I guess I'm batting about .650

Well to start off with my strikeout. The EPIK program again looks like it will be a bust and I won't be making the transition to public schools. The reason is that the Korean Ministry of Education has decided that new teachers will not be able to pick their location AT ALL. So I could apply and wind up teaching in Sockcho, or Mokpo or somewhere else 6 hours from Daegu. I mean talk about dumb. How many teachers who live here now will pass on this solely because they have a life in their city and can't, or at least don't want to, uproot. On the plus side, it looks like they didn't get enough teachers last February and a few of them have decided to do runners so there are quite a few public jobs available now. I may just wait and apply when the 24 year old theatre major decides that using chopsticks is too hard and decides to get on a plane one Saturday six weeks after they show up. However, I may wind up in an after school program or even an academy again. So that's not exactly what I was looking for.

My hits have come with grad school and gym. The Applied Linguistics MA looks like it will be a go to start in the fall so even if I have a less than stellar job I'll be working on that, which when finished (in 2-3 years....) will catapult me in to university work around the globe, allowing me to teach n Asia and Latin America or do university admin in Canada or the US. While I'm not exactly excited about a lengthy MA program I know that the light at the end of the tunnel is a career that will allow me to live around the world. It also has me in Korea much longer than I had ever thought I'd be here, but to leave with an MA and maybe a solid second language (classes starting up again in April) it will certainly not have been a waste of time.

My other hit has come at the gym, where I've been going a minimum 3 times a week (usually 4-5) for the last three months. I'm down two belt sizes but have actually gained weight. I feel stronger and have heaps more energy than I ever used to. While I still have a LONG way to go, I can already see real results. I also need to start eating a bit better but one thing at a time :)