4 Months Later

Well, I don't even know what to say here. I don't think I've ever gone this long between posting. I'm sure I've lost more than a few readers, but that's all right. I'm just waiting for my daughter, Grace, to fall asleep again and was thinking that I really should do this.

A lot has happened in 4 months of life in Canada. Besides not having my husband, Sejin, around, adjusting to life here hasn't been that bad. I heard many stories about reverse culture shock, and I'm happy to report that I've suffered none of that. I think after nine+ years in Korea, I was ready for a real change. I certainly miss a lot of things about Korea. I miss shopping at the yarn wholesalers. I miss being able to order just about anything delivered to my door, at any time, for next to nothing. 1500 won rolls of kimbap. Doejangchigae. Galbi with kimchi on the grill. Hoe deopbap (raw fish mixed with red pepper paste, greens, and rice). Seeing totally random things when out and about, like funny signs and Tshirts, cultural performances, dogs with neon hair dye...stuff like that. Things are very...ordinary here in my town, but that's not a bad thing. Grace has been loving getting outdoors more often. We have a car and she loves car rides.

I'm disappointed that Grace isn't speaking Korean anymore. I suppose that's natural because no one around her is speaking Korean. Although I'm disappointed, I'm not worried about it because she's at an age when she can remember it and pick up more easily (once Sejin gets here). I even have to watch what I say around her now because she repeats everything. Sejin will have to be pretty diligent about only speaking Korean with her.

I'm still working on a contract with a publishing house in Korea. I'm almost done, and then everything is up in the air. In the back of my mind, I have this wee dream about making a living, maybe even just part-time, with photography. Having a photo published in Time Magazine gave me a good confidence boost. And someone bought a photo of mine a few weeks ago for $300 (through Getty Images). I assisted a wedding photographer a month ago and it went well. He loved the few photos I showed him and would like me to help him again next wedding season. Not sure if I will or not, but it feels good to have others like your stuff. But I still feel like I have a long way to go. I just want to know the craft as well as I can before charging people money, or even calling myself a "photographer." I don't feel that I am there yet. I have considered seeking out a mentor and attending a workshop, but these things aren't cheap, so I'm just kind of waiting and seeing right now. I'm really still a newbie, and it does bother me to see new "photographers" that set up shop and hardly know the basics. But although I am doing well at trying to be realistic and critical of my work, I have a feeling that with some hard work and diligence, I can get a lot better. Time will tell!

I'm not even going to bother updating with my knitting and crochet projects that I have finished in the last several months. I'll start updating again once I'm posting here regularly. I am really lucky to have found a great knitting group in my area. There are about 5 or 6 of us who meet once a week at our local coffee shop and just stitch away and talk fibre. It makes you feel really good to get out of the house and talk to other people after playing dolls and stressing about your life all day. I really look forward to knit nights.

I guess my major stress right now is not knowing when Sejin is going to receive his permanent residency papers and will be able to finally come here. The embassy in Seoul explicitly tells you not to contact them about the status of your application unless the estimated waiting period has expired (it says 7 months right now). If I had a rough time frame to work with, I wouldn't worry so much, but not knowing is hard. Grace misses him, and I could use a hand. Luckily, Grace is usually a pretty good girl, but she has days where I reach the end of my rope and it would be so great to have him take her off my hands. I have a feeling life is going to improve a lot once he gets here.

Unfortunately, I have not been keeping up with my friend's blogs, but I plan to do so again soon. I've been mostly keeping up with people through facebook, which isn't always the best way. I miss reading my blogger friends' posts.

Anyway, I'm back! I plan to post regularly now, so stay tuned!!