09.07.08
We spent our anniversary . . .
. . . in a peaceful pseudo-countryside setting, wandering around a bunch of rocks and ancient sites. A few highlights:
09.01.08
One year ago today
… was the happiest day of my life. And it just gets better every day we spend together.
September 1, 2007
08.19.08
Calcutta
A colleague recently sent me the following “definition” of Calcutta/Kolkata - whichever you want to call it - from, he says, Sashi Tharoor’s Glossary: An A to Z of Being Indian.
KOLKATA: More a state of mind than a city; it epitomizes all that is magnificent and all that is squalid about urban India: its people, its theater, its coffeehouses, and its bookshops set against some of the most depressing slums, the most wretched pavement hovels, the most noxious pollution, the most irreparable decay in the world. It seems a city without hope, a soot and concrete wasteland of power cuts, potholes, and poverty, yet it inspires some of the country’s greatest creative talent. To the true Kolkatan there is no other city quite like it; if one tires of Kolkata, to paraphrase Samuel Johnson about old London, one tires of life.
I wouldn’t characterize it in quite such bleak terms, but then again, I only spent most of three days there. There were fewer slums than in Bombay, and it was calmer, quieter, greener, perhaps even cleaner. The city seemed in general to have more grace. I met a whole lot of my husband’s relatives for the first time, and over all it was a good trip, and a nice break from the chaos of Bombay.
03.30.08
Ahhhhhh.
I’m home. And relaxing. I’ve already spent several days doing basically as little as possible. And it’s so, so, so nice.
Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be hanging out with family and pets, making plans to do fun things like get together with friends, change my absentee ballot mailing address, go to the ballet, renew my driver’s license, get my hair cut, etc, etc. It’s kind of a nice list of things to do, believe it or not. I get to feel almost like a normal person for a couple of weeks, being able to call businesses or government agencies during business hours, actually go places in person, get paperwork done or receive packages in less than 4 weeks, explain what I want and expect to get it, and just basically act like a regular citizen again. It feels really, really good.
03.19.08
Bittersweet
Today was my last day of work in Seoul. I leave behind some fabulous colleagues, surely some of the best in the world. Many of them have become close personal friends, and I will be sad to part company with them. At the same time, I am going on to a whole new place, with new adventures, and best of all I get to do it together with the man I love. And what could be better than that?
03.17.08
Funk Seoul Brother
The three or four people who visit this blog regularly may have noticed that there’s been radio silence on my part for a while lately. It’s certainly not because there’s nothing to talk about, though - on the contrary, I’ve been busy. My brother came for a visit, and we had a great time. Got out of Seoul a little bit (not far, but out nonetheless), and spent some time seeing the sights in Seoul too.
I’m so, so glad he was able to come. It was great to spend some quality time with him, just the two of us, and to be able to share some of the things I most enjoy about Korea with someone I really care about.
(* I know, I know, the title is corny and bad, but it was meant to be that way – sometimes you’ve just got to try and throw people a little off-balance.)
02.22.08
The Fruits of a Long-Distance Relationship
You don’t get someone to just sit and be companionably still with.
You don’t get to have a hug or a sympathetic glance from across the room when you’re having a really hard day.
You only get a couple of hours a day of contact with the person who matters so much to you, and sometimes you don’t even get that.
You don’t get a companion to go with you to parties or dinners, or even to share a quiet home-cooked meal.
You don’t get to walk down the street, taking in your surroundings, holding hands with someone you love.
You don’t get a pair of welcoming arms at the end of the day.
But you do get this (it came in the mail today):
02.03.08
At Last…
. . . there is a verdict. A firm one. An *actual* verdict. After four months, we finally have a real plan.
I’m going to be able to live with my husband before our first anniversary.
I’m going to be leaving Seoul early, and I’m going to be in Chennai, India before summer (this summer, that is).
I’m so, so happy that we can finally plan for the future in a real sense. I’m relieved that I now have an actual date after which my husband and I will at last be able to really feel like we’re married, and act like a real married couple, and finally live together. We’ve been waiting for this for so long, living in a constant state of agonizing separation for so long, that it almost doesn’t seem real even now that it actually is.
09.13.07
Why I’ve been silent…
Some of you may have noticed that I’ve not written anything here for quite a while. Many of you probably know the reasons why, or you may have guessed by the change in my location for a few weeks as listed near the top of this page, but for those of you who’ve still been scratching your heads, here’s why (photos by April):
September 1st was the big day, and we truly had a blast. My only regret: I really wish there had been more time to party at the reception, and to have some real, more in-depth conversations with some of the people who came.
If you happen to be reading this and were among those present that day, thank you so much for coming, and I know I speak for both of us (and surely our families as well) when I say we were incredibly happy to be able to see you and to have you share in our celebration that day. It really means a lot to us.
