Twenty-Six

Twenty-Six Weird and Wonderful Birthday Happenings

1. was sung a cheerful "happy birthday" by mom and sheilagh over skype (wonderful)
2. got a sliver of glass stuck in my foot, from the wine glass i broke last week and neglected to clean up properly (weird)
3. was given a precious wee gift of handmade soap by a korean student (wonderful, although somewhat weird were the random marbles and the rainbow bead she also included in the box)
4. another student discovered a grey hair on my head during class, i made her pull it out (not really weird, more like terrible)
5. discovered three more grey hairs and pulled them all out (no comment)
6. went out to "norebang" or korean karaoke, with some friends (wonderful)
7. was surprised by homemade banana birthday cake with cream cheese icing (supremely wonderful)
8. there were three candles on my cake (weird)
9. was told to keep the leftovers, so had some with breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next day (why not, it's my birthday!)
10. went on a morning waterfall hike adventure (wonderful)
11. climbed to the top of the waterfalls, only to discover they had been altered with fiberglass "rocks" to give the falls a more picturesque cascade (very weird, and somewhat disappointing)
12. ate a picnic lunch in the rain (weird, but fun)
13. was asked by a korean teenage boy at a bus stop if i was french (no idea why, weird)
14. received a french facebook wall post from tonton quist, had to use online translator to understand and respond (both weird and wonderful, but sad that all those private lessons didn't stick as well as they ought to have)
15. received two emails from one of my grandmothers, saying pretty much the same thing, because she wasn't sure the first one got through (grandmothers are wonderful people)
16. had a wonderful skype convo with some of the weirdo FFATS up at malagash
17. was read a bedtime story over skype by alli churchill, about a tall, dumpster-diving, gypsy-woman befriending a little boy and a homeless cat (my future life, weird)
18. sang and played a brooke fraser song at church (wonderful, i love her)
19. made thai green curry for dinner, one of my favorite foods
20. saw a white crane fly over a lush green rice field, the stark contrast was so extraordinarily beautiful, it made my breath catch in my throat
21. received many birthday wishes (in various forms; emails, facebook wall posts, skype calls, etc.) from faraway but never forgotten friends, causing me to feel overflowingly euphoric about how richly blessed i have been in the friendshi category
22. was treated to an organic, non-dairy choco mint chip ice cream by my buenos amigos, jen henry-huffman and her screamo lover, aj (wonderful)
23. the elevator in my apartment building broke, and i live on the 12th floor (weird, but it's a good thing there are two of them)
24. fell asleep listening to the "once" soundtrack (dreamy)
25. woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of wind violently rattling my apartment door (dang monsoon season!)
26. i am now twenty-six years old, a new leaf in the life has been turned!

thanks to any and all who read this and to those who sent birthday wishes.
you are invaluable to me!

A Fond Farewell

And so it begins. Another adventure, a new country, people, and culture, in a city with a sea-bound coast. I will be flying out of Halifax before dawn tomorrow morning, arriving in South Korea on Monday, where I have a contract to teach English for one year. My thoughts and feelings at present resemble a freshly-churned Dairy Queen Blizzard, but with all the flavors combined! (I have, on occasion, actually ordered all the DQ toppings, in an indecisive moment.) So here you have it; heightened nerves, overwhelming excitement, ready to embrace change while not quite ready to let go of home, feeling prepared one minute, and very inadequate the next... all these emotions, like the flavors of peanut butter, blueberry and mint... they don't sit together very well, as you an imagine, leaving a fairly sizeable knot in my stomach for the past three days! Yet overall, this pervading sweetness: a deepening sense that in moving with these tides, I am in "los manos de Dios." I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds my hand. What could be sweeter than that?!!