It was about a year ago that I was considering a possible future in Seoul and thought "I have GOT to get the HELL out of here!" And these days, though I don't regret even for a second my decision to stay, I am starting to feel the same way. Not to the same extent, but close. And I can pretty much pinpoint the reason:

Summer.

Last year, I was getting exhausted from all the teaching, all the drinking, and all the drama of living on the set of "The Real World: Seoul". But also it was the summer weather. And this year, I'm not teaching as much, I hardly ever drink, and there is virtually no drama. But there is still the summer weather, and so I assume that is the common denominator.

There are days when it is hot and humid, days when it is warm and raining, and days where it is hot and raining. I can't really decide which is worst. By all accounts, monsoon season should have ended weeks ago, but it is still raining every few days (including today). I don't mind the heat by itself, but the fact that I start sweating the second I walk out the door is getting to be too much.

Everyone says that once monsoon season does end, it will be better. Well, it will still be hot, but at least not raining. But it will still be HUMID, and that's no good. So I guess I will have to tough it out another month or two.

My only consolation is that I remember last summer that there was one day in late August when I wore a light sweater, and when I returned to Korea in late September it was definitely "cool". So I figure in eight weeks it will be autumn.

And then in nine, it will be winter. ^^;

The other thing that is really draining me is the amount of work I am doing outside of teaching. This is because in July I had about 160 students, each of whom wrote about two papers a week. So I was spending 15 hours a week grading papers outside of class... and not getting paid for it! My boss seems to think it's unreasonable for me to request some sort of payment for working 50% overtime (though they did, ultimately, throw me a bone and pay me a bonus). Even though I don't teach on Fridays and Sundays, I still would spend those days grading papers from about 10am to 8pm, thus ruining my so-called "day off". Meanwhile, my friends and other teachers (through no fault of their own) had weekend trips to Japan, spent time with their girlfriends, and got to actually RELAX on the holidays. Oh, woe is me.

While I'm bitching, I'll also point out that another point of stress these days is that I am trying to get a new contract from The Princeton Review but the one that they offered me was (to use a word I really, really hate) "unacceptable". Last Wednesday I had a really crappy day and then I get this contract that offered me a mere 7% raise. I don't mind saying here that I am a mildly famous teacher and that my classes are quite popular because of the work that I put into them and my ability as a teacher. I thought that 7% was an insult. There are other minor details, but that's the main one.

Ahhh... I feel much better now.

I would be lying if I said my life has been all work and no play since my birthday. One day, Vivi and I went to Lotte World, the world's largest indoor amusement park. It was really cool. I haven't been to an amusement park in ages. They had all sorts of rollercoasters and rides and we had a blast. There are some pictures up currently and some more coming soon.

The highlight of the day, though, was the Shooting Range. We're talking real guns here. Besides paying for sex and getting mind-numbingly drunk, shooting guns is one of the more popular ways for Koreans to blow off steam. Vivi and I had joked about doing it some day, but when we saw the opportunity, it was too good to pass up. For about $17 you get 10 shots, and I chose the Beretta 9mm for us. Neither of us had ever shot a pistol before (I shot a .22 rifle in Boy Scouts) and it was so freakin cool!! I wish I had taken a picture of Vivi holding a hand cannon. I shot 76%, and I'll try to get into the 90s before I go back to America. I am a closet gun control fan, but this was really, really cool.

Not too much else new happening aside from that. Three weeks ago, we had a "boys' night" in Itaewon (the foreigner neighborhood) and tried to find the South Africa-New Zealand rugby match (to no avail). We ended up at the 3 Alley Pub, our favorite place in Itaewon (if not all Seoul). I called it a night around 12:30, though because (sigh) I had to grade papers the next day.

The following week, Vivi had gone away on vacation and Rob's girlfriend was back in the US for a wedding, so we were thinking of having another boys' night. Rob, Eric, and I went for dinner in our neighborhood and then found ourselves sitting at a table outside a convenience store having a beer. Four hours later, we were still there. Yes, I really did spend a Saturday night getting drunk outside of a convenience store. In the summer, they often set up tables and chairs and people buy stuff in the store and sit there and consume it. We also added "watching girls" to the agenda. Beer is only about $1 in the store and they have plenty of other food and drinks to choose from! The only downside: no bathroom. But that didn't really cause too much concern.

This past weekend, I didn't even go out at all on Saturday night. Rob and Eric went to Tokyo to see the Bucs-Jets preseason game (I wanted to go but... sigh... I had to teach) and all of my other friends were busy (it was Vivi's dad's birthday) so I stayed in and read. It was actually kind of nice.

Despite the weather and other misery of summer in Seoul, it is actually going by pretty quickly and so we are trying to plan a bunch of stuff to do in August before all of the summer session teachers leave. I don't really see them that much but it would be nice to hang out with them a little before September rolls around and life goes back to "normal".