Orphanage visit

Mark joined this volunteer organization, Bean, here in Seoul. They do a lot of great things, one of which is volunteering every few weeks at an orphanage. Mark went the first time by himself, and convinced me to go with him the second time.

It was a really different feel than the orphanage we visited in Busan. At Sung Ae Won Orphanage, the kids lived there all the time so it just felt sadder. But at this orphanage, all the kids live with foster families during the week and just live at this orphanage on the weekends. These kids seemed a lot more well-adjusted and less attention-starved. It was nice (and definitely better for the kids). But being there, it felt less important that we were there playing with them.

There were kids of all ages -- ranging from 3 to 16. Bean had some arts and crafts set up, but there were too many volunteers for the number of kids, so we opted to hang out with the littlest ones.

We had some Christmas worksheets for them to color.

Look at this little one with the big thick glasses!!!! TOO cute.

Then, we just kind of played with them and chased them (endlessly). There was one little boy who was like 5 or 6 who loved to be chased. He was definitely my favorite of the day because anytime you'd give him attention or go near him he'd smile from ear to ear.

Afterwards, BEAN provided pizza, cookies, and drinks for the kids. We served them and hung out with them. Then we all went outside and played. It was cold, but the kids managed to have fun.