The Mysterious Disappearing Headaches

I have not had a headache since I left Ann Arbor. Not one of the usual ones, anyway. One or two little pain pulses over the past two weeks but those were child's play compared to the daily brain searings I've always lived with. I didn't realize until I hit a rough patch this afternoon. Right after I ate my mild Korean lunch with the kids it was like I sprung a leak in the bottom of my feet and all of my energy poured right out onto the floor. I sat at my desk with a cup of tea (the only source of energy I could think of) with glazed eyes while the kids ambled about, and I think I churned enough back up to finish off the day without bursting into tears. And in all the crappiness I felt while I was down there, I did not develop a headache. It was amazing.

What is it about this place that keeps the headaches away? Is the environment? Is it the Korean food? The lifestyle change? The buckets of water I've started drinking everyday due to heat, AC dryness and yelling at kids?

My boss took us all out for dinner for Sam's last night. We had shabu shabu again. It's so much fun to eat out in the country. You get to cook your own food, and its all so delicious. We swept the awkwardness under the table

by trying to figure out an English name for the boss's son, who will be starting English preschool with the new class opening next week. It was a delightful cultural romp as he suggested names that we nixed for various reasons ("No, Grace is really a girl's name" "Monroe is more common as a last name") and we through names at him (Mason, Jake, Zachary and Tristan came up). I love this tradition of picking new names. Once my Cherry class graduates in February, I wonder if I'll get a whole new class to name as well.