Bucket List VI

I started keeping track in November 2010, I add more ideas to the bucket list when I think of them.  After a long silence on the subject, here are some more things I'd like to do some day.

(The new additions are at the bottom under the line.)

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night
• Attend ComicCon
• Roadtrip to Maine and/or Canada
• Have a restaurant give me food for singing
• Be on the radio, sometime, somehow 
• Be in a choreographed performance of "Beat It"
• Get myself a motorcycle license
• Host a huge blanket fort slumber party a la Troy and Abed in Community (Season 2, Episode 9)
• Audition and be cast in a community theatre show
• Be a camp counselor
• Go skinny dipping

• Observe a flash mob
•  Attend a Harry Potter party/marathon
• Go to Harry Potter World with Millie
• Be in a food fight
• Find a signature perfume
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• Cook and eat fried dandelions - The pictures I've seen look really, really good.  And, I love earth.  With a lower case "e."  I love the rich smell of grass, the tangy smell of dandelion milk, the sharp smell of wild onions.  When a friend tells me a certain food tastes like dirt, there's a high chance that I'll like it.  And, with my mom's recipe for fried green tomato batter, I'm pretty sure I can't go wrong.
• Compete in a dance competition (and become good at dancing) - I'm thinking hip hop or krump in addition to improving at swing and ballroom
• Come into a counseling or mentorship role for girls - I've had ladies come alongside me throughout these later years, and I can see so clearly how they've changed the direction of my life for the better.  It would bring me such joy and satisfaction to help other girls in the same way.

image via Recipes for Your Body and Soul

A Mori Wedding

I recently confessed my fascination for the Japanese street style of Mori.  The earthiness and ethereal atmosphere of the forest in the form of fashion.  I love it.

My house is in the woods.  I see tall trees outside my bedroom window, and I can hear sweet crickets in the summer.  My heart reacts in a childlike way to the green and the sunshine and the scent of the woods.  I would love to even get married in the woods.

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I'm actually planning my very own wedding with my best friend in the world right now.  We're on a tight budget, we're blissfully in love, and we're so excited for the first day of our marriage and everything that comes after.

Our ceremony will be inside, but the reception will be outdoors, and I want to have as much brought into the atmosphere of my wedding from the forest as possible.  The leaves and the bark, even the dirt, it all makes me feel at home, at rest, and alive.  I love it.

Brumley and Wells
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La.  I could go on and on.  There are so many beautiful visions to be had!

Back in America: The Fourth Month and What I'm Up To

Basically, I don't have a job.

But, I'm scouring the ads for one.  In North Atlanta.  In Administration.  I would love to be an Executive Administrator, but I know I'll probably have to work my way up to something like that.  I'd be very pleased to start a step above a receptionist.  I'd like to write our a whole cover letter about why I'd be great at the job, but I'll stop there.

In the hunting and waiting time, I'm volunteering for OM Arts.  It gives me something to do and helps me remember that normal people wake up before 8:00.

 It's normal, being back in America now.

The only thing that catches me off guard still is bathroom stalls.  The doors stop so far from the ground here!  In Korea, they stop about an inch from the ground.  And there were never gaps between the door and the walls.  Here, I often feel exposed in the bathroom stalls.  Tsk.

One other deeper thing is how I miss my students.  I do miss my friends, but it's true that their lives move on without me, and mine move without them.  It's okay.  We keep in touch, we know we can count on each other, and we live far apart.  It's okay.  Harder to accept is how I'll never see my students again.

I invested so deeply in those budding lives.  I love them very much.  Now, they don't need me.  Now, I don't know if they remember me.  Now, I can't make any contact with them at all.  I was hoping that the teacher to replaced me would post some pictures on facebook or that she would send me a message telling me how the children miss me, but I've gotten none of that.  I shouldn't have expected it, but it does make me sad.

I do think I'm near the end of the transition phase.  The hard part, at least.  I'll still miss Korean food, my kiddos, the subway, and all those other great things, but my life is becoming settled in here.  I would really like a job to help solidify that, but even, I'm pretty good.

Halloween at SLP 2012

We're almost halfway through March, and I haven't published anything all month!  And when I was thinking of what to write, I realized there's still plenty I haven't covered from my time in Korea!  The first thing to show you is how adorable Elegance Class was on Halloween last year!

There are no half-assed costumes here in Gangnam SLP.  Go big, or go home.

We took a short field trip to COEX mall where the mothers were waiting to give their darlings treats.

These kids left with their bags heavy with candy, cookies, and toys.  Some of the buckets were overflowing.  I was impressed by the mom's enthusiasm, but also a little weirded out.  I don't think they realize it, but my children are spoiled.

Ruby complained about the weight of her candy bag.

First World Problems

We switched ears.

Don't even try to get all of them to smile at once.

Everyone's pretty tired after our field trips, no thanks to the sugar comas they got.

 Halloween isn't a traditional Korean holiday.  We celebrate it at my school to give the students more exposure to Western culture.  The kids enjoy the celebration and love the candy they get.  When I ask them if they'll go trick or treating later, they say no.  I've never had Halloween as a big holiday in my life, but I'm glad my students got to have fun with it.  And they all looked so cute in their costumes!