back in Seoul

i am back in Korea and the new semester has begun.
i have to say, i was frightened and wearied about the prospect of teaching again.

2 weekends ago, i was in Chicago.
Praise's wedding: exciting and exhausting at the same time. i was running around like a madwoman, arranging things, politely barking orders, moving food, et cetera--all in a very short dress. at the after party, i was chagrined to hear that a number of people had caught sight of my fuchsia undies.
after the craziness of the wedding and reception, we rode in a limo to the Holiday Bar. the limo ride was super fun because i was sitting between one of my best friends and an ex. we toasted to the newlyweds, drinking beer from champagne glasses.
it was a helter-skelter evening of drinking, dancing, and flirting, and then somehow ended w/ me kissing my ex several times. this was bizarre--something that i had specifically been intending to avoid, but in the cacophony of the love-soaked evening, touching lips w/ him was nice.

b/c normalcy in our relationship was important to me, in emails the following week, i decided to ascertain that we were on the same page about the whole business. his somewhat dismissive but sweet response about 'kissing an old lover' made me grin. so, in the end, i was able to chalk it up to a pleasant experience: kissed by someone i care about, rather than one of the random flirtatious fools i was dancing w/. (i am actually moving out of this zone.)

anyway, i got back to my girlfriend's place at 2am, then stayed up till around 4am, packing and talking to the lovers of Belle Plaine. my best friend showed up after 3 hours of heavy, wine-soaked sleep, and then i boarded 2 planes and a bus that took me home to my apartment back in Seoul. it was a tortuous 22 hours of travel and when i arrived home at 8pm, i felt raw with exhaustion. and i was feeling anxious at the prospect of having to get up to start a new semester of classes, barely 10 hours later.

but as the semester began, the students were excited to see me and were engaged with me. i felt relieved and grateful for my job and that they were so interested in me and what i had to say. it's been a lovely 2 weeks back, tho i just quit smoking about 48 hours ago. urgh. but that's a whole other story...