I was right...

...Sydney rocked. I am in love with that city and I'll shout it just as a fake rockstar once shouted "I am a golden god!" from a rooftop.

But seriously, it was an amazing vacation and an amazing city. Totally wonderful.

After Korea, I took off to Fukuoka, Japan for just a couple days, which was really nice. They had a really good downtown area that was nice to walk around, and my new favorite store, Muji. (Basically a Japanese Ikea... I subsequently nicknamed it 'Jaikea'.) This place is wonderful and I found some good, cheap stuff there like Thai curry cooking bases, Earl Grey flavored marshmallows (they rock- don't knock it), and a new dayplanner for 2010. (Speaking of which, HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

I'm now back in Korea, having celebrated New Years Eve by making Shepherd's Pie, Green Bean Casserole and Kahlua Brownies for Andrew and I and then celebrating New Year's Day by making Chocolate Chip Pancakes this morning. I'm also busy trying to wring all of the relaxation out of this weekend that I can before I am back to teaching on Monday. I'll be teaching at a winter English camp, which are usually fun because the lessons are more free-form and silly, but the kids can get a bit loopy by the end of it!

And during my extra-curricular time at camp, I'll be focusing on working on the afghan I'm making (I'm about a foot and a half into the length of it, and it's about as wide as a queen sized bed- a big undertaking), learning a board game called 바둑 (Baduk). Andrew and I bought the game and are going to try to teach each other the basics during camp time. I mostly wanted to learn this game because there's an entire TV channel in Korea dedicated to teaching the intricacies of it and you always see old men at parks playing it. (Old Korean guys playing it makes it seem like something really wise, so I guess that makes it cool?)

But now, if you'll allow me a regress back to a previous topic- the New Year. (Typing this while listening to New Year by Death Cab for Cutie.) I'm really excited about 2010. There's been a lot of change for me in the last few years- particulary 2008 (what with graduating college, turning down a job offer, accepting a very different job offer on the spur of the moment in South Korea and building a life there, and meeting a kind, intelligent and silly person who has become a huge part of my life).

This year feels very different, however. I think in 2008, I didn't think about the change that would be coming up- I was totally living in the moment (as one should do in their last year of college), and I wasn't really thinking about the change that would be occurring. In 2010, though, I am really looking forward. It's different because this time I know for sure that huge change will be coming my way. I know that in August, I will be leaving Korea. I know that I will be moving to a new location, almost certainly with the person mentioned previously, and I know that I will be starting a new job.

Where I go, what I will do, and how I will live is all a mystery though. But that mystery will be solved in 2010, and I'm so excited to see how. It's all really quite humbling, knowing that at this point, I have no control or idea of how those mysteries will reveal themselves.

I hope that this New Year brings a sense of wonder and anticipation to you as well. To those at home, I miss you dearly.

Love, Kayleigh