HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

What a great weekend...the weather was absolutely amazing! Like I said last week, I truly believe we need cold winters to remind us how thankful we are for warm spring and summer weather. A few weeks ago there were beautiful cherry blossom trees everywhere. Now those have changed to bright green leaves and the sidewalks are lined with flowers of vivid purples, pinks, reds, and whites everywhere! My walks to school are absolutely peaceful and gorgeous...well except for the cars speeding by on their way to work for the day. Either way, it's a site to see!

As usual, my week flew by, especially since we had Wednesday off for Children's Day! I took a silent hike by myself for three hours, which was absolutely amazing! I get more nervous by the day with how fast they are going. I quite literally feel like I will be home tomorrow. I have 15 weekends left before I'm flying home and many of them are already booked with trips to Busan for our three day weekend over Buddha's birthday, Daegu and Pohang to visit other teachers, bike trips around islands, summer vacation, and the return of my aunt and uncle!

This weekend however was pretty typical. We had a delicious galbi dinner on Friday night before heading to Noraebong with the majority of our teachers. There is nothing more fun than renting a room for friends to sing their lungs out until the early morning hours. I believe I saw the Saturday morning sun coming up again this weekend. As usual, I slept in and chatted with family and friends on Skype. Then, I packed up books, magazines, and a blanket and headed to a park or a somewhat green patch of grass near our home. It was actually an entertaining scene. There in the park were many Korean families enjoying "Parent's Day" under the shade of the trees AND their umbrellas with pants and long sleeves. And there in the middle of the park in the heat of the sun were the three foreign girls in shorts and tank tops working on their tan! We didn't get much color, but we did get a flower from an adorable Korean boy about the age of three and some great enjoyment of the beautiful 70 degree weather with a perfect breeze. Then of course, we ended the afternoon with bibimbop and galbi again for dinner. Korean food is too good to resist, and it's the one thing I don't mind spending my money on here since in less than four months, I won't get this quality of food ever again, even if I learn to make it myself...which is highly unlikely!

Sunday morning I woke up feeling a little less than 100% with a stuffy nose and a cough that woke me up. But, I got myself going and had a delicious lunch outside at a restaurant with Shauna and Britney. We must have sat there for over two hours in the once again perfect weather before we decided we could give up our outdoor table. I did some catch up things at home this afternoon before heading into Seoul for a short dinner trip. As you can tell, we're not a fan of cooking, especially on the weekends!

Finally, we came home and I had a great conversation with my mother and grandma. I told my grandma, "Thanks for being such a great mom to my mom so that I have a great mom!" That's a lot of mom in one sentence, but it's as true as it gets. It's still unbelievable to me that you can be across the world from someone and be talking to them face to face. Skype made this day possible to tell my mother how special she is to me. My last little note is that I think that this passage has been used in many contexts, but it so accurately applicable today. To me, there is not better way to describe the love of a mother than through 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7:

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Thank you mom for your love that never fails.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!