Laurel has a hard time writing about herself in a professional manner and without the kind of self-deprecating humor that can come off as insecure. So here are the facts.

• She’s a Christian.
• Petunkalunka is a nickname bestowed on her by her father. A more phonetic spelling would be peh-TOON-kah-LOON-kah. She still doesn’t know if it means anything.
• She’s a middle child.
• She’s currently 27.
• She’s in the midst of her fourth year as a member of the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. Her position is an Assistant Language or English Teacher (ALT or AET).
• She teaches at five elementary schools and five junior highs every month.
• She has a blue bicycle.
• She has two sword-tail newts.
• She can play the piano.
• She is teaching herself to play the ukulele.
• She makes jewelry.
• She majored in French and in Elementary Education with a Specialization in Early Childhood at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.
• She minored in Music
• She studied abroad for one semester in France, which is when she began blogging.
• She is? has? a shodan (first degree black belt) in aikido.
• She plays taiko.
• She often dances badly in public, much to the embarrassment of her friends
• Her goal is to be as close to self-employed as possible without being destitute.*
• She’s only writing in third person because she hears it looks professional and hoity toity.
• She is often late.

[End third person.] To piggyback off that last bullet point, I don’t understand the concept “five minutes early is on time.” No it isn’t, it’s five minutes early; you just said so. This should tell you that I find it difficult to succeed in the first-world countries that I have inhabited as an adult. One may argue that much of my life looks like a success, and I would argue in return that it’s all due to the good Lord Jesus who doth giveth me self-control and other spiritual fruits.

*This blog is mostly about how everything else on the list relates to that goal.