Oh Insomnia....

I am aware at my complete failure as a blogger lately, though in my defense, I honestly haven't been doing anything blog-worthy. In fact I spent the previous 2 weekends in my bed with a stack of books and movies. I didn't even venture out for dinner or food shopping! Though that really had more to due with lack of funds rather than lack of opportunities. I also must say that it was rather nice to just sit around my apartment in my sweats and have some 'me' time. Those of you that know me personally are aware of my avid love for quiet Sunday afternoons and books. I did get out of the house this weekend, so I at least have something to write home about! I have also had the extreme pleasure of dealing with insomnia recently, and it seems it will be a battle to the death...and I do not have the upper hand in this one! I have seen the Korean sun rise more times then I would care to admit in the past few weeks, and in fact I was still watching movies at 10:00am on Saturday morning. It's also 3am over here as I sit typing and eating my standard bowl of cereal. Let's hope for the best!

As far as school goes, I have been winding down with classes, and all but 1 of my classes ended this month. All of my students will be leveled up and they will have a new class; some will move to science and some will move to reading classes. I, however, will still be teaching them. My academy has decided that it is in the students best interest to keep the same teacher for as long as possible. Though I understand this concept, and agree with the principle of it, I am really ready for some new kids. Then again, I only have 1 more month left with them and then I will be back stateside. Oh yes, I just said that. For all of you who have been following me from day 1, I must say it's been quite a journey. Alas, all good things must come to an end...and this one not a moment too soon. I am sure that all of you have at least caught a glimpse of what has been going on in Korea lately. With our ex-president killing himself and North Korea testing its array of nuclear weapons, I must say that it will be nice to get back to a stable place. The tensions here have been on the rise, and the articles on the front page have been getting bigger and bigger. Oh, and to top it all off, there have been Swine Flu scares all over Seoul. Unfortunately they have been mainly targeted at foreigners. One of my friends has been in quarantine for a week, and he is there with about 40 other foreign teachers. He's hoping that he will be out soon!!

Though it could be fun to dwell on all of that, I try to take the lighter approach to life and let nature take its course. Don't get me wrong, I have not turned a blind eye to any of the above situations, but I surely won't be wasting time worrying over things I cannot change. So on to the weekend update!! As I said, I had spent the past 2 weekends in my apartment reading and watching movies, so nothing of great interest to report there. This weekend, started out as most weekend do: dinner with the crew from work. After that, I was really too tired and just wanted to go home. The next day most of the gang decided to walk to the electronics market in Youngsan...this took them almost 4 hours. I decided to pass on that opportunity; which was helped by the fact that I was still awake watching movies around the time they left. We all met up around 7:30 to head out to Itaewon for some delicious turkish schwarmas and then headed to the Hae Bong Chon festival. It had apparently been going on all day, and it was a really cool idea. There were several venues up and down the street and there were bands playing at all of them. There were also more foreigners there than I have seen since I have been in Seoul! We had a more singular purpose for being there though, and we went off in search of my friend Greg and his band. We found them playing at a little place called The Canteen, and got there just as they were starting. It was a good show, and I really enjoyed watching Greg play (I always do.) It was a little too smoky inside for my taste, so once the show was over we decided to head out and go back to the main strip in Itaewon. Jon, Jan, Kel, Rosa and I stopped at Rocky Mountain Tavern (a Canadian bar) for some nachos and wings. I wasn't too hungry and was happy to sit in a smoke-free place with my water. After our late dinner we called it a night...as most of the gang were tired from walking across Seoul that morning.

Today some of my friends went hiking, but I again, decided to pass. It sounds a little vain, but I just can't afford the tan lines right now. In my defense, I have to wear a strapless gown in less than 6 weeks for my best friends wedding and tan lines don't really go with purple satin. I did get a little grocery shopping accomplished this afternoon, and did some laundry, so it seems that my entire weekend wasn't a total loss. The next few weeks will be very busy with my winding down this whole experience, so blogs might be few...then again, if this insomnia keeps up I just might write more often to kill time between naps. I haven't taken any pictures (of anything) recently but I promise that I will begin to add more pictures soon. I hope that you all had a good week and you are enjoying the nice weather....come on summer!! Talk to you soon. Misses and Kisses from Seoul!

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