My favorite things from today!

My original thought was to facebook these things, then I thought about tweeting, but I've settled on the best medium: my good friend the blog.  There were just too many good things to tell you about!  And, while I could tell you which events are my favorites, that would undeservedly diminish the others.  They're all such great things, so I'll just put them in chronological order.

#1

My kids can be really rambunctious.  I mean really rambunctious.  The Korean schools and the Korean teachers are very firm, orderly, and strict, so the kids take full advantage of  the relaxed nature of my English school.  (Read: they goof off all the time.)  It's an enticing challenge to find something educational to focus their energy on, and, by golly, I did that twice today!

One of my morning classes is composed of six 6-year-old boys.  I somewhat affectionately call them my devil-children class.  (Melissa, who also teaches them, and I are constantly sharing bits about these kids and about what ridiculous and naughty things they've done during the day.)  We read a storybook about camping this week, and the story briefly touched on star gazing.  Today I took my kids on an expedition across space!  (Thank you, God, for History and Discovery channel and Youtube!)  They. Were. Enraptured.  One kid even started shouting out more constellations he wanted to see.  It was we rewarding.  And, heck, I learned things, too!  I love those moments.

Another one of my classes was studying water, clean water, dirty water, and conservation.  I showed them a video about an African tribe that only had access to a little bit of dirty water.  The video talked about how the women have to walk and walk and walk to get this water.  It showed a girl using a sponge to soak up dirty water she had to dig for.  The kids were amazed and asked questions.  "They have to drink that?!  It's dirty!  She's using a sponge!  Is that their food?"  It touched my own heart to watch the video, but I was warmed to hear the sympathy and genuine concern and interest in the kids' voices.  I showed them a video about missionaries helping to build wells next, and I talked with them briefly about how we can help and what we can do to save water.

Secret awesomeness: I asked how many of them went to church.  Two.  The two boys.  When I asked what else we could do for them, the one said, "Pray.  We can pray for rain."  Yes.  Absolutely yes.  That makes teaching awesome.

#2

Heading down to the subway station, I saw an obvious American.  It's always strange when I see another foreigner.  I feel an instant connection with them, but I can't always tell if they feel the same or if they want to even act on that connection.  In fact, some of them just keep looking straight ahead as if to say, "I'm having my own Korean experience, and I don't want other foreigners to come into it."  So when I saw this guy, I looked away.  But, I couldn't help myself, I looked back.  To my astonishment and happiness, he was looking at me, too.  What?!  He gave me the head nod!  Dude, yes!

We got on the same tram, and I awkwardly stayed in my spot a few yards away.  I'd gone over there to look at the map, and I still didn't feel comfortable walking over to say hey.  I did notice when he left the tram, though.  I looked around for him when I saw he'd left his spot.  I looked out the window and saw him walking by.  He looked directly at me, smiled, and gave a friendly wave.  I smiled, too, and I smiled big.  I enthusiastically waved back.  Absolutely awesome, again!

#3

I bought a violin today!!!

I searched on Craigslist for a violin early this week.  You never know, someone may be trying to get rid of one in Seoul for cheap.  Boy, does God love me!  I got a pretty good sounding violin, two extra strings, a nice bow, good rosin, an iffy shoulder rest, and a set of guitar strings... all for $50!!  Such a good deal!  Even better?  The guy making the transfer, after pointing out that I was new to Korea, asked if I'd like to hang out for a while over some coffee.  Heck yes; I love strangers!

Add this instance to another reason why I love coffee shops.

And there you have it!  Add free pizza from a teacher's meeting, and today's pretty high up there on my favorite days in Korea list.

What things make your day?  I'd love to hear!