Hey all I'm here for a quick update. So the semester is almost finished. Only 2 more weeks, and then vacation.

This year I wil be going back to the states with my girlfriend to see my fam. I think it will be a good trip, and I haven't seen them since December and March.

My girlfriend is really looking forward to meeting everyone and experiencing some of my culture now. We will also be going to New York to see the sights, and visit some friends who I haven't seen in awhile. Can't wait!

Here are some pictures from the past couple of months:

Grandma, Aunt, Mom, Cousins, see you in 4 weeks!!

It's summer vacation now and after 2 weeks of summer camps at my school, I am now enjoying 2 weeks of rest and relaxation (and...being productive? haha). I'm really enjoying it this year because last year at my hagwon, I only had one week for the whole year and I was burned out by the time it came. If this was last year, I would still be slaving away from 2-10 while my friends in public school were enjoying their relatively stress free summer camps and summer vacation. I definitely made the right choice in coming back to public.

Anyways I went on an overnight trip with my language group this weekend and we had a good time. Barbeque, swimming, games, etc. Good short trip for the summer.

I came back to Incheon earlier today and me and Scooter hung out for a short while.

We are saving money right now so we can both take a trip to the states to visit New York and visit the fam in Detroit and West Virginia. Hopefully it all works out so we can enjoy it. Here are some pics from the past few months. Love you mom, auntie, grandma, and all my fam!!

So here I am one month into my 3rd year in Korea. How have things been going this time around? Well I can say with full confidence that my situation is much better than last year at my hagwon. Last year I finished work at 10pm and started work at 2/3pm. And even though sleeping in is always a favorite of mine, missing out on the majority of the day was not.

Now I start at 8:30 and finish at 4:30 which means I can do things after work like go to a movie/dinner/other things with friends/girlfriend. Last year I had 5 vacation days, this year I have 18 plus holidays. I taught 30 hours a week last year, this year I teach 22 with several days having classes cancelled for whatever reason. I am much less stressed so far, although I am still not where I wanna be career wise.

 I couldn't have asked for a better situation this year. School pretty much lets me do what I want in terms of teaching. I guess they figured I've been here for 2 years already so they don't need to look over me constantly. And looking back at my first job, I really have learned a lot and my teaching compared to then is MUCH better. My apartment is awesome. It has a little loft on top for sleeping which I have always wanted since being in Korea. I have a washer dryer combo and it's a pretty new place. My only complaint is that I face the wall of the same building I live in. I don't know how to explain it but whoever designed this building was on drugs because it makes no sense to have a whole side of apartments facing the wall of the same building.

 I'm just now getting over a cold/bronchitis/tonsilitis in which I had to go to the hospital because my fever was so high. I also dislocated my finger 2 weeks ago when trying to catch a basketball. It came my way, hit my finger, and bent it straight back 90 degrees. I freaked out when I was it, but I guess it was pure instinct that I immediately bent it back into place (instead of waiting to go to the doctor). I go back to the doctor on Friday to see how it's healing.

 I was a bit homesick last week but having some favorite home foods this week helped me out, and I'll be seeing a jazz concert featuring Earth, Wind, and Fire, Eric Benet, and George Benson on May 19th. Really looking forward to that. The weather has gotten warm here quickly. Almost as if spring has been skipped completely. This summer looks to be a scorcher. Anyways that's pretty much been it for now. I'll try to write a more in depth post later this week about some other things on my mind.

Well 2012 has been here for over a month now, and I'm preparing for my third trip back to the Land of the Morning Calm. ETA is 5 weeks. I finished at my last school in mid December and couldn't wait to get out of there. I will try my best to avoid a hagwon from here on out, or least do better research. I can't be too upset though because working there led me to meet my girlfriend whom I just spent a wonderful vacation iwth in Hawaii.

It was an awesome trip and I could really see myself living there. I am absolutely tired of winter and even snow (though I have loved snow all my life). Being on the beaches with the sea breeze blowing at your face, and overlooking the ocean is something I think I wanna be able to do everyday.

We truly enjoyed our time there and it was a good meetup for us since we hadn't seen each other since I let Korea in December. We went up the Diamond Head Crater for a short hike and an outlook over the ocean and Honolulu, and got some great pics from up there. The first day we were there had some pretty awesome...and scary adventures.

First off, I got scammed by some bird lady. We were walking down the street and I saw these parrots. I decided to get some pictures. Before I knew it, the lady asked me if I wanted to hold the birds and quickly put them on my arms and shoulders and she put them on my girlfriend as well. It was fun at the time, and I got some great pics, however at the end of this little fiasco, she quickly said "10 dollars!".

I was shocked. And my girlfriend laughed at me for being scammed in my own country. Good times.

Next, we decided to take a drive to Pearl Harbor. After that we decide to go to the beach, and then it started to rain! Even through all this, we enjoyed the day, and went to the beach several times of the next few days. I even taught her to play mini golf. I was sad when she left and then I had to leave, but I'll be back in Korea in 5 weeks.

While on the way to Hawaii, I picked up a book called "The Alchemist". I didn't know the book was popular until after I bought it. I kind of just felt like I hadn't read a novel in awhile, and I decided to pick it up. This book and this trip made me think about dreams and "Your Personal Legend".

I think everyone has one, but for some reason or another many decide to settle for mediocrity and give up on their dreams because it gets difficult and we suffer many setbacks. Reading it (still not finished), only emphasized what I wanna do even more and focus more on what I've been working on for the past 4 years.

My goals have always been to travel (with the one I love haha) and be able to do my art FREELY. Meaning not being tied down to a 9-5 job or to a company who tells me when I can take a vacation. I mean how crazy is that? I've been working on being able to do that (earning a living online which would allow me to do that), and although I've suffered many setbacks, I am slowly but surely getting to my goal. I've wanted to give up, but being on this trip made me realize what I want even more and to continue working towards that. And even something like the Law of Attraction, it seems like I have been traveling a lot the past few years. Went to Guam, Cali, and now Hawaii. Now I need to hit up some new countries this year. Anyways for my Aunt and grandma, here are some pictures from Hawaii. Enjoy!