Things have smoothed out a bit around here this week. Ace got paid the wages the school owed him for the last two months, which is pretty exciting, even though I was excited about the prospect of having some weekday-morning movie festival and hangout sessions if he had to strike. We were also able to get all the info on our bills, so were able to do the math and figure out that we do indeed owe the landlady money- $10.33. She is displeased with this information, as she wants us to pay her $200, but we don’t really care. We’ll pay her what we owe her, and plan on pretty much ignoring her unless she comes up with any new info or arguments. So far, so good. Glad that’s sorted, at least for now.

I started with a new evening student yesterday, which I’m excited about. It’s nice to have some more work, and he’s going to be fun to work with. Plus, I can walk to his place, which is much closer than any of my other appointments. Good news. I’m still looking for another student or two, though- my evenings are getting a bit busy, but my mornings are still a little quieter than I’d like. It’s funny, I never thought I’d wish for the 9 to 5, but after two years of not 9-5ing, it’s starting to look really good. In Korea we were working evenings, which was ok, but put us on a really weird schedule. Also, I wake up feeling like being productive, and get antsy and grumpy if I don’t have anything to get me going first thing. Same problem here in Turkey- I certainly can’t complain that I’m working too much, but on weekdays where I don’t have a morning lesson I feel sluggish and end up moping around the house being lonely more often than I should. It’s gotten me wondering what I should do next year- if I should work at a language school or something in the daytime and supplement my income with private lessons, or keep doing what I am now. If I could find an exercise class or volunteering first thing in the mornings, that might do the trick as well. I guess I’ll have to wait and see where we land for next year, anyways.

Other than that, nothing much new here. We’re looking forward to hanging out with some of Ace’s work friends this Saturday, and going to a Picasso exhibit with a Turkish friend and his girlfriend on Sunday. I’m pretty happy about that, as I feel extremely guilty for not taking advantage of all the art and music in this city. It’s nice just knowing it’s there, I suppose, but I’m not benefiting from it much via osmosis.

Oh, and our anniversary weekend was nice! It was a pretty long trip- about two hours from apartment to ferry to bus, then 3 hours on the bus. And Agva (our destination) is still technically part of Istanbul- unbelievable, right? The weather was grey but it didn't rain on us much. We hung out in our tiny little wood bungalow, played with the giant dogs roaming the area, and paddled a little paddleboat on the very muddy river. The hotel provided some really yummy food, we watched some good DVD's, and we played a lot of backgammon and GoStop (the card game we picked up in Korea). Before leaving, we went further up the road and took a peek at the Black Sea. It was nice to get away.

Not much news on the job front for next year, either- Ace is still sending out applications and calling schools, but no particularly promising leads yet. There are some job fairs in the UK and the US in a few months, and he may fly out to one or two of those if nothing comes up before then. That’s really late in the hiring season, though, so we’re hoping he doesn’t have to wait that long to secure something.

Lots of love from us both! Just 3.5 months more- we’re both starting to look forward to home.