the first six months did.  In two weeks, I'll have my first visitor from the States, Mr. Jordon Holmes himself.  I'll also be taking a few international trips in the next six months.  More than likely, I'll be signing another contract to teach another year here in Korea.  If I'm having this much fun, how could I leave?