Thanksgiving Dinner in Seoul

Since being in Korea, I have missed my family, but I've been able to deal with that during my weekly Skype calls home. So far, there have only been two days I have truly been homesick. The first was my birthday. Although it was a lot of fun, it was also really hard because I still didn't know the other ETAs very well. I just really wanted to spend that time around my friends.

The second day that was truly very difficult was Thanksgiving. I have never missed a Thanksgiving with my family. And when I was going to school on a day that I knew most people would be getting ready for their holiday.

Fulbright, knowing how much we would all be missing our family and Thanksgiving food, they held a dinner for all of the grantees in Seoul on a military base. It was complete with all the fixings. It was wonderful. Being around all of the other ETAs and eating food that reminded me of home, made it okay that I was so far from home. Though I never got my Nana's dumplings.

Spending the evening in the room with them was great. Director Shim spoke to the group for the last time before her retirement, and we had some performances by grantees. I even sang! It was so nervewracking. I hadn't done that in years.

After the dinner was over, a large group of us were staying in Itaewon (an area in Seoul commonly known as the foreigner district), so the party was not over. It was time to go back, change out of our business professional clothes, and spend the night away from kids, grading papers, writing lessons, and with the people who have been in the same boat as us for the last few months.

It was exactly what I needed. Though I almost didn't make it to Seoul. Mother nature decided to grace us with her presence with about 6 or 7 inches of snow on the morning I was leaving. I woke up to snow already on the ground, but I didn't think too much of it. I walked to the bus terminal and bought my ticket. About 5 minutes before my bus was supposed to arrive, a man announced something to everyone. I had no clue what he said, so I tried to ask someone around me. She told me that the bus couldn't get up a hill going to Chuncheon so the bus wasn't coming. I started to panic. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to come. I ended up sharing a taxi with another family and finally making it to Chuncheon Station. I definitely took the ITX train the rest of the way. And Survived! The snow was melted before I got home. I was sad that I missed the first snow of the year but I think it was worth it.