My Korean Mother

Today was a really great day.  I got up, went on a run, talked to my friend Mike, and then spent the next five hours with my boss.

I had to take a couple passport photos to bring to the immigration office, so while we were waiting for them to be developed we went and had lunch.  I don't know how it came up, but we started talking about divorce.  I had mentioned last week when I was showing them pictures of my friends and family that my parents are divorced.  So while we were eating, we started talking about it and she told me that she got divorced about nine years ago, about her marriage, and her concerns about her son growing up in a broken home.  Before I knew it we were both crying.  She told me that she had planned on telling me since she knew about my parents but hadn't expected to say anything so soon.  Divorces in Korea are not as common as in the U.S. and the women suffer much more than the man.  She didn't have custody of her son and couldn't see him for a few years (now she's able to see him everyday if she wants and is hoping to live with/near him when he moves away for high school).  She said that before I came to Korea she had been praying to God to send her a good new teacher.  She said that when she met me and since I've been at the school that all of her prayers had been answered.  She also said that after seeing the kind of person I was, she was hopeful that her son would one day come to find God and would grow up to be like me.  We connected on a very deep, emotional level.  I was surprised that it happened so fast, if at all.  She said that she hadn't told the teacher before me about her divorce and that only one other teacher at the school knew about it.  I felt very privileged that she was able to be so open with me, and I was glad that I could relate to what she was saying and experiencing.

After that, we waited for about two hours at the Immigration office so I could get my ID card so I can open up a bank account.  While we were waiting I was telling her about some ideas I had for the students and she was getting really excited.  I think I'm doing things in class that are pretty different from the past teachers and she made it seem like I care more about tending to the needs of the students and making learning fun as opposed to just getting through the curriculum.  After we were done at the Immigration office, we went to an American book store and I picked out a couple books that I thought Mrs. Kim should read and about 5 different books for some of my new classes that I will get to create the curriculum for.  By the way, if anyone has any book suggestions for my students to read, please let me know!!  After that, she took me to a cafe that gives Korean lessons for free on Saturdays, so I hope to go in two weeks so I can start learning.  Before she took me home, she picked up sushi for us to eat because I had mentioned earlier in the day how much I liked it.  Isn't she so great!?!?  She definitely has taken on the role of my Korean mother and I feel so lucky and blessed to have someone looking out for me.