Friday night after school, Anna/Kim Yeong Chae (my main co-teacher) took me, Kim Kyung Hwa, Kim Kyung Han, and Alice out for dinner at the Outback Steakhouse (yes we have them here in Korea, believe it or not). It was an amazing meal and the time with my co-teachers was sweet.
Saturday evening, several of my friends here in Seoul gathered together for a birthday celebration.
We met up at Spaghettia's, a lovely Italian restaurant. Pictured here: Millie, Tim, Josie, Zane, Hil, Makeeya, Kay, Sara, Janis, me & Taryn. Unfortunately, you can't see everyone all that well...
Taryn brought me an amazing cake (and a pink HOLLYS COFFEE mug - yes they actually have a cafe here called HOLLYS COFFEE).
Although I really appreciated their incredibly thoughtful gifts (pictured above), it was so meaningful just to have friends to celebrate with!
We walked along the beautiful Cheunggyecheun (stream in Seoul) and stopped numerous times for random and silly pictures (unfortunately I don't have any of those silly pictures on my camera).
Sara bought me a lovely handmade journal on the street... it was perfect timing since I was on my LAST page that day!
We ended up at Starbucks and enjoyed LOTS of laughter (actually laughed until I cried a couple of times) as we shared some of our crazy teaching/encounters with Korean culture stories...it was wonderful. I was really blessed by our time together.
Sunday morning (the day of my actual birthday)... got to skype with some of my lovely family members. Though not all were able to be present, it was so great to see several of them. I opened up the presents that I hid from myself (from my parents) while we were skyping. It was fun. They sang Happy Birthday to me a second time (they sang last week with my Nana and Papu and I actually blew out one of the candles that my mom sent me when they sang... cheesy and fun!)). It was a delightful time to catch up... though those times always seem much too short!
After skyping with my family, I went over to Sara's and she made pancakes for a birthday brunch. Do you know how tasty chocolate chip and banana pancakes are (especially with peanut butter on top...)?! I highly recommend that you all try them if you've never taken the time to do so! ;) Sara and I spent the remainder of the day together: relaxed and enjoyed each other's company immensely, visited a nearby park, went to the 4:00 p.m. church service (why we didn't do this before, I don't know!), enjoyed cinnamon pancake things, had dinner with our friend Zane... and then dessert afterwards at my place. My Grandma found a microwaveable cake that only requires you to add water... it was delicious and ready in five minutes!
Thanks to all of you who made my birthday so special! Whether it was through emails, e-cards, cards in the mail, packages, text messages, phone calls, Saturday night, prayers and/or Facebook messages... such a blessing to my heart... many in ways I can't even fully describe. Because of the time difference, I got to celebrate my birthday for an additional 12 hours via email and Facebook. :-) Know that I appreciate your love and thoughtfulness... and am so blessed to have each one of you in my life!
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