Roman Candle

It's a week now I've been in Korea, and tomorrow, I begin my life as an english teacher. I have been trained, and I am eager. I feel ready. After 3 days of observations and a weekend full of sufficient distraction, I can hardly wait to have a classroom of my own. In the time between, I have found some space for fun!

Last night, my new friends (Tony--already teaching at our school, Stephanie--new like me, and Jo--former teacher at my school and native Korean) and I drank wine and ate cheese while laughing and learning each other's quirks. We then struck off to the beach to set off Roman candles (completely legal!) and wade in the shallows. I felt in some of those moments overwhelmed with the aliveness within me, and the colors and flavors of this vast and tiny earth. There is so much life to live! When we had our share of mayhem, we were still brimming with energy, and so we went off to close out the evening with norebong (karaoke!) into the wee small hours.

This afternoon, after plenty of rest, we returned to the beach, where we sat beneath beach umbrellas and took in the sun, sand and surf. The others ran off to the water and I stayed behind in the shade. I looked out across the sea at the penninsula--the tail of the tiger that forms Korea--and studied the rise and fall of the tree topped mountains, just barely visible through the ocean mist. A part of me feels like I'm crazy for being here. There is so much unfarmiliar, so much that I simply don't know, and very little to hide behind and find comfort in. For some reason, I know that's alright, and by now, I know that those feelings are only fleeting; temporary. I have been here before. I remind myself therin lies the point. This is an adventure I have embarked upon to test my very limits--not unlike some choices of which I have already come to see the labors and fruits thereof. Even still, I find it hard to imagine that I could come to be so comfortable in a place where I am so different. I am optimistic, and we shall see.

Tomorrow the real challenge begins. Tomorrow, I will begin to see if teaching--a life long curiosity--is one of my talents, and maybe even one of my callings.