A box of chocolates

And so life has been so far this time in Korea - we're never quite sure what's going to happen from one day to the next.

The second year in Korea has begun in smashing fashion. Orientation went well for me (Jon) and I met some really great people. I really enjoyed experiencing all the different cultures and dorm life for the first time. (Not everything was pleasant, but it was still wholely enjoyable.)

Emily arrived last Thursday safe and sound and we reconnected on Friday in Gwangju. We went to our apartment where, lo and behold, the previous occupants had left six months prior to our arrival. What exactly would this entail?

For one, they left the apartment strangely half full. Couch, bed, bookshelf, desk, dishes, dresser? Not at all! Digital camera, laptop, shoes, toothbrushes, dictaphone, garbage, boxes, clothing and bedding? Absolutely! Why wouldn’t you do that if you had to head back to America in a hurry?

The worst things by far have been twofold. Firstly, the fridge was unplugged but left closed for six months. Difficulty imagining what that would look like? We'll post pictures in a couple of days.

Secondly, the lack of human occupants in the apartment apparently communicated somehow to dozens of mini-moths that they were welcome to come in. We found worms, cocoons and moths all over the place. We’ve been killing them as we find them and they’re getting fewer and fewer. Hopefully the destruction will soon be complete.

Other than that, the apartment is a large two bedroom with three balconies. We’ve got good surroundings (5 minutes walking from 3 grocery stores) but we’re far from the rest of the city, such as downtown and our friends. Last year we lived south central, this year we live so far north we can see the end of the city from all of our balconies.

At this moment, I sit in my second of two schools that I’ll be teaching at this year. I teach 21 – 45 minute classes per week, which isn’t too bad. The rest of the time I have to be at the school, but I don’t really have to do anything constructive. I’m here doing a blog while the teacher behind me (all the teachers’ desks are in the same room) is sleeping and the one beside me is surfing the internet. I’m seriously considering taking my masters degree during working hours. Why not?

Anyway, we really enjoyed our time in Canada and it absolutely flew by. It’s hard to believe we were there for 7 weeks. I think our time here will be good and that it’ll go quickly. Emily has been keeping busy cleaning the apartment and unpacking as we slowly make room for stuff to be unpacked into. She starts her IBOLT (online degree) in about 10 days here so she’ll be right busy with that and her other commintments throughout the week.

We’d love to hear from all of you that keep up on our blog. At this moment, we have neither phone or internet in our apartment (you need your alien residency card to get those and I’ll have that in about another 2 weeks or so) so there’s really no way to get direclty ahold of us. Feel free to e-mail us and we’ll reply when we’re near the internet (which is during work for me). We’ll pass along contact information when we get it.

That’s it for now! Adios.