Hi, everyone. I know I left you all hanging last June with the promise of new patterns, but visiting my family took up all my time (in a good way) so I just didn’t get the designs out that I wanted to. I still have a fingerless mitts pattern and a hat pattern that I made last year up my sleeve, and I’ll see about getting those published soon. With the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m finding I have a lot of time on my hands, but I have also been dealing with anxiety and depression which have slowed my knitting progress.

I’m glad I got to visit my family last year as it looks as though it will be impossible to see them this year. I miss them. We’d had a trip planned for May but as you might expect, that’s been cancelled. I’m not sure when we’ll see each other in person again, which is scary, but the truth nonetheless.

In February, I officially became a British citizen. I have lived here for 8 years and I want to spend the rest of my life here, and it makes me very happy that I can call England my home forever. Once I became a citizen, I applied to start studying at the University of Sheffield (and was accepted!) in Korean Studies with Japanese. I have always been interested in languages, and while visiting my family last year, my sister got me into BTS, the Korean rap / pop band. I wanted to learn Korean to sing along and understand the songs better, so I started using an app called LingoDeer – and I’ve discovered that I absolutely love speaking and reading Korean. My end goal is to work as a translator or interpreter for Korean speakers in the UK. The Japanese classes available to me in this course are just icing on the cake, as I’ve been interested in Japanese culture for many years and being able to read and speak Japanese too would be wonderful.

I find the entire pandemic situation overwhelming and terrifying, but I’m trying my best to carry on despite it all. I’m staying home and safe, and trying not to get too stir-crazy during this lockdown period. I’m wishing for the best for everyone.