A brand new month and less than a week before I head home!

Things are just crazy, crazy, crazy around here as I get ready to go and still try to keep on top of the other things I've been doing here. I did get a couple of short stories written in October for the Writer's Guild including one that just positively creeped out those who have read it so far. I actually don't do too badly with writing really short stories. There's not much in the way of details you have to have and you can just sort of end it anywhere, it doesn't have to be tied up all nice and neat. It takes a little time though to sit and write so not every week has been productive and this week especially nothing is going to get done because I'm leaving. But it helps to get some of those writing juices going again since I hadn't done any real writing in a very long time, just blog writing.

I'm also getting more involved in the knitting group, especially now that there's a local one for me to attend. And by local, I mean REALLY local, just a few blocks away! That's REALLY nice and it helps that the person who set it up pretty much lives in the same neighborhood. Spending a Saturday morning knitting and talking I think is a very nice way to pass the time especially as John doesn't do anything on Saturdays and this Saturday in particular was cool and rainy (and Halloween and I didn't really want any part of that). I've been meeting up with other members as well and going on outings with them. I met up with two of them on Thursday in Itewon (the foreigner district) for a manicure and pedicure (that's pretty much my birthday/anniversary present since John never really got me anything). I also met up with one of them the next night for a trip to Myeongdong which is a large shopping area. Last week was a trip to Dongdaemun, a HUGE craft shopping area and I'm not kidding when I say huge, the entire basement floor of the place was knitting stuff including yarn, knitting needles, etc. I got several balls of yarn and a thing if needles for a total of around $22. Not too bad and I like the colors I got. I'm still working on my first project which isn't much, just knitting practice and something that will end up being a blanket or something for one of Natalie's dolls but it helps to practice both knitting and purling, casting on and hopefully casting off (haven't done that yet). The next project will be more of the same but maybe practicing more of a pattern, we'll see. I just want to get the basics down so I can make something more complex later on.

There's definitely a ton to do and a ton to see here. I'm getting into great shape with all of the walking and stair climbing I'm doing. It's not always possible to take the elevator or the stairs so yeah, I do a LOT of stair climbing, especially in subway stations. And one a busy walking day, I definitely am going, going, going. The only thing I'm NOT doing is carrying Natalie around (even I have my limits!). John does that though, poor thing, she's not exactly light. Today, we went to Insadong which is a huge art shopping area. All kinds of crafts and things to check out and lots of items to buy, some cheap and some quite expensive! It's a pretty long street so we did a bit of walking there. Then we grabbed a bite to eat, got back on the subway and went to Myeongdong so I could pick up more socks from that shopping area. I had picked up a few pairs the other night and loved them so much I had to get more. They're the really soft socks and they come in all kinds of colors.

From there, we got back on the subway and headed for home. John and Natalie had to get off at the Express Bus Terminal because Natalie had to go potty. We had planned that I would stop in Ori and pick up a few things from the Home Plus and head home. Well, I realized I had almost no money to do that and John's the only one with a bank card. So I wanted for him at the transfer point in Suseo to see if I could catch up with him there. I waited and waited and finally, just as I was about to get back on the subway, I get a phone call. He had called me from a pay phone to ask me about Natalie's gloves. I didn't have them but I was able to tell him to meet me up in Ori. lol He did find the gloves and we agreed to meet in Ori at the exit near the Home Plus. I got there probably a good half hour before him so I finished watching my Voyager episode on my MP3 player, walked out of a different exit, stopped over at the Tom N Tom's coffee place and grabbed a cinnamon chocolate hot chocolate drink. YUM! It was getting cold out so this was a nice fall treat. John and Natalie met up with me shortly after that and we did our shopping. We got a new blanket (since it was going to get COLD) and a few other items and took a cab home. It was a LONG day! We left the house at around 11:30 so that I could meet up with this guy who had gotten a letter that my mom sent me by mistake (I do not know what was up with that, especially since John had been going to the post office almost every day for the last almost two months) and we didn't get home until almost 11pm. I'm hoping the rest of this week won't be quite as hectic, next Sunday is going to be crazy enough since that's the day I fly home.

And that's just a small example of what we've been doing the last month. Every weekend, something's been up and I've been gone or all three of us go out somewhere and do something and weekdays can get pretty hectic too. I'm looking forward to actually getting a chance to RELAX! lol Going home will REALLY seem like a vacation though I do plan to do a lot, it's just not going to be quite as hectic as it has been here. I'm definitely looking forward to it.