Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Creature from the Black Lagoon

I've decided that "Creature from the Black Lagoon" is the best description of what I look like today. Apparently, I am allergic to something. I'm not sure what it is that has set me off, but my eyes are horribly swollen today, my nose is red, and my sinuses are dreadful. Cate thinks it might be some of the pollen from the trees, which is of a different variety than what I'm used to in the USA. I think she may be right.

Aside from looking and feeling lousy, I'm actually having a pretty good week. The kids have been really good for the past two days, and the weather has been perfect (sunny and cool). One of my kindergartners gave me a random present today: a card she had made that said "I love you" in Hangeul and a bag of candy. It was such a sweet thing for her to do!

Gyeongju has gotten even prettier this week, now that hundreds and hundreds of red roses are in bloom. When I'm riding past all the flowers on my bike, the smell is so alluring it makes me want to just stop and breathe it all in for an hour or so.

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"Passage—immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins! Away, O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!
Cut the hawsers—haul out—shake out every sail!
Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?
Have we not grovell’d here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
Have we not darken’d and dazed ourselves with books long enough?

Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go, And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

O my brave soul!
O farther, farther sail!
O daring joy, but safe! Are they not all the seas of God?
O farther, farther, farther sail!"

~Walt Whitman, "Passage to India"