Prepare for crosscheck and landing...

Leaving on an international trip is always stressful. There's languages to learn, money to exchange, transportation to organize.  This trip also threw in a few bonus challenges for me before we even embarked.

As many of you know, I'm finishing my last semester of grad school.  Typically, this has been easier said than done, as it's just been one set of hurdles after another.  My university's spring break was conveniently the week before we were to go to Korea, so I had to deal with assignments that were due while I would be gone.  I turned on my computer to prepare to send some files to A's tablet, so I could use that to upload them from Korea, when I discovered all the Microsoft Office icons on my computer had been replaced by some weird symbol.  Thinking this strange, I attempted to open the documents.  I tried Powerpoint, Word, and Excel and all said that these programs and locations no longer existed. 

Visions of all my work deleted, including the papers I needed to submit, and having to pay another couple hundred dollars for new Microsoft programs sent me into a panic.  A and I went online to see if it was possible to re-download and install the programs to my computer... after some forgotten passwords and other glitches, I was finally able to recover my programs and all of my work on my hard drive.

That evening, I checked my university email to see if there was anything of concern I needed to deal with before I left.  I received an email from my advisor telling me I'd failed one of the three questions on my comprehensive exam necessary to graduate.  I was told to contact another instructor to schedule a retake.  I did so, explaining that I was leaving for Korea and would have to take it when I returned.

True.  I passed the second time.

I've never failed anything in my entire life.  I was unprepared for the effect that failure would have on me over the next couple days, as it slowly sunk in that I may not graduate if I didn't pass the retake.  I realized I'd never considered that possibility, as this is my second masters and third degree over all... how could I not pass?  I shuddered to think that wasting money on this degree was the lesson that was chosen to teach me not to be so egotistical.   Deciding to take this retake as seriously as possible, I emailed my instructors for sample answers, as though I understood the question, I didn't understand what kind of answers they were looking for.

We prepared to leave for Korea at 5:45 Monday morning. I checked my email again at 5:40 to make sure my teachers had received my emails.  They had, and replied that I had 36 hours from yesterday to retake the exam, no exceptions.  I sent a hasty reply that I wasn`t sure of the wireless availability, timing, etc. that I would have once I reached Korea, so I may not be able to retake it.  I dumped the contents of my purse on the couch and repacked everything with my computer into my backpack.  Luckily, A had already bought an adapter for his tablet, so if I could find wireless and a plug, I should be able to use my computer.

After some stressful train changes, two planes and a bumpy highway bus we made it to our inn on Jeju.  The sun was just about ready to set, so after being shown around the inn by a nice man who spoke fluent Japanese we went up to the rooftop terrace to watch the sunset.  Our room thankfully had its own wireless router, so I sat down and completed my exam, submitted my papers, and prepared my pack to hike the famous Olle trails the  next day.

Sunset overlooking Seogwipo Harbor from our inn terrace.

A night in the life...

Akari being good.

Akari is our white hellion cat from Fukushima who recently delights in keeping me (and possibly our neighbor, my principal) awake all night long.

A typical evening begins with the running of the cat.  This is an attempt to use every surface area of the house (including doors and walls) to wear Akari out.  Once she gives up, she gets her last serving of food and we retire to bed.

Next: futon circling time.  This involves thudding around the futons multiple times meowing until the magic number of circles has been completed to allow her to attain sleepiness.  She typically prefers to begin the night with A, but only if a carefully orchestrated blanket lift occurs that she is willing to crawl under.  This process alone can take up to a half hour, with both of us occasionally grabbing her and trying to stuff her forcefully under the blankets, consequently a. stopping the meowing and b. enabling sleep.

After about 2-3 hours of sleep, depending on when we went to bed, Akari decides it's time to beg.  Akari has 4 levels of begging she employs when asking for food in the middle of the night, none of which she uses on A because he either is truly asleep or just pretends he is. (grrrr).

Level 1. The sit and stare

This is level one of begging.  It's actually kind of cute.  Akari sits on my chest silently and waits for me to open my eyes.  When I do, I am centimeters away from her nose, as she sits and stares silently, willing me with the power of her pupils to do as she wishes.

Level 2. Loud meowing
This is level two, and arguably the most problematic due to our afore-mentioned proximity to my principal. This level can be combined with

any of the other 4 levels and consists of two simple steps: 1. meow 2. loudly.

Level 3. Picking loudly at miscellaneous objects

I think Akari enjoys this level the most.  It involves finding loose objects within a 2 foot radius of my head to pick at, crash into, and/or bat around.  Bonus points for actually hitting my head.

You will pay attention to me...

Level 4. Attack!

This level is not for sissies.  It involves stealth, fast reflexes and persistence as she must identify and target parts of my anatomy that are near the surface of the blanket cocoon I wrap myself in.  A simple paw swipe or nip does not suffice, this level involves full on gnawing of whatever piece of flesh she can get her few remaining teeth into.  This level has an almost 100% success rate for obtaining food.

Christmas or Hanukkah... one of you is going down.

Bonus Level:
Even if all 4 previous levels have resulted in Akari obtaining food, sometimes she is just bored.  This causes a bonus level--repeating levels 2-4 so obnoxiously that I have to remove her (and me) from the bedroom and sleep on the couch.  Because the principal's bedroom and ours are right next to each other, this separation hopefully keeps my sleeping principal from waking up.  In the summer, we also close the windows to keep Akari from waking up the whole neighborhood, which makes Akari happy because she gets to lick off our sweat.

So if I ever appear ridiculously sleep deprived--don't worry, appearances are not deceiving.  I am bloody tired, and it's all Akari's fault.  Someday we will live in a giant castle where Akari can meow her head off and no one will hear her...muahhhhahahahaha....

This blog post is so embarrassing...