End of the Semester Happiness

I'm ecstatic about the semester being over, though possibly not as much as my students. Bounding in and out of the English room, crowding around me, asking for the millionth time about the photos by my desk, wanting to play UNO, and sneaking up on/scaring the bejeezus out of me.

 

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I love that they come and hang out in English room <3

The last school lunch of the semester didn't disappoint - that soup was INCREDIBLE.

And then getting ready to leave for the CATS musical - my co and I rushed down at 4:30 and the bus promptly left an hour later haha. Over the past almost year, I've noticed the culture of the send-off: whoever isn't going on the trip stands outside of the main entrance, and there's always a lot of bowing, small speeches, and teachers running on and off the bus.

SK (my co-teacher), HBS (my Korean Mom the 2nd grade teacher), & me

We got kimbap to go and I enjoyed a little paper cup of tea, compliments of the bus water cooler. When we arrived at the Blue Square, I enjoyed watching all the teachers pose and take photos. I wasn't quite as creative but got the two versions of photos Koreans like -- one at the normal height and one from a low angle, to make the subject look taller ^^

We had about two hours before the show started and a group of us headed to this really fancy french bakery/restaurant. Choosing a table and figuring out where each person is going to sit is always a huge deal. It makes me chuckle to myself because that's the same everywhere, in Korea and back home, though I do wonder how much the hierarchy plays into who sits where. Ordering is another fantastic and enthusiastic affair. We ended up getting two big plates of decorated waffles (ice cream, sorbet, fresh fruit, whipped cream, syrup, and edible flowers), a small, molten dark chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and mint, a red bean ice flake desert, and coffee to share. Everything shared, I like that. The coffee, one mug, I shared with my co-teacher and the kindergarten teacher.  

It was a fun but exhausting evening and being followed by two more teacher dinners this week, I am relieved it's the weekend. I can only sit through hours of Korean talk so many times a week. I'm looking forward to hanging out in Seoul tomorrow and for summer camp next week :: 

Normal and low camera angles -- do I look taller in the latter??