It's day two of desk-warming for me and I've already pretty much run out of things with which to occupy myself.
Desk-warming is exactly what it sounds like. My kids have midterms this week which means I don't have any classes to teach! Awesome. But I still have to come in at 8 a.m. to sit here and keep my desk warm. There are going to be a lot of these days because the Korean education system relies heavily on testing. There is one test in particular where, essentially, Korea shuts down.
On November 10th, students in their third (and final) year of high school write their university entrance exam. This is the one test that students pretty much work towards all through their high school careers. I've heard that planes aren't allowed to fly this day and cars don't honk in order to prevent distracting the students while they write the test. If you're interested, read more about it here and here.
Anyway, my school rocks and is allowing me to leave at lunch this week whereas a lot of schools make their teachers stay until the end of the day. I'll never complain because I know that even on a normal day I leave much earlier than the Korean teachers (some have to stay until 10 p.m.).
Yesterday I spent the day going through my Lonely Planet guides for Korea and Southeast Asia.
Patti and I are putting together a trip to Seoul! I'm most interested in visiting the DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone between North and South) but that's going to have to wait until my next trip since I'll have to book it way ahead of time. This trip will involve sight-seeing, eating, and shopping :)
I'm also in the process of planning my winter vacation. Matt will be visiting at the end of January and, if all goes as planned, we'll be going to Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia! I can't wait... I feel like January/February is so far off, but it really isn't; Time is flying!
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