Wait, I've come to my 1-month anniversary already? (28. July)

Oh wow, it's been a month since I returned to Korea . . . Already . . . Whoa . . .

What's happened? Here are a few summaries:

Yesterday was the last day of school for the 1st semester. The day before was the last day of actual classes at the school.

After classes were done, the principal treated all the teachers out to--no, actually we did not go to a staff dinner (where you potentially get ridiculously drunk 'cause you're not allowed to decline)! We went out to a movie instead! The movie was "군함도" or "Battleship Island." It was intense. You can see the trailer here. Of course, the movie was in Korean. Even when the Japanese spoke Japanese, there were Korean subtitles. I understood one whole line in the entire movie and the subtitles were too fast for me. That didn't really matter. I got the story just from watching what happened. I can almost bet you I was the only foreigner in the entire building at the time. Cool experience though!

Today was the first day of summer vacation. That meant coming to a virtually empty school to desk-warm.

What is "desk-warm" you may ask? It is when you come to school, to your room/office/desk and just stay there until they tell you you're allowed to leave (if that happens before 16:40). 

What do you do? You can plan for the summer English camp, the following semester, the following winter camp, your summer/winter vacation, your next steps in Korea/post-Korea, or whatever else. I take this as an "I can do just about whatever, 'cause they're paying me to spend time here." I want to learn about investments and how they work. I'm going to research that anyway, might as well do it at school where I'll "be paid" to do so.

If you have nothing to do, this can be torture. So best start thinking about what you'll do later on down the road, research, and if you need to study, do so during this time--if you've already planned out your first few classes for the following semester. 

My first summer camp will begin Monday. It'll run for 2 weeks. The theme for camp is the five senses. Week 1 will be for the 3rd & 4th graders, whereas Week 2 will be for the 5th & 6th graders. So there's the good news: prepare for 1 week and do it twice, just add more challenging content the following week.

Wait, "first summer camp?" That implies there's more than one. What about the second? That camp will be at my Friday school. This will last for 3 days in the 3rd week of August. What will I do? The same as in my main school! Just adapt it to fit the 3-day schedule. It shouldn't be too bad.

Switching off school, I've explored my area a bit and learned where the bus terminals and train stations are. I even took pictures of the bus schedules to better plan potential weekend getaways.
Speaking of "weekend getaways," I'll be heading off to Seoul as soon as I get out for the day. I got my bus ticket, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about--until I arrive at Seoul. I need to make sure I get a ticket back for Sunday. Then, I need to make my way over to my friend's place, where I'll be staying. I expect to arrive around 23:00 tonight. Why so late? My bus will leave at 17:20 and it's a >4 hr. ride from Masan to Seoul one-way.

Then again, that's not so bad. Only >4 hours to cross 85% of the country from south to north? See why it's great to travel within Korea?

Whew, I'm gonna be so exhausted tonight, but it will be good to see her and her family again.