Small blessings

I don't have a religion, but I believe in gratitude as a practice. I have a lot to be thankful for.

Real life friends again, at last!

First of all, Dani, because I can't express how happy I am to live so close to her again! Not only is she one of my favorite people, we share a lot of geeky interests and she is a perfect traveling buddy. I am terrible with directions and logistics, so it's been wonderful to follow around a seasoned traveler in Korea and see all the best things with someone who likes the same things I do! She's been taking such good care of me, giving me advice about the best way to handle things smoothly and checking in with me almost every day.

I got a cold over the weekend, probably from my Nasan kids on Friday because there's no hand soap in the bathrooms. I sent a message to the Hampyeong crew asking where I could buy jook to eat. Jong Min, one of our local Korean friends, offers to COOK SOME FOR ME and brings it right to my building.

Yes please!!!

It is really hard to be sick and alone in a new country and if there is ONE thing that could make me feel better, it's homemade jook like my mom always made for me when I'm sick. Sorry mom, but Jong Min's jook was actually tastier?

Made from ground unicorn horn

Later that night, I was messaging with Alissa and telling her that I was out of food, but I was too miserable to trek out to the market in the cold. As we're talking, Hyeonseon sends me a stealthy text message to tell me to check my door handle. I open the door and there is a bag of food and medicine hanging on my knob!! There's no way she could have known! It's like she read my mind! I was so happy I could have cried. I was instructed to pour the medicine from its little glass bottle and heat it in a cup for a bit before drinking. I don't know what's in it, but it cleared out my chest congestion instantly.

A perfect pair

For another bit of surprise mind-reading, I've been telling Dani that I wanted to buy a travel mug to bring to my schools and a pretty ceramic cup to use at home. We even went to three stores in Gwangju last weekend to look for them, but I wasn't happy with the prices or styles. On Monday, my vice principal presents me with the PERFECT purple travel mug. I wish I knew more Korean to tell her just how floored I was, but I hope my facial expression did it for me. Later, one of the really friendly teachers comes over to my desk looking a bit sad. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she actually bought me a cup too, but now she's embarrassed because someone else just got one for me. She showed me the cup and it's this adorable ceramic mug with a matching lid. She did know some English, so I did not spare any words in telling her just how perfect her gift was!!

My heart is full from meeting new and old friends. The Hampyeong group has been so welcoming and kind, right from the first night when they treated me and Michelle to dinner and drinks and showed us around town. They're the type of folks who know how to have a proper noraebang night into the wee morning hours, but will also share coffee and honey bread and chat about our day. I'm excited to get to know them better. I'm also glad to come here with Michelle, my roommate from orientation. She is such a fierce person (seriously, she is a bodybuilder and a bombshell), but also so open and warm. She inspires me to push to be my best self too.

Roomies!

Life is good. :) I hope I can give back as much as I am receiving.