Back to Korea

After a completely wonderful vacation home to America for Christmas, we arrived back in Seoul late last night and were welcomed with snow, both on the ground and still falling from the sky, and the normal freezing temperatures. The three flights we had to take to get from Portland to Seoul were all much nicer than when we went over which was nice.  We got in late but were still able to take a bus and taxi right to our building so we were able to avoid dragging our suitcases through the snow.  The nine days at home went by much too fast but we are so thankful we were able to make the trip home for Christmas.  We were able to pull off keeping it as a Christmas surprise for some which was fun too!  We did a lot of shopping (which made packing to come back a bit stressful!), eating American made food, seeing friends and family and had a really great Christmas.  We were able to spend a great time with my family on Christmas Eve and his family on Christmas day, definitely the best way to spend the days around Christmas.  All around it was pretty much a perfect trip!  If only it could have been longer...  

Although it is hard to come back after getting to spend time with so many people we hadn't seen in ten months, we know this is exactly where we are supposed to be for fourteen more months.  It's hard to believe ten months have gone by already.  I am planning on going home again in the spring to be in a wedding and, of course, see as many people as I can once again.  It was great to go back to work today and see all the kids again (and eat much healthier food!).  I even got another two students in my kindergarten class bringing me up to a class of ten ranging in age from 2-6 and literally ALL English levels.  It keeps things interesting for sure!

We missed out on celebrating the new year this year.  As we crossed the International Date Line in the plane we went from the evening of December 31, 2012 to the mid morning of January 1, 2013.  That's a little strange to think about but I guess we will always remember how 2013 began for us!  We did see a beautiful sunset, the first of 2013, during our layover in Japan.  Pictures from our trip home will be uploaded to Shutterfly in the next couple of days

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year as well!  It is one we will definitely always remember for us!