And yet my thoughts are whirling....how can I not mention to you the excitement of Easter, the joy of the Risen Lord on this most glorious day of the church year??? As I think about it, I suppose my first Easter overseas is something to take note of as well, considering after two church services and an Easter brunch in between, I'm still smiling at the mere fact both services were filled to the brim with people of all ages, shapes, and sizes! People were literally almost sitting on top of each other at the later morning service, all to proclaim and celebrate that Christ is Risen from the dead!!!! How amazing!!!! I had the privilege of singing at both services too, along with the church choir director, a Korean woman named Young-sil. We sang "He Shall Feed His Flock" from Handel'sMessiah and it was so meaningful to be able to give an offering of music. There were two cornet players that heralded the joy of Easter and one of our fellow SFS Teachers played numerous piano and organ duets with Young-sil throughout the service! What a Happy Easter it was indeed!
Last weekend was a celebration in its own right, too! After 3 months of hard work, our High School Musical, "Fiddler on the Roof" debuted on Friday, April 15! And what an AMAZING show it was!!! I was SO proud of the kids and so happy that they'd accomplished so much! It was truly inspiring to see where they'd started and where they ended up! Here is a picture from the opening scene/song "Tradition"!
After the Friday show, a fellow teacher who'd celebrated her 30th birthday the evening before, had several of us over to her apartment for a combined birthday celebration!! We had both planned to have an evening at the Norribong (karaoke) since we are both singers and would be celebrating "big birthdays", but considering Fidder was a three-hour long show, we opted to just stay in and celebrate with cake & conversation ;-) We had two different cakes, one of which a few of our girlfriends brought for us, and one that Amos and our friend Chuck brought. We had a wonderful time celebrating our birthdays together and it was so wonderful to celebrate with such good friends this first birthday overseas!
On Saturday, 4/16 (my actual birthday), Amos and I ran a few errands in the morning and later went to Myeongdong (the shopping mecca of Seoul!) to hit up H&M for a few birthday presents! Amos went above and beyond, buying me everything I wanted (although I begged him to NOT pay for everything and allow me to pay for at least something!) Afterward, we went for a delicious buffet lunch, where we had our fill of anything and everything! There was sushi, kalbi (Korean meat), lasagna, salad, salmon, pasta, seafood, and so much more! It was the perfect birthday meal and I was so happy to spend it with my honey :-)
After we left lunch, we headed back to Yonhi-dong on Amos' scooter, loving every moment of the spring weather shining down on us! By the time we got back, it was already time to start thinking about getting ready for Saturday's performance of the musical! The show that night went just as well and what made it even more special is that two of my friends that have been working in Korea this year, Molly and Justin, came up for the performance! Molly even brought me a birthday gift!! It was so sweet of them to come and it meant the world that they were able to make it!!!
After the show Saturday night, the kids had their cast party, filled with food, fun, and dancing! It was a great end to an awesome show and I don't think anyone had trouble sleeping that night!
It truly was an eventful birthday weekend - the best birthday gift was being with Amos and seeing these students rise to the occasion of excellence and perform a great musical...two nights in a row!!! I couldn't be a happier 25-year old and am grateful for all the memories that I know I'll always look back fondly on :-)
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