It's official. I now have a one way ticket back to Atlanta. I will leave Korea on April 21st at 11:20am and arrive in Atlanta at 2:55pm. I'm sad about leaving Korea, but also excited about seeing everyone at home. It's a weird feeling for sure. I still don't know exactly what will happen as far as my replacement, but it's looking promising. Our friend Brad is really interested in coming, but he still has to get a passport. Hopefully they can find a sub until he can get here or something like that. I feel terrible for leaving them, but it's just what has to be done. So now I just have to figure out how to fit all the stuff I really want to do in the next 24 days...

Some news...

Well, a lot of stuff has been going on back home and in Korea lately. With everything going on, I feel like I need to be with my family right now. So...I will be leaving early to go back to the States. I still don't know exactly when because the school wants me to try and find a replacement or wait until a new teacher can start. I know how this will go though. They will keep asking me to stay a week longer and then just one more week and one more, etc... So I'm going to see if I can find anyone interested, if not, I'll let Cinderella know on Monday so that she can go through a recruiter to find my replacement. It looks like I'll be coming home towards the end of April. I'm not going to go into detail about why and everything on here, but if you want to know, you can email me and I'd be glad to explain everything to you. I'll let you guys know when I get a definite date. I am definitely looking forward to seeing everyone again though! Love you guys!

To update...

It turned out that Anna didn't have diverticulitis, but instead had salpingitis. On Tuesday, she had to have surgery. The surgery was successful and she is doing better, but will still be in the hospital until Monday. (We're really hoping Monday will be the latest).

Things are still crazy here and at home. I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown or something any minute now. School is tough for me to get through. Some of the kids are absolutely wonderful, but some make the work day almost unbearable. It's at least the weekend, so I don't have to worry about school for a couple of days. But unfortunately, I don't see things being magically better on Monday. I did get to talk to Maura for a little bit today, which made me feel so much better. Sorry to keep this short, but I need to get back to the hospital shortly. Hope you're doing well.

Things are really kind of crazy right now...Anna is in the hospital with diverticulitis. She should be ok, but will be in the hospital for a few days. This is definitely tough for her, considering she is in another country so far away from her family. I stayed with her for a while tonight and it was definitely a challenge trying to get things for her. Cinderella is staying with her now and I will head back in the morning before work. There are also some things going on with my family back home. When I was in Peru, my granny went to the hospital and they thought she was having a heart attack. It was so hard for me to be away at that time. But now, it happened again. It wasn't a heart attack, but they are still running tests to figure everything out. Her memory is not so good anymore and seems to be getting worse. So, my family is dealing with that and trying to figure out the best things to do. This, of course, is making me want to go home to be with my family and help out with everything. I just don't know what to do right now. Please pray for me about all of this and for Anna too!

So things have been much better the past couple of weeks. Scarlet stopped coming right after Ocean graduation and I'm wondering if that is part of why I've enjoyed work more. She's supposed to be coming back tomorrow...but we'll see.

My kindergarten class graduated on the 21st. I'm so sad to not be teaching them everyday! They put on a performance and were all dressed in hanbok (the traditional Korean dress). Cinderella even dressed Anna and I in a hanbok!




One of my favorite parts of the Ocean performance was when they sang one of my favorite childhood songs...Skidamarink!


The week after Ocean graduation was crazy. Since my class had already graduated, they just had a fun week with lots of field trips. On Monday, we went to the movies. The driver drove us and dropped me and six kids off to see a movie. It ended up being dubbed in Korean, so I was incredibly bored. The next field trip was so stressful! I was supposed to go to this palace with seven kids and the driver. Well, right before we were supposed to leave, the driver wasn't answering his phone. So what did they decide to do? They sent me and seven kids on the subway by ourselves! Ever babysat seven kids before? It's tough. Now add a field trip way across the city on public transportation in a country where you don't speak the language. It was one of the most stressful days ever. We had to ride the subway for about an hour and a half just to get there and we had to transfer once. I was so afraid I would lose a kid or something. When we transfered I had all the kids hold hands and we walked in a big line all the way across the station. I was definitely getting some weird looks. We made it there finally but because it took so long, we only had about thirty minutes at the palace before we had to go back.



After my kindergarten class started elementary school, our schedule changed and is pretty amazing right now. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and every other Friday I don't have to be at work until 1:25. And Anna has the morning off Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Friday. I'm not sure how long this will last, but it's pretty awesome for right now!

I guess that's about everything that has happened recently. Everything else has just been your normal stuff...going to the movies, eating out, and always followed by karaoke.

I miss you guys a lot and would love to hear from you! Sometimes I feel like only a few people are actually reading this. So send me an email please (hnperrin@yahoo.com) and let me know what is going on in your life!