Plans change constantly

After spending about six hours with my friend and her 9-mo son yesterday, I had to cancel my dinner date b/c having a baby stare at me while drooling was too much for me. Even though I spent much of the afternoon on my back in the living room that had been converted into a ginormous playpen, baby time wiped me out. But I imagine that spending lots of time with creatures that I don't understand would always be exhausting. Today has been a supreme loose-end day, but I got a lot of important ones tied up and then made it to calligraphy class on time. I had a hard time concentrating (likely b/c I was dehydrated and hadn't eaten lunch) but learned the rest of the Korean characters, including four that were originally created but later removed (those two at the end of the sheet above are two dropped ones). I practiced lots of circles and dots, which are super hard. I felt like my teacher was likely horrified by my work but he said nary a word.

We went out again for a delicious dinner and tea, where I felt slightly rude b/c I was still weaving. Earlier today I skyped w/my sister and showed her the piece I am working on now, and she was like, "you're getting so much better! Your weave is a lot tighter!" So that felt good. As cranky as I was about making that ginormous lamp, I realize now that it is really good that I did, b/c I had SO much surface area to weave, which meant tons of practice. That was the piece where I finally understood most of the mechanics of weaving. If I had done the piece I had wanted to instead of the lamp, I never would have learned this well. So, I guess teacher does always know best.

With just two weeks left, I'm in a mix of denial and panic; I've booked myself solid and realize that w/the exception of calligraphy, I should probably end all of my lessons this week, and give myself next week to travel and do solo things that will nourish me, things that I've wanted to do forever - visiting the national museum again, touring the secret garden in the best palace in the city, browsing and buying things for myself that catch my eye.

All this while simultaneously booking myself already for my return to NY: I have dates already for the first two days after my arrival. Foolish, brutal, unrealistic? Tonight, Jeong-In reminded me that it's too easy to become a workaholic, and that it's best not to get into bad habits of abusing and overstretching my body while I am young enough to handle it, b/c it will totally break down when I pass the threshold. I know this in my head, but again, tonight my hands are wildly restless.