My birthday was this past Tuesday (September 11), and I honestly didn't expect it to be any different from the other days. Being as how I'm in a new place, where I don't know many people, and the people I do know, don't know me very well, I was pleasantly surprised when I was showered with loads of warmth and affection during the entire day.
At school my students sang to me after every class, and one of the 6th grade girls even gave me a small piece of candy and said "teacha, you eat. eat, eat. happy birthday, i love you!". The English level of my students is quite low and I'm finding their interest in learning even lower, so it's always a nice surprise when they spit out English sentences (even when they make no sense). After school I met up with a couple of my friends from orientation, and two new girls I've just met from my building and we went to have Samgyopsal (Korean BBQ) at a restaurant near my home. Again, I wasn't expecting anything other than a nice, relaxed meal but they surprised me with gifts (nail polish!!!), and a super delicious cake.
At school the following day, one of my co-teachers surprised me with another cake and sang to me, then we sat around in the teachers lounge eating and chatting for a bit, it was quite lovely (I didn't see the need to tell her my birthday had passed already, as I appreciated the gesture just as much).
Tomorrow is going to be my last day teaching alone, as my other co-teacher comes back from vacation on Monday. My classes will be more well behaved then, since she's very strict and in-charge of classroom management, but as nervous as I was about teaching alone, I've really grown to like it and it will be weird going back to working with somebody else watching me.
So, that was my first birthday in Korea. Last year I was in Tampa, Florida for my birthday... I wonder where I will celebrate my next birthday?
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