Epilogue...

I spent the morning of my last full day in Korea in my bedroom, painting my nails and writing letters to each member of my homestay family, then painstakingly translating them into Korean using my vocabulary and a lot of help from Google Translate. I snuck out to go for a "walk" which was actually an excuse to do some last minute gift shopping. My Korean family has been so hosptitable and welcoming to me, and beyond that they are all just wonderful people, and I wanted to give them a few parting gifts. When I presented the wrapped packages and the orchid for my host parents, my host mom asked me to wait until "the party" later. A few hours passed, and I was called into the living room, where a sweet potato cake, a watermelon, a bottle of sparkling white wine, and a cluster of gifts was waiting.

Without any foreknowledge of the other's plans, both the family and I had prepared gifts and written letters! Jun Myeong lit the candles that spelled out "I <3 You," and after some confusion for what to sing - since the birthday song clearly wouldn't work - we all just clapped and chanted/sang "I love you" for a few seconds before I blew out the candles. After, I helped Minnie install skype on the home computer. It was a very happy evening with the incredible family who had taken me in this semester. I hope we have more evenings together in our future. I'm thinking of heading back to Korea at least for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but I hope I can see the In family before that as well.