Day 1283

I guess it's time for once of these since I haven't done one since Christmas.

So, I spent time in Canada for the month of January before coming back to Korea to begin the new school semester. I'm well into the swing of things with midterms next week.

For Seollal this year (which was 5 solid days), I took my first trip to Daegu. Daegu is the 4th largest city (after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon) and lies to the south-east. All I really knew about Daegu before going there was that it was hot. I went in February, so I was good. While in the city, I made my first trip to a Kakao Store, drank something called a Shark Attack, and got lost in a maze village.

A few weeks later in March, I took a trip to Gwangju. This is the city where I used to spend all my time, and I now find that I spend next to no time there. I took my second trip to a Kakao Store, "celebrated" St. Patrick's Day with a green drink, and visited Mudeung mountain.

Another weekend brought another mini road trip. Jangheung is a small city in my province which I visited previously during my second round of orientation when we visited a 'healing forest'. That day was rainy, this time was not.

The trip to Jangheung was great, the trip home was... not so great.
While stopped at a fresh red light, the driver behind us apparently mixed up his accelerator and gas pedal.

Oops. 

He hit us pretty hard, but luckily we were in a strong car (not mine). It was dealt with pretty swiftly; we sat in the car until the insurance and rental car showed up. In Korea, for investigative purposes, cars involved in accidents just stay where they are. Once out of the middle of the intersection, we went to get a check up at the hospital. I also went to the hospital for the next two days just to receive some neck treatment like hot packs etc. Everything ended up okay.

Easter came and went, as usual, pretty unrecognized in Korea but not before we coloured some eggs.

With the beginning of spring came the cherry blossoms! I took advantage of the photo ops whether with my students during lunch time or stopping on my drive home. Mokpo University also hosted its spring festival which this year featured Ailee. 

For the first time I experienced cherry blossoms in Yeouido (Seoul) which is one of the biggest festivals for cherry blossom season. On the way home we made a stop at Jeonju Zoo/Dreamland. 

Lastly, most recently, I had the chance to see Big Bang in concert again. After three years they are finally coming out with a new album (they've been busy with other/solo projects in the meantime). It was, as always, nothing short of amazing. I have bruises on my legs to prove it. Check out their new songs here and here.

I've now found myself amongst a weeks worth of mini-vacation. I plan to spend my time catching up on lesson planning and other work because *drumroll* I'm starting a masters program in a few weeks. It's a program through an American university which is hosted at a campus about an hour from Mokpo. The program is generally catered toward teachers in Korea, so I am able to work while I study and attend classes during vacation periods. 

Busy things. 

Productive things. 

Good things.