Sunshine's birthday!!

Ruby has been the light of my light since my first day in Korea. I was scared and unsure and didn't know if I could do this...especially with the little one's cause I have never had the patience for young kids. Then along came Ruby...Ruby is the youngest at our school, she turned 6 today, which is 5 in American age and she is the reason that I get up and come to work everyday. I have called her Sunshine since my first week, because she literally brings so much light into everyone's life. Now, even the other kids here run around after her calling her sunshine. Every morning when she gets here, she takes off her shoes and puts on her school slippers and I walk out and drop down to my knees and she stumbles into my lap and kisses me and I say "Good morning Ruby" and she says "Good morning Teacher" and I say "How are you?" and she says "I am fine. Thank you" and then she kisses me again and says "Love you" and stumbles away. Ruby would be considered a "special needs" kid in the states and they don't have "special needs programs" in Korea, which scares me for her. I am terrified about her falling through the cracks of a system that is not made for kids like her. I know that she is a little girl and when I leave this country she will quickly forget me but she will be the most important, precious, loved memory that I take with me from my time in Korea.

Happy Birthday to the sweetest little girl, my sunshine!

6 MONTHS TODAY!

It’s hard to believe that I have been in Korea for 6 months already. It seems like yesterday that I was telling my mom and dad to turn around because I didn’t want to come. It also seems like so much has happened and so many things have changed that it could have been years since I left the states.

August was a tough month for me to be away from home, my two nieces, newest nephew, and sister all celebrated their birthdays in the last week of August and it made me feel further away than ever. Luckily, they all think I am the “coolest” Aunt ever because I send them cool stuff from other countries.

When I decided to leave the states I didn’t know if I could do it. I remember my dad first being skeptical about me coming and then telling me that if I could stick it out for a year that he didn’t know if I would come back. Even when he said it I think I knew that he was right.

So now, I’m deciding where I want to go next…it’s not a question of going back to the states, cause to put it simply there isn’t anything in the states worth me going back to. Now, it’s a question of where my next year adventure will be.

I used to think that the world was so small then I found out that it is actually much bigger than I thought, yet at the same time it really is very small. I know that sounds confusing, but in reality there is a lot more of the world than Grass Valley, California, even the United States, but with transportation, technology and communication no one is ever further away than a plane ride or a click of a button.

So my choices for where to head next…I could stay in Korea for another year, which I have thought about because I really do love this country and feel very much at home here. I have also been getting other job offers for all over the country, including Saudi Arabia, Dubai, UAE, Turkey, Japan, China, etc. All of them have their perks and many of them are being considered. So, my contract is up here the end of February after that I am looking into going to Thailand for a month to get my CELTA certification, which will make me more marketable. Then home for a month to see family and friends and take care of things, like selling my car and emptying out my storage unit, and then it will be off somewhere new.

I don’t know where the world is going to take me over the next few years but I have a feeling it won’t be back to the states for more than a visit for quite a long time. There is so much out in the world that I want to see and I’m glad that even though I was terrified I still got on the plane and started this part of my life.