2023 Highlights Reel

Well, hello, everyone! It's been a long time, but I'm back, and I'm happy to say that one of my goals for 2024 is to get this blog back on track.

You may have noticed that I recently (last night at 2 AM -- good things never happen at 2 AM) broke all the photo and video links on my website. So, add that to my list of goals for 2024. Oops!

But in case you were too busy wondering where my 2023 year-in-review video is, I'm happy to announce that I've finally finished the hours of editing and piecing together my annual video (and unfortunately learning the hard way what audio drifting is, and how to fix it, and if you don't know what this is, consider yourself lucky)!

Anyway, that means my video is ready to go! So, let's go~!

If the video is TL;DW (too long; didn't watch), then, allow me to first recommend watching it in episodic bits so you can enjoy the great music and see all my ups and downs of learning videography and video editing. OK, that doesn't sell it, does it?

Then, second, allow me to bullet-point the highlights of last year. (I'm skipping over all the bad stuff, but if you wanna hear it, maybe I'll do another blog post sometime this year.)

BULLET POINT TIME! (Pew pew!)

• Moved from Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si (a city juuuuust south of Seoul) into proper Seoul. Now, I have a permanent view of Lotte Tower!

• Started working at a different campus with my same hagwon (in Songpa-gu)

• Visited four different countries (Hong Kong; Taipei, Taiwan; Hanoi, Da Nang, Halong Bay, Ninh Binh, Hue, and My Son in Vietnam; Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo, Sapporo, Otaru, and Sapporo in Japan; and various places around South Korea, of course -- Seoul, Incheon, and Busan!)

• Visited two Disney parks: Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea (just gotta visit Tokyo Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland to complete them all!!)

• Mastered the use of parenthetical writing (as you can see here)

• Completed my student-teaching in Ms. Esther, my mentor's, 3rd grade classroom at Korea International School in Seoul

• Completed my teaching certification course at Moreland University (Teach Now)

• Finished all my PRAXIS exams (and KILLED them, dare I say?!)

• Obtained my teaching license!!!!!!!!!

• Accepted a 4th grade homeroom position in Hanoi, Vietnam, which I will begin teaching in August 2024!!!!!!!!

• Made friends all around the world -- so many awesome people who make my heart feel full

• Completed another year of teaching amazing students and felt proud of all their growth and development that they accomplished throughout the 2023 school year

Last year was a tough year, but as my dear friend, Gene Magee (in the Place to Be) often says, "The comeback will be better than the setback!" The first half of last year was the setback, and the second half was the comeback. I'd love to delve more into this with you later!

For now, I'll tell you my goals for 2024:

• I'll be taking some me-time for a few months to fulfill a dream of traveling the world and publish it. My trusty camera and I will be making our rounds and sharing my stories and photos here!

• It's been my intention for too long a time to come back to my blog and actually make use of the darn thing, so here we are! I'll be writing and posting pics a lot more, in general. Let me know what you like to see or read!

• In August, I'll be starting my new job as a 4th grade homeroom teacher at an international school in Hanoi, Vietnam! I want to be the best teacher I can possibly be as I jump into this new chapter of my career!

• When I moved abroad, my intention was to live in various places around the world and experience life in different cultures, to learn more about the world and people's perspectives. I want to keep this fresh, open mind and heart with this new move to Vietnam, a place that has captured my heart and has many new things to teach.

Thanks for watching and reading! I'll go fix those broken links now. ;)