Weekend adventures: Birthday Party, 5500-1, and Church

My love for my students (especially my kinders) grows and grows each and every day. I already love them like they are my own and I treat them that way too:) Each day of teaching brings new strides, new fall backs, new excitements, and new frustrations. I love getting up for work every single day.

This past Friday I had the luxury of experiencing my first birthday party in school. When a student has a birthday all the other kids in the class bring presents, and we take an hour out of the school day to have a party. The mom of the child with the birthday (and a few other mom's) make/buy more food than you can imagine and bring it in to school. We sing and we eat and open presents. It is magical. I love this aspect of school life here, and I also love that it is acceptable to make home-made foods and bring them to school:) yumm.

Saturday Christine and I decided to venture in to Seoul for our first time without the help of other teachers. Most of the day was a huge success. We were able to take the bus in to Seoul and then get around on the Subway once we got there. It was out first time alone- and we were very pleased with our ability to get from place to place (the places we actually wanted to go!) so easily. We spent the day exploring large markets and browsing the shops. When it was time to come back to Suji we decided we wanted to try to take the bus because it is way more relaxing and less stressful than the Subway (if you get on the correct bus). We knew that the 5500 bus would take us back to Suji, but there was also a 5500-1, and 5500-2. We only saw a 5500-1, so we decided to just ask the bus driver if it went to Suji. We got on, said "Suji?" and he nodded. Good sign?! We thought so. I fell asleep instantly. For those of you who know me really well, you know I love bus rides and would rather sleep there than in my own bed. I knew Christine wouldn't sleep so I wasn't worried. After we had been driving for well over an hour (it should take between 40-50 minutes to get to Suji), Christine woke me up. We kept waiting for something to look familiar, but this was difficult since everything looks same same...but different. After awhile we realized that our surroundings were becoming more green with less people and buildings. Soon enough we started driving up in to the mountains. We were definitely not going to Suji.

Each place we stopped more people got off. Until it completely stopped and Christine and I were the only people on the bus. We had hit the end of the line and the bus driver was yelling at us in Korean. We walked up to the front of the bus and tried to talk to him but he didn't speak a lick of English. He wrote us a note on a post-it in Korean and pointed out another bus stop. We assumed (but still don't know) that he wrote us a note to give to the next bus driver.

To our surprise when we got off the bus we were on a gorgeous college campus. Trees and greenery surrounded us. We were part way up a mountain and it was amazing. Unfortunately that's not where we wanted to be and weren't really sure how to get home.

We went to the only bus stop in the area and got back on the 5500-1 going the opposite way. We figured out that the bus would not go to Suji but it would go to a town near Suji called Jukjeon. We gave the bus driver our note and told him Jukjeon. Unfortunately he was a very unfriendly, unhappy man. Rather than tell us to get off the bus when we were in Jukjeon, he turned around to us AFTER we passed the stop and basically told us we just missed Jukjeon and he laughed. What a jerk. He was supposed to tell us BEFORE the stop, not after. We got off at the next stop, walked a ways, and was able to find the bus station and catch a different bus to Suji. Lets just say our 40 min trip turned in to about 3 1/2 hours. With all the numbers in the world you would think if buses were going on completely different routes, they would have completely different numbers. I guess not. We do not regret anything that happened, because it ended up being very funny and we learned a lot. We now know that the 5500-1 will not take us to Suji. Lesson Learned.

This morning, Christine and I were able to make it back to church; a place where we already feel attached. This church is the first place in Korea where I have really felt a connection to the Korean people and this country. So much of my time here has been spent thinking about the differences between what I am used to, and what I am experiencing now. Everything just seems so different and unrelatable. But when I worship at this church, singing very familiar songs next to a person singing the exact same song in a different language, God's presence is all I feel and think about. When we walk in to the sanctuary, a place of worship, it doesn't matter where anyone is from, what foods people eat, or what languages people speak, our hearts are all in the same place. I am starting to find comfort and familiarity in this country, and for that I am very thankful.

Here is a clip of my Kindergargten class singing during arts and crafts time!

From my heart to yours,
Shauna