this weekend

Decided to spend this weekend in Suncheon instead of traveling around, and I'm glad I did. Weekends when the whole family is more or less together have a different feel to them than the usual day to day, and usually we have fun. Friday night we watched a movie together on my computer, despite some techinical difficulties (my computer is apparently more sensitive to scratches on a DVD than your usual DVD player, so we had some difficulty and had to go back to the DVD rental place to exchange the movie). So we had to trade in Pirates of the Carribean for The Day After Tomorrow. I actually saw both movies in the theaters. Day After Tomorrow is actually a pretty good movie, though slightly less impressive when watched on a thirteen inch computer screen.

The weather is already getting significantly colder here--last weekend we had some nice sun but this weekend has been mostly overcast, and it even rained pretty hard last Wednesday. Friday night I mentioned to my host mother that I needed to buy a warm winter coat sometime soon, and she suggested that we go this weekend. So on Saturday all of us (except Seo In, who is always in school or studying) went to a big department store near here in search of a coat for me. Even though there was an abundance of nice winter coats, it was a bit of a challenge to find something that fit me well and didn't have some kind of fur around the hood or collar (apparently a popular style this season). My host parents were incredibly generous and insisted on buying the coat for me, which was a real surprise. It reminds me how lucky I am in terms of my home stay, that I have a host family that is not only generous in many ways but who want to really help me adjust to Korea.

The plan had been to go to a movie that evening, but after the coat search we didn't have enough time, so we just went to Pizza Hut for dinner. There are plenty of different pizza restaurants in Suncheon, Pizza Hut and Dominoes are maybe the only American chains, and I think Pizza Hut is by far the most expensive and probably least reasonable, but we always end up getting pizza from there. Seo Jin, my youngest host sister, really likes the 'Rich Gold' pizza, which I think was developed by Pizza Hut especially for South Korea--it's a regular pizza of choice with a ring of sweet potato along the circumfrence. I'm actually growing to like sweet potatoes more, even though I've always had a sort of aversion to sweet-tasting vegetables. It was the first time I'd been in a Pizza Hut restaurant probably since I was in elementary school and living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and we used to go to Pizza Hut to get "personal pan pizzas."

This Wednesday is the huge college exam for all third grade high school students. I get the day off since my school is one of the testing centers for the area. Tuesday is Rachel's birthday so I'm going to take a bus up to have dinner and hang out with her, and then probably visit her school on Wednesday. I found out on Saturday that a photographer from the city is going to visit my class on Monday and take pictures for some brochure--sort of problematic because my classes on Monday are actually finishing up watching a movie, so the photographer is probably not going to have any good opportunities for shots. I'll have to see if I can fineagle my way out of it on Monday.

I've been thinking a lot about the future and what I want to do after Korea. I don't think I'm going to stay here after my contract ends in July, but I do want to go to another country after spending a few months back in the U.S. I'd really like to go to Latin America, where I can get better at Spanish. I've been trying to investigate job or internship possibilities but all I can really find on the internet are organizations that charge you either to participate in their program or to find you a job placement. My only considerations are that I don't want to live in a homestay and I'd like something that is either paying or provides room and board. If anyone has any leads, let me know. I'm really interested in something involving urban planning, sustainable development or land-use management but I don't know if I really have the background to find a good job or internship in that area. But I would really take anything, though I'd rather try something other than teaching English. It's a long way away though--I might end up just going sometime next winter or spring and trying to find a job there.

Reading: Finished "Living Dangerously in Korea"--really a pretty good book for understanding the U.S. influence on South Korea. Started "Mrs. Dalloway," a copy I picked up for free from a departing ETA. Haven't read any more of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" since those couple first pages weeks ago. Lately I've been in the mood for reading something a bit lighter, I guess.