The next week the replacement for Nikki Teacher showed up. He has been in Korea before, and I met him a few times before he left. He fits into the culture Joel and I have created in the teachers room--lighthearted and humorous where no one is safe from jokes or schenanigans, but slightly more serious than it sounds but not really. We're just larger versions of the children we teach. Nikki had fun and was sad to leave but I know she was more happy than sad to go. She was ready to leave Korea. I wish her the best and I'm sure I'll see her again at some point in the future.
The new teacher's name is Dominic, but his Korean driver thought it was Bominic (thankfully this was outside the airport), and the Korean teachers at work thought his name was the abbreviated version of Dormitory, Dorm; most teachers still call him that, myself included. He's British, so there is a good WC rivalry going on, but it's all in good fun. Dorm is an awesome guy who, I am pretty sure, is less mature than Joel and I, and we've been reading the Harry Potter series and the Percy Jackson series, respectively, for the past couple weeks.
Daniel never fit in as well. He had his moments and a few of the best zingers, but he always took things a little too seriously and got frustrated too easily. Part of that had to do with the fact that he just wanted to be in Seoul. It's not as much that he didn't like Busan, he just didn't have eyes for it. His dreams and goals are in Seoul, and now he is too. He's smart and dedicated enough that whatever his goals are, nothing will stop him. To replace Daniel upstairs we are stealing a teacher from downstairs (elementary), DJ. He's a bit older than we are but he will fit in well. I'm looking forward to his arrival and working with him. He and Joel will be competing in a mock teaching to see who will get to teach Daniel's Nokjiwon classes, they are the highest level, speak the best English, and are the best classes to teach.
I've told you a bit about how my work life is changing, now for my personal life. On Memorial Day, May 30th, I quit smoking cigarettes. It's been two weeks and a day. I still have cravings but I know that if I have one I will start again, that's just how I operate. Next up, my living situation. I was living in a hallway that was called an apartment, but when I was promoted to Head Teacher they moved me to a much nicer place. I moved, literally, across the street. It's a much bigger apartment and it even has a loft, which I started sleeping in, but because of the heat I've moved back downstairs. The pictures below are the ones I took when I originally moved in and hadn't unpacked yet, I took new pics but they were blurry and not as crisp.
Also, I might be adopting a dog. It's like a bigger chihuahua and is a rescue dog that was going to be sent back to Seoul to live in a crate so I offered to take care of it. I'm going to do a trial run and see how it works out; the dog sounds really cool.
And now for something completely different....
North America: U.S.A.
South America: Chile
Europe: Germany
Africa: Ghana
Asia: South Korea
Oceania: Doesn't Count
Accurate surmisal. DEXTER!!!!
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