Raining Pink

Saturday morning while in Daegu for my medical exam I noticed that some of the cherry blossom trees are starting to fade. It was really beautiful. In any direction I looked, there would be hundreds of white-pink petals drifting to the ground; it was like walking through cherry curtains.

Gyeongju is amazing in the spring. It's super people oriented. You can be walking around and stumble upon a park with benches hugging the trunks of the biggest trees. There are people biking, hiking, skateboarding, eating sushi outside of 7-11s, holding hands, taking in the scenery. The locals are starting to recognize me which is almost kind of nice. Case in point: last night Diane and I were about to part ways at Lotte when a Korean man walked past us and said "Lo-La?" pointing to Diane. And I said, "No, I'm Laura". And he goes "Sisters?" And Diane says, "Nai". Nai meaning yes, we are sisters, and why do you know my name? I suppose it's good though. They need a shock of culture in their homogeneous town. At least they aren't staring as much as they were in the beginning.

Anyway. You know how I said it better be warm by the time I post again? :)
It's in the high 60s/low 70s all week this week. And according to my lifeline, the coolest it is going to get in the next 15 days is 62. I know it's snowing back home. But hey. At least the Michigan weather keeps you on your toes!

I bought a guitar yesterday after my trip to the acupuncturist. The guitar is a Charpel. I got it from the man who owns the Yamaha shop in Sunggong dong-- my new favorite Korean. He's super old, super funny, a total hippie and laughs like he's never laughed before. He included a free "kah-po" and a case which I thought was kind.

I had acupuncture for my back which has been murder and for my legs which also haven't improved, even with the physical therapy. And the acupuncture helped a lot. I am going back tomorrow morning so she can work on my balance. When I saw her yesterday she put her hand on my back and said, in a very soothing voice, "You have... five vertebrae in your back. One, two, three, four, five. Vertebrae four is... mm.. how do I say... behind other vertebrae. I fix it and in three weeks you will be well." I felt amazing after seeing her. And it was also really nice to have her say specifically what was wrong with my back. I went with my friend Maria, whose right shoulder, if touched, would make her wince in pain. She's had this problem for years. As we were walking out of the office, I could touch Maria's shoulder and it didn't hurt her for the first time in a long time. Pretty incredible. I highly recommend it.

Yesterday sort of dragged on, though. I have a feeling this week is going to be like that. I just want it to be Friday again.