Ahhhhghghg... what a weird week... a rollercoaster of emotions going on right now... hope you guys don't mind me rambling today.
After about 4 years of working at my hakwon as an e-tutor (editing students' English essays online), it seems that my sweet day job has come to an end. To make a long story short, basically, over the past two years or so, my department has been outsourcing the majority of the work to a branch in the Philippines. As a result, the pool of domestic tutors has shrunk to literally a handful of people. Yes, even jobs in Korea are outsourced to cheaper labor overseas. *sigh*
I guess I knew the time would come when my hakwon would stop renewing my contract, and I am quite surprised that I was able to stick it out longer than most people, but now that it's actually coming to an official end, I feel a bit weird about it. I don't want to say that I'm depressed, but I do feel a little loss over a job that brought some great friends into my life, eventually allowed me to work from home, gave me a somewhat steady and decent income, and was so comfortable and flexible... However, at the same time, I'm actually thankful for this because I've had thoughts of pursuing other dreams, and yet haven't had the guts to actually quit my day job. In a lot of ways, this is a blessing in disguise, my "way out," as this will free me up to paint more, design my own stationery line, perhaps set up a renegade vegan bakery of sorts... who knows, really. Obviously, I'll have to tighten up the budget, and find creative ways to make ends meet... but yea. I'm not going to be upset about this because... well, there's really no need for that. It's time to move on (hopefully to bigger and better things), and this will finally give me the kick in the butt that I need.
So there you have it. I have about a month before my contract ends and then I'll officially be done with the hakwon world. woot? Wooot!!
Oh, but that's not the only news I have! The ironic thing about this whole situation is that... *drumroll*...
...I'm going to Paris for a 2-week vacation in June! Say what?! haha. I've been planning this trip for a few weeks now (before I knew about my job ending) and I meant to blog about it, but kept forgetting. Since it's an unpaid vacation, it would probably be more prudent to cancel it and squeeze as much money out of my job before it ends, but after some thought, I've decided to just say 'screw it' and take the vacation anyway. My sister is also gonna be there for half of the trip, and we're going to spend a weekend in Amsterdam to meet up with old boarding school friends, which I'm super excited about. Ahhh!
My family actually did a big Europe trip when I was younger, so this won't be my first time in France or the Netherlands, but now that I'm much older and also vegan, I'm expecting the trip to be a completely different experience. I'll admit I'm a bit concerned about what I'm going to eat since France is notorious for their buttery pastries, cheese, escargot, croque-monsieur, stuffed duck, and every meat-centric dish featured in 'Julie & Julia'. Infact, my most memorable part of touring France back then, wasn't seeing the city from the top of the Eiffel Tower, but it was the delicious, flaky pain au chocolat! Oh, and let's not forget all the cheese I sampled in Holland! I know it's weird for me to say this as a vegan, but when I think back, the best cheese I ever had was in Holland, and it was there where I truly developed a love/addiction for cheese. I wouldn't eat these things now, knowing what I know, but I do have some pretty strong non-vegan food memories of this part of Europe, and now I'm not really sure what to expect. hehe... So anyway, I've been doing some online recon' and I've found some veg-friendly spots I definitely want to check out. I've also already started my 'bucket list' of foods I want to eat while I'm there, and vegan pain au chocolat is definitely on that list! If anyone knows where I can find this holy grail, hook this vegan uuuup!
So that's my big news of the day. It looks like I'll be spending my last 2 weeks of employment livin' it up in Paris! And when I come back, I'll be significantly poorer from all the traveling and from eating too much good food (not to mention jobless), but believe you me, it shall allll be worth it.
On a totally unrelated note, here's what I ate today for lunch. Rice noodles in curry broth (the Japanese curry cubes), mixed with shiitake mushrooms, seaweed, collard leaves, and onions. Quite good and very filling!
I haven't gone running in a week, but I've been going hiking instead. Looooove it. Oh, infact, today is the last day of my gym membership, and I don't plan on renewing it any time soon. Why run on a treadmill when there's the great outdoors? jk, treadmills have their uses. :)
Phew~
Anyway. Thank you for reading!