Reflecting on a Month of Slicing

Day 31 has arrived, marking the end of this year’s Slice of Life Writing Challenge. I’m grateful to have had this month of writing, but I’m also relieved it’s over. This past week has been challenging for me to find the time and energy to write. Earlier this month, I had lots of energy and motivation for slicing, but not this week. Truth be told, this week has left me drained, and I haven’t really had much energy for anything. Some weeks are like that.

During the challenge, I’ve written some meaningful slices, a few tough ones, several happy ones, and a few filler slices. The act of writing has helped me process some of what’s been going on in my life lately. The challenge has also helped me reconnect with my slicer friends; although, I admit I’ve had a harder time keeping up with commenting this past week. I’m hoping to catch up on that next week when the daily pressure to write a slice of life is gone.

After 14 years of slicing in the challenge, you would have thought it would have been easier this year, but sometimes we have tough times in our lives, where everything seems harder than it used to be. This is one of those times for me.

Looking ahead, I anticipate joining the SOL Tuesday community during my yearlong sabbatical, beginning this summer. I’ll have more time in my schedule to do things I want to do, like slicing, once I’m no longer working. I’ll also have lots to reflect on and celebrate! Until then, I’ll miss everyone. Thanks for all the support you’ve shown me this month…I truly appreciate it! Your comments have meant so much to me and have made me feel seen.

My Weekend Ritual

Every Saturday (and most Sundays) you can find me at my favorite place in Jeju, Pass the Salt. Ever since I first tried it out a little over a year ago, it has been my go-to for weekend brunch. The atmosphere is inviting, the food is comforting and delicious, and the people are simply the best!

When you walk into Pass the Salt, you’re greeted by plants- lots of plants! If you know me, you know I love being surrounded by plants, so I’m totally in my element here. The restaurant has tons of natural light, thanks to the floor to ceiling windows on three sides, and you look out onto orange groves and more greenery. The decor is minimalistic with natural wood and concrete accents. The background noises make for a great place to read, write, or have a conversation with a friend, with chill music playing from the speakers, the sound of the espresso machine making americanos and lattes, and the din of other diners’ conversations.

The menu has evolved over the year that I’ve been coming here, as the chef/owner, Doogi, found his groove and realized what his customers wanted. My go-to dishes are the avocado and ricotta toast, tomato soup and grilled cheese, and the flapjack stack. As a vegetarian, I haven’t tried all of the dishes on the menu, but I hear everything’s great! Another favorite of mine are his housemade chai lattes- both the hot and iced are delicious! As a non-coffee drinker, I can’t personally vouch for the coffee beverages, but my friends love them.

While I love the ambience and the food, what keeps me coming back to Pass the Salt week after week is the people. Doogi, the chef/owner, has become a good friend of mine. Our mutual love of food brought us together, as many of our conversations center around foods we love, dishes we’ve cooked, and new things we want to try. Doogi’s wife, Cat, is usually at Pass the Salt, either helping to take orders or make drinks or sitting at a table working on her Master’s homework. As a fellow educator, we always get caught up in conversations about school life, sharing our victories and woes. The three of us all love travel, so we can get into lengthy chats about places to visit and foods to try in different countries. Lately they’ve been helpful in planning my trip to South Africa next year, Cat’s home country. Although Doogi’s mom, Jeenah, doesn’t work at Pass the Salt anymore, I enjoy catching up with her whenever she’s there. She’s an incredibly kind and lovely person!

Doogi in his element!

If you’re ever in Jeju, particularly on the west side of the island, I recommend stopping by Pass the Salt for a delicious meal and a comfortable place to hang out.

And That’s a Wrap!

The goodie bags were set out, the cake was ready to be cut, and Jungle Book tunes were blaring on the speaker. As the students started trickling into the foyer, they began singing and dancing along to the songs. The atmosphere was buzzing, the energy increasing with every student who arrived and joined in.

This afternoon, we had a cast party for the nearly 200 students who performed in The Jungle Book last week, and it was a blast! As the playlist continued, they didn’t miss a beat. Even if it wasn’t their song from the show, they somehow knew all the words and dance moves. As a fun surprise, the music and art teachers and I put on the main cast costumes, and the kids went wild! I may have lost my voice playing Shere Khan, the tiger…oops!

After eating alllllll the sugar, we handed out their Jungle Book pins (they were dying to get their hands on them!), and played the Bear Necessities one last time. Enjoy this video of them singing and dancing along! (To protect their privacy, I’ve blurred their faces.)

Sleepless Thoughts

Wake up
Put on armor
Ready to battle the day

On the defense
Take the hits
Whatever comes my way

Come home
I’m safe now
They can’t get me here

Go to bed
Fall asleep
Thoughts just interfere

The weight of
Everything
Wakes me from my sleep

Why can’t I
Get some rest
Instead of letting it seep

Into the time
I’ve set aside
For me to recuperate

Haven’t I learned
How not to
Put too much on my plate

Free photo from Pexels

Preparing for a House Guest

After nearly four years in Jeju, I finally have my first (and only since I’m leaving in 3 months) house guest! I thought when I moved to “The Hawaii of South Korea,” I’d have tons of visitors, but Covid put a damper on that. Unlike Jakarta, where I hosted four friends and my aunt and uncle over three years, I’ve maintained empty guest rooms my entire time here. My guest room bed has literally never had anyone sleep in it, except me for three nights when my air con went out last year.

What is it about having a house guest that turns you into a super cleaner? Despite keeping a relatively clean and tidy house (thanks to my once weekly cleaner and living alone), I found myself frantically tidying up the guest room and guest bathroom today after work, putting a couple of finishing touches on the spaces to make Audra feel more at home, such as fresh towels in the bathroom and an extra blanket and a fan in the bedroom to make sure she’s comfortable at night. Springtime in Jeju is lovely, but the weather is all over the place at the moment- cold one day and warm the next! I then needed to make sure that the living room and kitchen were spotless so that she would feel comfortable while I’m at school and she’s here at home. The fresh flowers I got last weekend still look great, which add that extra touch!

I am looking forward to hosting Audra for a few days, as she passes through on her year of traveling. I’m going to pick her brain about what it’s been like, since I’ll be doing the same thing next year (as in 3 months from now)! Audra and I went to high school together and have seen each other several times over the years, both abroad and at home. She’s an international school educator, too, so we have a few things in common. Tomorrow, after I pick her up from the airport, I’m surprising her with a stopover at one of my favorite places in Jeju, the Dream Tower, where we’ll get foot massages and have dinner on the 38th floor, overlooking the city. I can’t wait to show her around this weekend!

Getting Ready to Leave

Image source

We had our faculty “offboarding” meeting this afternoon, which started my head spinning with all of the things I need to do in the next 11 weeks! No matter how many times I pack up my life and get ready to leave one country and move to another, it never gets any easier. Closing this chapter is actually a bit harder since I’m not simply relocating to another country next year. My sabbatical year means that I’ll be essentially ‘homeless’ for 12 months, so there’s nowhere to send all my stuff.

As someone who’s lived abroad for the last 14 years, I’m used to the whole downsizing before a move and only bringing the essentials, but over the past few years, I’ve accumulated an enormous amount of stuff…way more than I ever have before. This is because my last few houses (one in Jakarta and two in Jeju) haven’t come fully furnished like all my previous housing has. In one sense this has been good, as I’ve been able to curate furnishings and decor that match my individual style; on the other hand, this means that I now have much more to deal with now that it’s time to leave. An added ‘spanner in the works’ is that I don’t know where I’ll end up in August 2025, hence, there’s no where to send all of my things. Sure, I could ship them back to Texas, store them in a storage unit, and then ship them onto my next country once I get a job, but the cost of all of this would be astronomical! My shipping costs from Indonesia to South Korea were 8,000 USD and I now have even more things. It’s not worth it. I’ve decided to sell nearly everything I own and simply ship some of my clothes and shoes, my art that I can’t live without…oh, and my Thermomix! 😉

I’ve made the decision to sell everything, so that means the hard part is done, right? Wrong! There’s now the daunting task of actually selling everything I own! This means taking photos and measurements, deciding on a price, creating a Google Doc with all items, photos, prices, etc. and sending it out to everyone. Then there’s the matter of collecting the money and delivering/setting up times for pick up for the sold items. While it sounds easy enough, it’s a difficult task, especially given that I still have my (overwhelmingly busy) day job. Sigh…

Apart from selling/shipping everything I own, I also have lots of paperwork to do for school along with other closing-up-shop-in-one-country sorts of things to do. I need to get a criminal background check (since my next job will need it), close my credit card and bank accounts, decide how I will receive my final paychecks, severance pay, and reimbursements from the school, cancel my internet and mobile phone contracts, settle up final utility bills, cancel car insurance, sell the car, and clean out my house (given that it’s nearly impossible to throw anything out in Jeju, this one should be interesting).

I’m already overwhelmed thinking about all the things I need to do! I guess the first thing I need to do is make a list, so that I can see it all in one place. Then I can start chipping away at it, bit by bit. Oh, how I wish I had a personal life assistant who could handle all these things for me…

Spring Break in Paris!

As I sat here tonight thinking what it was that I wanted to write about, nothing popped into my head. There was no slice of life from today that warranted a post about it. Then I remembered that I am going to Paris in 2 weeks for Spring Break…now, that’s a slice worth writing about!

Since this will be my fourth time to visit Paris, I don’t have the typical long list of things to see and do. Additionally, I’ve been so drained lately from work, that the idea of having a fully packed schedule seems really daunting. My friends and I have all been to Paris before, and as such, we’ve decided that we just want to exist in Paris, with a few things planned and the rest of the time playing it by ear, which sounds pretty delightful to me!

As a foodie, I have a few food-related things on the agenda. First up, we are going to take a croissant making class with a French chef, where we will learn how to bake flaky croissants, pain au chocolat, and pain aux raisins. Next up, we are planning on taking a food tour of Canal Street, where we will get to sample a wide range of different street foods. The pictures look delicious, so I can’t wait! Lastly, we will visit a food market, where we will eat freshly made crepes and crispy fried potato pancakes. I visited this market the last time I was in Paris, and it was one of my favorite things we did.

Of course, we can’t go to Paris without visiting some museums. The Louvre is top on my list! Even though I’ve gone at least once every other time I’ve visited Paris, I’ll definitely make another trip to one of my favorite museums in the world! Another Paris stand-by is the Musee d’Orsay, where I love to take a picture of the huge clock from the inside. This time around, we’ll take a stroll through the Musee de l’Orangie, a museum I’ve yet to visit. Another new place to add to the list is Monet’s Garden, a day trip from Paris. The pictures look gorgeous, so I can’t wait to see it in real life!

The rest of the time, we’ll stroll through the streets, taking in the beauty of the city and stopping to eat at cafes, where I’ll people watch or read or write in my journal. I’ve never been to Paris in springtime, but I imagine the flowers and trees will be beautiful, as the buds are starting to open, new life emerging. I’d like to stop by the local boulangerie to pick up a baguette and the market or grocery store to get some various cheeses and fruit and have a picnic on the Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower. Like I said, I basically just want to exist in Paris.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my last few trips to Paris…

Currently…

I’m currently listening to an episode of White Collar playing on the TV, but I’m not really engaged in the storyline. I find that having background noise makes my house feel less empty.

I’m currently drinking a watered down iced tea I picked up at Starbucks this afternoon. I fell asleep on the couch shortly after getting home and recently woke up from a long nap.

I’m currently eating pancakes for dinner. After my nap, I was a bit peckish and needed a quick dinner idea.

I’m currently reading slices I’ve missed during the past few days when I was busy with The Jungle Book.

I’m currently enjoying the impromptu FaceTime call from my dad. I haven’t chatted with him in a while, so it was good to catch up on life.

I’m currently thinking about my trip to Paris in two weeks. My friend and I have a few things planned, and I looking forward to cultural and foodie experiences soon!

I’m currently hoping for a slower pace this week. All of the late nights from the past few weeks have caught up with me, and I would love some slower days and earlier nights.

I’m currently wishing I had one more day this weekend. A six-day workweek meant I only had today to rest. One more day would have been ideal.

The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book wrapped today, with our last 2 shows a roaring success! In honor of the show, here’s an acrostic poem about the production.

The morning began with a huddle on stage so that we all knew our roles

Have fun today, the director conveyed in her pep talk

Everyone backstage ensured the costumes, makeup, and mics were on the actors

Jungle-y vibes greeted the audience members when they arrive

Unsure if we had enough seats, we grabbed a few extra to put at the back

No one was ready for that opening scene, starting out small and ending with a bang

Glowing eyes, Kaa the Snake mesmerized and impressed, under cover of night

Loudly, Shere Khan scared us with his booming voice and frightening presence

Elephants marching, the stampede of third graders delighting the audience

Baloo stole the show, bringing the Bear Necessities to life with her larger than life performance

Oooo’s and Ahhh’s from the audience, as they were captivated by the performance

Only the monkeys could make us belly laugh like that, as they danced to Just Wanna Be Like You

Kindly showing appreciation for the performers, the audience cheered after the finale

In My Teddy Swims Era

What is it about music that can completely change your mood? Put on a song with a beat, and my mood is instantly lifted, as I bebop around, singing along to the lyrics. In my feels and need to cry it out? Play a moving song with a ton of meaning behind the words, and I’m a blubbering mess. I’m not a musician (by any stretch of the imagination), but music has always been something I’ve gravitated towards. Back in the day, I had loads of burned CDs with my favorites. Nowadays, I love making myself a good playlist, and I have them for all different moods and occasions.

At the moment, I’m in my Teddy Swims era. He has two popular songs you may have heard of, “Lose Control” and “Some Things I’ll Never Know.” “Lose Control” is pretty good, but I didn’t really get into it past a few listens. Once I listened to “Some Things I’ll Never Know,” I was sold! Teddy’s voice is buttery smooth and something about that song makes me want to belt it out. The best version is his live recording, when it’s just him and the piano. His duet with Maren Morris is quite popular these days, but nothing tops this version for me!

For a while, these were the only Teddy Swims songs I knew of, but I happened to hear another one from him on a playlist I subscribe to, and I was hooked! I then went down a Teddy Swims rabbit hole, and I have not stopped since. His collection is quite varied and totally earworm-y. One of my recent obsessions, guaranteed to get you groovin’, is “Broke.” My favorite version is his duet with Thomas Rhett. It’s so different than “Some Things I’ll Never Know,” but I absolutely love it! I bet you will, too, once you listen to it. As I went to YouTube to grab the video for this post, I realized this song is three years old! How have I missed it?!?

Since entering my Teddy Swims era a few weeks ago, I haven’t listened to much else. Some of my other favorites are “My Bad,” “Bed on Fire, “Blowin’ Smoke,” and “L.I.F.E.”. Is anyone else out there as big of a Teddy Swims fan as I am?