Today was a great day

When writing these journal entries, I like to focus on emotions that I’m feeling in the moment. When I am energized about a certain topic, the writing flows much easier. Yesterday it was my search for friendship on HelloTalk, and today it is the highs and lows of adjusting to life in a foreign country. Today, Wednesday, December 18th, everything seemed to go right. To be honest, that’s a rarity here, which is why I’m on cloud nine.

 

Call Me Messi

First, I was invited to play soccer with the third graders after lunch. This is the fourth day in a row they’ve asked me to join them, and it honestly feels like recess for me as well. Whenever I agree to play, they run onto the field and immediately argue over who gets to be on my team. Today, they asked me to pick who I wanted to play with. How am I supposed to do that? There’s no way I could turn any of the kids down, so I numbered them, alternating between 1 and 2, and asked the 2’s to join me. Suddenly, there were no 1s to be found — almost all of the students claimed to be 2s. After a few minutes of delegation, I finally had my squad, and we were ready to play. It was an absolute blast, but no lie, I was covered in sweat afterwards. I practically blended in with the pack running inside, bummed that it was time for class.

 

"World Class Friends"

Next, I rode my scooter (Strawberry, as she’s known) to the Muay Thai gym. I decided to check out an earlier class so I’d have more time in the evening to write this journal entry. It was the right call as I had the gym to myself, and I was able to train one-on-one with the owner. After class, one of the gym members I hadn’t seen in a few weeks happily greeted me. While I was purchasing my next month of membership, she sat down to speak with me. We practiced Korean, exchanged Instagram handles, and established that we were “world-class friends,” as she described to me on her Papago translation app. A few more friends I hadn’t met approached us, and we chatted while eating the clementines they brought over to me. It was a fun, casual conversation that made my day. It may sound like nothing, but those quick catch-ups and laughs are hard to come by in Seonghwan. Because I don’t have any acquaintances here, those interactions really don’t occur on your average day. That being said, that 20 minute chat made today a special one, as it was nice to socialize with local friends interested in getting to know me.

 

Little moments feel bigger these days

While this all may seem like a long-winded way to describe a typical Wednesday in my life as a foreign English teacher, I highlighted today for a reason. Days like these are hard to come by, and are extra meaningful as a result. For every highlight reel day with laughs and funny stories to share, there’s a handful of days where I am reminded that this is all so new to me. The trick, I’ve discovered, is taking the good with the bad and recognizing that not every day will be perfect. In fact, most won’t. But in accepting that, I’ve learned to appreciate everything from being the favorite teammate at recess to making a few new world-class friends at the Muay Thai gym. And with that attitude, the little things have started to make a big difference.