The Baby Parade

It's been a very uneventful week. I can think of a few things to write about, though. First of all, this week I had the chance to meet with the son of one of my regular students from Brazil. He and his brother are here in Korea visiting. I taught both of them briefly last year, so it was nice to see them again. The younger son is preparing to do research in marine biology off the coast of Brazil, and he was working through some scientific papers in English about the feeding habits of fish. He and I read the articles together, and I asked him questions about biology, while he asked me questions about the language in the articles. His reading ability was impressive. I gave him some vocabulary lessons about connecting words (like "although" and "thus"), which I hope will help him when he has to write his own paper in English. The biology articles were really interesting, and I felt lucky to have the chance to be exposed to research in a field completely unfamiliar to me.

I had Wednesday afternoon free, so I invited some friends over for coffee. My friends Joy and Kayoko stayed for a few hours, and while we chatted and had tea, we were treated to a parade of mothers and children who couldn't stay the whole time. First our downstairs neighbor Clair visited with her spirited two-year-old, then my friend Alana and her brand new two-month-old, and finally another neighbor Marina and her shy one-year-old. It was fun to see so many babies at different ages, especially since I spend so much of my time now thinking about what our baby is going to be like. Everybody had stories to tell about their pregnancies, too. After everyone left, Marina gave me a few bags full of baby clothes, and one bag of maternity clothes. There were several pairs of denim capris that fit perfectly, and they have adjustable waistbands, so they should continue to fit well.

My favorite item from the bags of clothes Marina gave me.

Speaking of maternity pants, I have started wearing mine. I think I am definitely looking more pregnant (and have put on another half a kilo), and the elastic waistbands are so comfortable! I am thinking about ordering a few more pairs online, now that I know what fits and how the million different "belly panel" options work.

I'm wearing maternity pants over my little belly bump.

On Friday morning, my Korean tutor helped me to order a bread machine online (thank you, Chrissy and Ryan), and it has already arrived - talk about efficient (and free!) shipping! While she and I were poking around on the Korean shopping site, we found the English version of the site, and now I have been set loose on the Korean online marketplace. Look out world! Maternity tops and baby items, here I come! Hopefully, the arrival of the bread machine won't contribute overmuch to the already rapid expansion of my waistband.