What a great tag line! The change happens not only to the YAVs, but to the family, supporters, the children they work with, PC(USA) community and to the site coordinators. We learned a lot during the first year, and we know that we will learn a lot more during the coming year as well. Now that Becky, Jenny and Katie have left we continue to learn.
After two weeks of empty nester life we welcomed Thomas Loyd, Anna Curl and Anna Shustizky to Korea. They had spent a very hectic week at Stony Point Center getting ready for the year of service as best as they could. Their long anticipated departure for Korea was delayed by two days due to Hurricane Irene and the subsequent chaos in air travel out of New York. Thomas arrived on September 1 and the Annas the following day. They were all to arrive on the same day, albeit on separate flights, but the flight for Annas were delayed in Chicago causing them to miss the connection in Tokyo further delaying the arrival by additional 15 hours. But, they got a stamp(Japan) on their passport and got to eat and sleep at a nice hotel in Narita, compliments of the airline.
Each of the YAVs whose rooms this year's YAVs are inheriting left words of wisdom on many subjects. Advices on using cell phones, public transportation, food preparation and ignoring mosses until they find their way into the ceiling light fixtures as their final resting place. Those are nuggets, which reminded me of some Six Word Memoirs.
Watch your back, cover your bottom is not only for office life, but also useful for navigating through a foreign culture.
At our age, why smarter YAVs? It is always a challenge to counsel or supervise others who know more than we do. We will enjoy the first days when the YAVs are like children before they can speak, at least in Korean, but we are prepared for challenging encounters.
Jet lags make young people old. When we say that we get up at four in the morning, all the young folks ask WHY? During this week, I notice the YAVs logging onto skype at four, five and six in the morning. Who knows how long that will last? I hope they just don't oversleep their classes!!
I invite parents, friends, YAV alumni and current YAVs to share your Six Word Memoirs of YAV life with the YAV community. Leave them as comments, and we will find a suitable place to share.
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| First day of Korean Language School |
