I’ve been waking up so tired lately and practices have been a joke.  So, I finally did it.  No, not the coffee, I overslept.  Actually, I intentionally slept in.  I know, you’re thinking, wow, you’ve really graduated to a new level of rebellious.  My slothful self slept for somewhere between 9-10 hours.  I awoke to the sounds of thunder and the silent flashes of lightning, which I can never actually recall experiencing during waking hours.  Pretty rad.

I seriously am having issues if the only pleasure I’m having right now, other than reading, is my yoga practice and eating.

On that note, I’d like to make the embarrassing announcement that I just completed Eat, Pray, Love for the 3rd time.  Don’t laugh, I promise to read the Dalai Lama next.  I just can’t get enough of her story and so many aspects of it resonate with me.  Okay, minus the divorce and the pasta in Italy (because I haven’t been yet) or Indonesia for that matter, but I just love the way she writes.  She’s got such an open heart and it inspires me.

Yesterday, started out as an “I hate Korea day.”  It’s not even Korea that I hate, it’s more of things that bother me about work and things I miss.  

What was the one thing I am missing most lately?  Men.  

My closest friends are falling in love all around me.  One of my closest friends at home is finally, finally in a relationship and so in love already.  My other close girlfriend, my sweet roomie in Mysore, is embarking on her love adventure and moving abroad.  Then, my closest girlfriend in Korea, whom saw me butt naked at the public bath house this past weekend, is at the start of her own new romantic adventure.  Oh yeah, and my sister is getting married in 7 weeks.  So, love is in the air and it’s caving in on me through my closest friends.

I’d also like to follow up by saying I don’t feel the least bit jealous.  However, I am missing the attention, from attractive men (or any for that matter).  Of course, I don’t miss the chaos or the nervousness, but there is something fun about innocent flirting that never goes anywhere.  I recognize it’s not my time right now, but it is kind of nice to admit the things I miss, only because I realize I don’t “miss” them so much after all.

In addition, I’m really enjoying most all of my classes now.  I still feel like there is much to improve on and some days feel like I’m not teaching the kids anything, other than how boring I am.  Yet, I am getting more comfortable with not taking things so personally.  For example, I was used in one of my student’s monster stories.   Yes, I was the monster, I ate people, and used yoga to do it.  I’m not sure why I would ever even take this the wrong way, but a few weeks ago I would’ve thought it was because my kids didn’t like me.  I guess this could still be true, but the story was hilarious. 

Another all time favorite: when a student tells me she thinks I’m fat.  There’s one girl who I taught last semester, she always touched my stomach.  She’s the type of student who sat in the back, very quiet, and I was warned by another teacher that she cries easily, so he just lets her alone.  One day, I was wearing one of those baby doll sort of tops, you know where the stomach is sort of billowy.  Some people call them pregnant tops, but I call them “fat day” tops because I can eat whatever and not care.  Anyway, she put her hand on my stomach and I smirked, “Oh did you think I was pregnant?”  She giggled, embarrassed.  After that, she seemed to warm up to me and I saw her smile more frequently.  I remember feeling a little startled when she felt my stomach, only because it made me insecure, but she’s too sweet to mean any harm by it.  

It’s been about 9 weeks later now and I saw her again in the hallway yesterday.   She came up to talk to me and put her hand on my stomach.  I said, “Nope, still not pregnant.”

She laughed.  It made me smile.  No, not because I want to be pregnant, just because it’s nice when old students remember to say hello. 

Alright, the attention I’m getting from my kids is different type of attention than I’d be getting from an attractive guy, but I appreciate it nonetheless right now and it does bring me small doses of happiness.