Now that we've rolled over into the new year the reality of going home is getting much closer, and more tangible. The last day of classes for the semester was Friday, December 28th. Right now I am in the middle of English camp with a handful of students and a few co-teachers, but once that ends next Tuesday I'm on vacation for the rest of January. During that time I'll have to start my packing for real, instead of just sorting things into piles for selling, donating, and mailing home. I also plan on checking out both the Tim Burton exhibit at the Seoul Museum of Art, as well as a performance of "Phantom of the Opera" if I can swing it. Not to mention picking up some last-minute gifts for people at home.
In February the students will come back for a few days prior to the Grade 3's graduating, then there are two more weeks of spring vacation. The new school year starts March 4th, and by then I will only have four weeks left! I am trying to figure out what I will do with the students because we will have such a short time together, and they won't be getting a replacement foreign teacher after I leave. GEPIK cut their budget again this year, and is discontinuing most foreign teachers in middle and high schools in Gyeonggi Province for the 2013-2014 school year. Only positions that were funded by city halls or the school's own budget will be kept on after this current contract. I saw that about 200 jobs in Suwon alone were cut, including my school. Not only that, but my school also cut the entire department that I am a part of--the international department. Next school year the students won't be studying any languages other than Korean, whereas this year they could study English, Chinese, or Japanese. It seems that there will be a lot of changes coming up at this school, and I hope that they will start to think of the students' education more than before.
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What are your goals/plans/desires for 2013? Have you made a list of resolutions yet? I'm working on a set of goals and things I'd like to do this year:
- Travel more in the US
- Go to NYC
- Go to Washington, D.C.
- Visit Arlington to see my grandfather's grave
- Go to San Francisco
- Visit my grandparents
- Be a big kid and go to WDW/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
- Go to the beach in NC
- Homecoming in Chapel Hill
- Re-visit Franklin St and all my favorite places with friends
- Become fluent again in Spanish
- Learn more songs on the guitar
- Write more
- Visit a new country
- Work out at least 3 times a week
- Learn a new skill/hobby
- Improve on current hobbies
- Start a new job/get started in my career
- Read 15 books
- Ring in 2014 with people I love
These are just the things that I can think of at the moment. I'm sure as the year goes on, I will add more goals and things to this list, as well as check them off one by one. And on December 31st, we'll see how successful and fulfilling the year was!*pictures from WeHeartIt*
If I had the money, and more importantly, time to go visit the US again (it's been three years since I left, four since I've been home in NJ), I'd definitely love to travel more, especially the west coast since the farthest west I've been is Chicago. I'd also love to show you around NYC if our schedules matched up. I miss wandering the streets of my second home so much it hurts. I suppose the one big thing I want/need done this year is reconnect with a lot of people I care about who I haven't seen in a very long time. And maybe see some new countries and cities as well.
ReplyDeleteLOVE THIS LIST!
ReplyDeletei hope you get to everything on it :)
HAPPY 2013 indeed!