Here are some nice things that happened this week:

– I ate Tang Su Yuk (“Chinese fried pork”, Koreans claim this is) without getting ill. It was what gave me food poisoning three (3!) times last year but I worked up the courage to try it again when the school put some out after teacher training finished. I did NOT get sick. I am pleased.

– I managed to get this computer working again (I think), which is nice despite the fact I lost months and months of email archives.

– My friend Young Ja helped me not only to book my trip to Japan, but also to cancel it when the admin at my new Uni told me it’s not necessary for me to make that trip. (Too late to get a full refund, of course, and it’s unlikely they’ll cover the difference, things being as they are with Korean Universities.)

– In the elevator the other night, two ajumas (older married women) started saying this phrase to me, “Jal seng in ajeoshi! Wa, jal seng in ajeoshi…” I didn’t understand well, because literally it sounds like it should mean, “Well-born person man.” But I asked Young Ja, who was just outside and she told me it meant, “Handsome man!”

– I got a card from the people at work, and more than half of the signatures conveyed pretty honest affection, respect, and regret that my time at Wonkwang is finished and that there’s no more time for me to spend there. (Many kind things were especially written in Korea, by the office staff.)

– Goodbye presents, yeah, they were nice: a nice pen, some fruit, a notebook and pens from a little girl; but what meant more to me was when this kid I know, the girl who brought me the raspberry wine, came to ask me for my email address. She was convinced I was moving to Canada! (She and about 3 or 4 other kids came to say goodbye to me forever, which was so cute… and how happily shocked they looked to hear I was moving to Jeonju, not Canada!)

– I’m about to be the proud owner of a digital camera that I will buy at the Yongsan electronics market in Seoul, where I am going today. The plan is that I will meet up with my friend Hadden tonight and enjoy some jazz music and hang out in Hong Ik Dae Taehakno (the Hong Ik University area). I’m hoping to meet up with my friend Hyun Hwa tomorrow, and also planning on picking up a book I ordered over at CoEx Mall. Maybe I can see the animals at the CoEx aquarium, and it’d be cool to check out Bbang club and see if there’s a show on Saturday night. We’ll see.

If I am to get to Seoul today, I think I’d best get going, though. This computer’s been stable for a couple of hours now, so I am making the (possibly mistaken) assumption that it’s gonna continue to be okay for now. Hmm. Here’s hoping.