Buster :)

Today was the second day of my summer vacation. Again, it was a pretty uneventful day, but it was productive at least.

I did laundry for my second time since being here, and it has proven to be quite a task. I only have a washer, no dryer, so when my clothes are finished, I have to find a place to drape them or hang them so they'll dry. By the end of the second load, I have to get pretty creative about where to hang my clothes. I have the clothesline on my indoor balcony, so that works for most of my shirts, but my tank tops and shorts are another story. By midday, I had clothes covering my whole apartment from the balcony to the bed frame to the bookshelf! I opened both windows, which caused a pretty good draft. The clothes were done drying after about three hours. Now, my clothes are clean and back in their respective places, ready to be worn again. I've decided that bi-weekly laundry days will suffice :)

Nail polish here is extremely cheap. It's only 80 cents for one nail polish, and it's good quality polish, too. It doesn't chip off or crack like some polishes do in the States. I bought six nail polishes when I got here because that's something I didn't pack. (It was intentional. I made the assumption that I could find nail polish in Korea, and needed the extra space in my suitcases for more important things.) However, I do always like having my nails painted. As much as my mom hates it, my favorite color to wear is black :) No reason in particular; it's just my favorite. Anyway, I've made it a tradition that every weekend I paint my nails a new color for the week, depending on my mood. I've gone through light blue, light pink, red, and purple. Today, I painted my nails lime green. SO FUN, RIGHT?!

Buster is my (not-so-white) teddy bear that I've had since I was really young, maybe even since I was born. I'm not really sure. He went everywhere with me when I was younger: in the car, on trips, to daycare. Then, the day arrived for me to leave for college, and Buster went with me :) I'm not sure why I got so attached to Buster, but I think it's more about carrying good memories with me. Even now, Buster is here with me in Korea. I think it's good to have sentimental things, especially when I'm in another country. I was told before I got here to bring a few things that would remind me of home. Buster is definitely one of those central "things" so it was no question that he was coming to Korea. Another item I cherish is a photo album. Three of my friends, Aleah, Kate, and Dave, put together a photo album for me when we had my "Jamie's Going Away To Korea for A Year and We'll Miss Her" party :) It's a photo album of all our memories since we've known each other. Under each picture are funny captions and reminders of great memories. I've looked at that photo album three times already since being here. I just love being able to have special things with me that remind me of home and the people I cherish. :)