abate

v., a·bat·ed, a·bat·ing, a·bates.
v.tr.
To reduce in amount, degree, or intensity; lessen. See synonims at decrease.
To deduct from an amount; subtract.


A List of Things I Want to Do Before Leaving Korea in 165 days
1. Temple Stay in a mountain
2. Hike Bukhansan in the snow. It made me so happy when I did it in January 2008.
3. Have a lot of Girls' Nights with Kim Laura Elizabeth Heather etc
4. Get Yummy Teacher to teach me how to cook a few choice things so I won't have to miss them when I leave
5. Go back to Seoraksan
6. Go to Namdaemun one late weekend night
7. take pictures of city sights that I'm long bored of but will look back fondly on when I'm gone
8. Get Laser Eye surgery
9. Visit doctors and dentists that will be overpriced without insurance in my own country

solitary

sol·i·tar·y (sŏl'ĭ-tĕr'ē)

adj.

1. Existing, living, or going without others; alone: a solitary traveler. See synonyms at alone.
2. Happening, done, or made alone: a solitary evening; solitary pursuits such as reading and sewing.
3. Remote from civilization; secluded: a solitary retreat.
4. Having no companions; lonesome or lonely.
5. Zoology. Living alone or in pairs only: solitary wasps; solitary sparrows.
6. Single and set apart from others: a solitary instance of cowardice.

I took the GRE today, part 1. It was hard! I hope I did okay.

Since I had to take the GRE today, I got the day off work. Wahoo! I admit it's a little weird that there was maybe even a little more more anticipation re the day off than there was about the GRE. It was super. After the GRE, I went to Itaewon and walked around by myself. I took the subway by myself, had lunch by myself, developed a deep love for Coldstone Creamery by myself, wandered in and out of shops by myself, read books in the bookstore by myself, bought some groceries by myself, took the bus home by myself.

In Japan I did things alone a lot. I spent most Fridays alone, as a matter of fact, since no one else shared that day off. I loved it then too, I feel like those days were such important quality time. I felt so composed and relaxed and peaceful.

On the bus ride home I fell asleep and woke up looking for Ryan, he was not in the seat next to me so I looked around at seats behind me for a minute until I remembered he was not with me.

How can it be that I do kind of miss being alone and still enjoy it so much, but would still never, given the option, pass up the time I spend with Ryan and Kim and the rest of my cronies for this kind of afternoon? Weird, right?

appraise

tr.v., -praised, -prais·ing, -prais·es.

To evaluate, especially in an official capacity.
To estimate the quality, amount, size, and other features of; judge. See synonyms at estimate.


Ryan and I made a 5-year-plan. We made it on Sunday and it's kept us in very good moods all week so far. I cannot divulge some of the details of it, as that might jinx them, but I can tell you that it's kind of like this:
2009- almost over so whatever
2010- finish up in Korea, go on awesome trip in the spring, return to NY in the summer, go to school in the fall (Ryan or both of us)
2011 - is a little depressing since it's basically just the fall of 2010, times 2.
2012 - Ryan will graduate and big stuff is happening
2013/2014 - are as of yet, combined, as they are just too far into the future for our brains to fathom. I will be 30 and Ryan will be 32, OMG!

Anyway, I think 5 year plans are good, but I have to be careful. I have 5.5 months of Korea left and I'm a little worried I'm just going to wish them away. Maybe an island-hopping weekend will help me get back in the present, and when I'm finished with the GRE and thinking about graduate applications... Is this healthy?

fecund

adj.
Capable of producing offspring or vegetation; fruitful.
Marked by intellectual productivity. See synonyms at fertile.
[Middle English, from Old French fecond, from Latin fēcundus.]



(note: I am not referring to my capability of producing offspring here!)





I'm on a roll, seriously.



I'm taking Part 1 of the GRE in T- 16 days (and I'm looking forward to the half-day off work as much as I'm dreading the exam) and I'm learning like 20 new words a day. Yessss. I've also been re-learning all the math I learned in elementary school, which is a little scary but must be a good thing considering I'm 25 years old. Geeze. Square roots and exponents and PEMDAS, oh my!

Also, I'm Girl on a Budget. I got drunk and cabbed home on W40,000 last week, and bought W24,000 of groceries for the week. I took a cab to work this week which was against the budget plan, but whatever, I had the world's worst headache and couldn't cope. I'll walk home. Hopefully I'll have enough for 1. laser eye surgery this fall, 2. Mission: Trip of a Lifetime in the spring, 3. Sustained Living in NYC in the summer.

I'm back at the gym full blast, and I saw a new number on the scale yesterday (it was gone this morning but hey, I still saw it). Wahoo.

What else? Well I still hate my job but that's okay. I'm leaving the country in 179 days. That's right. 179. Really, probably more like 178.5 since it's after lunch.