A love letter

Dearest Korea,

We're finishing up this crazy adventure in just a few short months, and I don't want to wait until I'm boarding that plane home to realize all the great things about my life with you. I want to take a minute while there's still time to make more memories to let you know that I appreciate everything you've done for me. Thanks for the hilarious moments and the sad ones; thanks for the incomprehensible joy and the occasional confusion. Thanks for always being right outside my window, comforting me with smog and the smell of rotting garbage as I struggle to fall asleep with people shouting angry words I don't understand in the street below. Thank you for the million ways you make me smile each and every day, like...

... when I see flip flops with Obama's head on them...

... when I pretend to be Oz while I'm "teaching"...

... when signs are inappropriate in the most hilarious ways...

... when ketchup comes in a smiley face...

... when I get to make Harry Potter at a cafe...

... when people exercise in the weirdest places...

... when you offer me really sound advice...

... when my kids show up to school looking awfully dorky...

... when the view is just too pretty...

... when Journey becomes our mantra...

... when there are too many friends to fit in one picture...

... and when dancing at lunch is the best thing to do...

... thank you. Thank you for these moments and these friends, and for the countless other reasons why two and a half more months just isn't long enough to take in all this joy.

Thank you, Korea, for being you, and for teaching me to be me. Here's to eleven more weeks of us.

The cheesiest post I've ever written

I want to write a blog post tonight, I really do. I just went through all my pictures to decide what story I would tell tonight, what event I would relive in words so everyone could have their standard glimpse into my life. As I looked at the pictures, I realized I couldn't pick just one event. I don't have any words to explain it, but I'm just really joyful right now. Today I went to church, went to a picnic at the park, played frisbee with my friends, ate at my favorite restaurant, and crashed a game night at my old church. Just one of those things would have made for an extraordinary Sunday, and yet I had all of them today, back to back to back. It was one of those days that make all the rest of the days worth the hassle.

Anyway, so I went through all my pictures to choose something to post about, and I just can't narrow it down. You're getting a hodge-podge of pictures of all the ways I'm so incredibly blessed. Angie, I hope you're not trying to read this at work because pictures are all I've got today. Pictures and joy. (Dude, has anyone ever written anything lamer than that? Probably not.)

My two favorites. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to have favorites. 
But really, how could you not love these faces more than the rest? :)

Taesun still doesn't speak much English, 
but it's okay since most of our "lessons" consist of him just making me laugh by doing this.

There's a face you all know and love. 
Not mine, the little Asian one.

At least her answer's in English, right?

These people make me never want to leave Korea.

Ke$ha totally should have thought of doing this with a ukelele. It's a thousand times more awesome.

All in all, I've been kind of wondering lately why in the world I would choose to leave such a place in three months. Korea is full of wonderful people who love me and whom I love desperately in return. I may have cried when I left America, but someone's going to have to drag me on the plane kicking and screaming when I leave Korea.