Mourners are crowding in Pyongyang. There will be no “Asian Winter” to counter the Arab Spring because an overthrow demands a resistance, and there isn’t much of one (and this wasn’t an overthrow, but rather an old leader dying of old age.) Kim Jong Il and his father purged a resistance long ago, as Bradley K Martin has painstakingly documented in Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. 

Jong Il undoubtedly committed dozens of human rights atrocities, and was a tyrant. His father, Il Sung, was not much better, although even voluntary North Korean political refugees often express great affection for the man. 

However, of those who leave North Korea, most are economic migrants seeking temporary labor in China, and over half willingly return.  While we cannot ignore those languishing in the prison camps of Yodok and elsewhere, to pretend as though the regime doesn’t have a degree of support amongst its people is a Western fantasy.

North Korea is a human rights disaster. Millions have died from famine, and thousands are imprisoned in the camps of Yodok and elsewhere. We don’t know the mind of North Korea, but you can’t program the displays of grief on broad display in the capital.

We know North Korea is a human rights disaster. But North Koreans seem to, if not love, at least know nothing else other than the status quo. This isn’t a Stalinist regime where people are waiting to be “rescued”. What then, is the ethical way for the world stage to move forward?

The reaction so far in my current hometown of Gwangju, by the way, is mostly apathy. My students and coworkers have expressed happiness that he is gone, but they know it’s business as usual. The only vocalized concern I’ve heard so far is that Kim Jong Un will become more daring as he attempts to solidify his grasp of power as the new “party center”.

Oh, and I still lurk around here, I've just found LJ is mostly dead these days. Long live Tumblr, kekeke

In the wake of Fukushima I may be hosting a friend of mine and her lovely wife, both ESL teachers in Japan, for some time if the worst case scenario happens with the nuclear reactors. From my understanding the radiation situation in their prefecture is very precarious. Obviously, their coming here would be a worst case scenario - but it's still a possibility with the way everything is up in the air right now.

Never have I been more grateful to have a roof over my head and an open door for friends. And never have I thought more about how important it is to do the same for others, as they might do for you in the future.

Rearrange these in the order in which they've happened in your life.

Things that have happened: 

Get a cell phone (2001)
Get drunk for the first time (2002, drinking caipirinhas at 15 with my aunt Susan in Rio de Janeiro.) 
Graduate high school (2004)
Start college (2004)
Graduate college (2008)
Meet who you hoped was your significant other but wasn’t (2006 and 2007 - this happened twice.)
Move out of parent’s house for good (2009 - when I left for Korea last year and vowed to work towards complete financial independence and a debt-free lifestyle.) 
Become gainfully employed (2008, as a stringer for People.)


Things that haven't happened to me yet which means I'm not a REAL ADULT ZOMGGGGGGG: 

Meet significant other
Get married
Get divorced
Buy a house
Get Pregnant
Have baby #1
Have baby #2
Have baby #3
Have baby #4


Welp, I sound like a baby in terms of life milestones, huh? 

General life update: things are just swimming in Korea. The new school year started March 1st and I am loving the new pre-k and kindergarten babies in my classrooms. I've definitely committed to teaching as a career, and am considering pursuing TESOL certification with the international Cambridge/Oxford CELTA program as well as a Master's in Education for stateside certification. Not sure if ESL is going to be my life-long career choice, but teaching definitely is and I'm so glad I chose to stay in Korea another year. There are so many lovely things about this country you only get to notice with time.

Or is wanting to punch Sansa Stark in the face a universal part of the reading-Game of Thrones-for-the-first-time experience? 

BTW, apologies are in order to yagathai  and xraytheenforcer  and anyone else who tried to get me to join the Westeros boards for not having read these AMAZING books sooner. I'm a converted fangirl for life.

Long time no talk. I usually use my tumblr for updates, but I figure ol' LJ could use some attention, too! What's up, y'all? 

Today I went to HomePlus (Korea's answer to Wal-Mart: Supercenters, because Korea doesn't allow Wal-Mart in the country - no joke) and stocked up on home goods to make my apartment feel more like, well... a home. Why?

Because, while it's still very tentative visa-paperwork-wise, my boss asked me to stay another year and I said HELLS YES. Yay!!!!!!!

In short: I love my school. I love the small class sizes, the kids I've gotten to know and love, and the camaraderie we've developed. I love my neighborhood, an upper-middle class section of metropolitan Gwangju near parks and mountains with lots of hiking.

And - why lie? - I love saving the money. My goal right now is to put away $1000 USD a month to help fund a master's degree program in education with a teacher training focus, or a teacher training post-bac. I love teaching, and it makes sense to get more experience doing ESL while making grad school as practical - and debt-free - as possible.

My challenge during the next year is making another social group, because, with English teaching as transient as it is, most of the main members of my social group have returned to the States to start graduate school or jobs back home. And there's still so much of Korea I haven't seen - the old capital at Gyeongju, the DMZ, the beaches of Busan, and thousands of gorgeous temples. So there's still a bunch of exploring left yet! 

Here are some other goals I have so I don't forget: 

• Visit Evan Jeshka in Japan next year over Chuseok.
• Fix up some things in my apartment so it feels like more of a home - replace some lights, get my janky old refrigerator looked at.
• Take and pass the beginner Korean proficiency test - sounds nuts, but this could actually help me get Bilingual ed certification back home. And it would definitely help my resume as an ESL teacher. :) 
• Plan a longer, two month trip around Southeast Asia before finishing my second contract. I want to see Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia before returning home.

Finally, I will probably get a few weeks to come back to the States before starting a second contract so I will probably do a side trip to Philly to see Mike, Dayna, and Arielle before coming back to Korea. Is there anyone else who would just love to meet up? This would be in January and I'd be happy to travel about. :) 

Anyway, my friend Dan and I just got back from a nutso Korean food festival. We saw a cake made to look like a gigantic pirate ship and a marzipan sculpture of a dragon. So.... those pics are going up, soon. LOL

This is Thomas, a student in my pre-K class. He is 3 years old.

He is convinced that English is not a real language and I'm trying to trick him with my foreign-ness and imaginary words.

He runs around shouting "Ige mwoyeyo? Ige mwoyeyo?" ("What's this?") and when I tell him, he starts laughing hysterically, shaking his head "No" (Or "Aniyo", really) and shouting in Korean that I'm tricking him.

LOL! How does he come up with that? It's adorable.

Today we turned the kindergarten into a giant 'hospital' and the kids took turns pretending to be doctors and patients. I taught them medical phrases in English like "I have a fever" and "I'm sick".

They were way too into giving each other awfully macabre "surgery" and very lethal looking injections. Sadism starts early.

Is it possible to die from cute? 

Is it possible for my biological clock to stop ticking? 

Oh my god, I'm one of those people who can't stop gushing about their kids. And they're not even mine! 

Lately I’ve been having a real emotional struggle about whether or not to re-sign with the same hagwon in Gwangju. I know y'all aren't in Korea, but maybe you can help me unpack my emotional stuff. 

Here’s what I’m thinking:

• Aside from a few random issues, my hagwon boss treats me really well. She’s very considerate and kind. This is NOT typical in the hagwon industry. And while I will probably find another job, more and more Americans are coming out here because of the bad economy. I'm starting to think it's smarter to stay with a situation I know than go back to a situation I don't.

• I don’t have that much holiday, but I can always take a big holiday (like I’m planning) after Year 2. And my day-to-day schedule is not that strenuous. My total number of teaching-contact hours per day is 6. It's a 40-hour week so a little longer than most hagwon teachers, but my day flies by pretty quickly.

• I am becoming really attached to my students, particularly the kindergartners. If I leave and another fresh-off-the-boat teacher is brought in to replace me, these young children will have to deal with a new teacher who doesn’t know them, probably doesn’t know how to teach (not that I did on Day One, but still, they’d have to go through it AGAIN) and may or may not give a shit about teaching. A lot of people come out here just to fart around, not because they actually want to be teachers. It’s starting to feel like it would be a disservice to them to up and leave after the year is up.

• IDK. I like my apartment. I like the students. I like Gwangju. I like my life here. Going through the hagwon or public school process will be another crap shoot.

Here’s the big con: My family and friends.

I’d probably only get to go home and see family and friends for 2 weeks. And that is pretty generous length of break, but… I haven’t seen everyone in a year.

Is it fair to Lauren and my mom and friends like Dayna and Mike and my aunt and IDK, everyone.... to be gone from their lives for another entire year with only a small break in between? Maybe I just need to suck it up, spend some real time with family and friends, and then come back for the year.

On the other hand, I’m an adult now, and this is just one tiny piece of my life out of the years I plan to be home in the States, barring getting hit by a bus or something, IDK. I want to do another year, backpack for a few months, and then come back to the States for good. So it's not like OMG ABANDONING ALL Y'ALL 4EVER.

So what is the best course of action?

I’m really really torn. I think of family and friends. And then I think of my day-to-day with the kids and even silly simple interactions like the boss’s 10 year old son deciding he’s my “Korean teacher” and making up little lessons for me and those little joys. And how it might be more “right” to give these kids another year. Not that English conversational teaching is Stand and Deliver or anything, just they deserve some consistency.

TL;DR give me life advice please?