I’ve settled into my new life in Korea.  It was a bit bumpy in the beginning, with the super long hours at my school (SOT) and the weird dynamic there between the old teachers, new teachers, and Korean staff.  But I feel like I’ve adjusted now, and can deal with it now.  I’ve really connected with my kindergarten class.  They are all great kids (even the 2 boys that can be really bossy and pushy with the other kids).  I had Parent Teacher Conferences a few weeks ago, and it was nice to hear how all of the kids really enjoy coming to my class, and that they tell their moms all about me and everything that we do.  3 or 4 of the moms said that the kids pretend to be Kelly teacher at home.  Very cute!  It’s great to be able to witness their progress daily and see how much they can learn in just 2 short months.  (I sure wish I could learn languages as quickly as they can!  btw- My Korean skills have not improves at all.  It seems easier and easier to get by in Seoul only speaking English.  I am amazed at the number of Koreans I see reading or studying English on the subway everyday.  English seems to be some nationwide craze, or something.)

I have been keeping myself really busy with work, and I’m not really in the partying staying out all night mood this year, so my lifestyle has change dramatically from the first time I was here.  Everything was new and exciting then, it’s sort of life as ushually now. 

The beginning of May is basically non-stop holidays, with Labor Day (which I had to work on) kicking it off on May 1st, then Children’s Day,  Buddha’s Birthday, Parent’s Day and Teacher’s Day all happening before May 16th.  It is a fun two weeks.  Plus I have two 3 day weekends in a row, which I am really excited about.  Today there is a Lotus Lantern Festival going on in the middle of the city.  Lots of latern building activities and cultural events, finished off by a night time parade of all the lanterns.  This will be my first time going to the festival, so I’m pretty pumped. 

I’m back in Bangkok and am having the final dinner with my group.  They have been really fun, cool, and interesting people to hang out with.  Most of the pax are doing extended travelling (at least 4 months, 1 guy is going for 18 months).  So it’s been fun to hear all of their stories about wild and crazy adventures around the world. 

Things went very smoothly (except in Nahkon Si Thammarat where it’s nearly impossible to find someone who speaks English.  That was a really trying day for me.  I told the hotel receptionist, bell boy, and driver that we wanted to go to the bus station.  Of course they all nod their heads, saying “yes, I understand.”  Then when all 9 of us and all of our huge backpacks are loaded into the truck and driving down the road it becomes aparent he has no idea where to go.  He brought us to a van rental place instead, and then one of the wheels went flat and we had to get a new one.  I was freaking out because the only bus was leaving at 11:00am, and we were going to miss it.  We ended up getting to the bus station right at 11:00 and it turns out the bus wasn’t leaving until 11:30, so we were totally fine.)  The only other crazy thing was all of us being attacked by blood sucking leeches on our waterfall trek.  (I’m supposed to remain calm and cool the whole time.  Which was quite a challenge when I took off my shoe and saw that 2 huge leeches were stuck on my foot.  But I didn’t scream and jump around like I normally would, so that’s a major victory for me.) 

I have a week of vacation now, but am feeling quite lazy and thinking that I might just hang out in BKK, recuperate, and spend time with Jen. (Yeah!  I have a friend in Thailand now!)