Calling the Muses

 10JUL25-6:40 a.m. Hwagok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul-si. 07702

I have 1 hour and 50 minutes before I ABSOLUTELY must be leaving my tiny apartment in order to get to work JUST in the nick of time.  I also have to prep some lunch and maybe clean up a little.  At least I have my outfit planned!

Today I’m going to TRY very HARD to drink only water except at lunch. That way I can keep my braces in for most of the day.  I only have about 7 weeks left of these things and there are still some gaps in my left top section. (ya know…the area where the food gets stuck?)  This ‘braces’ situation is one of many that remind me that I am not REALLY good at being a REAL adult.   My health (and lack of will power regarding it) is another aspect of myself which supports this idea that I’m not really good at it.

But, I’m trying.  I mean, I actually have a job where I’m in charge of other people all day long. Granted they are 4-6 year old people, but STILL. I’m doing something important and well.

I really want to get back to writing and hopefully get a few more Hunter books written so that I can maybe have a stream of income in my old age.  

The problem is that my writing muses are almost always off on a vacation…probably somewhere tropical with their toes in the sand under a pink umbrella drinking unsweetened iced teas which are brought to them regularly by handsome, fit and healthy, flirty-smiling, dark-haired twenty-something.  I can totally understand why they don’t really want to come back.   But I really need them back, so I’m going to try to spend at least ten minutes every day writing—something—so that maybe they’ll feel compelled to return to me.

I’m also studying Duolingo every day. I’m going to be living here in Korea for at least five more years and then somewhere else after that.  I’m really drawn to the ABC islands in the Caribbean, so I’m studying Dutch (which so far is SURPRISINGLY easy) and continuing in my learning of Spanish. I have about a 40% proficiency with it. For now, I’m studying ONLY Dutch because I want to catch up my Dutch to my Spanish.  Then when that happens (in 22 units), I’ll do one unit of Dutch, one unit of Spanish, and then as many units of Korean as I can every day.  Since I still have at least ‘til February of 2031 here in Korea (if my nebulous plans stay the same) then I need to continue trying to become proficient in Korean, too. If I'm honest, though, Korean is MUCH harder than the other two.  And I feel more drawn to the other two because I see my progress much more swiftly.  

Part of that is likely because Spanish and Dutch use the same letting system as English.  Another part is because I have been exposed to Spanish regularly for 46 years, so it is just more ‘comfy’ than many other languages.  An additional part is that Dutch feels like English spoken with a little bit of an attitude. LOL I mean…it is EXTREMELY easy sometimes, especially if you’ve had ANY exposure to German. An example: what do you think ‘De man eet een appel’ means?   I KNOW you got it right.  Sure, you have to learn the verb tenses (which they don’t REALLY have in Korean, as much) but it is still really easy.  

The reason, by the way, that I’ve chosen to learn Dutch is because it is the governmental language on the ABC islands because they were once Netherland (ic?) (ish?) colonies.   

I’ve always loved the beach and would really like to live near once; however, I DO NOT want to be in the hurricane belt.  And, supposedly–according to the modern day encyclopedia (you know, Google), they only get hit by hurricanes every 25 to 30 years. 

Anyway, I think that may be enough for today.  It is 7:02 a.m. and I should probably get started on preparing lunch.  (Ninety-Nine % of the time, I bring lunch from home)    Therefore, I will bid you adieu! (Crosses fingers) Here’s hoping this call to My Writing Muses will come home soon!

Love y’all!