We Interrupt The Scheduled Series....

Eh, who needs a series all in a row anyway, right? How about I just leave you thirsting for more and make you read all the stuff in between that you might otherwise skip over if you weren't waiting for the latest installment of Life of Anonymous Celebrity!

I went to dinner at a friend's house tonight for the first time since living in Korea. Keun Ha's family doesn't count. Keun Ha's friends don't count. This is my friend. She is wonderful and generous and kind and Kiwi (or from New Zealand!). And man, can she cook! I've been terribly ill with the worst 감기 (Korean for cold) I've ever had for close to a week and tonight was kind of like my first foray out into the social world. And it was lovely. I guess I realize the more I hang out with My Kiwi, the more I realize how isolated I've become. My world, despite opening up in huge ways to another culture and another way of life, has also shrunk when it comes to personal relationships and friendships. And this is mostly due to my weird and inexplicable desire to be left alone by any and all Westerners I come into contact with. I want to complain of loneliness, but in fact, I'm enabling this isolation by being closed off and reserved. ( I know, those of you back home may close your mouths and manually push your eyebrows back down your foreheads. Danielle? Closed off and reserved? Surely not!) But with My Kiwi, it's like one of those friendships I think only girls experience. One where you fall right into place. From our first coffee and croissant, there was fellowship, a kinship almost. Although we come from two different places, our experiences here have been freakishly similar. Our feelings, our reservations, our fears, our discoveries= same same (as my kids at school would say).

Anyway, all this babbling to say that I felt true joy tonight, just speaking with her on the phone and making plans. There are some friends who somehow coerce you into being more of yourself just by being there. And My Kiwi did that for me. I remembered what it was like to be excited about conversation, dialogue, the exchange of ideas and the expression of emotion between women. I was reminded how it felt to be a silly girl and talk about silly girl things. I reveled in the friendship and the good food that brought us together over a small table in a small apartment with small glasses of wine.

I know I don't usually post like this. My posts are usually edited and pasted into Blogger and then edited again. But tonight, I'm just writing. Sorry if you were expecting the normal rage. Good wine and a good Kiwi are definitely on the list of Rage Reducers. (Oh, that reminds me! Coming soon: The List of All Lists- Rage Reducers Vs. Rage Inducers. But you'll have to wait for it. I have so many posts that I need to make and yet I seem to be spending all of my time making notes for posts instead of actually writing them!) And there, I just broke one of my bloggy rules: Never talk about posting in a post.

Eh, what can you do? I'm giddy.