My Birthday in Korea

I have so many things to be thankful for; a great family, incredible friends, a good job, and one more long, trying year on the planet. Yes, I have survived long enough to have a birthday in Korea. I must admit, I was not sure what to expect, so I expected nothing and got EVERYTHING!!!

Upon arriving to work, I was greeted by the Korean teachers with a Korean version of cheesecake, which is more like a light spongecake with some sort of "danish-style" cheese stuff in the middle. They were soooo happy to do this for me; excited even! The first picture is Jennifer and Ellie putting on the "Happy Birthday" candles and getting quite a kick out of doing so.

After the lighting of the candles, I received an odd rendition of "The Birthday Song" (second pic) where they all sang and clapped off-beat. It was truly awesome! :-) These women are incredible and I am so blessed to have such great people to work with!

They all enjoyed eating their pieces of cake with chopsticks out of paper cups while I just bit right into mine! I mean, I do manage macaroni and cheese with chopsticks, but cake?? Nah...I'll pass. It was very sweet of them to do this for me. Three of the teachers gave me gifts "in secret" as not to offend the other teachers who may have not given me a gift. I received very pink lipstick, some pink cosmetic that appears to be eyeshadow, and some hand cream. Their thoughtfulness is overwhelming at times. :-) (As I write this, I am having some trouble with a tendon in my ankle and one of the teachers is meeting me in the morning to go to the "Asian Medicine Clinic", aka acupuncture, to translate for me.)


Several of my students brought me gifts, including chocolate candy, a lollipop, triangle kimbap (I got three of those!), rice cakes, and a piece of coffee chewing gum! One class decorated the whiteboard with all kinds of sweet messages and sang to me, in addition to a couple of hand-written notes.

After school, I met with a local Korean teacher who bought me a chocolate ganache cake! Let me just say, as far as Korean cake goes, this one was INCREDIBLE!!! :-) I met up with a couple of friends later and we shared a pizza and the cake (videos on Facebook). On top of everything else, because of the time difference, I got two whole days of birthday wishes on my Facebook page. How cool is that? The best thing is, this was just ON my birthday and not even my birthday party!!! My party is not until Saturday! Wow!

So goes another year of my life. If someone would have told me I was going to spend this birthday in Korea, I would have never believed it. Now, I'm not even sure where I will be next year on my birthday. Regardless, I know I will be amongst friends, maybe new, maybe old, and will know I am enjoying my life and trying to make every moment count. I have a few plans for this next year, but, of course, am open to all the adventures and possibilities that may come my way. God has a plan for me and I have to believe and trust.

Until next time, keep living your own adventure....