"Thank you for being a friend"

Having no prior memories of Korea, I continue to explore my Koreaness each day and try to take in as many experiences as I can while I am here, so that I’ll have a stock pile of memories to take away. One of the things that I want to fulfill during my year in Korea is to spend some time at an orphanage.  After getting the help of a Korean co-teacher, we were able to arrange a visit at a nearby orphanage. 2 weeks ago, we set out for our first visit. If you drive up into the mountains of Chungju-si  and follow a narrow windy dirt road until it dead ends , you  will find a small camp nestled against the hillside. This particular orphanage is overseen by a small group of Buddhist monks who have evidently shown these children how to love and be loved and they do it very well might I add. The camp houses 30 children in total with ages ranging from 3 to 21. We were received with open arms (literally) and the greatest outpour of love that I’ve ever had the opportunity to be a part of.  After our warm welcome, the children were dismissed. Myself and fellow teachers sat on cushions on the floor around a small table with the two heads of the orphanage having tea and exchanging dialogue. I had so many questions. They explained how each of the children came to them from different backgrounds. The oldest is 21 years of age but is still completing high school because he had no schooling prior to coming to the home at age 10. Each child is provided for until they are comfortable to stand alone in society. We spent some time with the children after finishing our tea.

We spent Christmas with the kids. Here are a few snapshots from the day. Uncontrollable laughter during a rowdy game of English charades, taking and decorating polaroid pictures and geeking out to K-pop made for a full day with new friends.

The kids put on a Holiday event and here are some snapshots/videos from that day.