Sofie to Korea

I’m back in Seoul and busy as ever. I’m teaching two classes and have to deal with more than 200 students over the summer. It’s great to feel busy and tired in a good way again.

With my weekdays filled up with classes, office hours, and grading – my weekends are my off-time. Saturdays are usually for laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping during the day and meeting people in the evening.

The Bible says “Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy” (Yep, this may be the first time I’ve ever quoted Scripture on this blog). I’m not religious, but I firmly believe in keeping one day holy – for yourself. Therefore, I’ve pledged to dedicate my Sundays to self-care and “me time”.

Today has been a prime example of a self-care day. I allowed myself to sleep in in the morning to catch up on some much needed sleep. Then I cooked myself a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast with a fruit platter on the side and fresh coffee. I took my time to enjoy my breakfast and get ready. Then I went for an hour long walk around my neighborhood enjoying the warm weather and exceptionally clean air, which sadly becomes an increasingly rare phenomenon in this city.

Back home, I spent a few hours reading City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert and losing myself and my thoughts to the fabulous universe of the 1940s’ New York. I find that there’s nothing like reading to take your mind off of things. You simply let the writing on the pages do the thinking for you and let your own thoughts rest for a while.

I took my time in preparing my dinner and eating it while watching tv. Then a long shower followed by a more elaborate skin care routine than usual, and now I’m updating my blog while sipping chamomile tea in my PJs. A truly uneventful day, but isn’t that just what we need once in a while in order to be able to deal with the more eventful ones?

Now I’ll treat myself to a chocolate chip cookie and read in bed before going to sleep early.

I wish you all a blessed Sunday full of small joys of self-care.