300: A Countdown

I’ve always been better with words, but today is a good occasion for some numbers.

The Start of Korea: Year 1

300: The number of blog posts I have written. It’s funny to remember that when I started this journey I was hoping I wouldn’t give up writing by post 20. Thank you so much to those of you who have read any, or all of them. And if you have read all of them, you deserve a giant hug (let me know, and I’ll deliver one to you as soon as possible). I still can’t believe I have written this much, but some people who know how much I like to talk may not be as surprised.

150: Probably the number of Korean words I know. I’m a slacker.

24: The number of characters in the Korean alphabet, Hangul- at least I know all of these.

14: The number of Korean cities I’ve explored!

7-13: The ages of the brilliant kids I have taught here in Korea.

11: The number of Winter Vacation days I get this year (I need to figure out what to do with them, any ideas?)

10: The number of times per day someone whines to me “Teacher, why?”, at least.

9: The number of lovely letters and postcards I’ve received so far this year.

8: The number of foreigners who have shared this year’s Kindergarten highs and lows as my awesome co-workers

7: The number of countries I have visited since I started writing this chronicle (America, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada, and Japan). This number still blows my mind!

6: The number of the most fabulous group of friends! I could not have dreamed for better people to share my first year in Korea with! FAB 6 LOVE!

5: The original number of the 2012 Orion Class!

4: The number of AMAZING care packages that have been sent to me from super fabulous people this year.

3: The number of Korean islands I’ve been to, including the island I called my home for a year, good old Yeongdo.

2a: The number of web addresses my blog has spanned.

2b: The number of schools I have taught at here in Korea. Also, the number of schools that I have simultaneously loved and been driven crazy by.

1 1/2: The number of years (non-consecutive) I have lived in Busan, South Korea! Both High School Me and College Me would have never guessed that I would have ended up here.

1: The number of Korean cities I want to live in. I really do love Busan. Even when it feels like I’ve seen it all, it always manages to surprise me. (1 is also the number of PANDAS I’ve held)

0.5: The number of seconds it sometimes feels have passed since I stepped off that first plane and dove into Korea.

The start of Korea: Year 2 Photo by A. Pringer

Thank You all who have been reading since the beginning, and also Thank You to those of you who have joined me along the way. Thank you for letting me continually share my stories.

From Busan With Love,

Jenna