Back from the dead (and an update on where I have been and will be...)

It's been a long time since I blogged. That is because I was stuck in the basement of this wretched building all year. Grrr.

I finished my first year of my master's degree in Public Affairs this past May. As much as I complain (surprise surprise), I really enjoyed it. If not for the interesting things I learned, then for my awesome classmates.

The headless army in front of the Princeton Art Museum.

Yep, it's pretty. Only undergrads are good enough to live here, though...

...I lived here. They used to be old army barracks. It kinda felt like camp, but it was quite nice and cozy (and cheap!).

This is the spiffy concert hall / auditorium type thing. It has about 4 names, because different donors means different names! And at Princeton, there is no shortage of donors...I think I know this building by the name Alexander Hall.

As to where I am now, currently, I'm blogging from Geneva, Switzerland (not Illinois). I've been here for most of the summer so far, finishing up my requisite internships. Yes, I've been working at/with the United Nations! I really get a lot of mileage out of my name in this regard. Love it.

Where will I be? Weeeelllll, a good opportunity popped up, and I will be taking a year off between my two years of graduate study to live/work/study in Korea and China. I'll be based in Seoul, South Korea, for 3 months (October - December), working on North Korean tuberculosis relief with the Eugene Bell Foundation. Then it's off to Beijing, where I'll be posted from January to August-ish, hopefully working on AIDS/HIV relief with the Clinton Foundation.

Along with work, I will be studying languages, too. I'll concentrate on improving my Mandarin, but hopefully I'll pick up some Korean along the way. It makes me sad to think of how much I will miss my family and friends - as well we graduating with my awesome classmates! - but when opportunity knocks, you gotta run with it, right? I'll try to think only about the good things, then...