More New People

Two more adoptees arrived on Wednesday and I got to meet them on Thursday night.  They are both really sweet, and they're excited about being in Korea and participating in the Holt Homecoming Program.  What a great opportunity for all of us, to experience our homeland and have a chance to give back.  One of the ladies found out that she will be meeting her birth mother on Tuesday!  Wow...what powerful news.  Although I don't have much hope that I'll be able to find my birth parents, I imagined for a moment that it was me getting that news...and what a flood of emotions it would be for me.  What would I ask her?  What would I say?  What would she say?  Well, maybe someday that will happen, but probably not anytime in the near future.

The longer I am in Korea, the more I am thankful I live in the United States.  There are so many things we just take for granted, like:  hot water available whenever you want it, good drinking water everywhere, pedestrian safety laws, smoking bans in public places, clothes dryers, just to name a few.  Our country has its faults, to be sure, but it's a great country and it has so many good things going for it. Sometimes we just need to take a moment to say thanks.

No classes this Friday because the school where I teach has a picnic today.  Poor little kids are going to be freezing, as it's only 44 degrees at 9 am.  Brrrrr!  The sun is out, so maybe it will warm up (I hope).  I do have tutoring today and tomorrow.  So my schedule is filling up.  In fact, all of us here are filling our schedules up so quickly, that it's tough to find a free day where we can go visit Holt's Ilsan Center.

Next Tuesday, Holt is going to have a Farewell/Welcome Dinner for all the participants in the Homecoming Program.  It will be nice to meeting everyone.  I've met several of the other folks, but some have just been too busy!  A few of the people will be going home after their teaching stint, some will be extending their stay longer on their own.  Although I won't be extending my stay, I could see what a temptation it would be to stay longer, learn Korean, find a job that would provide housing and your expenses would be minimal, so you could save or pay off bills, travel around Asia.  John, don't worry, I'm coming home. 

Everyone have a wonderful weekend!