My Last Week

 It's been a bit of a roller coaster, I'm not gonna lie.  Immersion is at an end, and so is my time at this job.  I have to tell you, one of the best ideas I had was for my highest level classes.  We have writing notebook assignments every week.  This week's assignment was supposed to be something about "write a letter to someone that you think doesn't get enough appreciation."  I told them that since I'm leaving, they could write anything they wanted - it didn't need to be a full page, it just needed to be full sentences.  Some took it and ran by writing me long letters, others wrote 2 sentences.  The point (for me) was giving them a bit of a break, making it easier for me to grade them so I could give them back on Friday, and seeing what they wanted to say.  I have to say, some of them warmed my heart - and I'll share those with you.  

Marina is one of my best students, and don't worry, I corrected "Firstable" to "First of all."  I have a feeling she's only ever heard that one, never seen it written.

I think it's cute how many of them were worried about my health.  I wrote to most telling them that I promise I'll be safe.

I think because I know I'm not cut out for teaching, knowing that some of the kids will remember me well makes me think that this experiment wasn't such a bust after all.

I have to tell you, the best question I got when I started telling people that I'm going home is "Why?"  The kids ask it and my Korean co-teachers ask it.  For a while it made me wonder "What can I say?"  I've defaulted to "I haven't been home for 2 years, I need to see my family."  If I were to be more accurate it might be something more like "I haven't had a real break for 2 years, I'm burned out, I'm exhausted.  I need to see my family and friends and remember what it's like to be surrounded by people who love and respect me.  I've had a good time here in Korea, and I'll take with me all the good memories, but I want to be able to walk down the street without feeling judged for being different.  I want to be able to go out with my friends and say whatever I want without having to worry about it coming back to bite me on the butt.  I want to be somewhere for a while where I'm just me, I'm not representing every foreign teacher in the country.  Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my time here, but these micro-stressors do get heavy after a while and I need to get my happy butt home!"  Not to mention how much I miss driving, knowing what I'm ordering at restaurants, and chatting with the check-out person at the grocery store.  Some people have asked what I'll do next, and I mention the FSOT and working for the state dept.  I do plan on making that happen.  One co-teacher said something like "So no plans to settle down, get married, have a family?" and I said "No, that's never been something that's been really important to me."  I've just come around to the idea of getting married, but I'd need to marry a nomad like myself.  "Settling down" has too many negative connotations to my mind.  

It's been an emotional roller coaster since I finished work.  Some of my kiddos gave me presents, some gave hugs, they are really sweet.

I'll need to be able to process more before my next post.  Lots of cleaning, giving things away, and about to be a lot of packing.  Hugs and love, friends.

One week of work left

It's winding down.  It was funny on Friday - one of my coteachers commented about how I looked happy.  I told him "One week left" and smiled under my mask.  I also found out that one of my other Korean coworkers is going to be leaving on the same day as me, so we had a "one week left" dance in the hallway.  Some of my students have been really sweet about this, some "don't go!" and some "stay!" and one "stay and teach us forever!"  One student wants my email addy so that we can still talk once I'm gone.  On Thurs one of my kinders ran up and gave me a goodbye hug - it was so cute.  I will miss the students, that's for sure.  

It's funny to think of leaving - I've told some of my coworkers that they are welcome to come over and scavenge anything that they want.  I've been thinking of starting the packing process, but let's be honest here, I'm lazy.  I figure this will be my last weekend of cooking and making sure I have leftovers for the week.  Trying to use up some stuff, finish eating my food, only get what groceries I actually NEED, and relaxing.  It may turn into a Riddick weekend.  Monday I'm going to call to cancel my internet, then the last things I'm going to have to do are: cancel my phone, get my Covid test, transfer all my money home and close out my bank account, get covid certificate, catch bus to airport, and COME HOME!  Anamia's is calling to me!!!

Anyway, I know that I have been lax at putting up pix, so here's a few: 

No, I did not leave my apt like this, but I felt pretty good in a tight skirt and off the shoulder top, which is kinda different for me.  Still don't like my legs... sigh.

My breakfast last weekend.  I splurged on the grapes and dried persimmon at OK mart... might do that again today, not sure.

One of my students - she is a little spitfire and I love her.  She has NO IDEA who the Dallas Cowboys are, which makes me giggle.

The (hopefully) last snow of the season.  It got COLD last week.  This week is supposed to be better I think, so I'm taking the chance to wash my thermals.

My Ellen brought me this - it was goooood.

Irene made this and gave it to me.  My students laugh at the coffee, but teaching from 10-1, then 2:30-7, trust me, I NEEDS THE COFFEE!!!

Another student (in my 445-7 class) drew a sketch of me on the back of his chunk quiz.  He is my genius student.

Finally my little Elin gave me a kiss on Friday.  This is what I mean when I say they are such cute little shits that worm their ways into my heart!  

Finishing the last of the pepper jelly that Ana and Long sent to me.  This was the habenero kind.  The crackers were good with it.

The rest of my Friday night dinner.  Tuna salad on garlic toast, white wine, and Jurassic Park.  It was a nice way to unwind.

Today I'm going grocery shopping for a few things (I'm out of apples and nuts, and I want stuff to make chicken pesto and chili), then probably having another chill weekend at home.  I do so love these.  To answer your question, yes, I have thought that I should be getting out and making some of my last Korean memories, but I also don't need to catch Covid right before I leave, so I'm ok with continued hermiting.  :P  Looking forward to coming home, miss and love all of you, and I hope you're all staying warm and fed.  Huge hugs to all, MUAH!  :*

Exhaustion and emotion

 I know it's been a while and please forgive me.  Basically work is continuing as normal - OT on Tues - Fri is killing me, it's nice to have the kids back in class, the weather is cold (tho not as bad as TX recently), I'm looking forward to coming home, etc, etc.  I love J so much because she saw me for about 2 mins on our call tonight and 1) mentioned how red my nose was (due to cold) and 2) said I looked REALLY tired.  She is not wrong.

It's a weird mixed bag of emotions to be leaving Korea after 2 years.  There's a part of me that wonders if I've made any kind of difference - what am I coming home having accomplished kind of a thing.  Some of the kids will remember me fondly, perhaps some co-workers as well.  If I made English interesting for any of them, I'll consider it a win.  I was able to travel all around Korea, met some fun people, healed from a lot of my earlier trauma that I had been carrying around, went to Taiwan and Japan, learned a lot about myself and my coping mechanisms, learned how to communicate without knowing the language, tried to make people's days a little brighter (or at least not contribute to the dark)... really, it's been a successful experience.  I'll miss certain things about Korea (bagging my own groceries, some of the food, bathroom stalls without HUGE gaps all around the door), and certain others I won't miss (not being able to flush TP all the time, language barrier issues, taking out my trash to something other than a tree).  I'm sad to be leaving Korea, I'm not sad to be leaving my job.  That being said, I will miss some of the kids.  They did worm their way into my heart.  I do need a break - this public holidays and one week off this year thing was BRUTAL.

I suspected that I wasn't cut out for teaching before I ever came here, and I worked at it, I really did.  I now know that I'm meant to be an administrator or a librarian before EVER being a teacher.  J and I did have a scheme where she can teach and I can run the business, leaving her free to teach.  We'd make one helluva team, just FYI.  I like the numbers and admin stuff, she likes the kids (I mean ALL the kids, even the nightmare ones).  I'll find something more suited to my temperament, I'm sure.  

Really there's not much more to report.  The pension office visit went well, so I should get that payment some time in April or May.  I need to cancel my wifi, my phone, and my bank account.  Then I need my covid test and to get to the airport.  Cleaning, washing, and giving away stuff will happen that last weekend I'm here, and I'll be eating out a LOT before I leave so that I can defrost and clean out the fridge (properly).  It's the start of Lent, so I intend to pray more (it's been dismal) and give up a bad habit (that I've struggled with on and off for YEARS) and of course get to confession and Mass (when I get home, probably...).  It's a lot of small stuff that has to be done and I'll be doing it.  March 4 doesn't seem too far away, and I've confirmed that Feb 26th is my last working day (and my favorite class will be the last one I have).  All in all I'm excited, scared, overwhelmed, curious, exhausted, burned out, counting down, happy, cold, stressed, trying to enjoy my last days while making sure to tie up all loose ends.  Pray for me.  Much love, miss you and see you soon(ish)... MUAH!  :*

Seoul during Social Distancing

 Work continues as usual.  It's been nice having the kids back in class, but it is quite exhausting for your favorite introvert.  I've been missing my "me" time.  I do have a countdown of my last working days left... 13 to go, people!  There's a lot of running around left to do, but there is also an end in sight, which is kinda awesome... and yet terrifying.  Weird to think I'm leaving Korea.  Though it was weird to think that I was moving to Korea in the first place, so I guess the lesson here is just that life is weird.  

Anyway, I went to Seoul on Saturday to get a pic that my brother in law had asked me to get at the War Memorial.  To be fair, he asked FOREVER ago, but I was bummed cuz the last time I went there the War Memorial was closed.  So when I got to the memorial today, I was surprised to find that it was open!  I finally was able to go see the bottom floor, which had the history of war in Korea up until the Korean War itself.  I'd already seen all the Korean war stuff last year when Mo and Michael where here, but this time I wanted to see the other stuff.  

The pic Michael had asked for - this is the list of soldiers from Wyoming who died in the Korean war.  They have a list of all the soldiers who passed away, separated by country and for the US, also separated by state.

I didn't know that there were petroglyphs in Korea, so this was kinda cool to see.

Weapons are kinda the same everywhere when you go back far enough.

I like how they did these.

Boats!

Turtle boat!

The inside of the boat.

I keep on forgetting how long Korea was colonized by Japan.  

A model of the Hwaseong fortress in Suwon.  It was kinda cool to see this since I've been to the actual fortress before.

The sharp and the shiny.

My standard Korean pose for the selfie.  Hehe.

It was a beautiful day out - got up to 50, so I was enjoying being out without having to wear thermals.  I decided to stop Vatos for a last zonarosa and a burrito.

There was a sign that said the zonarosa was new... I've been here 2 years and I can assure you, it's not new.  This has been my favorite margarita ever since I've been here.  

The burrito wasn't as big as I remembered, but it was still pretty darn tasty.

I have to tell you, the vibe in Meyongdong and Itaewon was a lot different than it was 2 years ago.  There was a lot less people, way more empty stores, and a kind of quiet resignation that was tough to feel.  Those areas used to be teeming with people (mostly tourists), full of life, and sometimes downright crazy.  It really brought home how Corona has changed things, especially with the social distancing.  I used to go to Vatos at off-peak times just to be sure I could get a table.  Today, it almost felt sullen... this has truly been tough for everyone, and I can only imagine what it's been like for people who really count on tourist money.  It was really weird and kinda depressing, I must admit.  I've been to Gangnam recently and the vibe there didn't feel the same.  Of course, I never spent much time in Gangnam before the pandemic, so maybe it's just a matter of having less of a reference.  I don't feel like I'm doing a very good job of conveying the strangeness that I felt today... and that's what it was... just strange.  People talk about when things go back to normal... I'm not so sure they ever will be.  

I also decided to stop by Lush to get a few things before I head home (harder to justify when I'll be unemployed).  I actually was able to go in, get what I needed, and get out with minimal attempts at upselling.  After that, I headed home.  When I got back to Dongtan I went to OK Mart to get stuff to make chili tomorrow.  I am happy to report that I was able to get everything, so if I decide to do nothing but cook, watch movies, and be lazy I can!  It is only 8pm and I'm exhausted.  I think I'll take one of those epic showers - shave, face mask, exfoliate, the whole 9 yards.  Hehe.  Much love to all, I'll be seeing you soon.