Birthdays abroad are bittersweet. It's always a bit depressing to spend a holiday away from your family and close friends. But, I've learned that there's a different kind of joy to be found in celebrating them far away from home. Last year, I was overwhelmed by the cards and gifts my students and coworkers gave me, and especially by the party my class of 13-year old class threw me. Of course, my roommates and friends were fabulous as well---leaving gifts in my locker and making me amazing dinner. This year was just the same. My coworkers were sweet, leaving me cards and having my kids decorate the whiteboards for me. I even got a few gifts from the kids which truly surprised me given that most of them are under the age of 10. My friends treated me to an amazing feast of Indian food on the weekend, and then again on my actual birthday! We went for shabu-shabu (hot pot) and they surprised me with an ice-cream cake and gifts! It was too much. It was such a great day. It was a lovely reminder of one of the many reasons I travel---to meet such amazing, genuine people.
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| A night out in Hongdae with my awesome, beautiful friends |
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My birthday ice-cream cake...that we demolished...at a bar.
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| My little troublemakers and the birthday board |
Also, a heartfelt thanks to everyone who sent cards, e-mails, etc. And of course there's Mom, who sent a care package! I'm such a lucky girl!
Spring is finally here! Winter lasted well into April...I wore my winter jacket until after my birthday! I'm glad to say it won't be making an appearance in my wardrobe anymore. I've even had the pleasure of wearing flip-flops a few times. Life has been low key. My biggest adventures have been eating Indian food 3 weekends in a row. Don't judge me, it's delicious. I won't have Indian food when I come home...Slower Lower Delaware doesn't exactly ooze diversity. I might as well enjoy it while I can!
In other news, I'm going to China! In just over TWO WEEKS! I'll be in Beijing for 4 days to see the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and all the other sights! I'm beyond excited. The Great Wall has been on my bucket list since before I even knew what a bucket list was. It was the one thing I said I absolutely HAD to see while I was in Asia. I got my passport back from the embassy today with my super cool Chinese Visa that takes up a whole page!
In other other news, I've decided that I'm going to participate in Yoga Teacher Training! It's something I've thought about doing for a few years---well yoga, or pilates, or personal training---but I never went much farther than merely thinking about it. I recently caught up with a friend from University who I'd been meaning to contact for a while, and she expressed interest in doing YTT in the (sort of) near future in Miami. I took it as a sign. It's something I've wanted to do, I love yoga, I have no plans when she's doing it....why not? In the words of Tom Cruise in Risky Business, "Sometimes you just gotta say 'what the f*ck'". So, that's happening!
Off to bed for me! Here's some recent pictures of my cute little nuggets :)
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| Killin me in that hat |
We made "guitars" in Science class (why?). Not a single note of music was played. Instead, they went immediately on top of their heads...
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| Sweet shirt |
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| Buddha baby? This is Jaewon. He's hilarious. |
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| This is Minchan. He is the size of a fetus and looks like a tiny old man. |
