Getting by

The last few days I have been back have been going by quickly, yet somehow very slowly. I am already one week in to my twelve week countdown and relatively busy. Besides work I am trying to finish my dissertation paper and get it cleaned up. Jon is looking over it today and tomorrow and I hope to have a draft ready for my advisor by Friday or Saturday. I've also been seeing off a few Moonkkang friends, who are all finishing this summer. Matt and I had a few beers at the mart patio on Thursday night after dinner and of Friday I hope to meet Nathan for dinner downtown. Daegu is emptying fast of many people who have been here for years. There is certainly a feeling of change here and I am happy to be a part of it. I am also trying to get by on a VERY reduced budget, in order to pay off my University at the end of August. That will leave me my final two paycheques to put entirely towards savings. It is probably a good thing that I have so much school work to do, it keeps me at home and eating cheap noodles.

I have also decided that the bucket list I made for places in Korea to visit might have to be a list of things that I never did. I still have a few weeks, but I want every won I can get to be ready for the next stage of my life. I also want to do a few things such as Busan and Hongdae in Seoul one last time. I mean I may be back next year working at a University, but there is also a chance that after October I will never return to Korea. I guess I would rather do what I love a last time rather than go exploring and spending extra cash. A bit boring I concede, but I have lost my Korean travel bug.

Also, to be mopey, I miss Yen a lot. I find myself less excited to get out and explore by myself than I used to be. With her not here to enjoy it with me I find myself less excited to get on a train for the weekend. Also, with so many friends either leaving or else in school and poor like me, it isn't as easy as it once was to get a friend and go. Not that I am lonely or anything, but it isn't realistic to get Darren down here every weekend or go to Goyang to see Mike twice a month or expect Zeke to hang out with me every single day. I think what it comes down to is that I am ready to move on from this hagwon life, and would rather spend time with friends I will miss at places I will miss rather than go out and explore new places or make new friends. I'll be doing plenty of that next year.

I have also picked up some Tagalog lessons, maybe I'll do a better job with that than I did with Korean. The motivation is certainly there.