4/16/17

i'm thankful for something i can't believe i haven't mentioned to you yet but somehow haven't, which is that on friday i'm going to seoul with d's family for a week. i'm thankful to have realized, in telling someone about this at work, that it has literally actually been a decade since the year i lived there teaching english after i graduated from college (i'm thankful for the passage of time, even though it is kind of a motherfucker (or a goon, as jennifer egan might say)). i'm thankful that by chance jk is in seoul right now and so d and i will get to see her, which we haven't gotten to do in person in years. i'm thankful that though the whole time i lived there after college i was profoundly alone, this time, i am going with my wife and will get to see one of my best friends, which will be a wonderful change. i'm thankful, since i was always completely terrible at speaking and reading korean, that d's parents are native speakers and d speaks some too (i'm thankful that d's sister e doesn't speak as much, since that keeps the conversation in english more than it might otherwise be). i'm thankful to know that though the travel will be exhausting, there will be all sorts of good food and interesting sights and experiences and i'm thankful to love d's family and to enjoy spending time with them. i'm thankful to have refilled my antidepressant prescription in time so i will have all the medicine i need. i'm thankful to feel confident i can finish the project i'm working on at work by the deadline i set this week. i'm thankful to have bought a new pair of shoes recently and to have avoided running outside in them so they will be clean for the trip. i'm thankful that soon it will be time to start packing, which can be stressful and annoying but is also a fun opportunity to fantasize about what the trip might be like.