Don't Miscarry in Utah

I clicked on the link to this article, because I think that a lot of students kind of fart around and mark time for their senior year, and the kids that need to be there could benefit from a culling of the herd, so to speak. A focusing of resources, if you will. However, the real subject of the article is proposed legislation in which miscarriages may become a prosecutable offense in Utah.

So, 12th grade may become optional because the government is broke. But it's not too broke to investigate/ prosecute/ imprison women who have miscarriages, if the mother's actions may have been the cause.

What about giving birth to a child with health problems? Will the mother's prenatal care be investigated? Where will it end? While I'm not above giving dirty looks to pregnant women I see smoking or drinking, I'm not sure this is a road the government should go down. In fact, I'm pretty sure this road is a very, very bad one which should be avoided.

Several women close to me have suffered miscarriages, and I can't imagine them dealing with that emotional pain while facing a criminal investigation into the events leading up to it. Not to mention, how horrible would it be to lose a pregnancy and be judged to be at fault for it? How many women go through that in their own minds already, thinking about what they could have done differently and if it would have changed anything? Now, compound that with a police investigation and, possibly, a criminal trial.

I realize that is not the intent of the law, but since the police cannot actually read people's minds, you have to think that at least some women found criminally responsible for their miscarriage would have simply been guilty of poor judgment. OK, I think that's enough of a rant about a proposed law (which one hopes will be quietly dropped from consideration never again to see the light of day) in a state through which I have never even driven, nor do I have any future plans to visit.

The End Draws Nigh (as does a new beginning)

Tomorrow is my last working day off of work, if that makes sense. I've been to my new school several times to clean up and moderately decorate my new classroom. OK, thus far "decorations" have been limited to classroom rules signs which I have posted. :-) Just trying to live up to my reputation. When I interviewed, I was asked how my director would describe me. When I said I might be considered a little strict at my school, he laughed and showed me the notes from his conversation with said director: the first word was strict.

Since it is the end of our rather unproductive vacations, Stafford and I have planned to do things which we should have done at a leisurely pace throughout the past two weeks. I still haven't convinced him to accompany me to the robot art exhibit. :-( Hopefully, the French comic exhibit he chose will be just as good.

Laundry Time

So, as I may have mentioned, my month off of work has been rather slothful. My cat is making a silent, but pointed, statement about the laundry pile on the floor. He has pushed all of the clothes into a semi-circle around his head and upper body. He is now slowly rolling from side to side, stopping at each item to touch it several times with the nearest paw. It's like watching some kind of weird geriatric stretching video. Or, maybe if the subject of an episode of Hoarders came out with a line of exercise DVDs...

At any rate, I will grudgingly take it as a sign that it's time to make the two-block trek over to the laundromat. Stafford has some super-exciting product launch to attend tomorrow, but I suppose washing clothes, dropping some pants off to be altered, and going to Korean class will be just as awesome. Not that I'm bitter that he didn't even try to get a plus one. What kind of party requires everyone to go stag? Hrmph.

I am Legal!!

I went to immigration today and picked up my brand spanking new ID card. Once again, I was hit with the realization that it's not Korean Immi in general, it is specifically the Mokdong office that are the largest collection of idiots in the nation. This was the my third (fourth?) trip to the Jongro office and the difference is unbelievable. They know what they are doing! They do it!! In a timely manner!!! I use more Korean at this office, but seeing as it's the lingua franca, I guess I can make a minimal effort...

I had Korean class tonight-- we're into the third week now. I'm definitely not learning as much as the last time I took Korean classes, but that was 10 hours a week with another 10 of homework, compared to 3 hours a week with little to no homework. I could put in the extra effort on my own, but obviously I haven't done that the whole time I'm here, so why change midstream? That's like suggesting I socialize in Korean. I dislike socializing in English and that takes 1/1000th the effort. At any rate, I am learning some and I'm enjoying it so far.

I got an email from my new school today: I have to prepare a powerpoint presentation for the Open House. A what for the what?! Eek. I'm going in tomorrow to put my room in order and start getting ready for next week, so I'll have a talk with the principal about this Open House.

I can't believe my month off is nearly over. I have been so completely unproductive. Completely. I had a list of things to do, like go through all of my boxes in the storage cubby and throw out everything I don't need, organize my bookshelves/ drawers/ cabinets/ etc, organize my yarn stash... I think you can see a pattern emerging. Anyway, it doesn't matter, because my books/ shelves/ drawers/ cabinets/ boxes/ yarn are nearly as disorganized as the day I moved in.

I wish I loved exercise, cleaning, and organizing as much as I love sitting in my computer chair staring at my laptop screen. :-)

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

As usual, way too long since my last post.

I finished up at Elite at the end of January and am halfway through my vacation. Today, after sweating for months when my FBI background check wouldn't (and still hasn't) come in, I went to immigration, and got my new visa with no background check needed. If only I had known that I didn't need to spend all that money and hassle (mostly my mother got hassled, with several trips around Baton Rouge getting my local check and apostille) and stress over the missing FBI check. I mean, four months?! Come on!

As for my vacation, I've been pretty supremely unproductive. I have knit two sweaters: Owls (still needs eyes) and Amused, modified into a hoodie cardigan (still needs closures). Both were quick and easy knits, although, I didn't really follow the patterns all that closely. For Owls, I basically only used the "owl" cable chart.

Over the Lunar New Year/ Valentine's Day weekend, Stafford whisked me off on a "staycation" at a hotel here in Seoul. He's so sweet! We spent most of the time watching AFN and going to Starbucks. He knows me so well. :-)

So, that's about all that's gone on over the past month. Not very eventful, despite big plans to get out and about and see all the things in Seoul I haven't seen before. Mostly, I've just seen a lot of TV downloads in my living room. There are two exhibits at two museums I do plan to see over the next two weeks, though. Staf's on vacation, so maybe I can drag him along...