久々！

Oh dear, it's been so long since I last posted. I'm still here, I'm OK, really! The past few weeks have just been super busy, finishing up the semester and fussing with visa documents and whatnot. I've also been a little down, really coming to terms with this being my last semester of school for a while. I'm hoping to take my last two M.A. courses online somehow next spring. I want to finish the Ph.D. as well, but the M.A. is my priority right now because I'm *this* close. It's really been bittersweet finishing this semester. Of course there's the rush of turning in final papers and doing presentations, but also that realization... I've been trying to enjoy it as much as I can since it may well be the last time I have this experience. Even so, it was hard to enjoy having to do a 25-minute presentation on experimental methods of vocabulary retention in the second language, haha! The neat thing is that I got to draft a research proposal as part of the presentation, so if I do go on for the Ph.D., I'll already have the layout of a study to conduct for a conference presentation paper. Someday. きっとできる。

K and I also went to a beautiful beach that we'd never been to before. South Carolina is so amazing in that regard-- there are so many amazing beaches just waiting to be discovered, but there are also great mountain hiking trails in the opposite direction. When we come back from Korea eventually, I really hope we can come back to SC. Anyway, we had a wonderful time, and the water was even warm enough to swim in already! The only unfortunate thing was that we didn't wait long enough for the sunscreen to soak in, so both of us got a little sunburnt on our backs. Ouch! But there are lots of outlet shops in the area, so we indulged in a tiny bit of retail therapy to ease the pain..hehe...

I love the beach!

It's my goal to enjoy my country as much as possible before I leave this summer. We don't have tons of extra money to spend, but I can at least share pictures of some of my favorite places around here on my blog. I know I gush about SC a lot, but it's just so nice! Ok ok, so we have a really high unemployment rate, and a relatively high poverty rate, and most SC drivers seem to have gotten their licenses in Happy Meals, but if you overlook the negatives--just like with any place-- there are plenty of things to love. Like, a month ago the city seemed to be covered in wisteria, which has since disappeared, but now honeysuckle has taken its place. It's already hotter than Hades down here, but it's so nice to step outside and smell honeysuckle in the day, and night-blooming jasmine at night. There is nothing like the scent of summer in South Carolina.

For today I'm enjoying a cup of dark-roast coffee with honey. It's my new favorite treat!! It's especially fun to sip it from our new antique cups and saucers. We've built up quite a hodge-podge of mismatched antique English china now, I just love the effect. Someday I want to decorate part of my house in old English cottage style. What do you think? Do you like coffee with honey?