I realize I haven't written in for far too long. No excuses; it is what it is. I might fill in the gaps later, actually, because I did keep an updated journal for much of the time, but just didn't get a chance to post the entries online. And really, I feel like there hasn't been a whole lot of new things to say. It's been fun, but nothing too new and unique. I really do want to be better at writing, though. I am starting this thing called Novel November... I supposedly will be writing approximately 6 pages a day for 31 days, to have a completed novel by the end of the month. Of course this is probably a wishful goal, but with the support and encouragement of thousands of others online, this is a better push towards accomplishing my dream than anything else so far has been. So far I am at 10,000 words. Yeeaaaahh.

I sipped an iced vanilla hazelnut latte in my shower this morning, homemade with the french press mom got me. It was so delicious, and actually quite fun to drink in the shower. I felt so rebellious, but the cold drink was delicious under the pounding heat of the water.

I should probably say a bit about my birthday. It was really nice, and I'm thankful for the touching little things I got from so many people. Co-workers decorated my work computer with happy birhtday propaganda.... colored paper stencils and a party hat... and this was on the day our school decided to celebrate halloween. I came in dressed as a pirate and was touched to find my desk laden with little goodies... keychains, chocolates, air fresheners, candy. :) A lot of us foreign teachers as well as Korean teachers (don't get confused! The foreign teachers are the North American ones!) also went out after school for dinner and drinks. It was so fun to have a ton of people show up. It was a great birthday. And of course Jake was wonderful... he has given me lots of gifts and dinners and it's been so fun with him. My good friend from home KVL showed up on my birthday, which was a present in itself... :) She is just starting her own year-long contract here. Two of my good friends, both Katelyns, and myself, Katelyn, working in South Korea for year... haha how funny. The Katelyns unite! K cubed! K-power everywhere! It's going to be a good rest of the year with the three of us painting Korea red.

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I drink a Chai latte from Benesian and am in total bliss. It's ridiculous how often I've come to dream about fancy coffee drinks and lattes... Starbucks peppermint mochas, Holly's Coffee Dark Belgium chocolate mochas and Vanilla Delights, Cafe Bene white chocolate mochas, Tom n Toms mint choco blended tommicinos... wow, that list went on for much longer than anticipated. I have so much work to do, and yet, it snowed briefly about an hour ago, and was so chilled to the bone I had an incredible craving for a hot drink. I use the "I deserve..." catch phrase to justify treating myself to one of my fancy coffee drinks all to often: to lessen the blow of the inevitable cold weather that has finally come upon us, to "celebrate Mondays" or make bearable Terrible Tuesdays, or to get over the hump on Wednesdays, or to celebrate Friday... but I've resolved to treat myself to only ONE fancy coffe a week. So far, I've been good about it.

I sign a contract stating in multiple paragraphs the exact same idea: I will not divulge Avalon's secrets! All the ridiculous schemes they go to, I am not to discuss with third parties... Um, right. But their schemes are just so FUNNY, how can I not?! The irony is that I'm signing my name in red, three separate times on the paper. Red signifies an immanate death soon to come! If I write my name in red, I'm basically admitting I am going to die soon, and they take this belief very seriously in Korea. It's ridiculous, the incredible lengths I am forced to go to to keep from signing a kid's name in red when I'm grading papers or trying to write with a red marker on the classroom whiteboard. I try to be respectful of this superstitious belief by staying very aware whenever I write one of my children's names, but with my own, I don't care.

I'm at school making flashcards for my next class tomorrow. I am so sick of making flashcards. But, I have no choice! And being at school is a brilliant time to blog it up, since internet is so poor at my house. I figured out how to hook it up at my place, but it would cost $40 a month and my cheap-O self refuses, when I could just go to coffee shops for hi-speed or steal a poor connection from my neighbors. All right, 9:30 and it's finally time to go home. See, why bother blogging when all I've got to write about are fancy coffee cravings or my loathing for flashcard-making? ...Will write again anyway, this time sooner rather than later.