I am such a loyalist… 6yr3m ago, I bought my first laptop. It was a Dell latitude, from my dear friend Bruco, and that old girl worked like a trojan horse, let me tell you. I don’t think a day has gone by when she wasn’t turned on, music blaring, movies showing (recently), documents/reports being typed, HR issues being researched (previously). There was one dark moment, about 4 years ago when the dreaded BLUE SCREEN arrived, and we had the whole “have you done a defrag recently” conversation with my techie guy. But other than that, she went the distance, and Dell can be proud.
So it was without a doubt that I would only consider getting another Dell, when my old lady started freezing on me, hanging, slowing down and generally spluttering to a halt on Friday the 13th (coincidence? I think not…). So… I got help from my Dell Korea students and attempted to order a new Dell. One small problem. In Korea… they speak Korean. :P And, according to Dell Korea, English is not a consideration. At all. So… I had a 35 minute convo with a super English-speaking saleslady who guided me to the ONLY WAY I could get a computer whose operating system could be changed to English, after delivery. Good grief… And then the hunt for English-MS Office… Again… Korea is under the impression that no English-speaking people would purchase these products in this country. Fortunately for facebook status updates… and fantastic friends who work in MS South Africa!! Thanks Heath 
you’re a star!
So… last week was my birthday (thanks for all the wishes and thoughts) and I just have to say that in the last year since birth-month celebrations last year and birth-3-day celebrations this year, a lot seems to have changed. I didn’t notice much a difference between 29 and 30, or even 30-31-32-33… but turning 34 seemed to be a completely different ball-game. Firstly, I only drank a tenth of my body-weight. Some of you may remember last year that I drank like a first-year for a month (and most of the preceeding years). Despite going to my trusty old WC Bar for cocktails until 2am, I was up and at ‘em on Friday and had a chilled dinner with colleagues and friends on Friday night again. Nothing major, no 5am power-drinking marathons, no 1 hour’s sleep, no extended celebrations. Sad? I THINK NOT! Apparently, it has taken the better part of 34 years, but my body and mind are finally in sync about the dreaded hangover. Neither of us want it. My body never really wanted it, but my mind was always like “c’mon, lets have another one!!!” Not anymore!!
This could have something to do with the running (which is not going great at the moment by the way, but I am hoping to redeem myself tomorrow morning when I do a 10km race just near the beautiful DMZ -> before you panic about North Korea, we are in a secretly secluded spot far from the maddening crowds!) It might also have a lot to do with the cost of my impending studies… an astonishing $12,000! Doesn’t leave much room for frivolous spending anymore :S But mostly, it dawned on me a few months ago that, in fact, I am no longer a spring chicken! I don’t have a problem with this, don’t get me wrong, on the contrary I am reveling in my thirties and the comfortable and confident place I find myself in. Its just that… well alcohol takes a lot longer to work its way out of my system nowadays. And it usually demands an accompaniment of a three-hour headache and possibly an upset stomach for a morning at least. It also requires a quick scan through my phone to see who I phoned (Melissa, inevitably) and then my wallet to see the financial damage of my escapade. And so I find myself wrapping the night out with friends up at a respectable 11pm, mentally calculating what time I’ll be home, how long it’ll take to ablute and deconstruct my face (another requirement, by the way, because some naughty lines have take up residence below my eyes which I’m trying to evict. But I digress…) and get into bed. I need at least 20 minutes to read, and then its lights out. Hopefully before 12am, because I am up at 6am most mornings. Yes… I think about these things, and calculate times, and start getting a little edgy if the night starts getting longer. A little sad?
I DON’T THINK SO!!! I love the new me . I love that I ran 21kms, that I love my job, that I’m going to study, that I have a cosy little house that I’ve turned into a home and will soon have some visitors! I love that I can help my family, buy lots of books, fit into clothes 1 size smaller (even if the scale doesn’t corroborate) and generally just feel great. Don’t get me wrong… I will never turn my back on red wine or champers (or beer or soju, for that matter). They have stood by through thick and thin (mostly thick, these last few years), the good times and the bad, and they have an important place in mylife! But now they make up a much smaller part of my life’s activities, and that, I think, is the true difference between 33 and 34~ I’ve grown up a little!
Love and light to everyone, as always, and I hope to put some piccies up soon of my forthcoming trip to the East Coast of Korea. xxxx
