Last week of school!

Wow, what a week it's been! With the summer session coming to a close, there seemed to be more schoolwork to complete, including two essays. Coming from someone who hasn't had to write a research paper since fall quarter, the paper's took longer than anticipated T.T
No matter; I got to enjoy cute cafe's around campus, including "Cafe La Lee." I've seen the cafe everyday, walking to/from the bus stops and subway stops and always wanted to go in. I finally got the opportunity this week. The cafe is quite adorable. Everything about it reminded me of a doll-house. For coffee-lovers, this place is pretty nice; the coffees were well-brewed and you get unlimited refills on coffees and teas. My first day there, I think I drank 5 cups of Americano ^^ I can say that those 5 cups got me through a good chunk of my writing. My second day there, I ordered an Iced Coffee. I think I got through 4 of these....

Day 1: Americano and Tiramisu 

Day 2: Iced Coffee

Last Thursday (8/2) was the Farewell Banquet for the UCEAP program. There was a buffet, which included sushi! All I can say is that I enjoyed the free food, though I didn't eat as much as I anticipated.

That's just a mountain of sushi!

On Friday (8/3) I met up with my students Liam and Ted! It was so nice to see them. I made my way down to 강남 (Gangnam), which took longer than I had anticipated, but it was worth it to see those two guys. I couldn't believe how much they grew in the last 6 months! They were tall to begin with, but they seemed to have grown even taller! (I'm sad I didn't get to take pictures with them, but hopefully I get to see them again before I leave ^^)
It was such a blessing to see them. While we were talking, they mentioned how grateful they were to have had me as a tutor and for how much I helped them improve, not just with English and English grammar, but also with Korean grammar. These moments truly reveal how much you can add to a person's life, even though it seems like very little at the time of interaction. It's in these moments I know how passionate I truly am about teaching and how important teacher-student relationships can be.

During the weekend, I could not step out of the dorm. It was just TOO HOT! The temperatures were in the 90s-100s; there was no way I could go out in that weather. So the weekend was somewhat uneventful, with me sitting in my room with the AC on, working on my term papers.

On Tuesday, I met up with my 외숙모 (aunt) and my little cousin Jacob! He got sooo big in the last few months I saw him. He's just too cute! We went out for lunch and dessert. Jacob is laughing more now than I remember from a few months back. He was just having a great time being out and about. He is seriously a very curious kid. During lunch, he wanted to touch everything.

Look at the angel sleeping! 

I should have taken pictures of him while he was awake and full of smiles and laughter...

Look what I got in the mail! It's a letter from my mom!

On Wednesday, Ivana and I went to see the musical 라카지 (La Cage). I went in with very little expectation and ended up enjoying it very much. It was an all-star cast that night, with big-name actors and actresses and singers performing.
I was a little slow this day and forgot to take my camera T.T


Thursday was the last day of classes. I thought it would be a more reminiscent day, with me reflecting on my undergraduate career. I think that because I didn't really take this summer session as a requirement for my academia and considered it an opportunity to study Korean culture more for myself, I didn't feel so nostalgic. Plus, I (somewhat) experienced that during the spring.
With so many friends leaving this weekend, our group decided to have dinner together and then go out to play (considering this would be our last opportunity to do something all together as a group, since we have people from all over the world, including the US, England, and Malaysia).
For dinner, we went to 삼진복집, a restaurant that specializes in 아구, a very ugly fish. Still, the food was good. With 11 people, we ordered 3 dishes, thinking that would be enough, ending up with a whole lot of leftovers. Instead of the largest sizes, we should have picked the medium size...

Afterwards, we headed to 홍대 (the area around Hongik University). This is supposed to be the "it" place for college aged people to hang out and play.

Living, learning, and having fun in Korea!