Somebody needs to by me a food processor, stat. I mean, I'd use it for more than just that recipe, but C'MON.

Someone made this handsome fellow after the snowfall on Sunday night. He started melting in earnest on Tuesday but it wasn't until Thursday night that he was nothing but a wet stain on the concrete.

This weekend is a lot warmer than last, for which I am grateful. Not that I have big plans, but at least I won't die of instant hypothermia if I decide to leave the living room.

It's snowing! Real, honest to god snow, not the usual 30 second flurries we get on cold winter days. It has been snowing fairly steadily for the past few hours and there is a winter wonderland outside. I haven't seen anything like it in my 10 years here. I hope it sticks around for a day or so, the kids are going to go nuts.

I am feeling very sanguine about the whole affair, largely because I am toasty warm at the moment. I am bundled up with long underwear and fleece and wool, the electric blanket on the couch is on, and the oil heater is making the living room nice and warm. The rest of the rooms don't bear thinking about, so I won't.

I hate overcast winter days with every fiber of my being. They're quite nice in summer as they bring the temperature down to something approaching manageable, but in winter they just prevent the inside of my apartment from ever warming up. Nearly 2 pm and it's still less than 10 degrees indoors. I can see my breath. This ain't right. If it weren't for the fact that we are having a work party tonight, I would just give up and stay in my pjs all day, eschewing showers and drinking hot tea every half hour while watching The Wire huddled under a pile of blankets, but sadly that is not feasible. On the plus side, if I get up now and go to yoga, the gym is at least 15 degrees warmer and the restaurant tonight should be cozy.

It's ok, soon it will be allergy season and I will be too busy sneezing to notice how cold it is.

Threatening it with replacement seems to have breathed new life into my iPod. Of course, now that I've thought about it, I really want a new one. Twice the music storage! Will clip on to my clothes at the gym instead of being on an awkward arm band! I plan to go moon around the iPod display at the nearest electronics store this weekend while contemplating "accidentally" dropping mine in traffic.

On the other end of the spectrum, Stuart is already selling the iPad he got in October so he can get the new one that is coming out next month. Needless to say, he does not really get why I am reluctant to buy a new nano when mine is still chugging along.

Lookit me, all yoga-ey! Masami has started a school blog in an attempt to change our google status. The more links you have the higher you climb on the list of results. She even made us a MySpace page, which I find hilarious. The problem with the blog, and the reason she didn't start it earlier, is that there really isn't a lot to say about work on a week to week basis. Christmas was all right, there was lots going on. And this weekend we are having a New Years party with our adult students, that should be good for a post or two. But the rest of the time she has apparently just gone with random photos from her own life. The yoga pictures at least take place in the school, but if you scroll down you will see a shot of Stuart making ravioli.

I had put a moratorium on online shopping but now my nano has decided to finally kick the bucket after four and a half years. Going music-less is not an option, especially if I want to talk myself into going to the gym on a regular basis. People will try to talk to you if you don't have earphones in, plus I have to listen to the gym's choice of music. Which, as far as I can tell, right now consists entirely of Rihanna's I Like The Way You Lie. Catchy, but why is it on all the time?

Start of the second week back. It's a national holiday so I wonder how many students will come this time? Hopefully more than last week, but I'm considering bringing a book just in case.

I had a great weekend. My original plan for Saturday was to sleep until noon and go to yoga and then just lounge all day, but Mineko is down from England and she came over for a visit instead. She wanted to go to Mr. Donut because they don't have that in London. When we finally managed to convince ourselves to leave the warm inside, we found there was a mochi-making demonstration about to happen just down the road. It definitely looked like a process that would warm you up and give you a good workout, but I can see why Keiko has opted for a machine to do all the work for her. Once they were done, we got free mochi sprinkled in kinako, which made me a happy girl. Then we went over to the castle to check it out and see what the park looks like in winter. We sat down at one point to contemplate the waterfall and spot the fish, when we saw a woman and her granddaughter carrying a rabbit in a plastic basket. We, of course, pointed and said "aw!", which caused the woman to scurry over and plop the bunny down on Mineko's lap, then onto mine. She was awfully quick on the draw about handing out the rabbit and for a moment I was afraid she was going to run like hell and leave it with us. But no. She just let us cuddle and pet the bunny before taking it back and charging off again, presumably to find more people who looked like they needed a bunny moment. The bunny was on a leash, so my only regret is that I did not get to see her attempting to walk the bunny.

Sad but true, it is too cold for wine. I poured a glass but I have strong feelings about how red wine should not be icy cold, and clutching the glass makes my fingers colder than they already are. I think I will finish this glass and then make a hot toddy. Perhaps I will pick up some spices and make mulled wine tomorrow.

Yay, winter.

So this is the end of my first week back at work. It's been steadily picking up all week. We only had 6 out of 25 students show up on Monday and two entire classes were no shows. Andrew brought me back some new Mad Lib books and the card game Quibbler, which I have been playing with students. "Hey, who wants to play a card game this first week back? Everyone? Good! Ok now, it's a fun spelling game! Yes, I said spelling. As in making words in English. Too bad, we're playing it."

He also brought me some RP mini peanut butter cups, and then I got another package this week that contained Lindt pb truffles. It's as though all the peanut butter and chocolate candy that I haven't eaten for the past 10 years has suddenly materialized all at once. I also have several packets of licorice and some homemade cardamom marshmallows. It's a good thing I didn't make any New Years resolutions about eating only fruit and vegetables or I'd be sad mess right about now.

I can't work out if it is better to never go back to Seoul and therefore avoid being spoiled again, or better to just move there and commute. I suspect the morning classes would be a bit tricky, though.

Outside is a lot warmer than Seoul, and today I went out for a quick jaunt to the supermarket wearing the same lightweight jacket I've been wearing since October. Inside once the sun has gone down is another story and one that ends in me wrapping up in fleece. When I went to bed last night I swore I would stay there until March. I managed until noon.