I just passed my Korean exam.  I feel great!  I am so glad that it’s finally over.  Seven months of Korean study culminated into a single speaking and reading exam.  I know that Korean will be an ongoing battle and that this is just the beginning of non-stop Korean for the next couple of years.  Nevertheless, it still feels great to be finished with my Korean class and language exam.  It’s an accomplishment I can savor until tomorrow when I being our final packout.  I did not do so well during my two mid-course Korean exams, so passing today is especially rewarding to me.  My mid-course evaluations pointed out to me that I needed to study harder, and I did.  I was on shaky ground this past December and January, but in the past few weeks I’ve studied very hard to perform well.  It’s important to do well so that I meet department expectations and arrive at my new job prepared to converse with Koreans at a proficient level.  I felt that I was ready before the exam, but the actual exam was very brutal.  It exposed all of my language deficiencies.  The testers pushed me to the limits of my Korean knowledge.  Many of the subjects I had prepared for weren’t even discussed, whereas on several occasions I found myself thinking, “Why didn’t I study that word?” and “What in the world are we talking about this, of all things?”  No matter what, I met the target I needed to achieve, and now I’m ready to head out and use this language I’ve spent the last seven months drilling into my head.

Now though, it’s time to go out for a drink and celebrate.  Many of us who are studying Korean will meet tonight with me and another colleague to celebrate our exam results and our imminent departure.  Normally they would buy us drinks, but as sambei (advisors) we have the obligation to treat them instead.  We passed the test, now we get to pay.  That’s OK…I don’t mind one bit.  If I hadn’t passed, they would probably buy me drinks!

There’s a line from Sarah MacLaughlin’s famous song, "I Will Remember You," that my wife often say to each other when we’re totally exhausted.  "I’m so tired, but I can’t sleep" is perhaps the best line from the song.  It such a fitting phrase sometimes.  I stayed up very late last night catching up on my Korean study, and this morning I headed to work early via the Metro.  Fortunately, the commute this morning was better and quicker than usual.  Still, I was really, really tired all day long.  Some people are like the Energizer Bunny and can keep going and going with minimal sleep.  I need my sleep, and if I don’t get it I slowly wear out like a battery that needs frequent recharging.  Today however I feel strangely awake.  I took a brief nap, but it was more of a catnap.  I have a feeling that these last few days before our move to Korea will be filled with adrenaline.  One week from tonight will be our final day here at this apartment.  The following morning the movers will come and pack up our belongings to ship via air or slow boat to Korea.  It still seems surreal to me.

Google spiked $18/share in after-hours trading when it reported spectacular Q4 results.  I jumped off the Google bandwagon because I didn’t see the stock going much higher than $200 per share in the near term.  I still don’t, but it closed up over $210/share in after-hours trading.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow.  Google appears to be the ultimate contrarian stock.  Whenever analysts say buy it, that’s the time to sell, and when they dismiss it as over-valued, that’s probably a good time to buy.  I’m looking ahead to February when 177 million new shares unlock and potential flood the market.  I see it going down to about $175/share, after which I may buy again.  But I may be just like all the analysts–I’ve been very surprised that it has maintained such a lofty valuation thus far.  If it stays this high for long it will be added to the S&P 500 and then index funds will have to retain shares.  So long as Google refuses to announce stock splits the stock will continue to increase in value.  I’m glad I got in early before the bull rush.