Priceless

As I was walking to my school building this morning with my co teacher Mr. Kim , I heard "선생님"!  (sonsaengnim=teacher).  It was surprising to hear, one because it was early, and two students are still on winter vacation.  I didn't realize the person was talking to me.  When I turned around I noticed one of my students, the same one who apologized for getting a 97% on her English exam, standing on the other side of the street waving.  After looking both ways, she crossed the street.  As she made her way to me and stood in front of me, the expression on her face was priceless! You would have thought that she was standing in front of a celebrity!  I just smiled (I admit, I was excited too), and said, "Hi!  How are you!?"  She reached out her arms and hugged me so tight, almost as if she didn't want to let go.  I'm a sucker for a good hug, and being here I have noticed that they really aren't big on affection, so she totally caught me off gaurd.  After I let go, she looked as if she were about to cry.  As we parted ways, I waved to her and simply said, "See you soon!"  My co teacher was speechless, maybe because she didn't acknowledge him or maybe because of what he had just witnessed. 

To fully understand all of this and the moment, you just had to be there....

In other news.....my Winter Camp at the elementary school this week has been cancelled due to the cow disease!!! 

Until next time!

There is Nothing Like Family

After an exciting, enjoyable, relaxing, much needed three weeks with close friends and family, I have arrived back to Korea safe and sound.  I will admit, as the days drew closer and closer for me to leave my beloved country, I literally dreaded the thought of having to come back.  This was mainly because I had such an amazing time at home.  I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but it felt good to be around those whom I love so much.  I had a blast spending time with my parents, seeing my brothers and sister, nieces, nephews, my aunt and uncle, grandparents, and Godson.  I even had the chance to see my BFFs!  I also enjoyed a few basketball games of which someone dear to me refereed.  No I didn't want to leave.  I kept on thinking in my head, Do I HAVE to?

But the fact of the matter is that I had to snap back into reality and finish what I started back in August.  I arrived back to my apartment safe and sound only to find....

Not too sure what was going on here, but at least the pipes didn't freeze!  Management came in, which they only do in the case of emergencies, and turned on the bathroom facet and checked the boiler.  No frozen pipes here!  

On top of that, I received a phone call later that night from my co teacher telling me that Seoseok, the town where I work, had been completely "shut down" the week before due to cow disease (thanks for the heads up Miss Sharon).  She also told me that the English Camp that is planned for next week may be cancelled because of it.  And people wondered why I haven't eaten any meat besides fish and chicken since I've been here!