We're getting closer, and closer...

Exactly one month from today will be my last day teaching at Avalon English (May 29). For a hagwon, it has been a great job for the most part. I can't really complain....too much. :) I have enjoyed my students and my co-workers have been pretty easy to work with. My job hasn't required much outside work, which has been a wonderful change from teaching in the U.S. However, I am REALLY looking forward to the end of my contract for a few reasons:


1. Severance pay! I am looking forward to getting a bonus paycheck just for finishing my contract! Now I can buy those Gap jeans and some new Crocs to get me through my next year (at least) in Korea.

2.
Vacation! I haven't gone more than 5 days in a row without working since last June. As a teacher, this has been very different for me. It hasn't been bad, as my job has been MUCH easier than when I taught in the U.S....but I just love me some vacation time. So, I am thoroughly going to relish my 2 month vacation...in the U.S.!

3. Along those lines...going home to the U.S.!!
An unending supply of Mexican food, ranch dressing, and paper towels to dry my hands on instead of having to use toilet paper (hyu-gee). Not to mention family and friends. We are really looking forward to spending time with people this summer. I will include our itinerary at the end of this post so if you are going to be near us, maybe we can get together! We will not have a car though, so you will probably have to come to us.

4. A new job! I am so excited about being a librarian! It is seriously like a dream come true. :) One of the great things about this job that I have heard from others is that I can take graduate classes online towards either certification or a master's in Library/Media, and the headmaster will do a tuition reimbursement, so I won't have to spend a ton of money and I can get the certification needed for if we eventually move back to the U.S. I really don't see myself ever wanting to go back into classroom teaching in America (way too much stress--I like teaching but I can't handle everything else involved if I want to have a life), and I am so glad to finally "have a plan" for a possible fulfilling career for the rest of my life.

Along those lines...I went up to GSIS last Tuesday morning to spend the morning with the current librarian, whose shoes are going to be very hard to fill!! She spent a couple of hours with me, showing me around the library (which, I might add, is awesome! It is bigger than our apartment :), and then going over MANY things that I am going to need to learn, including several computer programs and how to catalog books, etc. I have to admit, I am a little...what's the word...not nervous, or even apprehensive...but another word that means something similar but in a good way. HA That was as clear as mud. I just mean that I am really excited about the job but there are a lot of things to learn that I have no idea about, involved in running a library. I am not worried at all about the teaching part, which only amounts to about 7.5 hrs a week anyway. Can you believe that! Less than 10 hrs of teaching a week! The librarian kept telling me how much she loved this job, that it was a dream job and a dream school. It really made me feel good going into it, that she enjoyed it so much. It is hard to take over a job when the person before you only has negative things to say, you know? She has done tremendous work with the library, as this is only the 3rd year of the school being open and she was there to start it. I will probably have a pretty big budget to do some ordering for one or two more years, and then the library should be pretty much built.

I also got to eat lunch for free in the school cafeteria. Why do I sound excited about this? Because the food is actually REALLY GOOD! They have 2 lines also, a Korean meal line and an international meal line with lots of other good stuff. And, it is free for all full-time staff to eat lunch every day. That is one of the fringe benefits of working there. That's a lot of money we will save not having to buy groceries! Plus, any time someone comes up to the school to visit or to volunteer or whatnot, they get to eat for free as well! How great is that?! They even have a special bread bar with fresh croissants and butter and honey...ooh I am going to gain some weight eating so well! Except...they also have a workout gym that employees are allowed to use for free! So Michael and I are looking forward to getting to use that as well. The school's facilities are SOOO nice. You should definitely come visit us next summer. And, if you are a teacher and a Christian, you should come work at the school! It would be great to have friends from home here.

Another thing that I am really looking forward to is working for a great principal who is personable. That makes such a HUGE difference in the climate of the school. When I walked into the cafeteria last Tuesday, the principal saw me and said "hey Mrs. Rains!" really loud and waved his hand high at me and was just so friendly and genuinely nice. His little son was eating lunch with him and he talked to me for a few minutes and told his son who I was (I did already know his son from teaching the Kindergarten class at church) and how I would be the librarian next year and the little boy said, "cool!" It was really cute. Anyway, it seems like the teachers all feel comfortable around him and he is an encourager, which is sooo different from the last place I taught. I think I even mentioned in a previous post, that before I interviewed with him at GSIS, he prayed with me for the interview. It will just be nice to not have to worry about whether or not my principal is going to look at me, talk to me, or grunt at me when I pass him in the hallway. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about.

So, it should be a great year. Michael is looking forward to having something different to do every day as a substitute. He likes spontaneity. Maybe he will realize that his calling is to teach Kindergarten!! hehe He has gotten to be pretty good friends with a few guys from our church that teach at GSIS as well, and he is really looking forward to getting to spend more time with them and possibly coach a sport (one of the guys is the athletic director and he said they will need several coaches next year). He also got a Bible Specialist teaching certificate from ACSI, so he can have his own work visa, and maybe things will open up for him to teach Bible full-time the following school year. We will just have to wait and see what the Lord has planned.

Oh, so I mentioned that my last day is May 29th, but I didn't mention that Michael's is June 4th. Its kind of weird, but it actually works out really well. My last day was supposed to be the 4th as well, but my best college friend Heidi and her fiancee Dustin are getting married on June 6th in Denver...

(Here they are--aren't they just the most adorable thing ever?! :)
...so I had asked if I could use my last few vacation days my last week and leave on June 1st, to get there earlier and spend time with my girlfriends before the wedding. They ended up letting me change my last day to May 29th, since that is the last day of the spring semester and they are not replacing me as they have enough teachers already for the amount of students enrolled. Plus, they are going to pay me for my unused vacation days! Sweet deal. :) So, I was going to still leave on the 1st of June, but it turns out that the memorial service for my youth minister, John, is going to be in San Diego on May 30th, so I am now going to fly out on the 30th and hopefully make it to San Diego in time for the service. I don't get to choose the flight that they book for me, but I am praying that it gets in early so I can make it to the service on time. I am sooo thankful that I am going to get to be there--it has been really hard for me the past week since losing John. I am very much looking forward to getting to spend some time remembering John's life and fellowshipping with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom I can call that because of John's influence!

So, I will then fly to Denver from San Diego on June 1st as originally planned, and Michael will fly to Denver on June 5th. Here is the rundown of the rest of our summer thus far:

June 1-10: Denver @ my college roommates' houses and Karl & Amy's house
(my parents and Andy & his gf are going to be there from June 4-9; Heidi's wedding is June 6)

June 10-27: Houston @ Rachel & Aaron's--Michael's sister and husband (in between there--June 19-21 we will be renting a car and meeting my mom in Dallas for my cousin Dana's wedding; Michael will be in Waco on June 2oth for his college friend Myles' wedding--we may also take a trip over to Baton Rouge to see Rebekah, Michael's youngest sister)

June 27-July 14: Searcy, AR @ Michael's parents' house
July 14-28: San Diego @ Leslie's parents' house
July 28: back to South Korea!

It will be busy but should be a great trip. I just hope they get this swine flu thing contained before we get there. I am tired of people wearing face masks. I live with this every day, people!


~Leslie