As I'm sitting here at the computer, I'm listening to a little Kid Koala. It's New Years Eve and I'm gonna hop on the subway to go out and meet friends right after my adult class finishes. I talked to one of my friends in Seoul and he already got me a room for the night, so I don't have to worry about a place to stay. Nora left school sometime around 7, and I told her I'd call her later on when I get to Itaewan, the foreign district. Hopefully it'll be a good night. I won't get there till after 11, but I'm gonna try to catch up to everyone after that.

This past weekend on Saturday, we (Choi and I) went into Seoul to pick up Nora, my friend, to move her into our apartment. Things went fine....well mostly, up until Monday night when she finished unpacking her stuff and realized that somehow Choi had missplaced to of her boxes. She was pretty frantic, cuz all of her expensive jewelery was in one of them as well as all her music. Talk about a bad start at a new school. They move you and the first thing that happens is that they lose some of your stuff. After bugging Choi and Agnes about it a bunch of times yesterday, I saw Agnes slip her some money earlier tonight. I tried asking Nora about it, but she didn't say anything. It was Agnes that said they gave her some money, without me even asking. It won't make up for all the nice things she lost, but maybe it'll make her feel a little better. She was feeling kinda lousy because of that, and that I had had to tell her almost immediately after getting into our apartment that both Clinton and I really didn't want her smoking in the living room or bathroom. That and I asked her to please not make out with her boyfriend in the living room, while we're sitting right there. I didn't mean to make her feel unwelcome, but that's the way it made her feel. Then things were smoothed over somewhat and she seemed a little better and boom...that's when she realized that her stuff was missing. I'll see her later tonight and hopefully she'll be feeling a little better after getting some money and being able to see David, her boyfriend. We talked again today about home, and I think it's mostly ok. The good news is that she does like the school and has said so a couple of times that the kids all seem pretty cool. That's definitely a plus.

On a slightly funny note...both Clinton and I got letters in the mail from John today. I quote:

Dear Brenda,
I am writing to apologize for my premature departure. At the time I was confused and used poor judgement. I thought it was no big deal based on conversations and my sense of things.
Now though, I realize that I acted wrongly. Though some might not think it that bad, I am upset with myself for lying, for being selfish, and for not giving it more time. I need to stand a bit more on my own values and not be confused by my worries from other Korean stories or cultural differences.
We don't know eacch other well, so I won't rite much more. Only tosay that I am worry for any harm I caused you. I acted out of character, in poor judgement and I must lean from this mistake.

John Howard

Although it's really a too little too late, it's at least something. Oh, and he wrote it December 14th, which probably means that he felt bad pretty much right after getting home. Serves him right!