Familiar Face in Korea

I am now having to think when I add up how many weeks I’ve been here. I think that is a good thing. But for now, I am going to stop keeping track. Last week’s kids were awesome. We performed our ‘Sleeping Gorilla’ drama to small, intimate crowd of fans. Joy Teacher and I couldn’t have asked for a better set of kids. Friday morning when I came to class our Prince ran up to give me a hug and told me good morning. I don’t ever recall receiving any such greeting by former students. And if they had I would have probably been fired shortly after. And that whole day when we were saying bye to the kids I was sad to see them go. Prince Harry kept holding my hand until he got on the bus. And I’m not too big on the hand holding or hugging people I don’t’ know well, but it felt good to be liked by one of my students. And they wrote Joy Teacher and I letters goodbye. It was an encouraging week.
One of my biggest motivators in coming to Korea was a friend of mine named Preston. He and I were managers at the rock wall at SFA. I remember hypothetically making plans with him about teaching abroad but then we graduated and I ‘got in the routine of life’ and lost touch with Preston. Then he called to invite me to his wedding last summer and told me that he and his wife were moving to teach in Korea. Him actually doing plans we had made encouraged and challenged me. One thing Preston kept saying when we were in school was how he wanted to be a good ‘ambassador.’ Honestly, I never understood what that meant until I moved here. And working here I don’t feel like a ‘teacher.’ I feel like an ambassador. And I am trying to be a good representative of our Republic (The Republic of Texas that is). And Preston and Camlin (his wife) stayed the weekend with me on their way to Southeast Asia and India. It was odd seeing a familiar face in such an unfamiliar place. Almost like Preston was out-of-place. I am supposed to see him Nacogdoches, not Korea. Seeing and catching up with him was refreshing and easy. We just chilled and went to the zoo. I hadn’t been to a zoo in while and was impressed with childlike awe. Though at times I felt bad for the animals.
I want to not make my blogs so long and update more often so I will stop and try to ass more in a couple of days.
In .love.
Jp