Cummings and Goings

Well… this is a long one.

We’ve been in South Korea for almost a month now, and while I’ve shared updates about the move, the house, the food, the dogs, the paperwork, and all the other chaos that comes with relocating your entire life across the world, I realized I haven’t really shared an update on the boys.

And honestly, they deserve one.

Lee and I are incredibly fortunate to be blessed with Beckett and Sam. They are laid-back, funny, resilient, empathetic, and just sarcastic enough to keep us laughing. Somehow, they managed to get all of our best traits—my sarcasm and sense of humor, along with Lee’s strength, resilience, and empathy.

Although I’m still not entirely sure where Sam’s snark comes from. Must be Lee’s side of the family.😉

The boys started school almost two weeks ago, and while we are still very much in transition, we’re beginning to settle into routines. Out of the 4,392 things I worried about before moving to Korea, one of the biggest was how the boys would handle leaving their friends and starting over at a completely new school.

They had spent the entire summer in Indiana with my family, getting spoiled, having very little routine, and generally living their best lives. And while the one thing Texas doesn’t have for us is family, we somehow managed to build an incredible village around us.

It started with coworkers who became like family. Then came some amazing friends from Greatwood. And eventually, the boys built their own little villages, too, complete with the parents of their friends becoming part of ours.

Beckett had the coolest group of boys from years of Fusion soccer and flag football with the Banana Dragons. Sam and his friends created their own group last year, affectionately known as the Rabies Babies. That group managed to pack an entire year’s worth of fun, inside jokes, questionable decisions, and even a secret handshake into their friendship.

They were completely bought into Dickinson life. Their school, their teachers, their friends, their sports, their traditions—and, most importantly, their boy gangs. And a few girls, too. They still haven’t decided girls have cooties.

So yes, I was worried.

They were leaving behind a life they loved and walking into a completely new school on the other side of the world.

Their new school is international, with students from all over the world. Just between their two classes, they have kids from France, Japan, Israel, and the Philippines. There are also Korean students spending three weeks with them in an English immersion program to improve their English.

The school itself is much smaller than what they were used to in Texas. They each have fewer than 10 kids in their entire grade—not just their class. There are also eight Chevron kids who came to Korea as part of the project, so they have a small built-in connection to home.

It’s definitely been a big adjustment. There have been some ups and downs, and I’m sure there will be more. But they’re adjusting.

And, if I’m being completely honest, they’re probably adjusting better than I am most days.

They already have favorite parts of school. Lunch is definitely high on the list. Yesterday, the main dish was duck with a side of seaweed, which Sam was thrilled about because seaweed is apparently his favorite side dish now.

They also absolutely love that people look at us when we’re out and about. Their blonde hair gets a lot of attention, and they think this means they’ve officially become celebrities in South Korea.

I’m pretty sure their egos did not need any additional encouragement.

The principal is even going to order some American footballs so the boys can teach the other kids about American football. Because apparently we’re exporting football culture one school at a time.

After-school activities will officially ramp up over the next couple of weeks, including a cooking club and soccer. Sam has already informed me that he will teach me everything he learns in cooking club, so maybe—just maybe—I’ll finally learn how to cook.

I’m not holding my breath.

And when soccer starts, I plan to cheer just as loudly as I did at their games in Texas. I’m also pretty sure we packed cowbells somewhere in our shipping container.

Because in addition to Maroon Fridays and trying to make “bless your heart” a thing in Korea, we are absolutely going to make “More Cowbell” happen here, too.

The boys are also interacting with the older kids at school, which has apparently opened the door to a whole new world of questions. They’ve already started asking what Love Island is and what reality TV is.

So…that’s going well.

And speaking of their newfound celebrity status, our Korean BBQ reel recently passed 50,000 views on Instagram. Which, according to Sam, means we are basically famous now.

I’m not sure that’s how social media works, but I’m willing to let him have this one.

But really, all of this is my very long way of saying that the boys are doing well.

Not every day is perfect. They miss their friends in Dickinson—a lot. They miss their old routines, their teams, their friends, and the familiarity of home.

But they’re also learning, exploring, meeting people from different countries, and experiencing things they never would have experienced if we had stayed home.

Beckett is loving his science class. Sam is determined to go viral on social media and constantly asks me how many likes he has.

Priorities.

They’re figuring out this new life one day at a time, just like the rest of us.

And watching them do it makes me incredibly proud.

Maybe the boys don’t realize it yet, but they’re building another village.

Another group of friends. Another collection of inside jokes. Another chapter of memories that will someday be part of the story they tell about this crazy year we spent living in South Korea.

And if they continue adjusting better than their mom, I might just have to admit they got the best of us after all.