Highlights of my Day... Saturday, July 14

1. Got word that my mother didn't end up having surgery... how cool is that!!! Turns out she met with the surgeon and he said that if she could handle a little pain now and then, than surgery should be regarded as a last resort.

2. Today was quite a packed day, although it didn't originally be intended to be so. My day started off with reading my father's email and then meeting up for lunch out with the girls, Hannah and Soul. Soul has got to be one of the cutest mini Koreans I've ever met. I love the fact that she always holds my hand and wants me to tickle her. She doesn't speak a word of English and although she's only 5, I think she understands that I'm not fluent in Korean, by any means. I know she's a kid and so her vocab is pretty basic, not to mention she's kind of shy, but when she talks to me, I noticed that she uses a lot of hand gestures and body language... hehehe. She's so cute!

3. Jae Min tried to track us down in Yawoori. I kind of had blown him off for lunch but not really intentionally. You see, the fact that Hannah has a daughter is a huge secret to many here. I'm pretty safe about writing about it though based on the English levels of my Korean friends and Hannah's friends. Being a single parent isn't easy, but it's especially not easy when that parent is also trying to put herself through school and lives in Korea. It's fair to say that Korea is a pretty image-conscious country and so I'm sure instead of Hannah having to put up with various pointing fingers, snickering comments, and gossip, she's decided to keep her family life (and lack there of it with the exception of one little girl) her own private business. I don't blame her though but argue that no matter what she does or tells people, people will always make their own judgements. I of all people know too well about this issue. Anyways... today, in a moment of pure joy, Hannah turned to me and said she wanted to let Jae Min into her secret. I was shocked but none the less, very proud of her.

4. Sure... ya, Jae Min sometimes shoots his mouth off, causes trouble, and does questionable things, but regardless of what people may think or say about him, he's my friend. He's not what you'd expect and instead is quite the innocent and kind-hearted guy. I've met a lot of people in Korea since I first came here but I met Jae Min the first week I was here and we've been friends ever since. While others have stepped away or have become "weekend" friends, Jae Min has always been there for me. Lately he's been randomly calling me and offering me dating advice... hehehe. It's fair to say we're close friends and so today we got into quite a personal discussion about dating. He was all questions... have a kissed Yoon Jae, does Yoon Jae hold my hand, open the doors, when a girl walks by does Yoon Jae look at her.. it's like we've been playing a game of 20 questions except for the fact that he's well beyond his 20 question limit.

5. Nervously, we met up with Jae Min. We didn't know how he'd react to Hannah's secret but I was pretty sure he wouldn't really think too much about it. At first glance he didn't really seem to concerned about who this little 5 year girl was that was hanging around us outside. He simply looked at her, pat her on the head, and then started to ask about lunch. Hannah joked around and told him that it was my daughter. After much convincing, we finally got him to believe that it was Hannah's daughter. He wasn't so curious about asking Hannah questions as he was with playing with Soul and trying to talk to her.

6. I had treated them all to movie tickets today and so while we sat in the park waiting for time to pass, we couldn't help but notice so many people starring at us. Both Jae Min and I were holding Soul's hand while Hannah trailed along behind us. I guess looked like a family and so we all had a good giggle over that. Some couple even took our picture!

7. Well lunch turned into ice cream... then a walk in the park... shopping... movie.... more shopping.... coffee and chat. What I thought would take a mere hour turned into a 8 hour day-out.

8. You know it's a small world when out of an insanely packed Saturday movie complex, you happen to buy a ticket and then out of about 200 seats, you just so happen to sit beside a good friend you've been missing.... yup, that's exactly what happened to me today, so wild. I had agreed to watch "Harry Potter" even though I haven't the slightest interest in children fantasy, and so I got the ticket... row D, seat 3. Turns out row D, seat 4 was assigned to my old co-worker Mrs. Jung, from Eumbong Middle School. Instantly I jumped out of my seat and greeted her with a huge smile. We sat down, held hands, and giggled. I haven't seen her in so long and I do really miss her. Back when I worked at Eumbong, she was my partner in crime... hehehe. Every day we use to giggle over our girl chats, some of which were quite intense. She always was willing to lend an ear. Now Ki Dong at Dankook is my ear.

9. After the movie, Mrs. Jung and I walked out, hand-in-hand and still wearing a huge grin. We promised to meet up again soon and then we both went our separate ways.

10. Oh my gosh... ended up getting into a bit of a silly argument with Jae Min and Hannah over some customer at the coffee shop who they were convinced was a girl dressed as a boy. Their new word of the day, "puberty"... that's exactly why that BOY sounds kind of like a girl, cause he hasn't hit puberty yet. It was brutal.... hehehe.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Is my hair really that bad?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
-- Helen Keller