Sofie to Korea

And just like that it’s July. We’re already halfway through 2021. It seems like forever and a blink of an eye at the same time.

Just like the Koreans divide the year into 상반기 and 하반기 for the first and second half, I like to use this time of year to evaluate my goals and study routines – sort of like a halftime evaluation.

I usually make a rough plan at the beginning of each year for what I want to accomplish. This year, for example, I set out to read two books per month (one of them in Korean), and so far I’m on track with that.

I also have plans to finish my 800+ page Hanja book by late summer, and with one chapter a week I’m also on track to reach this goal.

Hopefully I will manage to take the TOPIK test again this year. My score from 2017 has been invalid for a couple of years now and I need to renew it. Once I sign up next week, I’ll slowly start working on a more detailed study schedule so I’ll hopefully be able to ace the test come October.

I still have “Go back to Korea” on my list for 2021 and with the vaccination speed both in Korea and here at home, I’m hopeful that I might indeed be able to go back before the end of the year. Fingers crossed.

Right now I’ve finished teaching my classes at the university and grading all the exam papers. I’m currently teaching an intensive summer course in elementary Korean which is so much fun. I also make sure to have a least two italki sessions with a Korean tutor every month to practice and maintain my speaking skills.

On a more personal note, we’ve recently bought a new home so I’ll be moving sometime later this month. This wasn’t necessarily on my goal list at the beginning of this year but we literally just found our dream home and I can’t wait to have more space. It’s bigger than our current apartment, and on top of that it’s closer to work which will be so convenient once I’ll be teaching on campus again from the fall semester.

So, it seems I’m on track with things for now.

Anyone else using this half-time mark to re-evaluate your goals?

Happy July everyone!