It's the end and I am at the beginning

I finished my last batch of oral presentations around 8:00 pm on Friday Dec. 16th. It was my wonderful Advanced English Conversation (evening) class. They decked me out in a hanbok and crown used as props in one group's sketch that humourously explains the origins of the Korea-Japan animosity.
We celebrated the end of the semester with some pizza and beer. This class was awesome!!!!
It's the end (of the fall semester) and the beginning of my long cold winter vacation (except possibly two hot weeks in Thailand some time in February - we'll see). At 2:40 am am still at computer sending important emails and turning on the vacation response. I am expecting enquiries from students regarding their grades, but won't be able to discuss anything before Jan. 4th: tomorrow, actually today in about 3 hours I will, - loaded with two backpacks - leave my house and go down to the subway station to meet Clare and proceed to the airport. Bangok, here we come to 'spend one night in B"before we leave for Kathmandu, and subsequently a couple of days later start our Annapurna range trekking.
The last week has been been crazy, crazy, crazy. I'd been grading around the clock and today tabulating the grades and then posting them on the web; after gazillion of hours of staring at the screen my eyes are just about to to pop out. When I finished all the school work, I went to meet Deb and Clare for more Christmas gifts exchange and some virgin eggnog, at least for me. After a solo dinner of mandu kalguksu guk in the Anam station area, I came home at 10:00 and was packing and organizing house for the 2week absence until about 1:30. I can't find my pills - hopefully there's a pharmacy at the airport where I can get some.

The semester is over, and with no doubt, it was the best semester I've had at Hansung. My students were absolute champions of youthful enthusiasm, motivation, politeness... The last week of their oral presentations was any teacher's dream. Students let their creative juices flow freely and most of them created wonderful sketches with good scripts, funny costumes, even special effects. I am glad I had my dica with me to catch all the great moments. I will write more about my students' work when I come back from Nepal.

I am going to Nepal, I am going to Nepal;, Nepal!!!!! Is it possible? Just spoke to my dad who'd been reading about Nepal on the internet and is a bit worried about my safety. Told him not to worry, I'm a big girl. I am excited, , exhilarated, exhausted... I know it'll be an experience unlike any others I've had so far - 9 days of trekking in the cold with infected sinues and my best buddy with a bad knee. There's always the option of hiring a few more porters (or mules) who can carry us over the range.
Nepal, weave the red carpet: here come C and B. Yahooooooo! God, keep us safe and in good health. Amen!