24

My 24th birthday.

To be honest, I feel a little cheated about my 24th year, because in Korea I’m actually already 25. I’ll be 26 when the lunar new year hits. I seriously had to think about how old I was, and it took a while to figure out I was only turning 24.

Where have all these years gone? I know im still ‘young’ and ‘fresh,’ but I feel like it was just yesterday that I got my first job working at Sonic Drive-In, or walking into my first class at College of the Ozarks (Comp 101 8:00 am with Dr. Barnes). I used to look forward  to turning another year older…but after 21, my mind started changing…and now i’m like CRAP. I’m getting old.

You don’t start to feel old until you teach kids who were born in 2007, and they can’t even comprehend the 1980’s. Also, when you tell them your age (because they ask) and everyone oooohhs and aaaahhhs….that’s usually not a good sign.

Will I like 24 better than 23? It’s hard to say. My 23rd year was a pretty awesome one. I successfully worked a job back in Portland and was up for possibly a management promotion, I moved continents and now live in Asia, I learned how to read Korean (ok seriously, I now know those lines and squiggles mean something!), I finished the Insanity workout, lost 12 inches, and went down a whole clothing size, I traveled to Bali, Indonesia on summer vacation, and I learned how to make mozzarella cheese. Can it get better than that?

I know this year I have new goals. I want to learn to actually speak Korean, finish Insanity once again and graduate to Insanity Asylum, I want to visit two other countries, and I want to get LASIK. We’ll see how it goes, but if I get these done, I’ll feel quite accomplished.

My birthday couldn’t have been celebrated any better. Maybe it was the non-traditional way that it was celebrated, or the beautiful fall weather, or the excited faces of students as they wished me “happy birthday…” I don’t know…but I do know I absolutely loved it.

Derik took me to dinner and a movie the night before, and we had a fantastic and relaxing time. I had made cupcakes (thank you to my sister who supplied to cake mix and frosting) earlier in the day, so after dinner we went back home to enjoy those. I’m not going to lie, before I frosted the cupcakes, I took a big spoonful of frosting for myself. Why? The cakes here are terrible. Tasteless…more like sweet bread with whipped cream frosting. I had no inkling of guilt as I tasted the whipped cream cheese amazingness. After all, it was my birthday right?  The ‘cake’ part of the cupcake was equally as good, and even Derik (typically is not a cake person) thoroughly enjoyed one or two.

The next day (Monday, my birthday), I went to school and was greeted with a substantial amount of birthday cards from the Kindi students. There’s nothing more precious than a 5 year old’s card, all decorated with a splash of colors, written with love to you. I had ninja cards, princess cards, kitten cards, dolphin cards, heart cards…basically everything I could have ever wanted. So cute.

The day continued with the lavish array of birthday cards, mixed in with a few thoughtful gifts (hair ties, bracelets, pens). My second to last class surprised me though with a full out ‘surprise’ birthday party. They brought me one slice of chocolate cake, and also had quite the selection of gifts as well!

I’d have to say birthdays in  Korea are pretty fun. Especially if you’re a teacher.

As far as next year? I’ll probably be equally, if not even more, confused about how old I am. Unfortunately I don’t think I will be clearing that up anytime soon.