appreciate the little things

In the midst of my annoyance over today's scheduling clusterfuck, I should note that September is generally a happy time for me, for several reasons.

First: September traditionally marks the commencement of the school year for most American students. Fall has therefore never been about endings for me, but about beginnings. The weather in Seoul has been cooling down substantially, which is great for me, and fall seems to be in the air. My A/C no longer has to be on 24/7, for which I'm grateful.

Second: This month features a string of birthdays for people close to me. My goddaughter turned 10 on the 10th (she got her shirt and liked it!); my other best buddy, Dr. Steve, turns 37 on the 12th; and finally, my wacky brother David turns the big 3-0 on the 14th. A thirty old man!

Third: Our first class of FroshEng wasn't even a class: we had to spend two hours interviewing students. One rather pretty one asked, "Are you married?" (You'd be surprised how often we male teachers get that... or maybe you wouldn't.) When I announced that I wasn't married, this student blinked her big doe eyes at me and said, "Well, how about marrying me?" Awwwww. It was a cute moment. She started fanning herself, blushing hard at her own temerity.

So it's not as though today had been a total loss. Good things did happen.


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