the finish line, the magic line

whew! what can i say? finals are over. *all* of my exams were back-to-back yesterday. i've finished my 1st year of school. that's one year down...and still a few left. there's a long road ahead before anyone can call me "dr. emeraldtiger". but this morning i woke up simply feeling relieved to have crossed the finish line for now. summer vacation? i don't know what to do with myself, and that's not half-bad!

lately i've been a bit absent from the blogosphere. but here's the entry that was meant for d-land, but finally posted to my alternate bl0gspot when d-land was down for so long:

May 1st! Spring semester classes ended today. ALL of my final exams are due on the 7th so I'm buried under schoolwork and studying. After Monday, I'll officially be done with the school year! Despite two recent 90 degree days here, it seems like spring just arrived. It's cooled off, and sure doesn't feel like summer yet...but I guess Tuesday marks my 1st day of summer break. Speaking of which, in exactly one month, I'll be somewhere out over the Pacific, on a flight headed directly from San Francisco to Seoul. Wow! Perhaps by this time, we'll have already crossed over the International Date Line. When your airplane crosses that magic invisible line, en route to Asia or Australia, it means that you leap one day ahead and get super jet-lagged before you get over it and let your feet hit the ground running on the other side of the world. Did you know that Seoul's new main airport is actually not in Seoul itself, but in the historic port city of Incheon? I can't wait to take everything in through all five senses...