At the lake
Friday, May 23rd, 2008
I’ve been a bit of a lousy orphanage volunteer these days. I am taking a class 3 nights a week, and buy with some other appointments on 2 days, so I haven’t been spending the kind of time I used to at the orphanage.
In a way, that’s OK since I will be leaving in August, and to kind of gradually make my exit it probably the healthiest and safest thing for those kids. But on the other hand, I’ve really missed them!
During a recent long weekend, I planned to spend the whole day with the orphans. They were going to some nearby beach. However, my friend Josh and I had to leave separately, and subsequently got stuck in a enormous traffic jam. Because of the holidays that week, the roads were absolutely jammed. We left the center of 서울 at around 8:30, and by 11:30, had barely made it out of the city limits into neighboring , 경기도. We did have 2 kids with us in Josh’s car, but all 80+ other kids were on a bus. They managed to get out ahead of the traffic, but we were NOT so lucky.
We decided to give up on the beach that day, and instead took the 2 kids we had to a lake. We had some lunch and rented rowboats. It was certainly fun, and a great chance to spend time with those 2 guys, but I am a little sad that I missed all the others ㅠ.ㅠ
My class will be over in a few weeks, and I can once again reclaim my schedule. I hope to tell a few more stories about those kids before the summer is out.
Posted by 오민 (Austin) in Austin's Orphanage |
May 24th, 2008 at 4:35 am
I’m still envious of the freedom and apparent altruism you experience in Korea. And yeah, those traffic jams are the stuff of nightmares.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:55 am
those kids are sooooooooooo cute!!!!!!! i’m still jealous. ^^
May 25th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I notice that the kids’ life vests say “백운” on them. Were you, by chance, at 백운호수, near the city of 의왕 in 경기도? That’s somewhat close to where I live, though it’s hard to access without a car… I was there myself a couple weeks ago for dinner. That area’s beautiful, and known for many greenhouses, craft shops, and expensive but very nice restaurants.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I’m glad you were able to spend more time with the two kids. Actually, I feel that could have been better in a way.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Daniel..
You bet it was 백은호수! It looked like there were a lot of great restaurants around there….if only I had that much disposable income.
Keith,
I think you’re right. It was still a great day, and you’re right it was probably better that way.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:38 am
I bet those two adorable kids sure thought it was better