we had a birthday party at work on friday, november 25th. they could be a bit hectic and stressful at times, so i was kind of glad it would be my last one. still, it turned out to be one of the most fun ones of the year.

each party was held in the largest, open room at the school, which we called the gym. all the kindergarten students would gather, and the moms of the birthday students from that month would come. the birthday kids would each enter carrying a lit candle for their cakes while the school sung happy birthday to them.

then one by one i would bring each child forward and ask them four questions in english. what is your name? how old are you? what class are you in? and who are your teachers? after that the child's mom would come up and read her card to them in front of the school. then the students from the child's class would stand up and bring up a present for them.

yuny from tiger class was one of the three birthday kids, and the funniest thing happened when the tiger boys came up to give her their presents. everything went smoothly until joseph, in the back of the line, got to the front. he gave her the present, said happy birthday, but then all of a sudden puckered up his lips and moved in for the birthday kiss. stunned and repulsed, yuny recoiled silently in fear. joseph couldn't understand why she wasn't receptive to his advances, and looked at me in confusion. keep in mind this was in front of the entire school. i thought it was the funniest thing ever, but i wasn't sure if i should discourage him from grossing her out, but i figured, hey man, go for it. he moved in again, but yuny was having none of it, and finally he gave up and went back to his seat. nice try, joseph.

after that we played two games. first up was the piñata, which is always scary for whoever is holding the stick the piñata is attached to. there's nothing like a blindfolded five-year-old swinging a stick wildly in your direction.

next up was a game where the whole school makes a big circle inside which the blindfolded child has to catch their teachers in order to get their cards from them.

after that we went back upstairs cake and lots of other snacks. yuny's mom brought party favor bags for all the kids in the whole school, which was a big hit. sara's mom, who according to the korean teachers is really rich, bought ten pizzas for all the students and teachers.

it was yuny's last day she'd see me since she was going away for the weekend and was going to miss monday and tuesday, which would be my last day. i could tell her mom must have told her that she wasn't going to see me again, because during the blindfold games, she left her mom and came and sat on my lap. when it was time for her to leave, she didn't really know how to say goodbye, so i picked her up and tossed her into the air as i had done so many times before. she was the first child i had to say goodbye to, so it started to sink in more that i would be leaving soon.