This isn't actually an email that I've sent to anyone. It's just an update of what's been happening around here lately.

January was an extremely busy month for me, teaching-wise. Whereas in December, I was averaging about 5-6 students per class, in my first class in January I had 32 students. Whoa. See, the GRE is offered in March here, and college students have January and February off, so many of them are preparing for it during that time. I teach five different classes and each one was about 23-25 students. I actually enjoy teaching large classes because I get a better reaction from the students and it gives me more confidence. But that is a hell of a lot of papers to grade each day.

So much so that I had to drop my Korean language class. I was disappointed to have to do so but everyone recommended it. In retrospect, there is no way that I could have kept up with the class. So I have put it off indefinitely and will probably pick it up again in April. I can tell I have forgotten quite a bit of it already but hopefully it will come back to me quickly.

Vivi was away at the beginning of the month, off at a "winter camp" teaching English. She came back to Seoul for a quick visit on the 11th and 12th, which, not coincidentally, was her birthday. We went to a very nice Swiss fondue restaurant and I wrote her a birthday letter all in Korean. She was floored.

Then she was away at camp for another week and then returned to Seoul for good on the 19th. We spent a lot of time together that week, leading up to our "100 Day Anniversary" on the 26th. This is a big deal for couples here so we celebrated by buying each other watches and then having dinner at a nice Italian restaurant.

Then there was the Super Bowl. I haven't watched a Super Bowl in the US since 1999. Seriously!
2000: Rams-Titans. Was flying from Boston to London, though I did see the opening kickoff at Logan.
2001: Ravens-Giants. Was living in London without a TV.
2002: Patriots-Rams. Watched it at a hotel in Sydney.
My roommate, Rob, is from Orlando and is a very big Bucs fan. So we woke up at 8am to watch the game and even though it was a bit of a snoozer after the first quarter, Rob was very, very happy. We had three friends over and had a little breakfast party. It was a lot of fun.

Last weekend was Lunar New Year (commonly referred to as Chinese New Year... everywhere except here, of course!). I wouldn't say it is "celebrated" here so much as it is "observed". No parade, no fireworks, none of that stuff. Instead, Koreans usually spend the day with their extended family and perform many ancestor-worshipping rituals. Since Vivi was with her family that day, Rob and I decided to go to Itaewon (the "foreigner" neighborhood) to start drinking around 3pm. By 10pm, I was pretty much incoherent, so we went to KFC and then I went home. I haven't had a big bender in quite a while and I was definitely feeling the effects of being "out of practice".

February looks to be just about the same as January. Very very busy. Valentine's Day is coming up, of course, but in Korea the GIRL buys gifts for the GUY. Sweet!

Chris