"Little Ones to Him behold..."

      There may be a misconception that I am not actually teaching! It seems that I have talked a lot about my life in regards to my leisure activities, when in all actuality, my leisure time is only about a third of the my time in Korea. I am, first and foremost a teacher. In March I was reminded that as teachers we have the opportunity to "learn all of the little personalities of the students." This comment struck a note with me, and I have been focusing on it daily every since.
      Monday through Friday I spend operating within a set schedule. I teach two to three classes before lunch, eat lunch, finish my kindy classes and transition into elementary. This routine is off-set at the end of the week by Friday Activity Day. The Activity Days vary in length and magnitude of events. Two of our activities in March were Easter (celebrated a month early) and a field trip to the Air Force Academy. Both of these events allowed me to play with my kids and have a little fun.
      To begin Easter was a day where we were able to introduce the concept of spring, egg dying, Easter Bunnies, and egg hunts. We spent the whole day doing Easter crafts and running around Wonderland. The highlight of the day was an Easter egg hunt, during which the students just ran around looking for "eggs" in the form of paper. They were elated (they had never experienced an "egg" hunt before).
      Secondly, the field trip to the Air Force Academy was a full blown field trip. I don't recall if I have previously mentioned that field trips often consist of shuttling the kids to a location, rushing through an exhibit, taking photos and leaving. This field trip however, was the exact opposite! We left early and arrived in a large field for snack time. The students sat in the grass, ate snack and ran around. We moved and ran around some more. We returned to the bus, went inside the military base and just kept running from plane, to helicopter seeing the sights. It was a glorious day where I was able to watch the kids over heat from the sun, struggle with unstructured free time, and enjoy being outside of Wonderland.
      Outside of teaching, I also have chosen to volunteer at an orphanage once a month with church. Volunteering has turned out to be some of the most life giving moments I have yet to encounter in Korea. During my first trip to the orphanage I was befriend by an eight year old child, Ho Yun. Him and I spent the first afternoon playing with clay, petting dogs, eating a snack, running, and sharing physical space. When I returned a month later I wasn't able to fully emerge from the van before I felt a little hand in mine. I looked down to discover Ho Yun ready to pull me inside.
      The second afternoon with Ho Yun I learned that we shared a special bond, one of friendship and support. We spent the second day similar to that before, working with clay, learning new, nonverbal games (verbal communication is a barrier), running, and playing with tadpole larve. Although it resembled the first afternoon in activity, our relationship had changed. I was now a mentor, a touch of love. Pleasantly tired following an afternoon of play, we sadly had to say good-bye. Our hands were cold from a snow ball fight and we were trying to make one another cringe by tricking the other into letting us touch their face or hands. I went for Ho Yun's face one last time, but  he forgot that my hands were cold. Rather, he nestled into my hands and took a deep breath before he remembered to pull away. It was a touching moment. One where I wished more than anything that I could give him more.
      These moments with Ho Yun reminded me of the difficult place I am in, temporary living in a country where my time is drawing to an end. I am excited for the future, however functioning within transitions puts an interesting dynamic into my relationships. I yearn to not be another person in Ho Yun's life that just leaves. In addition, I am working to stay present with my students and friends, strengthen our bonds. I hope that once I leave, seeing I will not be returning, that Korea will not be a memory, something I did that it is now over, but a moment in my life where I built a community that continues into the future. I have been blessed with these experiences in the past and have faith that this will be no different.