It's All Good

For those of you wondering why MsCaroline's posting frequency has been diminished as of late, the answer is simple:  I'm busy, and there's nothing to complain about.  Lately, it's all been good.

The late-Spring weather in Seoul is -at the moment - gorgeous. Warm, sunny days, cool nights that lend themselves to late-night cafe-sitting, and - as of yet - no appreciable rain.  Yes, I know that, come mid-June, the temperatures and humidity will soar, ushering in the Season of Sticky Misery, followed by The Season of Ceaseless Rain.  However, this does not bother me, because this year, I will not be here to experience it, having wisely scheduled this year's Home Leave for the peak of monsoon season.

I've been taking advantage of the weather on my free days, heading out to points (as of yet) unexplored and seeing as much as I can.  At the moment, Seoul is gearing up for the annual celebration of Buddha's Birthday next Monday, and the city is decorated with lanterns in anticipation of the festivities:

Hanging lanterns decorate Seoul.  The tags hanging from each lantern express a wish that  the writer hopes will be fulfilled in the coming year.

Lanterns of all sizes, shapes, and designs are for sale everywhere and it seems every other person is carrying one.  These owl lanterns were on sale shortly before the Lotus Lantern Parade.

Last Saturday evening a group of us attended the Lotus Lantern Parade in Seoul, which was held downtown in an area near several Buddhist temples.  The parade included traditionally costumed performers and dancers:

This security guy was directly in front of our spot on the parade route.  Approximately 85% of our parade photos feature him or some part of him.

 enormous lanterns so large they had to be pushed along on wheeled floats;

Super awesome giant lantern floats plus Our Friend The Security Guy

 and members of civic and school groups simply walking en masse carrying their lanterns.

There's our guy again.

Another reason for my blog silence has been The Return of Son#1 from University.  He has come home taller (at least, he seems taller to me,) reasonably healthy, and happy to be back home (it is possible that he is also happy just to be back somewhere where his laundry is done, all of his expenses are covered, and his dinners are home-cooked, but I feel sure that's not the main reason.  Well, pretty sure.) I have thoroughly enjoyed spoiling him shamelessly and hearing all the details about the last semester that we simply never had time to cover during our phone calls and Skype sessions.  Never have I appreciated the luxury of time with my boy as much as in the past few days.

Son#1 enjoying his first legal beer in Korea.

 In a week or so, he will have not just one, but two friends here visiting, our small apartment will be full to bursting, and they will all be gallivanting around Seoul, so I am very conscious of having him all to myself for only a limited amount of time before things get busy again.

On the other side of the coin, Son#2 left on Saturday morning for London, and - as per our agreement, has maintained contact with us via a minimum of at least one text or FaceBook message per day (an idea I shamelessly pilfered from Trish at Mum's Gone To.... who established this requirement for her son when he was in France on an exchange program.)

Son#2 was an enthusiastic Anglophile before he even left for London, loved British TV shows, and frequently expressed his desire to attend University in the UK, so it was no surprise to me that he wholeheartedly embraced British English within hours of arriving there.  By the time he had been there 2 days, he had already sent me a message addressed 'Dear Mum' and referred to the noon hour as 'midday.'    He can still be understood by the average American at this point, although I may have to put my foot down if his vocabulary expands to include words like 'lorry' and 'chuffed.'

In other developments, he expressed some surprise at the astronomical cost of pretty much everything in London ("I see now why you said everything would be expensive here.") admiration for Windsor Castle ("amazing and intricate,") and raved about seeing Babel ("awesome and enriching".)

Just the fact that he used the word 'enriching' makes me very happy and not jealous in the least that we sent him on this trip.

But I'll be happy on Sunday when our little family of four is together again for the first time since Son#1 left in January.

It's all all good.