31st (or 32nd) Birthday

My computer is pretty sick right now so that's why I haven't been able to update the blog in quite a while.  I tried to get it fixed when I arrived in Seoul on Friday afternoon, but apparently it needs a new video chip, which would take about a week to replace.  I am leaving for Beijing on Wednesday so the guy at the computer store said I should just try to deal with it there.  Hopefully it will be back up and running soon.  Right now I miss it and am very sad that it is so ill.

In any case, I never shared the adventures of my birthday two weeks ago so that is what I will update you on first.  Unfortunately, most of my pictures are on my camera and as I am currently using the hostel computer I'm not sure that I can upload them.  I took the photo that I have attached here with my iPhone so the quality is not very good.  I will try to add more photos once my computer is (hopefully) working again.

My birthday started out very lovely with gifts from several of my coworkers waiting for me at my desk in the morning.  My friend, Steve, gave me the traditional "flea market" fare, this year featuring a child-size pink "Hello Kitty" t-shirt and a bright pink beach hat.  My friends, Sarah and Bill, gave me candy and other small odds and ends.  I hadn't told the students that it was my birthday so I wasn't expecting anything from them. I kind of thought it was information that I could pull out of my bag of tricks if they were misbehaving.  My coworker, Luke, spilled the beans, however, while loudly singing "Happy Birthday" in front of my class on our way to lunch.

Once we got to lunch I could hear whispering and scheming and knew the kids had gotten wind of the intel.  At snack time when I tried to go into my classroom to get something out of my bag, the students forcibly blocked my path and I was clearly on to what they were up to.  Once I got back from the break, they had decorated the whiteboard, written me birthday notes and cooked up a whoopie pie cake with the help of the counselor.  The notes were very sweet and one or two almost made me cry.

After work I had a Skype chat with my parents and aunts and then some friends and I went down to the local bar where my coworker, John, surprised me with a fruity cake from one of the "French" Korean bakery chains.  I celebrated a bit too hard that night and paid for it the following day while suffering in the sweltering heat on our annual field trip to an amusement park in Daegu.  I made it through in barely one piece and crashed pretty hard once we got home.

Once again, my camp friends helped make my birthday a special day while I was far away from home.