Bye Bye Shel and Christopher :(

Shelly and Christopher left Korea Monday afternoon at 3pm. I managed to hold it together fairly well until after parting with them at the security check-in, but then proceeded to bawl like a baby for the entire two hour bus ride back home. Saying goodbye that day, I suffered my first pangs of homesickness since arriving in Korea, but I was also overcome with feelings of thankfulness for my wonderful family.

My time with Shelly and Christopher here was really precious to me. I feel so blessed that they had the opportunity and the freedom to be able to come and stay for such a long time. Korea became a different kind of place to me for the time that they were here. I experienced Korea through their eyes-- and they had a much fresher perspective on it than I have had, even from the beginning of my time here. It was really wonderful to spend time with our Korean family together, and to get to talk about how we saw our mother reflected in them and vice-versa. It was also special just to witness Shelly and Christopher be truly embraced and loved on by all the wonderful friends that have turned into a second family for me during my time here. I really enjoyed bringing those two separate worlds together and seeing that they fit beautifully :)

A couple of days before they left, as we were enjoying treats in this amaaazing little chocolate cafe (I mean, a chocolate cafe= obviously amazing) I asked Shelly and Christopher to each make a list highlighting their favorite things about their stay here. Since we were terrible about keeping the blog updated during their time here, I thought I would share those with you as a kind of summary to give you a picture of what their stay was like and what they valued most in the time they got to spend here.

Christopher's Top 5

1. Getting to stay up until midnight watching Friends
2. Our cousin Moonsun coming to visit us and staying at Mary Nuna's house in Ansan
3. FINALLY getting to go to Busan [after delaying the trip due to illness and injury :) ]
4. Turning 11 in Korea; Getting to decorate my own birthday cake, going to dinner with all of the new friends I made, and then going noraebang (singing room) afterwards!
5. Getting to see a bunch of old stuff

Shelly's Top 5

1. Staying up ALL night laughing and jumping around when we first arrived, even though we hadn't slept for twenty-eight plus hours
2. My siblings regaining their health
3. Meeting all of my mom's family
4. Korean FOOD
5. Sister time and getting to experience a taste of my sister's new life


*To see more about their stay here and some of the things they got to do and experience, go to Shel's facebook page and browse through her pictures. There are some pretty fun ones in there :)