Week 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46: Coming to an End.

Wow, hello everyone! I didn't realize that I never wrote a blog for November and that two months had gone by since my last blog. I'm sorry about that. But as you can imagine, I've been busy preparing the end of the year lessons and closing this year. Even though, I will be renewing next year, all of my 6th graders are moving to the middle school so I been in the mist of planning and sorting out what I am doing with them at the end of the year and what gifts to get them (I have over 400 students). I've also been busy traveling on the weekends and saying goodbye to my Fulbright friends, some of whom are not renewing and will be going home back to the States permanently. As I'm writing this blog, it's crazy to me how fast this past year went by and how much has happened. I'm extremely grateful for the memories and experiences that I have had while here and so glad to accept the Fulbright Scholarship. Anyhow, let me catch y'all up what has been happening since my last blog.

I left off saying that I was going to Busan and would be paragliding and going to Omakase. The Omakase meal we had in Busan was honestly one of the best meals I have ever had. The seafood was so fresh and everything was just delicious. I've attached some pictures down below for y'all to enjoy. I also did go paragliding and I highly recommend to everyone. I had been planning on this for so long that when it finally did happen, it didn't disappoint. My instructor was extremely kind and made me feel as safe as possible. I didn't realize that when you paraglide, you have to run off the top of the mountain so that was an experience in itself. Anyhow, Busan was just as amazing the first time I went and is still one of my favorite cities to visit. Also I celebrated my birthday in Korea. My host family and friends were amazing and made a weekend out of my birthday. My host family set up the tent to do Korean BBQ on the roof top again and my friends came to visit me that weekend. I also got to see the movie Dune! I had been wanting to watch Dune and it was amazing in the big screen. Y'all should go see it, if you haven't already. The following weekend, I traveled to Gyeongju which is one of the prettiest places in all of South Korea. I also went during peak autumn season, so the pink grass was in full bloom and it was so pretty. I've gotten more into photography this past year and it was really beautiful to photograph on this trip.

Honestly, besides these I don't think anything else exciting has happened. I've stayed home on some weekends to catch up on some rest. Got sick during one of the weeks (not Covid, just the typical flu). Done a lot of paperwork for the renewal process with passports, visa and all of that jazz. Bought hundreds of gifts for my students and now assembling all of it together. I'm also hand writing each student a letter so that has also taken a significant amount of my time and still is. I've said goodbye to some of my Korean friends for the year and hope to see them next year. We made candles and I introduced them to American sushi, it was a major hit. Again, I've said goodbye and seen some of my American Fulbright friends and hope to see them in America in the future. It's hitting me, how much I have grown this year and crazy to think that I've successfully lived in a completely different country during a pandemic.

Anyhow before I go on a huge sentimental tangent, this coming weekend, my closest friends are coming to Gyeongsan for them to officially say goodbye to my host family. I feel that my host family had not only adopted me into their lives, but also my friends too. So my friends wanted to make a weekend out of it and officially have a goodbye weekend with my host family. On Friday, my host family is ordering crab and I will be teaching my friends how to eat whole crabs, which I also did not know how to eat until my host family taught me. On Saturday, we are making jelly candles and dalgona candy (if you've seen Squid Games then you know). Anyhow, this next weekend will be my last weekend here in Gyeongsan as I am busy the following two weekends and then I am HOME in the States. Crazy, time has gone by so fast. I only have two more weeks of teaching my students before my grant year ends and it's hitting me hard. But I am extremely excited to see my family and be home for the holidays. So that's basically it and you've been caught up to the present day of my life. I hope to write one more blog post around the time I leave in mid December or maybe even when I get home back in the States but if I don't, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. Stay safe everyone!