Charpie's Travels

I went mountain hiking with some coworkers. I'm a little sad I didn't do this sooner. 북한산

We rented bikes today and rode along the river. I am a big fan of the Han River. And rent-a-bikes.  When we stopped for coffee, I set my bag on the table. Well, apparently I only set part of the bag on the table. As I began to walk away, I heard it fall and turned back just in time to see my camera roll out and land by the window.  I do believe Hillary and Susan were felt worse about it than I did. With the freshly busted lens, I get some sweet shots like this (after a little tweaking). As much as I love this one, I do believe a repair shop is in my near future. Regardless, it was a pretty fabulous day! Seoul gets even better as the weather warms up.

The Good - Sleeping later than 8am - Church - Lunch in Buddha's Belly - Three variations of rice in one day - Post-lunch vanilla frappe - Pre-dinner caramel macchiato The Bad - No unni visit today - Complainer Quota exceeded - Watching drunk man collapse after being kicked out of restaurant The Stellar - Coconut beef curry - Coat-free temperatures - Clear blue sky - Exploring downtown with Bethel - Dinner with Amy - Mouse (rat?) scurrying through floor-seating restaurant - Being given a rose - Hearing two people say "shimmy" in one day

There are days in Korea when I wake up with one person heavily on my mind. The particular individual varies, but it's always someone from the states. I do whatever it is I need to do throughout the morning, but my mind is far from Korea. Today was Jelani's day.  It's been 11 months and a couple days. He never got to meet his baby boy. His little girl changed so much even before I moved to Seoul. It's been nearly a year, and somehow still no one seems to know what happened.  It's weird to think or say any of this, because in a way, that feels like a different lifetime. Even so, it's a lifetime that occupies much of my thoughts. 

I am no longer a Pre-Kinder teacher. The semester (for my school) ended Friday, and I've been assigned to a Kindergarten class for the new school year. I'll have a couple of my Pre-K students again, but the rest will be new faces. Considering that I haven't even been here three full months, I didn't anticipate saying many goodbyes already. Starting next week, we all have different afternoon (elementary) teaching schedules, so I have no idea which kids I'll see again. The last couple days were rough for some of my youngest kids. Rebecca sobbed through the entire last class, and Andrew hid in a corner. When my co-teacher congratulated the class for moving up to kindergarten, Grace snapped. "Stop saying kindergarten! I do not want to go!"  The foreign teachers are all paired with different Korean teachers for the new semester. So, while we do still work for the same school, it felt like I was saying goodbye to my co-teacher. She was super. Also, Friday was ...