Autumn is usually a pretty nice time wherever you are. The temperatures become bearable again! It's time to put a fall wreath on the front door, set some kind of gourd out on the stoop as decoration, hear the crunch of leaves underfoot, throw on a cute scarf and go grab a pumpkin spice latte all while enjoying the wonderful cool smell of the air that accompanies September and October.
...Wait! What are all these things again?? Oh, right, they don't happen in my neck of the woods. My facebook is overflowing with friends and acquaintances going on and on about how fabulous fall is and building fires and sitting on their porch with a blanket and pictures of them sipping on said pumpkin spice latte. I don't even particularly like pumpkin spice lattes, but to know I could get one if I really wanted one would make the season transition here much more pleasant. (I prefer those whatchamacallits from Starbucks that taste like liquid apple pie.) Living in this somewhat smelly, concrete hole makes me miss good old America even more this time of year. Fall isn't even my favorite season, I'm a summer girl, but for some reason everything about fall just screams...HOME. Everywhere you look there are signs of autumn and the upcoming holidays. Bails of hay here, wagons of pumpkins there, cartoon turkeys hanging in that window...none of that exists here. The only smidgen I get is on my way to work there are a few blocks of trees that turn pretty colors. I suppose I could venture out to the countryside one afternoon, but it's not like I would get the full impact of an American autumn. Here in a few weeks, I'll just sigh and slap on my tights and wait for my mom's annual Thanksgiving-themed box to come so I can get a little bit of a feel for home. But, I keep reminding myself that this is the last time I'll be away for major holidays, so appreciate what time I have left here and next fall? I'll be sitting on a porch in my own blanket watching the leaves change, and that, my friends, is something I'm majorly anticipating.
This time of year is also the time for colds and I have a doozy as I type this. Early last week I felt that tickle in my throat indicating something was coming on and so a few days later I had a pretty good cold. I felt much better over Chuseok (Korean holiday that gave us a five day weekend this year) and so I decided to go out with everyone on Saturday night. Well, I think I was just very unlucky and picked up something else while my immune system was on the fritz because by Sunday night, I was dead sick and felt 1000x worse than I did just a few days prior with the first cold. Usually a long night out means I'm in constant contact with a large cloud of smoke wherever I am. Not being a smoker, the next morning usually has me hacking and coughing while my poor lungs try and recover from what I involuntarily did to them. This is what I thought was wrong come Sunday afternoon when my chest was on fire, so we went on to the beach anyway and I had a pretty good day despite my feeling sicker by the hour. By the time we left the beach I was going downhill and downhill fast, resulting in another, and worse, full blown cold. After a five day weekend, going to back work very sick Monday morning was not fun and on top of that Mondays are my full, busy days. Today, Tuesday, I'm feeling much better and from now on I plan on basically drowning myself in those Korean vitamin C miracle drinks and trying as hard as possible not to come in close contact with those walking petri dishes known as elementary school children.
Other than that, things are the same old same old around here. Gina and I are going to Japan next week because...well, because we can...so that will be a nice getaway. Still just enjoying the last bit of warmth before the biting Busan winter air hits!
xx
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