It is now July. The rainy season began about a week ago. Though we've had a day or two of sun. Yesterday was incredibly hot and humid. The sun here is more intense than the one I remember in America.
I'm just on the other side of one of my more busy two week stretches. I had parent conferences yesterday. They went very well. I was lacking the nervousness I had last year. I feel my teaching has improved dramatically since the time I have been here. Last year I wasn't as confident. So knowing more about teaching and being able to talk more confidently about the kids and what they can do to improve has made life a lot easier with regard to meeting with parents. I also feel a much better rhythm to my teaching this year and I can more easily sense the class and what I need to be doing to maintain their interest and make sure they understand what were learning.
After a hot day yesterday, it started raining at night. It was a very strong rain, and we had lighting and thunder...a rare occurance in this area. I slept wonderfully to the sound of drops on the window. I love the rain.
So the word is not certain yet, but the hopes are that I will be headed home at the end of the month for a little vacation. I should arrive late on July 28. My aim is to have a relaxing time mostly at home with my family. Though I'm sure a few days to visit Harrisburg won't hurt. I'm very excited. It will be very nice to not teach for more than two or three days. I also have a mind for fig newtons and beans. I trust they are both still available stateside. Hope to see some of you soon.

It's been a while I've been wanting to visit Gyeongju, one of the biggest historical cities in Korea. It was very nice weather. They have bike rentals right outside the bus terminal so we were able to take some for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we biked way out to Bulguksa, a very big famous temple; which took us long enough we spent the rest of the night in that area. This morning we road back into town and hit up some of the sights in the city. Of considerable enjoyment were an open field and a relatively clean river with snakes. On few occasions will you come across either of these in Korea in the foottracks I have made. We had two rather delicious meals for lunch yesterday and today...Ssam bap and Poori bap. Good things with rice. The large mounds above are burial sites for royalty. Not too exciting, but it was nice to see grass hills. There were a lot of random burial spots, temples, museums, etc. I thought the greatest idea was renting out bikes. That way we only spent 10 dollars on all of our travel the two days, rather than pay for buses and taxis that wouldn't afford us the flexibility or pace we were able to have. It was a very nice stay and a place to see if you ever do happen upon Korea. I hope I've offered enough pictures.