Sofie to Korea

While Monday was tough for me, I feel that things have been picking up a bit the past couple of days. Since I’m on sabbatical, I’ve got a lot of time on my hands these days for reflection, which can seem overwhelming. Nonetheless, after days of feeling bored and empty, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and view this as an amazing opportunity to pursue new goals while enjoying myself. I realize that many people would envy my ability to take some time for myself, so I’ve decided to be grateful for this opportunity and make the most of it. That doesn’t mean that I won’t have bad days, I most certainly will, but I’ve come to realize that I have so many things to be thankful for and to remind myself of them, I figured I’d list them here:

• I’m thankful for my amazing support network of friends and family, who are there when I need to pour my heart out
• I’m thankful for my patient husband who supports me in any way imaginable and encourages me to find and follow my passion
• I’m thankful that, while I currently do not live in Seoul, I live in a university city with plenty of opportunities for educating and improving myself
• I’m thankful that I’m under no pressure to provide for our household
• I’m thankful that I’ll soon be going on a fun trip with my friends
• I’m thankful that there are so many wonderful people in my life
• I’m thankful that I will be going to Seoul soon
• I’m thankful that I have plenty of time to read every day
• I’m thankful that technology lets me stay in contact with my Korean friends easily

As you can see, there are so many things to appreciate, and I simply must become better at focusing on my opportunities rather than my limitations.

In other news, I met with a Japanese professor from my university this week, and we agreed that I may audit all the first year classes for the Japanese major. That means that soon I’ll have a timetable to stick to, tests to prepare for, and plenty of reason and motivation for improving my Japanese. This alone is enough to provide some much-needed structure, and I’m positive that this will enhance my overall productivity as well. More importantly, I can now enjoy the final weeks before the semester starts knowing that there will be plenty of things to keep me busy come September. Keeping busy over the fall will also make time until Seoul go so much faster. Things are indeed starting to look brighter.