Brain Fried

Hey everyone~

My goodness, it's been one hell of a busy month. And it's already over... and July is here!

I have been SO busy that I haven't kept up with my blog for this past month, and I'm sorry for that. I'm going to be insanely busy until I am on that plane back to America for the summer. And then I can finally relax. Maybe.

I'll keep this post shorter and do it in bullet-point fashion to get the main points jotted down for you:

- future plans: going home July 16 - August 16
- future plans: arrive back to Korea, move to Seoul, teach at a co-ed high school for the next year
- I broke down and cried in front of every faculty member at our school while giving my going away speech at my farewell dinner (naturally)
- I went to Ultra Music Festival in Seoul and danced away one weekend in June
- I went to Jeonju, visited the traditional village, dressed in traditional clothing (called hanbok), and took crazy pictures.
- the best picture included my friend Emily and I doing the dab with two Korean cos-play guys dressed as military men - best photo of the grant year by far
- I went to karaoke one too many times, lost my voice, and don't regret it
- I ate my favorite Korean food, makchang (intestines) with good friends
- told my students and co-workers I am leaving Gwangyang
- students go in an uproar, half expressing sadness, the other half anticipating the gender of the next native English teacher
- I read one of the most fascinating books, titled "The Vegetarian" by Korean author Han Kang (HIGHLY recommend, although not for the faint of heart)
- I started calligraphy class! I'm learning how to write super pretty things in Korean lettering (hangul)
- cleaning out my apartment is hard
- I went to the beach and grilled meat with friends even though it was windy outside
- I got a nasty rash of poison ivy all over my legs (-sigh- what HAVEN'T I been through at this point)
- I picked up a new "friend" during my morning exercising along the river... sometimes I enjoy the company, other times I just want to be alone. But I'm practicing my patience
- Fulbright final dinner gathering is this weekend! Time to say goodbye to most of my close friends in the program
- salsa dancing in Korea is way different than salsa dancing in the States/Central America/Europe
- final exams are next week, and I'll be packing up my apartment
- my last week of classes is July 11 - 15
- it's been a fantastic month!!!

I'm really sad to be saying goodbye to Gwangyang, my students, co-workers, friends, everything... but I'll be back to visit~

Talk soon!