Intensives and Vacation

My school's intensive summer program starts July 23rd and runs for five weeks. I am scheduled to teach 8 additional morning classes per week for a total of 20 extra hours of teaching. In addition to my regular 4-11pm schedule (plus the 3-4 additional hours of grading essays), I will have class from 9:30-12 and 1-3:30 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Knowing I'll be rewarded with a fat paycheck does little to mitigate the dread I have for these weeks.

I was already barely excited for my vacation within Korea before I saw the intensives schedule. I had done zero planning which is quite unlike me. I've been in a blah Korea phase for a few weeks and seeing the schedule fully switched on the 'must get out of Korea' mindset. Once I got home from work on Thursday night, I emailed a couple of travel agents. By Friday afternoon I had transferred money to pay for my plane ticket to Taiwan. The flight to Taipei is only 2.5 hours from Seoul and I'll arrive in the afternoon on July 15th. I won't be returning to Korea until the 22nd. Hurray!

Why Taiwan? Cheapest flight (~$400). It's going to be hot and muggy there, but it's hot and muggy in Korea. At least there will be delicious Chinese food, night markets and easy train travel to beautiful beaches. My zeal for travel planning has returned and I'm happily researching where I can go and what I can do.