The Been Briefing

it is 12:28 in the afternoon... monday. and i am 22 years old today. that means in korea i am 24. i have gained 3 years to my life in one day. how do i feel? well, i feel pretty much the same, except encouraged with the prospect of losing those 2 years again when i return to the states. looooool

(oh, by the way, many people have asked what LOL means. i am sorry i have been communicating in code, and half of you have missed it. LOL means 'Laugh Out Loud' in chatting lingo. other abbreviations include: TTYL - talk to you later, BTW - by the way, ROFL - rolling on the floor laughing... there are others, but those might help. as of yet, however, i have never met anyone who abbreviates on any form of online chatting more than my younger sister anna. i can't even understand her. anyway, i use LOL, and for some reason i find it encompasses all my laughter quite well. for those of you who have not understood until now, i hope you find it enhances your reading pleasure all the more.)

it has been a marvelous birthday so far. i wanted to thank everyone back home for making me feel so loved. my poor laptop has been flooded with emails, IMs, and skype phone calls... somehow i managed to get a morning run, shower, and breakfast in amidst the past 4 hours of skype. holy mackeral.

my friend hannah emailed me the other day, asking me how i survived the 3 week hump. at first i was confused, but then read on. apparently the 3 week hump is what one experiences after the initial excitement of travel and newness dies down and the reality of living in another country kicks in, bringing with it loneliness, depression, homesickness, etc. when i read the email, i quickly looked at my calendar and checked the dates. i'm telling you, friends, it was like clockwork. last thursday and friday (the 22nd and 23rd) i was in a rut - missing the family, my friends, and just feeling like a failure when it came to operating in korea. in short, i was feeling very AMERICAN and finding i liked the way AMERICANS do things much better. lol.

... more to come. (of course) my ex-boyfriend whitt always said that my letters were ruth-esque. that meant they were long. to this day i continue to take that as a compliment. i have no choice! LOOOOOOOOL.

well, i should go and get some more work done before class, but i will write more birthday goodness later. i love you all so very much and treasure every email, every IM, every phone call. thank you for taking time out of your day to communicate with me!