Year Two in Korea Commence!

I am back for one more year in Korea! Kind of hard to believe. I've had a bit of time to get back into the swing of things after vacation. But I must admit that upon arriving back here, I was a little bewildered why I had indeed decided to renew my contract. It's not like this job is too hard or too stressful, and it's not that I don't enjoy the country. I can't exactly explain what it was (and still sometimes is) that makes me feel this way, but I'll give it a try anyway. Part of it is because it can be exhausting to be a foreigner in Korea. Not so much because it's hard to communicate, though that applies on occasion, or isn't a nice place to live, but mostly because it isn't easy being stared at with a combination of fear, uncertainty and bewilderment. I just get so frustrated by the lack of diversity in this country and the ignorance that lends itself to.
But I think the biggest source of strife stems from the job usually feeling meaningless; am I really making a difference? do the kids even care? what am I really doing here? But even though it isn't a life altering, world changing kind of job (which I don't honestly think I'm cut out for), it really is a good gig. Every job has its down points, and I'm lucky enough to have one that had more good than bad. And it also helped that a student recently told me he didn't enjoy English, but now that I'm his teacher he loves it and really wants to learn English. So even if I can't always see it, I really am doing something positive here.
I'm sure I will have more ups and downs throughout this second year, occasionally wondering just what the hell was I thinking. But happily I am now back in a good place, and want to focus my attention on developing my friendships and doing things that bring me joy. So since I've been back I've been to many a delightful dinner with friends and caught up on people's lives and vacation adventures.

And this past weekend I joined (and met some new) friends for a photo scavenger hunt as part of the Daegu Compass's Sharing Life Festival. I was thoroughly impressed with how organized the festival was. It was a really impressive shindig and so much fun. My team wasn't hell bent on winning the scavenger hunt, so we just had a good time strolling around the beautiful park it was at. It is right by downtown, but I hadn't been to it yet. After the scavenger hunt, we grabbed some dinner. I was so happy to be with people who actually wanted to get sushi! It was a scrumptious meal, and we got our food for a good deal. We then headed back to the festival for the reveal of the winners... not surprisingly, we weren't among the top three. Then the festival concluded with some Holi Hai action as we through color powder and color paint all over each other. It was so much fun, especially with the DJ playing some quality tunes, many of which were by Pitbull! Always a good time. To cap the evening off, we headed downtown, like colorful Easter eggs, for some drinks. It was a fun weekend!