Pills, Puppies, Princesses and Plane Tickets

This weekend was really nice, super low key, and generally wonderful.

I haven't been able to breathe very well recently, I've been getting a lot of nosebleeds, and I've been told (by my friends) that my snoring is out of control, haha. I wanted to get checked out by a doctor, and so on Saturday my Korean friend, 오주헌 met me downtown and took me to an ear, nose and throat hospital. He served as my translator the whole time and helped me through the question/answer stuff. He even held my hand when the doctor inserted a camera all the way up both of my nostrils (so weird and uncomfortable)! Anyway, after ruling out any blockage from a deviated septum, they did a "smelling" test, which basically put 25 vials in front of me and made tell them what I smelled. I have a 50% olfactory loss! The doctor said I probably had nerve damage some time in the last few years and it is likely permanent. Then he gave me some pills (?) and sent me on my way. Haha, oh my life.

After that, Ju Heon and I met my three girlfriends at the "princess cafe," a perfectly pink tea house with a resident clothes-wearing fluffy white poodle. The premise behind it is that you can go there, put on wedding dresses and have your picture taken (shockingly enough, we decided not to do this, haha). I was especially happy because Ju Heon is coming to Thailand with me! We bought his ticket yesterday!! He won some kind of bet with his sister that ended with the fact that she is buying his plane ticket. He has never traveled alone before, and asked if he could come with me. I'm so excited!! We all spent the afternoon snacking, shopping and walking around, then went to an Italian place where our two friends were singing in a jazz band! They were so good, too!

Still after that was Board Game Night! What a scream! Maybe 30 people met at a bar near the University and played games. I brought Apples to Apples, Twister (a favorite with the Koreans!) and Scrabble, and others brought cards and Jenga. It was all around wonderful.

Yesterday, the girls and I went to Ju Heon's family's house in the country, because his dog just had four puppies! Just two weeks old, they just opened their eyes on Friday, and they didn't really do much besides flop around and grunt. Still, they had our hearts and we spent the afternoon holding the puppies and eating pizza. All in all, it was a splendid weekend!

And today I'm back to school, where there's not even any water for coffee. The pipes are frozen solid for 16 days now!