More than just pavement

Good intentions. That's what I had all last week as I stockpiled the various snippets I wanted to spill out in my blog-- for now, we will still have to deal with a little splurt of news and reviews to await the real writing to come. Life is quite life-y right now. As I'm sure many of you are finding with the start of school and the end of Summer, new projects taking the place of the almost-finished ones, and even the sun is turning against us with fewer hours of light!

I can't believe it, but Friday marks mid-quarter here at school (that's right, we've been at it for 5 weeks!) which means more grading, progress reports, and unit plans due throughout the week. For these and many other little reasons-- like dishes, laundry, etc.-- I don't have time to blog the things I'd love to blog now....

• Bug bites! All over my arms and legs and I've only seen ONE mosquito in here!
• The weather has cooled dramatically almost overnight (hence, the open window that let in the hungry bug), and now my commute of 100 feet can be accomplished without sweating buckets!
• Looks like Bali, Jakarta and various island hopping destinations in Indonesia will be the target for Christmas vacation for Sylvia and I!
• I got my 10# box I mailed (ground snail mail) to myself the day before I left for Korea! It was full of notes and letters from all my dear friends who have encouraged me over the years (some notes as far back as high school =), my flannel sheets, hiking boots, a tool kit and a potholder! What fun to unload it all and read the letters again; however, it backfired a little bit because reading them made me miss you all even more!
• Took a tour of bookstores on Saturday. One used bookstore-- all in English! I bought an Anthology and am now feeling like a real English teacher again. A gigantic bookstore where I was shopping with 3 billion of my closest Korean friends =) The first Starbucks since I got here ($5 frapacinno!!) and the opportunity to use a coin-0p street-side toilet.
• A dinner party Sunday night at a fellow teacher's place rounded off the weekend (Thai food, and lots of laughs, mmmmmm)
• The rock-breaking equipment has finally stopped its one-note-staccato week-long symphony! The silence is wonderful!
• I've finally perfected the art of skillet toast (lacking toaster oven, toaster, or oven with a broiler) and it's delicious!

All in all, life is good. Teaching is hard. Cable has American movies sometimes. My students are great. I wish for more than 24 hours in a day, but have managed to sleep enough anyway. Still looking for a church. I'm taking my vitamins, eating all manner of foods without problems, drinking plenty of water, and showering regularly =)
And seem to only write in lists...
I should soon be able to gain some time for blogging, mailing, and generally catching up; but if not soon, I'll have a whole week off at the end of September for Chusok (Asian Thanksgiving) and that will be a welcome respite!
g'bye for now...