So, I'm back. After all these days, yes. I was quite busy dealing with visa stuff and finally, I went to the French embassy to turn in all the documents and also to Campus France to have the interview. I have told so many people about how the interview went and I'm tired of explaining repetitively, so I will make it short: IT WENT WELL. So, you are looking at a girl who is leaving for Paris on 7th of January. I mean it is not sure or anything but I am pretty confident. I have to go to the embassy again next Tuesday to get the translated documents I turned in yesterday. I don't know what will happen later, but one thing I am sure is I am very excited. I hope everything goes well. I miss my friends and mostly, I miss my life alone. I will write soon again.

xx

Liz

I have a headache. I know I should be sleeping now, but I don't think I will ever fall asleep since I have a lot to think about. And if I sleep right now, I will feel like I have wasted time again. I mean, the whole day I didn't do anything but just watching stupid TV shows and some weird Japanese movie. It might sound like I don't like TV shows and movies. But don't get me wrong, I am in love with this one Japanese drama called 私が恋愛できない理由. This is one amazing TV show which shows lives of four girls in Tokyo. It's so realistic and かわいいいー　I hope the next episode comes out as soon as possible~ I cannot wait until next Tuesday... What am I talking about again.. I should be sleeping. If you see me now, you would be surprised because of the dark circles around my eyes. So... おやすみなさい、みんな！

Hey again. You are not mistaken. I am writing on this blog for the second time today. I was just going through my notebook and then I just found a story I wrote last summer while I was working at a bakery. So, while sitting down on a lovely cafe I just found at Hyewha, I want to share the story with you. It's not funny or witty, but just will you please be kind to read it? Here it starts.

A girl is on a bus. She is standing because there is no empty seat. But she is very tired since she had been standing for eight hours at work today. She looks around to see if anyone is getting off soon. But she only sees people sleeping or reading books. After she looks around one more time, she gives up. She leans on the bar next to her and thinks that she will be going home like that. As she thinks so, she captures a small movement from the corner of her left eye. She turns to see and she sees an old lady grabbing her purse to get ready to get off. She thanks God and moves slowly toward the old lady. But as she gets close to the old lady, she captures another movement. She sees a boy gathering his books and picking up his backpack. Now she has to consider which seat to take. She stands in the middle of the two seats and thinks about which one can give her the most benefit. If she takes the old lady's seat, she will have to be under the sunshine for the rest of her ride home, but it will be easier for her to get off from that seat. On the other hand, if she takes the boy's seat, she will be sitting right under the air-conditioner but it will be inconvenient for her to get off from there. She thinks for a while and then decides to take the boy's seat because she wants to feel the cool air. She moves toward him and the bus stops at the stop. The door opens and she waits for the boy to get off but he doesn't. She realizes she was wrong about the boy getting off, she quickly turns to get the old lady's seat. But the only thing she finds is the sleepy face of the old lady.

This is kind of the story of my life back in last summer, before I left for London. I was frustrated every day for working 7-8 hours a day, standing and taking orders. But I think it was still memorable and it feels very nostalgic to read this story again. And there is one more story I wrote today, while eating lunch alone. I want to share this with you as well. Hope it's not too much trouble?

A girl is having lunch by herself. If it was someone else, he/she would be feeling quite embarrassed or self-conscious but this girl is used to eating alone. In fact, she likes it that way much more. Why? Here, let me tell you the benefits of eating alone. First of all, you don't have to think about the person you are with. What I mean is that you can do whatever you want. For instance, you can take how much time you want to choose a menu. In addition, you can choose anything you want regardless of the other person. I mean, you wouldn't want to eat something with strong garlic flavor if you were with someone, would you? But you can do that if you are eating alone. Also, you don't have to think about how fast or slow you eat. You can start and finish whenever and however you want to. Secondly, you get to see and hear things that you wouldn't have noticed if you were eating with someone else. Like how the food is being made, what the staff and other customers are talking about. Or eve, you can notice that one of the other customers is wearing the same coat as you. It is like taking off your earphone while some music is playing on a bus or subway. Suddenly, you notice so many tiny details you would have missed otherwise. Thirdly, you can have some time on your own. You can think about things that you have to or you want to, i.e. daydream without limits. You can also write down what you are thinking, like I am doing right now. I am very aware of other advantages you might have when you eat with someone else, especially if it is someone you love or care about, but no matter what, I think I prefer eating alone for those reasons I have just listed. So now tell me, what do you prefer?

Lemon tea here is so tasty. I guess I will be coming here A LOT. ← you see these capital letters? If you do, then you will know how serious I am.

will write soon again.

xx

I haven't updated my blog for a while and I feel kind of guilty. But I have my reasons not to do so. Firstly, I started to watch this Japanese drama my friend recommended and I fell in love with it. I just couldn't stop watching it, except the fact that there is no episode 6 with Korean subtitle stopped me. I guess if there was one with subtitle, I wouldn't be sitting here writing on this blog. But since that did not happen, but which I am still waiting for, I am updating this blog with a big blanket wrapped around me. Since the last time I updated, it got much colder and just looking at the closed window in my room makes me cold. I'm just too scared to open those windows because I know this evil winter wind will come into my room in a second. I mean I wanted this weather to be cold. But that was when it was blazing hot and rainy which made my skin all sticky and gross. I really loved the fall in Korea this year. Red, yellow, orange, and brown leaves everywhere, fallen down on the street which made it look like a fall wonderland (if there is one, I mean). I instantly fell in love, but then it didn't last that long. After a rain the leaves were all gone from the trees and suddenly, bam! Cold winter wind is trying to get to your skin. Sorry, I digressed again haha. What I wanted to say is that the weather getting cold is the second reason I haven't updated. I know it sounds lame- but when you are too cold, you are busy warming your body up and you don't really want to do anything else. Okay, I admit it. Watching that drama was the biggest reason and this weather-getting-cold reason was merely an excuse. It's good to tell the truth haha.

So, France. I guess it is going pretty well. I am going to pay for my accommodation today and get contract from them to apply to visa. And my interview is in less than a week! This kind of makes me nervous but if you think about it, what is there to be nervous about? I can just tell them how I love studying in different countries, learning about their culture and language. Just be honest, and be enthusiastic, and you will pass, right? This is not like a job interview at a huge firm, it's just a visa interview. Almost anyone can get it, right? I just hope it comes out on time so that I can visit my friends in England and spend lots and lots of time with them before I leave for Paris. Can't wait.

xx

I bought a notebook around a week ago to write down the things I learn - English and French. I don't usually buy notebooks because I never really use them once I buy them. But I needed one for my studies and this one's cover caught my eyes. On the cover it says:

dance

as though no one is watching you,

love

as though you have never been hurt before,

sing

as though no one can hear you,

live

as though heaven is on earth.

There are many notebooks or other stationary things that have witty saying on them lately, but I don't know why this one caught my eyes. Maybe because I wanted some guidelines on how to live my life? And the phrases on the notebook was quite satisfying for me? Basically it's telling you to live your life happily and don't care what others think. It is such a cliche. But I think cliches can be useful sometimes because lots of the time we forget the norms and take things for granted. Besides, it is always good to have some kind of a reminder, isn't it?

Life is weird sometimes. Things can turn out as you want it to be even if you didn't actually attempt to do anything. You worry about it all day and night to the point you cannot concentrate at work or sleep at night, but one day you wake up, it is solved. I didn't know but life has more surprises in it than I thought. I did wish for this to happen but somehow I feel like I gained it too easily and it's just making me a little listless. I'm trying to calm myself down a little with a cup of rosemary tea. It is weird, drinking tea makes me think clearer than before and calms my mind. Maybe this is why tea is loved by so many people in so many different countries. I do envy people who live in a country where there is teatime. But I think it doesn't matter if the country has teatime or not. What is important is that if I love tea, I can just make my own teatime. I don't have to care about what other people think. Hmm.. I don't know how I ended up with this. Sorry I digress a lot. Anyhow. I was saying that no matter how much you want something it doesn't happen if it's not meant to do. But if it is meant to happen, then it happens even if you didn't try. So don't worry too much about something, but also you cannot just stop trying. Because the destiny can be changed.

I wondered why websites like Facebook is so famous. Then I found the answers. One is that you can reach your friends no matter where they are. The other one, the more important one is that you can see what other people are thinking and express what you think as well. Also this makes you wonder what other people would say about your pictures, your statuses, or your comments. People always want to fit in because we are social animals. I read in some psychology book that if someone keeps avoiding interacting with other people, then there must be some problems in that person's life, since we cannot live without social contact. I agree with whoever said that, and Facebook used that theory very well. We always have to interact with others and we always wonder and care what others think about us. But if you think about it, it's the same for everyone. Let's say some people said something that makes you feel lame. But I bet that same person is afraid of someone else doing the same thing to him or her. I guess we will never get out of this caring-about-what-other-people-think-about-me thing because of the same reason I explained above, but let's try not to care too much. Because after all, it is our own lives, and the main characters are us, not some stupid girl who tells you you're fat and ugly or some football player who looks down on you. And remember that they also are scared of the same thing as you.

I want to write about fat people. I cannot really consider myself 'fat,' but it feels like I am getting there because of excessive consumption of chocolate and other sweets without doing any exercises. I just had some discussion on this with my dear friend. He said that guys don't like slender women that much. And I said but they don't like fat women either. His reply really made me think: that's because you think there are only slender and fat women. He definitely has some point there. Like most people, I tend to think that there are only two kinds of people: fat and slender people. However, there are people in the middle as well. But to think about it, why do we care about appearances so much? I say this out loud and I might even get angry with the world for only valuing the appearance, but later I soon will be thinking, 'I should lose some more weight,' or 'I look terrible, I should put some makeup on.' Everyone is full of contradictions.

I don't even know why I started writing this, or what I was going to write here. But I am sure about something. I need some tea to calm me down now.

I recently fell in love with Maroon 5. It feels like none of their songs are bad. She'll be loved, This love, Misery, Wake up call, Sunday Morning, Never gonna leave this bed, Goodnight Goodnight... Adam Levine's voice is sexy and addictive. Well, I guess it's addictive because it's sexy. It's quite hard for guys to make such high-pitched voice but he is doing a wonderful job. But it's not only Adam's voice that is making me want to listen to their songs more and more. The instrumental part is amazing too. Especially lots of guitar solos and the beats. Awesome tune. I'm wondering why I didn't like them since a long time ago, because songs like This love is so popular and even I have heard of it. But anyways, I found them now and love their songs so I don't have any more complaints or anything. Now I am going to put them on my phone. But I should wait for my nail polish to dry. It's translucent pink, just in case you want to know :)

I typed in 'How can I be happy?' on Google. The first thing that caught my eyes was WikiHow. Then I laughed at myself for googling that question. How desperate do I have to be to learn how to be happy by reading? You cannot learn how to be happy like you learn how to solve a quadratic equation. It's out there. Not on some stupid WikiHow. There are ups and downs in everyone's life. Because there are the downs, the ups exist. I know, it's easier said than done. But haven't I known this for long enough time? Isn't it time for me to actually proceed and do it? I guess I still need to grow up.

Autumn

Spring, Summer, and Winter all have only one name. But why does Fall have two names; Fall and Autumn? Isn't that weird? But if you think about it, maybe it is because you can see so many different sides of this season. One word is just not enough to convey the colors and the tastes it has.

I have spent 2011's Summer in Korea. I thought it would only be that, but I'm still in Korea during this beautiful Autumn time. It is purely amazing how the colors of the trees have become and how they make 'the Autumn wonderland' out of all the different colors of leaves fallen on the ground. I feel like leaf-fighting or making leafman if that's possible. I wish to share the feeling with people who might drop by my blog. Here they are:

Right now I am teaching little kids English at a small school. I am very grateful that I have got this opportunity and I am trying my best to make every minute worth. I feel like I will miss my kids so much when I leave.

Now I'm waiting for my peppermint tea to cool down a little. I just poured boiling water and it looks dangerously hot. I'm going to wait a little. You know, it feels like people in modern world have to learn to wait. They are all just looking strai

ght ahead. They need to know that sometimes, it is good to just stop their hasty walks and rest a little. And when it is necessary, look back a little too. To remember and to smell the scent of the past.

I hope my tea is cooled down a little now.

xx

lizzie