Holidays tend to be a bit different here...

I spent halloween making my way up Hallasan for the first time. Thanksgiving came around and I had met some great folks to share copious amounts of food with. Christmas morning started with a floor full of sleeping friends, Home Alone, Chocolate chip pancakes, and a walk through a misty orange grove. New Years Eve brought with it a bit of pneumonia and the usual list of unrealistic goals for the coming year. My birthday (one of the best I've had) started with a surprise from my students and Korean family, continued with a fantastic snow storm and a great evening spent with friends, and climaxed as a cake was launched at my face by a complete stranger. Jeju really proved it could go the distance with pyrotechnics during the annual fire festival as they lit the side of an oreum on fire to mark the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. St. Paddy's was spent with the Irish and ended at seven in the morning at the base of a waterfall.

Which, for anyone who is silly enough to still be reading this, brings us to April Fool's Day. I decided I wanted a small change in my day-to-day so I used this holiday as an excuse to stick to one, and only one, resolution. Each day I plan to set aside a block of time to do nothing but write.

When I first came to Jeju-Do I wrote everyday, taking the time to reflect upon the new culture that surrounded me and how I was reacting to it. Not only was I fortunate to capture the day-to-day events of my first months, I saw changes in myself over time. Writing daily also held me accountable. When I keep everything in my mind it is easy to distract myself from what is important. It is simple to justify my failure to get something done and quickly move on to something else. I have found that when I force myself to catch some of those thoughts and put them on paper, it really helps to organize my days, my goals, and ultimately my life.

Better late than never - here is to holding true to one simple resolution for the remainder of 2010.