Movin' on Up to the east side...of the building

Just in case you were worried that life in Korea was getting a bit predictable, boring, blah blah...well here's some good news:

1. Seasons change- Welcome Fall, the most perfect, beautifully ambling seasonal change I can remember. Winter is creeping in one degree at a time and brewing up some truly amazing weather.

2. Cubicles change- I moved this past saturday into the larger of the two "officetels" that my school has in the building. This one is approximately twice the size of my old dorm room and now takes 10 steps to get to the bathroom instead of 2. There is even enough room for a proper "sitting area" and my chair count is now up to 4 plus a tiny uncomfortable loveseat. This is very exciting news (especially for the 5 people who came over to watch Flight of the Conchords at my old place. Sorry about that.) Let's just have another gratuitous shot of the luxurious space of my new apartment. I tried to lounge in the luxuriousness, but quickly discovered the loveseat is not conducive to basking as it is korean sized.3. Friends change- The first of my real Korea friends went home making it clear to me that turnover is part of life in the ROK and I have to get used to it. It's the world of the one year contract...you know exactly when you're going to have goodbyes. I miss the world where people spring leaving on you as part of a life decision instead of something they've been planning for since the beginning. oh well. Fair thee well jjimjilbang boys.4. Temperaments change- Once upon a time, a scene like the one you are about to view made my skin crawl and turned me into the evil teacher from hell. Now I revel just a bit in the anarchy as I sit back and realize, hey, they're 4.Speaking of work, I've started doing some curriculum editing work. The publishing company associated with my school asked me to look at a program that uses cooking to teach english. I will admit that I've pretty much got this theater thing down, so I'm feeling ready to take on a new challenge. And I've been missing the work that I did at TNC...so this is really cool. And it pays more money. And the books will be published when they are finished. I'm starting to think that this sort of project management is what I would like to do for a career....but who knows. I feel really ambivalent about the possibilities for the future. THAT hasn't changed :)

5. God doesn't change, but callings do- As if He heard my whining about having two callings (nursery and music chair) and decided to just roll them all into one bigger and more complicated task, I was just called to be the Military District Singles Co-Chair. That's like a stake that covers the entire country of S. Korea, no joke.

The exciting part is that I will know TONs of people all over korea and get to travel a bit (chili's in pyeongteok, here I come!!!!). The less than exciting part is that I can't just bail out of activities when I'm feeling less than social. Meh. Oh yeah and the part where I have to organize stuff and go to meetings which are rumored to be at 6:30 am on the sabbath. So long, cute sunday hair and welcome roll- out -of- bed bun.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that no one ever asks the girl in charge out on dates. Clipboards and business emails are generally not very attractive to the other gender. Being a bratty side participant who makes off-handed smarmy comments during potluck "get to know you" rounds is much sexier. Sigh. Sigh. Loveboat julie at your service.