Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A Social Calender

When I lived in the States I didn't have much of a social life. I always had friends but very little time for them. My favorite social event was the study party since I could get what I needed done AND get to see another human being. I met people in dining halls for meals and cafes for coffee but I was always getting up from the table early to go to one of my part time jobs or work on my research. My biggest luxuries senior year of college:
-The single pint I had on Thursday nights. (I couldn't stay at the bar late like many of my friends since I had work at 9am.)
-Rock climbing 3-4 days a week in the evening.
Though as the term progressed, I'd take breaks from rock climbing to get some reading done. During finals I would climb for an hour, write a page or two and then climb for another hour.
Don't get me wrong there was the occasional party but the emphasis is definitely on the word occasional here.

My expat life in Korea is completely different. Expats bond. We have two great u

Image by chotdalittle doctor fish via Flickr, "Doctor Fish" The fish eat your calluses.

nifying things in common, teaching kids English and living in a completely foreign country where we have minimal use of the language. There are girls' night out for (pseudo) Mexican food and Dr. Fish, adventures, clubs, parties, museums, palaces, temples, dinners that go for hours, bookstores to raid (also lasting for hours) and the list goes on. I love it. For the first time in my life, I am never turning down plans because of my study regime. I can do what I want to do when I want, within reason of course.
(Note: Those legs aren't mine. I have a similar picture of my own legs but why spend 20 minutes fighting with blogger to upload my photos when Zementa will pull a similar one off of the net for me and insert the image in a split second.)

I am not entirely sure what I want to do next year though I am seriously considering teaching English in Japan. I have friends resigning, friends changing countries, friends heading off to grad school or to shoot movies. I'm not sure what I want yet and I'm slowly learning that that's okay.

** There would be pictures from this weekend and my night on the town but NONE OF MY FRIENDS HAVE UPLOADED THEIR PICTURES!!!!!!!!! I forgot my camera. Typical Alex thing to do.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good morning Alex
The turkeys came back yesterday
morning.

Alex said...

I can't even imagine wild turkeys. That is SO COOL.

Josh said...

i'm glad you are enjoying yourself kiddo! And yes, it is amazing that there are turkeys (besides dad) at that house!

Nancy K said...

More wild turkeys is from Dad, but I saw them all the way up the front walk! The babies are the coolest, flying up a bit to keep up with mama. They must be nesting somewhere close by.
Glad you're having a great time.

Alex said...

Aside from cool, I bet they help the eco system some how. How on earth did they get there I wonder? Any foxes this year?

Anonymous said...

Cool Blog. I like the fish at the feet pic. Keep it up

Alex said...

Thanks Gently Spoken! I'll try. :-p