Jan. 3 - Jan. 7: Back to School

Waking up Monday morning was, as you can imagine, a very difficult task. But imagine my complete surprise and excitement to discover, upon arriving to work, my desk piled high with packages and Christmas cards! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone (Jill, Nic, Jeff, Jo, Johnny, Charlotte, and Laura) for making my week! It's amazing how much love I feel all the way over here in Korea! And now I can keep up with all the latest celebrity gossip, thanks to the People and US Weekly magazines...I was starting to feel lost without the latest on Nick and Jessica and Julia's new twins!

Fortunately for me, this past week flew by. The kids were on very good behavior and were feeling quite refreshed after a week of holiday, as was I. Tuesday night, I held my first private English lesson with two twelve-year-olds. Julia and Frank are both native Koreans who have spent time studying in New Zealand, so it's quite refreshing to hear them speak with a Kiwi accent. We will be meeting at Julia's house every Tuesday and Thursday night for the next three months. I was a bit apprehensive about taking on the lessons since I am so selfish with my free time, but the kids' English skills are superb and the hour flies by...plus, the extra income sure doesn't hurt, either.

Another first for this week is that, in order to save money (seeing as I spent $500 more than I had anticipated in Japan...Yikes!), I have begun eating the school lunch. We have a cook that comes every morning and prepares lunch for the tots. So now she's making just a bit more so that I may eat, too! The food is as Korean as you can get, but I really enjoy it...and it sure beats money-saving ham sandwiches! I also got all my Japan pictures developed, so it was nice to be able to finally post them to the blog. I am very excited at how well they turned out, but it's been a bit of a nightmare trying to remember the details of each picture. I suppose I'm still "templed out," but eventually I'll be able to look through them without feeling drained.

By Friday, I was very much looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend at home to finally recover from my trip. Last night I went over to Kelly's house after work to peruse the Japan pictures and, of course, hold our weekly girl-talk session. Today I spent two wonderful, sweaty hours in the gym before coming home to an apartment that has been calmly waiting to be cleaned. (It also snowed and stuck for the first time this afternoon! It was nice to view from my window...thank God I didn't have any sightseeing to do!) Nothing else planned for the weekend but some good, old fashioned R&R! I deserve it!