Birthday 'till Now

The next day (Wednesday) was my birthday! It was SO nice to have someone from "home" here, and he had even brought presents from my family and his. I felt so special :). In some of my classes we played "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." They had fun with that. For dinner we ate takgalbi (my favorite), and after adult class my roommates and co-workers came out for coffee and bought me a cake. It was fun to blow out the candles and everything. They gave me a gift certificate for a local store where I've been admiring a certain blouse for a long time. That was really nice. Friday I went to the store and spent it all :). I don't remember exactly when it was, but sometime while Jason was here we were walking down the street and a random Korean man started talking to us. Now, it's normal for people to say "Hi!" "Nice to meet you," "Where are you from," etc, but this guy actually stopped us. He beckoned us into a local coffee shop and bought us coffee while trying to communicate with us. He knew very little English but was sensitive enough to use really simple Korean words so that I could understand a little. While I get attention here on my own just for being a white foreigner, it seemed like Jason got even more. Something about being a guy, I guess. Don't worry, I'm not complaining! Everyone we met told him he was handsome, too. If you ever need a boost of your self-esteem, come to Korea. They're always telling me I'm beautiful or a good singer or smart or whatever. It'll be tough to go back to just being average ;). Other things we did in Dangjin included playing pool, seeing a Korean movie (a romantic comedy about blood-types, go figure!), visiting a Buddhist temple, eating kimbop and mandu soup at 5 am, visiting the market, walking, meeting everyone at church, singing at norebang (2 times!), playing cards, shopping for souvenirs, and watching dvds Jason brought. With working in between, it made for a very full 3 weeks. They went really fast. Monday night we took the Moons and the Ohs out for dinner to thank them for their help having Jason here. That was nice, although communication was difficult. There was so much that we could have talked about if we knew each others language. Tuesday night we left right after adult class to go to Seoul. We found a really nice hostel there, run by a Christian couple who have spent a lot of time in Europe. We got there after midnight, but still went out for some coffee and exploration. This time we were in a university area, so there was a lot of activity, even at 3 am. Wednesday morning we made our way to the airport by bus, got some Burger King, and said goodbye. We didn't even cry too much. I don't know why. I guess it didn't sink in. Still, I felt the need to get Baskin Robbins after he left. Then I was back to Dangjin for a full day of work. And that's what I've been doing the past two days- working and catching up with people from home. I got to talk to my mom, my sister and Laura, all within 2 days. This weekend is Tracy's birthday and we're off to celebrate it in Seoul. Should be fun.