SELF: Day Fourteen

Don't you hate it when a day is so crummy that even seeing miraculous things doesn't help to lift the shroud of hostility, anger, and resentment that this is your real life?

This from the same gal who just yesterday was celebrating life here in England: the proximity to the Mainland; the freedom and autonomy in the classroom; the pub-after-a-long-day tradition (though I don't often speak of this, since I don't regularly partake, tonight it was a certainly necessary past time).

Yup, we all have days like this and though it pains me to say that I'm not eternally optimistic, I'm just not. As a matter of fact, the kids made me cry today and even seeing a man standing forlornly at a grave, laden with a tiny pot of daffodils for his loved one (I assume his wife...taken from him far too early) didn't lessen the bitterness that had set in by 3:28 this afternoon. I even ogled him for far too long, cried a little (more) about his physically apparent loss, but still, the resentment lingered.

The Mother Hen, who I haven't talked to in a while...I need to get on that...will ask three questions:

"Can you let this feeling go?"
"Will you let this feeling go?"
"When?"

And then you're expected to just let it go. Alright. I'm going to try for some serenity now and just let this feeling go. Now. Because it's been lingering for six hours...it's time for it to leave me.

Wonderful Adventure Now Korea - Korean Shabu Shabu

Dear Little Shabu Shabu Place in Beomgye that I Miss EVERY Tuesday (which resembles this place),



I miss you a LOT and really wish I could visit.

Love,
Alexis

I can't tell you how much I miss certain aspects of Korea. The one that stands out the most was our Tuesday night Shabu Shabu ritual. I'm not sure why I haven't had Shabu Shabu here...maybe I'm afraid it won't be the same...maybe the cost is too much to bear. Maybe it's just one of those memories that has to stay a memory.

Matt-uh, Katie, Erin, Jeffry, Kara, Michelle...I miss you guys long time right now :(

SELF: Day Fourteen

Image courtesy of Kvelv via Tumblr

Well it's officially been two weeks. I feel run down and tired today, a little on the flu-ish side, and definitely ready for a 9pm bedtime, but aside from that, I'm in good shape!

I got a, "your bum looks really good" comment yesterday, so I'm feeling as though this running (and walking to school daily) is paying off. Yes!

...now if only I could shake this, "Sh*t, I think I'm getting sick" feeling...

Wacky Wednesday

Image courtesy of Kvelv via Flickr

Wednesdays are exhausting. There is no reprieve...it is class after class after class and to top it all off, I have a second class manned by an 18-year old that I need to supervise while my class is happening. Sigh. It's the kind of non-stop day that makes you so excited for 4:30 (because we usually run a revision for kids for an hour starting at 3:30). And here it is: finally.

I thought the fact that art (in so many forms) making me happy right now was worth celebrating. Current medium? Television. Ha! Maybe it's not art...maybe I don't care.

I hope your Wacky Wednesday is going well.

SELF: Day Thirteen

I'm debating whether to post the entire Joan Didion essay on the blog. It's long and involved, but lordy, is it a good read. I think I'll do it.

(inner thoughts done, on with the day-to-day...)

My tutee canceled for the night so I'm free to mark until my heart's content. It's the small joys, folks. Tuesdays are long distance running days with a small group of 11-year old boys from school. We run at 1:30 until 2 and it's a lovely way to pass the time. Sure, I wind up sweaty and a little cranky that I still have another class to teach, but overall, it's a great way to break up the day.

So here are more details about the trip that Kathleen, Aleisha, Frank, and I are taking in less than four weeks (eek!):

We start in Bordeaux (flight from London). We spend five days there. I can see it now...bike rides and wine-drinking. Ideal use of vacation time, if you ask me :)

After renting a car, we'll drive down to Barcelona for two nights, then start the journey east.

We'll drive up the southeast coast of France to Aix-du-Provence,



Image courtesy of ifrenchpropertyfrance.com

then head north toward Dijon (and stock up on mustard!). From there, we'll head east into Switzerland, stopping for a day in (the most expensive city in the world) Geneva.

Through the long and winding roads we'll drive until we get to Austria. Here's a little secret: I told my Nonno that I went to Innsbruck,


Image courtesy of orangesmile.com

but never actually did. I'm going to make good on my word this April. Phew.

Lastly, we head into Germany. We'll start at Munich (though I don't think we'll actually spend any time there), and hit up all the "-burgs" we can (Heidelberg is high on my list,


Image courtesy of earthbar.org

as is Nuremberg...am I spelling any of these right?), before dropping the car off in Dusseldorf.

So I ask you...are there any places along the long journey that we simply MUST see? Have you been to Germany? Where did you fall in love with it?

May I just say how incredibly blessed I feel at this exact moment? My classroom (my classroom) is warm, I'm sufficiently fed and exercised for the day, and I'm looking at pictures of these paradise-esque places, knowing that I'll be there in a very short time. This is my real life. Thankfully, my real life.

Hang in There

Image courtesy of Flickr

This so reminds me of traveling through NYC with Laura and Alicia. Sweet memories :)

Tired Bear

Image courtesy of Wit + Delight

I think that after a looooong weekend of preparation, a long two periods of revision, and a looooong exam, the children and their teachers are all feeling a bit like this tired bear.

Okay, a LOT like this tired bear.

Prose-Essay Gorgeousness

I found this essay by Joan Didion and fell instantly in love. This quote, found here on Wit + Delight, sort of got this all started. I found the essay, decided that Joan Didion was the best author I'd read in a long while, and the rest is history. I've read and reread it over and over again. I think I might just post the whole thing just so you can read it.

That was the year, my twenty-eighth, when I was discovering that not all of the promises would be kept, that some things are in fact irrevocable and that it had counted after all, every evasion and every procrastination, every word, all of it.

I can't explain just how deeply this touched me. It all matters: every single thing we do ripples in some small, sometimes enormous, way...and somehow, it all matters. Think about it.

Gotta Get Me Some of These

Since the weather here has turned a bright, sunny winter (argh), I'm feeling the mood that these shorts put me in. Bring on the summer, baby.


Image courtesy of Lululemon (swoon)

Unicorns

I have purchased some space. Bytes or something. So here's my first share...




Courtesy of someecards.com (classic)