Today is my Chuseok. What makes YOU thankful?

I am thankful for my new pants!

Yes that--among the obvious ones--is what I am thankful for today.

yes maam n' sir, it is. I can't buy pants in Korea--I haven't in two years--because I just have a different shape than the women who populate this place. So when my friend in the military and I got together and ordered a bunch of stuff from Victoria secret, I was able to buy THREE new pairs of pants. Lately, I've only been able to wear skirts & dresses--and theres not anything wrong with that--except my legs get cold--but it sure does feel nice to wear a crisp pair of well-made pants!

Tom is tracing his hand. He and Jack chose to do that--the other kids got their hand painted and printed it on a piece of paper.

Tom just won 2nd place in the school English speech contest. His speech was about, "How to become popular." and it was thoughtful & well delivered. His was my favorite.

He's a 3rd grader, so this is a big deal.

The boy who won 1st--Taylor, a 5th grade boy--was so excited that when he finished his speech, he gave a fist-pump, and we got another when he found out he got 1st place. He looked around and pointed like, "Yeah I did!" it was funny.

I asked them to write what they were thankful for. Tom is thankful for his parents; Cedrick is thankful for his cellphone. Jenny likes her friends, and charlotte was thankful for her new pants--because she didn't understand the assignment and she just copied my paper.

These WILL become turkeys, but they were all too anxious to get their pictures taken, so here they are.

the adorable Allie.

KIMCHI!