'MERICA!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!! Despite being expatriates, we managed to have a pretty festive Independence Day here in Korea. We decided to hold our own BBQ, despite having no yards or grills to work with! David and I, along with our coworkers (minus Helen, who wasn't able to make it. Incidentally she is the only Canadian in our Western teacher force) went to Lotte. We bought a bunch of ground beef and hotdogs, pringles and sparklers! We also bought charcoal and a grill top. Because the set up grills were decently expensive, we went really ghetto and used the metal dishrack from our apartment. We coated it with tin foil and poked holes in it with a fork! Then we doused all of our charcoal with lighter fluid and lit it up!! It also took us a while to find a place to set up our festivities. A lot of the parks around us had no cooking signs, but we finally found one (which, later, I actually DID see a sign but it wasn't in the entrance we were at.)
David lit up the grill and we had lots of fun talking about our July 4th traditions. The burgers were pretty much beyond delicious. It's been so long since I've had beef! I was also pretty proud of the fact that the patties I made were so machusayo (delicious!)! We had cheeseburgers and hotdogs, which for us is a pretty big deal.
Once it fell dark we had some fun with the sparklers we bought. We got a whole pack of 50 and David brought his camera so we did some pretty cool things with it. The blog won't let me put up pictures at the moment, but I'll get around to it later.

Overall it was a really satisfying holiday away from home (although I did miss the really big firework displays).
The days are going by quickly and slowly too. I'm treasuring all the moments I have left with my chittlins. They bring smiles to my face everyday. There are a few in particular who I'll miss an incredible amount. In the past 4 months I've been teaching the class I have now, they've learned so much. When I got them they were barely reading three letter words. Now they can read pretty complex sentences. It's so exciting and cool to know that I helped them learn that.
That said, while I will miss my chidren, I know I'm ready to move on with my life. Things have gotten a little static here. I'm ready for a little adventure to rush into my veins.
I suppose Thailand in 2.5 weeks will have to do. :)