No excuses this time for not blogging. At least I'm keeping a datebook calendar thingie so I can write down everything.

Had the most perfect weekend.

Starting with going to bed at 9pm on Friday, I woke up refreshed on Saturday morning (first time, in a long time) and got to cleaning my whole apartment. Laundry, scrubbing the bathroom, the whole works. Met up with a friend who just got back to Korea and had a good time catching up with her, then went grocery shopping to make dinner for another friend of mine. Around 8, he and I got to enjoy some veggie filled pasta while watching Starcraft on TV, followed by good chatter and some Jack and coke. After he leaves around 1, the next 2 hours were spent reading while feeling the cool almost-summer breeze flow through my window.

I woke up this morning around 10 to see an amazing day. Met up with some other friends at the Han River where we just hung out, read books, talked. Took a walk over the bridge into Itaewon where we had Thai for dinner, then some coffee and cakes. It is now 9pm and I am home, basking in the delight that was my weekend.

It just occurred to me that... it's been a long time since I was able to have such a simple, yet wonderful time - away from my computer.

Am I really that dependent??

One more week until Jamie gets back to Korea.

I can't believe it's already June. One thing's for sure tho - I'm definitely glad the cold yucky weather is passing. Welcome, summer!

so it's been a whirlwind since i settled back here in korea.

i have been working 2 jobs, one as an overseas consultant to help korean kids get into US universities and the other being a co-caster and translator for a korean starcraft league, broadcasting in english for the foreign community. basically i work 7 days a week, between 8:45am and around 9-10pm :)

a co-caster? what might that be? well, in korea, starcraft is the most competitive e-sport there is. there have been two main leagues up until now, broadcasted only in korean. the company that i work for decided that they want to open professional starcraft to the foreign market and they created the Averatech-Intel Classic League and we have just begun Season 2. my position in this is that i help nick, the guy who actually anaylzes and casts the games. i help him by providing stats and talking about the games and hopefully i'll get to learn more over the course of the next few months.

so if you've every played starcraft, or want to see how korean progamers play, go here to check it out: www.gomtv.net

every sunday at 6pm KST (5am EST, 2am PST) i'm on live! orrrrr you guys can watch the videos on the same site.

i'm starting to get pretty busy at my other job too, as early decision date is coming up and i'm preparing to go to germany for this year's WCG.

so far, 2008 has been exactly as i wanted it to be: the year of uncertainty. this will definitely be a year to remember back on, that's for sure. heartaches, new friends, revived interests, lots of traveling, lots of moving, lots of growing up.

there is just so much going on right now.

heading to new jersey for the last time in quite awhile this friday. now that i've phrased it that way, i just felt a pang of sadness. the last time? jersey has always been that place that i knew that i'd always go back to. it's where i grew up (for the most part), where mom and dad reside, where everything is exactly as i left it.

my entire family is moving to korea in a few weeks. the house has been sold, the cars have been given back to the dealers. according to my father, the livingroom is bare from various people buying our furniture. my mother and i just finished purchasing a new sofa and tv for the new apartment here in seoul. it's really happening.

josh is studying korean for a test that will determine his future - and expecting to go to hanyang university this coming march.

and me? i'm moving tomorrow into my new apartment, the place that i will take residence in for the next year or so. again, kinda excited and kinda apprehensive at the same time.

new beginnings is what i look forward to everytime. but "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end", right?

this is just strange time for me. a start of something new, however, the start of the rest of my life? or at least this portion of it. so many changes but as much as i love change, i'm just holding my breath, in anticipation for what's to come.

"I'm still singing
Twisting new melodies, breaking arrangements
Thinking about my heart
I guess you've heard, sometimes it's heavy
But I just keep moving
When I hit a wall, I look up at the sky
I only want it to begin"

whether it has been as a student or as a teacher, the end of august/beginning of september has always meant new notebooks, colored pens and folders. this is the first time in my 27 years i am not going through the ritual of preparing for a new academic year.

it's kinda strange, even now, as i'm sitting in my cubicle (i have my own cubicle!) to know that i no longer have fall break, teacher's conferences, or even a long christmas vacation anymore. i'm not even sure if i will be able to handle not being able to travel when i want to. it's been quite a long time since i've had a desk job and in a way, i still can't believe that i've actually signed up for this willingly. i feel trapped yet liberated at the same time. perhaps it's because this is just another step in my life and i'm ok with that. maybe this is me finally "settling down".

this definitely isnt where i would have pictured myself to be. life is funny like that, doors open up when one least expects it. i look back on the last 10 years of my life and am amazed by the amount of twists and turns i endured. actually, come to think of it, i actually i created those twists and turns for myself. i think i'd be lost without them. but here i am setting course on a somewhat straight road...

the "end of summer" blues are kinda coming to me now, as everyone i've spent time with during the sunny months are now leaving to their own worlds. each summer i tend to work at jobs where time spent become ephemeral memories. i used to get sad and promise that we'll "keep in touch" but i've learned that "keep in touch" now means "i'll shoot you a wall post on facebook every once in awhile" and that i'll probably never actually physically see that person again. that's life. people come and go in a great revolving door sort of way.

i guess i've grown up a bit. but just only a bit.

cheers. here's to the upcoming fall season.