Well....It's official. I'm Staying!

So I've been hinting at it in previous posts, but it wasn't official until a few days ago. Way back in February, I decided that I wanted to renew my Fulbright grant here in Korea. The Korean Fulbright ETA grant is renewable up to three years. Applications opened back in March and I quickly filled it out. I don't know if this was more or less nerve wracking then the first time I applied. It was a really tense few months of will I, won't I.

This week, after being told we were going to receive our notifications a month prior, I was finally told that I was accepted for a second year, and my school was very enthusiastic about me continuing in Hwacheon. So there you go anyone who has been interested in knowing.

I AM STAYING IN KOREA!!!

For another year, at least. I don't think, at this point, I will renew for a third year. I miss being home and I want to start my career. But at the same time, I feel like my journey here in Korea isn't over yet.

My host family won't be hosting me next year, but I'll still see them around and I am still so thankful for them for hosting me. Part of my homestay contract requires me to have my own room, and I took the oldest girl's room when I got here. She has been sharing with her two younger brothers and she's getting older. She needs her own room and her own space. I understand.

I don't know yet who will be hosting me, there are apparently three families that applied to host me or the other ETA at my school. So hopefully, I will know and be able to meet my family before I leave in July.

Now that I know I am staying, I finally have my flight information and can tell all my friends exactly when I am home, so I can see everyone. I have missed them so much over the past year. I spent the last four years around these people everyday, so it has been an adjustment. Some friends I have had even longer.

Well that's it. That's all I have. But on the bright side, there is another year of posts coming to all of you. Thank you so much for coming on this journey for the past year, and I look forward to another one.