Happy Chuseok!: Life Gets Busy, I Get Happy

As my mentor once told me, life gets busy. It's an fact that will happen sooner or later and will become a continuing process for any normal adult life.

Life in Korea, and life as an ESL teacher is no different. My high school is in the process of testing, testing and more testing. The most important being the upcoming College Entrance Exam, a test that students often spend their entire high school career preparing for.

Along with that, the end of September and beginning of October contained one of the most important holidays for my school and for Korea. September 26th my school celebrated its Fonder's Day, celebrating the construction of my high school. From September 29th through October 1st was Chuseok, the Korean equal to Thanksgiving coinciding with the lunar calender. The following Wednesday was also another celebration celebration the independence and formation of Korea.

I spent this time taking a road trip with friends to Incheon, spending time driving around the city and eating a traditional Chuseok dinner. driving was the only option considering that train tickets quickly sold out in a matter of hours after going on sale. It took six hours to drive up when combined with traffic and only two and a half hours to drive back. While the holiday was simple, it was a great break and bonding experience with some fellow teachers in Korea.

That Monday I had a friend come and visit me in my hometown. Her schedule is constantly busy and living and working in Incheon rarely allowed her time to come and visit my town in the middle of Korea. For two days we spent time together, exploring Gimcheon and giving her a taste of the rural life that was missing form her busy city living. The two days passed by in a flash and I found myself yearning for a few more days of holiday, if only to enjoy the company for a little longer.

I have now been thrust back into school life, working to prepare and evaluate tests while also preparing students for a speaking and writing contest. I have also just been accepted as a writer for a travel website back in Chicago, making the number of publications that I currently write for at number four.

I have never been busier than I have ever been all all year, but I am also currently the happiest I have been in awhile. Things seem to be falling into place nicely and despite some setbacks, I seem to be back on my feet and ready to take on any challenges that I come across.

I am happy with my jobs, the people in my life and life in general. Happiness may not last forever but for now, its more than enough to make me stand in awe at some of the awesome things life can toss your way.

Things are great, and may be getting better soon.

I've never been busier, never been happier.

A view of Jikjisa Park, near my hometown and one of the many places I visited during Chuseok.