As Time Goes By

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! It really means a lot (what would we do without Facebook?). I'm going to backtrack a bit and tell you about work before I get to what I did on my birthday.

I started work on Monday and I love this job. Seriously. So far, I have 1 class on Monday and Wednesday nights, 1 class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 2 classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights and 1 class on Saturday mornings. Classes during the week are 1.5 hours long and Saturday classes are 3 hours. It's kind of like having a college schedule again, which I have to admit, I really like. A few hours of work each day is way better than having full workdays. The classes are all really small and my students are awesome. Most of them are around my age or a little older, which makes it easy to relate.

On a completely unrelated note, I finished reading the Hunger Games this week and I definitely recommend it to everyone. It's a very powerful series and just a great reading experience.

I went to San Jose today (it's a 30 minute bus ride away) to meet up with one of the teachers I met at orientation. She and I bonded over a love for Science Fiction and she offered to show me this English bookstore she found in town. We wandered around the bookstore for a bit and then got some pizza at a local restaurant. I also spent some time at this awesome cafe in the National Theater. It's definitely the most beautiful building in San Jose. My students never really have anything good to say about San Jose, but the theater is usually mentioned as the best place. So that's pretty much how spent my day and I'm sure most of you know that it was full of a lot of my favorite things.

While in some ways my life is kind of similar to what it was this time last year...living in a foreign country, teaching English, not really knowing a lot of people...it feels very different. It's been way easier to get settled here than in China. The environment, people and pace here are way more suited for me. It also helps that I know I'm going to be here for a while. I've moved around so much since graduating (6 months at home, 1 month in Cambodia, 3 months in Xian, 6 months in Jinan, 3 months at home and now CR), I haven't really given myself a chance to get comfortable anywhere. I definitely think I've chosen a perfect place to call home for a year.

I meant to write more, but my day off has worn me out. Thanks again for the birthday wishes, I love you all and hope you are doing well wherever you are.