My Birthday Week

Well, I've had better.  And I've probably had worse.

The thing that sucked the most about my 27th birthday?  Having strep throat or tonsillitis or whatever the hell.  Being sick blows.  The thing that rocked the most about my 27th birthday?  Realizing that I have a lot of really great friends all around the world who love me despite sometimes not understanding why.  I know I shouldn't attribute too much to the Facebook birthday greeting since everyone under the sun gets inundated with messages on their birthday these days, but it still meant a lot to me to read so many things, some of them really genuinely nice, over my (2-day) birthday.  It also drove home to me how many friends I have scattered all over the globe, watching messages stagger in as May 26 began in totally different parts of the planet.  It gave me a warm happy feeling that helped make my illness infinitely more tolerable.  I felt really lucky this week.

On top of getting well-wishes from afar, I also got two surprises on my birthday right here in Haseong.  Right after lunch, my five favorite students from the advanced 2-3 class stopped in my office with an Oreo cheesecake lit with candles and a giant poster they made for me.  It seriously made my entire day.

From L to R:  Eun Shil, Hyun Hee, me, Ye Rim, Eun Kyung, and Su Kyung

Then, after work, when all I wanted to do was go back to sleep, five of my co-workers showed up on my front doorstep with another cake and apologized because they knew I was sick, but could they just come in for 20 minutes and celebrate my birthday with me?  How could I say no to that?  So we had an impromptu mini-party in my living room and everyone was gone by 5.00.  It was really nice to know that my Korean co-teachers and students care enough to want to ensure I had a happy birthday.

But the best part of my birthday came right before I went to sleep when I called Matty to talk about the e-mail I got that day, confirming his flight to Seoul in August  :)  I am so beyond excited for him to come visit.  Just a little over 2 months away!!  It's so close, yet so far away, I can hardly stand it.  Hopefully my parents will be the next ones buying a plane ticket; there's so much to look forward to!  All in all, 27 looks like it's getting off to a good start.