Gyeongju

It was a nice feeling coming back to Jinju after 4 days away at the first of two Fulbright conferences over the course of this year. Few feelings compare to that of returning to the place you call home - even if that 'home' is across the world from what you're used to. The conference itself was a mixed bag. I can count the hours we spent sharing valuable teaching experiences on one hand while the hours of practicing our new "Fulbright Song" seem to blend together days at a time.

I was under the impression that this conference provided an opportunity for us ETAs to discuss and dissect our first 6 weeks at our respective schools. We certainly spent enough time in teaching workshops during orientation and it was a little bit of a letdown that I didn't get the chance to hear from more people in a structured setting. In reality, many of us were a little bit tired from the extracurricular activities that inevitably occur when you bring together 100 young adults - many friends who haven't seen each other in weeks.

The "Fulbright Song" is a totally different animal. Written, composed, and arranged by members of the Fulbright Korea community, we will perform the song at Fulbright Korea's 60th Anniversary Celebration this coming weekend in Seoul. Our Executive Director, both eyes fixed on the newly formed Fulbright choir, observed us during our extensive rehearsals. Understandably, she doesn't want us to make fools of ourselves at the milestone celebration which she has put a lot of work into preparing. We sound much better than I could have ever imagined and I must say, the Fulbright Korea men know how to entertain a crowd (and ourselves in the process).

This week my students at GSHS are taking their midterm exams. I wasn't required to give a written exam since my primary focus is conversational English. Lucky for me since I don't think it would be much fun to be around my students this week as they immerse themselves in last-minute cramming for exams in every subject. This gives me some time to act as a pseudo tour guide for other ETAs who will be filtering in and out of Jinju this week to check out the Jinju Lantern Festival. The city of Jinju has been setting up this festival for weeks now and the lanterns were first lit this past Friday. I'll be seeing them tonight for the first time and I'm very excited to see what the hype has been all about.

On another note, it's about time my fantasy football team started showing it's ability. There were flashes of promise in weeks 1 through 3 of the fledgling NFL season but it looks now that my hard-nosed running backs and Antonio Gates (team MVP at this point in season) are starting to prove their worth.

It's really cooling down here and I might wear a sweatshirt tonight for the first time in months. Sweet.