Endings Part II

Look at this timely blogging. Today, I tried to respond to a heap of old emails and Facebook messages that I'd been neglecting. Sorry to my friends about that. Sending my phone back tomorrow morning (I rented one for the year, which I hella don't recommend.) I found old videos that my students had taken of my classes, when they stole my phone without my knowing. The videos wouldn't send to my computer, so I had to delete them. It broke my heart because they were some of my favorite students, but this is how it's going to go!


Earlier, I had bogung (catch up/detention class) with one of the sweetest kids. Her mother packed a lunchbox for us to share T_T. What! It had Yubuchobap 유부초밥, which was really yummy (co-teacher says it's really easy to make!)--and it was the first time I'd eaten it. Highly recommended.


While the job has, of course, has had its downsides, I'm only hoping that any job that I have back in the US will include the positives of this one. Coming from thinking that I wasn't a huge fan of children--and was, to be honest, a little scared of them--this has been quite the experience.


Some treasures from my phone:

Pictionary drawing by a student. The word was "wool."

#LifeinKorea

What is this?

Endings

It's nearly 3:30 in the morning, so this can't be a long post. Time has flown by quickly again. It's already September 28th and my plane ticket has been booked for October 18th. I'll head to Japan for a few days before I fly home to LA, then back up to Seattle.
I'm feeling incredibly nostalgic about my time, life, and experiences in Korea, as it comes to a close. There are four more days left for me to teach and I am sad to leave some of these funny little guys behind, but time will go on yet.
I've been thinking, if there were no extraneous circumstances, I would have almost definitely ended up in Korea for another year. It's a strange thing to think about. Little does anyone know these things before they happen.

I made a list in my journal of things I especially want to remember from the past year. A few of them, I have already documented here, but I'll share a few more...

1) Umbrella sharing from strangers. Of course, there are darting and uncomfortable arm-linking situations. But, there was that other time when the older woman shared her umbrella with me as I walked home from work and then tried to lend it to me when we got to her apartment. She told me I could just leave it on her doorstep the next day.

2) Taking time for yourself to do important self-care things, but also taking time for important people in your life.

3) How trusting and kind people are. The community feel. The help given when lost on subways.

4) Friendships and meetings that exist in instants and memories, not lived out until their final notes.

5) It's okay to have unmet potentials and to enjoy things for what they are, momentarily.

6) The song that plays at transfer stations on the Seoul subway.

7) When the angry lady smacked me in the face at the parade, but then everyone laughed and kept on keeping on.

8) Hoamji lake and the little wooden cafe that overlooks it.

9) Busan.

10) On that note, Suanbo, Danyang, Daejeon, Ulleungdo--Ariel and I hunting for Doctor Fish and being unable to find them.

11) The two young men who went out of their way to kindly drive us up to the bathhouse in Suanbo for nothing in return.

12) The art fair on Sundays in Hongdae.

13) Children are people too. Sometimes they're cool, sometimes they're not so cool.

14) Just as a legacy, how the students have picked up some slang from me (LA style.)

15) English grammar discussions and debates.

16) All of the fantastic people I've met here and things I've learned about myself and the world around me.

And on that extremely sentimental note---