2 years.

my second year anniversary in korea has come and gone uneventfully. it was november 5th/6th. (i left the states on the 5th and landed in korea on the 6th. the wonders of time travel.) time passes so terribly/ridiculously/inconceivably quickly here, it's hard to believe that it has been 24 months, 730 days, 17,520 hours in south korea. and yet, the calendar does not lie. 2 years.

in many ways, i'm rather pleased with my time here thus far...i've continued (it's a life-long process!) to learn more about myself and embrace my talents and continue to cultivate them, as well as learn to accept my foibles more humbly and gracefully. (and of course, live life with some gratuitous sass and flair, just for kicks!)

recently, i have thought a bit more deeply about my goals, my dreams and more about how to make them happen. this year, i vowed to do a hellavuLOT more doing instead of just thinking about doing...sometimes i have to (gently) remind myself but thankfully this persistence is rewarding: i'm fully on board the dilly-dally-not, get-shit-done train.

on jobs:
i don't begin training for my new job until december 14th, so in the meantime, i've been working part-time for my previous employer. nothing like working again to remind me of just how a decision was wholly right.

on not working:
since i've had the awesome time to create my day, i've been focusing on reading:
-a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini
-sputnik sweetheart by haruki murakami
-the wizard of oz by l. frank baum
-i'm a stranger here myself by bill bryson
-the art of travel by alain de boton
-lucky girls by nell fruedenberger
-life of pi by yann martel

i've also been focusing pretty diligently on what i like to call the f.c.p. i hate the word diet. my psychology teacher, the ever awesome jaine strauss, stated, "diet is an evil word," as an introduction to eating disorders, and i agreed. so instead of saying that i'm on a diet, i've devised my own acronym, f.c.p. which stands for food consumption plan. yes, i know. it sounds like all i do is consume food! isn't it great!?! basically, i eat less carbs and refined sugars, increase my intake of whole, raw foods, and eat 5 small meals a day. it requires a bit of work, but once you get into the swing of the f.c.p., the wonder of wholesome nutritious foods in your body is that it makes you feel refreshed, energized and just plain damn healthy. in addition to eating well, i've been exercising regulary--as in running up to 18 miles a week--and loving it! if i'm not running, i'm doing yoga and if i'm not doing yoga, i'm taking jazz dance classes. the time is now to do the things you say you want to do.

on korean:
i'm still studying korean and am trying to do something language related everyday. daily practice is the way to go! my language buddy, min hee is fabulous! and we meet once a week and have gotten to know each other well. we have a ball, checking out new restaurants, laughing while learning.

on sketching:
speaking of daily practices, i'm also trying to make it a good habit to sketch daily. i'm making small projects for myself and would like to share with you my creations! posts forthcoming. and with that, i will do as i say. happy anniversary, korea!