Between the click of the light and the start of the dream...

The tittle's from a song by Arcade Fire called "No Cars Go." It kind of sums of my position now--just doing temp work and waiting to go to Korea. Most days I am really really excited although there are days when I feel like I've just been waiting since April. My cousin Liz left last Tuesday to go to the EPIK orientation. My original plan was to do EPIK with her but due to bad fingerprints, I had to resubmit my criminal record check. Now my plan is to work in a hagwon in the same city/province. I should be receiving my background check in a few weeks and I'm scheduled to go September 15th, but that could be pushed back depending on how fast I can get my paper work in.

The job I was offered was originally for a gyopo, (a native Korean who lives in the U.S.), but since I can speak a smattering of Korean they hired me. I'm glad because it should be near Liz and also because I'll be able to use my Korean to talk to my student's parents. Here's the video I had to make in order to apply for the job:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUVNpGgqCRs Luckily, my Korean friend Cheong Soohyun helped me a lot. It already has eleven views, which means that I'm only about fifteen million views away from becoming a YouTube sensation.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Things I like (to do).

With the stress of school, I realize that I'd kind of forgotten; So, thirty minutes before my calculus final I sat down at a computer in the Student Union building and made a list. I felt a lot better--I recommend it as a fast relief for panic/existential attacks:

• Writing stories; writing essays; writing poems; writing hypothetical letters; writing in my journal;
• Walking outside, near trees.
• Making lists, goals and plans; Crossing things off lists, accomplishing goals, and feeling like my everyday mundane actions are part of a larger plan.
• Cooking: cutting things up, the smell of fresh cut ginger, having good vegan food frozen in Tupperware containers in my refrigerator;
• Talking—hearing the sound of my own voice; being able to talk about things that are interesting and important. Also, listening.
• Spending time with my seven younger brothers; bossing my brothers around and finding ways to make them read books.
• Reuniting with sisters from the mission, or with old friends. Also, new friends.
• Watching Korean drama with other people.
• Reading books that either have a large scope and/or are beautiful;
• Poetry; opera; whale noises and manatees.
• Music-- playing the piano, discovering a new song or artist, feeling the story line of the song inspire and inform the emotional backdrop of my own projects.
• Going to concerts; dancing
• Putting on make-up; watching other people put on make-up; especially the watching other people put on make-up part. It's fascinating.
• Laughing—watching things that make me laugh. Being silly;
• The occasional, Movie Theater Experience with popcorn, when the movie is worth it. Weird movies that make you feel like you just stepped on a thumbtack and make you live differently afterwards. ( My Dinner with Andre; Other People's Lives);
• Daydreaming;
• Running—distance; feeling the lightening in my veins hours afterwards.
• Praying
• Going to the temple; going to church;
• Reading the Book of Mormon.

I realize I haven't been doing a lot of these since I came home from Korea. Maybe I'll start some of them up again and see if it makes a difference. . .

Mallory Reviews the Introduction to her Blog

Hello everybody! This is my blog! Right now I'm living with my parents and getting a second bachelors at the U of U in Mechanical Engineering. I just got back from an amazing experience as a missionary in Korea, and I'm looking forward to adding an occasional thought or update about my life here.