Happy Birthday to Resa!

I thought I'd take advantage of being a contributor to Resa's blog and start some birthday wishes (my right as a big sister!). Feel free to add your own!

Happy Birthday to my favorite youngest sister! Here's hoping all your new birthday clothes come with hangers (you do know what I'm talking about, right?) and all your Cokes are "Light". We love you and miss you!

-Jenni

Quotes too good not to share

"The question remains why millions of people would want to watch a large man in glasses wave his arms around online to a Romanian pop song."

- A little 'Numa Numa' leads to loss of privacy

Does this article remind anyone else of the beginning of the Simpsons episode that came on after the Superbowl?

"And young women have a stubborn stoicism about looking sexy. It makes them feel cheap and dumb, whereas the virginal look requires a certain intelligence to pull off."
- The Revenge of the Virgin

This article is referring mostly to Japanese women, but I still like it. In Israel there seemed to be a lot more modesty. Well, modesty was around - but there was hardly any in-between. There were the modest women (AKA, the religious ones - both Jewish and Muslim) and then there was everyone else. Anyway, you can dress modestly and not look like a complete freak, though I'm not sure looking like a nerd is so bad. Embrace what/who you are! And just to prove my point, I'm going to wear my black skirt with pants underneath it to work tomorrow (something I've been considering, but didn't have the guts to do until this article) - yay for being a virginal nerd!

Why not here? An interesting, optimistic article about the effect of the United States on the world. I'm entirely new to the idea of even attempting to keep up with what is going on in the world, so therefore my opinions aren't really all that formed. The war in Iraq is obviously a hot topic, and one I try to read about and think on, but it's so complicated.

I'm aware of the trend this blog has taken, from updates about my life in Korea to being just a journal where I share my thoughts. But becoming a person who is aware that there's a whole lot going on outside of my own world - I think it's an important part of the growing up process. So bear with me in that regard. I'm also aware that I've been rather dreary lately, and I apologize if perhaps I've been too dreary with no explanation of the cause. I really am quite happy where I am. My job is great overall, though there are inevitably good and bad days. Any unhappiness of mine has to do with growing pains, and though they hurt (and boy, do they!) they are for the best. So thank you for your patience, your encouragement, and your support. Thanks for coming back and reading on a regular basis, to you that do. As far as the person that I am goes, it's been a difficult, but uphill journey. I only hope that I can begin to express more of that here. Good night everyone.

Thanks Haley!

Many thanks to Haley for making this picture - it has a purpose too, which makes it extra wonderful. Nonetheless, I wanted to show off how talented my friend is and how cute my dog is, for all of you who haven't seen her in sometime. (Though this picture is from last year when Haley and I went to the dog park in Gainesville with our dogs. Good times!) Anyway, I hope to be uploading some more pictures in the next day or two of life and school from around here. (My dear gracious and generous friend Melissa brought a digital camera, and we share well.)

In a not-so-great mood (again - sorry)

I was in a relatively low mood earlier today, due to around three reasons. The first one is silly, one of my friends at work said something jokingly (I think) and it squashed my feelings. There was no way for him to know how seriously the issue he was joking about is to me, and so it's not his fault at all, but yeah...not a pleasant moment. The other one is serious - has to do with missing my mom, generational sin/strongholds and such. It's too personal and too heavy to get into here. The other one, I don't even know why it bothers me. My birthday is this Thursday and for some reason I'm really sad about the fact that I'll be here. This makes no sense for a whole variety of reasons. First, birthdays haven't ever really been a huge deal to me. Second, one would think spending Christmas in a not-so-Christian country would be far more devastating...(and it was difficult, but not horrible) but the birthday issue is far worse so far. Third, Melissa is here now, so I have a friend (a very close and wonderful friend, even) to spend it with, rather than only spending it with people I've known about two months. But realistically, I'm not sure if it should bother me either way. It's just a day, really. I actually think Christmas was still a new experience, I hadn't been away that long, everything was still new. I'm not sure if the theory holds any water, seeing as how it's only been two-ish months since then. Whatever. Two other teachers at my school have birthdays in March and one had one last week, so we're going out (on Thursday, actually) for this big joint party/dinner thing. That should be...well...you can finish the sentence however you'd like: fun, awkward, interesting, tasty, scary, etc. It will definitely be an experience.

Tomorrow (technically, today) is a holiday here. It is to commemorate the beginning of the movement to gain independence from Japan. I believe it happened in 1919, and it was the first organized uprising, and (so far as I can remember) it was a disaster. Many, many people died. Korea only gained it's independence when Japan was bombed by the U.S. during WWII. Nonetheless, there's no school tomorrow, which is good. I'm going to sleep in (to make up for the little sleep I got due to excitement this past weekend). On that note, I'm off to bed.

One more thing. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep growing out my hair or cut it all off again. This is such an unimportant decision in the big scheme of things, and it's not the actual decision that I'm having a hard time with. I'm just wondering if anyone would be willing to give me their opinion on the matter. It's down to my shoulders now, which I know isn't long at all, but is substantial for me. I've done this grow-it-out-cut-it-off cycle for the past two or three years, and I'm trying to decide if I should break the cycle and let it grow out, or go with the cycle. Just curious if anyone would actually be willing to help me out with what they think on this (oh-so insignificant and unimportant) matter. Night all!

Yay!

Well, dear friends, Melissa has arrived safe and sound! I set my alarm for 3 AM thinking I'd reset it for somewhere around 3:45 and go back to sleep (nonsensical yes, but I do it everyday because it makes me feel like I've slept longer than I really have). Anyway, obviously when the alarm went off at 3:00, I wanted to check to make sure that her flight was on time, and then it was all downhill from there. I was way too awake and excited to go back to sleep, so I didn't. Kylie graciously offerred to ride with me to the airport to hopefully prevent any awkwardness between the Korean man from the school and myself (the whole "I feel like I should at least be trying to talk to him," feeling kicks in sometimes even when you know that he doesn't understand enough English to carry on any semblence of a conversation). By the time we arrived at the airport I was so excited that I was nauseous. We were waiting outside the gate - anyway, I cannot even begin to put into words the anticipation I was feeling. But she did come through the doors - she actually saw me first - and it was just as wonderful and exciting as every reunion with a dear friend should be. Then we came back to Seoul and to our apartments. Hers, while cleaner than I expected it to be, smelled too foul for us to undertake any project so ambitious as extensive cleaning or unpacking. So we came up to my apartment, where Melissa and Daive had a heart-warming reunion, and she and I sat around and talked for some time. In short, I love - LOVE - her being here. We went on a brief walk around, so that she at least knows how to get to work from where we live. And she did really well about staying awake - she took two naps, but considering that she had been awake for 30 hours, was in a time zone 14 hours different from what her body is used to, and she got her at 5 in the morning...I think 2 naps isn't too shabby. I forced her to go out to eat tonight, and she went to bed (for the night) as soon as we were finished - around 7:00 PM. Tomorrow will be her first day of work...I'm excited for her, and I'm (of course) also very excited for me. It's nice to have a friend here who knows you, understands you, knows the same people as you back home, likes your dog, is witty, is quite intelligent, etc. It's been a little bit since I was around someone with whom relating came to easily. And that's quite nice.

Another benefit to her coming is that she brought one of my books that I accidentally left with her when I went to Israel. It's Henry Scougal's The Life of God in the Soul of Man. The book was written in the 1600s, but it (no exaggeration) one of the three most amazing books I've ever read. I highly highly HIGHLY recommend it. It was actually influential in the conversion of George Whitefield, which means it played a role in the Great Awakening. Very amazing book - here's a taste for you:

The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its
love: he who loveth mean and sordid things doth thereby become base and vile;
but a noble and well-placed affection doth advance and improve the spirit unto a
conformity with the perfections which it loves.

And the book is super easy to read, even with the random "doth" and "-eth" thrown in there - a short book, amazing...read it! You won't be disappointed.

And now a quick list of things Melissa has/mentioned/brought that I miss severely from home:

1. Scented lotion (specifically Love Spell from Victoria's Secret) - I miss being able to wear yummy smelling lotion - a girl at church had Moonlight Path lotion last week and smelling it nearly made me cry - not for sentimental reasons, just because I desperately have wanted some. I schemed at least four or five times to get some Love Spell lotion (though my love wanes between Love Spell and two other scents) and I was thwarted each time. I've resolved myself to knowing that it just obviously wasn't meant to be, but it doesn't mean I can't use a dab of her lotion, smell it, and be really quite happy.
2. Products from Wal-Mart - or more specifically, the ability to buy things at Wal-Mart that are familiar, and without being acosted by the whole host of people who work in the health and beauty supply section who, based on their energy for their jobs, MUST work on commission
3. Stuff - that's really what it boils down to - I miss the stuff you can get in the States. I miss the comfortable, familiar, favorites I have. I miss book stores. I miss Victoria's Secret. I miss Wal-Mart (yes they have them here but they are SO not the same). And I'm not saying this with a "woe is me" attitude - it's convicting to realize that mostly what I miss is materialistic. Oh...I miss the fact that I could buy Watermark's CD and listen to it the same day. See? All materialistic stff.

So anyway, I'm going to attempt to tear myself away from the computer and go to bed now. I'm exhausted, certainly, but am not sure if my mind is capable of calming down at this moment. We shall see. Love you all!

Eager, not obsessive

So you are looking at where Melissa's plane is at 5:39 PM (Seoul time). I kept on checking to make sure that her first flight arrived on time and her second one departed on time (it looks like it left about 40 minutes late) and I ended up finding this site that finds the location of the plane. So you're pretty much seeing how I'll be spending the rest of the night. Eager, lonely, yes. Obsessive, no.

I think I've had a personal breakthrough of sorts. I have always been really hard on myself internally for being so wordy all the time. And I realized today that, for me, being wordy is okay. It's part of me. I only need to exercise better discretion in who I subject to my wordiness. Make sense? Writing is an activity that seems to be vital to my existence in an intensely personal way. And, necessarily, writing requires words, sometimes many of them. It's so funny how the most obvious point in the entire world can strike me with such force that I almost fall over. It's really quite liberating. I hope to not overwhelm blogspot with such voluminous posts everyday as I've been doing, perhaps a more appropriate place for my more irrelevant and occasionally incoherent ramblings would be in Microsoft Word in my computer, but it's very nice to say, "Hi, I'm Teresa and YES, I'm wordy! And I'm okay with that!"

So I went to bed last night around 3 AM and got up before 10 this morning. Such a thing is quite unusual for me, and it can be blamed on nothing other than the fact that I am super-excited about Melissa coming. I got up, turned on the computer, and checked the first flight she's on, and found out it's on time and all is well. Of course, that's the flight from Atlanta to L.A, so it's the quicker of the two. I, sadly, cannot figure out the time change from California to figure out when (my time) the plane leaves LA. It really doesn't matter all that much, because I do know when the plane gets here in the morning! And that is what count! I'm very excited! (can you tell?)

Right now I have the inside frosted-glass thick window open and only the clear-glass thick window closed, and Daive is sitting on my lap (wrapped up in blankets because it gets colder when the one window is open) and she's staring out the window. I'm actually typing this trying to see between her two rather large ears, so if there are any spelling errors, it's due to those trademark ears of hers. Anyway, she's staring quite intently at the apartment building across the street. One of the people in the apt. across the way is doing laundry and keeps on walking to her porch to hang things up. Daive isn't barking (she doesn't bark at noises anymore, only when I leave really) but I think she's rather confounded at the whole thing.

I have that make-up class today, in 2 and a half hours or so. I really should be productive before then, but I'm thinking seriously about just sitting here in my pajamas, sweatshirt/pants, and blankets and being thoroughly unproductive until my class. I think that would be fun, actually. Nonetheless, I shall end this now. My toes are numb, so though I will persist in a total lack of productivity, I need socks.