Days like these...

It's days like these that make me love Korea. This week has been extremely busy, but absolutely wonderful. It's times like these that make me realize just how blessed I am to be living this lifestyle at this point in my journey. I think sometimes God throws weeks like this at us just to remind us that we're living in His will. He's a pretty great God! For those of you who don't know, my love-language is time. I just LOVE to spend quality time with people, and I feel loved when they want to spend time with me. Of course, God knows this, and this week I felt very loved.

Monday - After school, I went to teach my North Korean students. Normally, after the lesson, we go for a quick bite to eat upstairs. This day was different. The director was there and decided that everyone, every student at the school that night, would all go out for sam-gyap-sal, which is strips of pork cooked on a grill with a bunch of other things that are flavored by the juices of the pork. The director kept ordering more and more, and we sat and talked for hours.

Tuesday - A free night turned into visiting my Korean friend at my favorite coffee shop. I hadn't seen him in a while and we sat and talked for a couple hours. Then he drove me home (a whole block and a half!) in his brand new car. Haha!

Wednesday - I went to dinner with a dear friend from work (a Korean homeroom teacher), his wife, and his brother. We went to On the Border, the Mexican restaurant from the States. Koreans usually eat quick and go, so I was expecting an hour tops. But THREE HOURS later, after more laughing than I've done in a long time, we reluctantly decided it was time to go.

Thursday - Another free night, turned into an evening helping a Korean friend prepare for the ACT so he can go to university in the States. I got to spend time with my coffee shop friend again, and had a wonderful meal of Japanese noodles with a side of great conversation.

Friday - Had a lovely dinner of Japanese noodles, again, with friends from work. Best part, besides the people...it was literally steps from my apartment. My ACT friend showed me how to order there last week. Then afterward, one of the friends came with me to my coffee shop (I know, again). On the way, I told her it was like my Cheers, and boy, was it ever! She and I sat and talked for a while over lattes and a fabulous brownie. Then we were joined by my new Korean friend, Brown, who I helped a few weeks ago with an English job application. Then my friend, Min, joined in, and Brown was replaced by Min's friend who was dying to speak with us in English but was SO shy. Added in was a little sprinkle of the shy hello's from the other worker. And not only that, but my work friend came back to my place and we sat and continued our lovely chat. PLUS, she showed me how to work my rice cooker!

A week of friends and laughter and quality time. God's blessing manifest though people.

This, my friends. This is why I love Korea. I have officially finished my first month of my second contract. It's had its share of drama, but days like these put it all into perspective.