The Last Night in Korea

Today I went to my school to pay my housing bills and as I waited for my supervisor in the office the Vice President started to talk to me. No worries, she is a sweet older woman who has complimented me in the past. She wanted to know when I was leaving, and when I told her, "tomorrow" she was astonished. She even asked if that was next week's tomorrow. She knew I had been in Korea five years and asked me if I had a boyfriend or was married. All questions that receive a "no" answer. But I reassured her I was fine and was heading back home to be a student to learn more about teaching.

We did hug goodbye.

I'm sitting here with three bags packed to the brim and can't believe it's my last night in Korea. Five years ago I came here with wide eyes and an open heart. I experienced so much, went through so many tribulations and made amazing memories. Now it's ending minute by minute and the hardest part is knowing I will be far away from it all.

I bought a mini pack of tissues today because I have a feeling once I settle in on the plane and wait for tack off, the tears might start streaming. Even though I am going through all this alone I know I'm strong enough to get to the other side. And I'm not entirely alone with family and friends supporting me. I also have Tom!

I really can't say much more. Everything I experienced here from start to finish has impacted me so deeply. So I'm going to leave you with this video I made before I left for Korea. You can see all the innocence, naivety and bravery in myself. It's kind of the same how I feel now facing a new life in America.

Thank you.

The Last Week: Day 2

It's all pretty much ready folks. I've made a pile of things next to my suitcase that I hope to stuff inside it. I've gone through the kitchen and cleared out stuff and put some things into a box.

By this time tomorrow it will be less than 30 hours in Korea, and then it's bye bye. I think I have said all there is to say about how I feel. I'm just kind of ready now to hop on the plane, get Tom through to the other side and start things. I was happy to see Tom lick his water bottle feeder that is attached to his carrier. This gave me hope that he will hydrate himself during the flight, but then got me a little concerned he may need the bathroom. Ah well!

I also successfully registered for my first two classes as a graduate student! This gave me a lot of excitement for what's to come. They are, "Linguistics for Language Teachers I" and "Adult Learners". Two classes that I think will be a good start, and they meet on Tues and Weds. Student life, here I come!

Tonight I'm meeting a friend for dinner and that will be a nice last thing to do.

It's quiet in here.

The Last Week: Day 4

Today was all about work, work, work. I got up and immediately went ahead with cleaning behind all the furniture. I found a lot of dust and cat hair all mangled together. Things in here sure do look a lot cleaner now. After I whisked through the living space I tackled the kitchen. Everything needed a good scrubbing including the refrigerator.

When I moved in to this place (two years ago) it wasn't as clean as I'm making it now. But I know who is going to move in and I don't really want to leave someone with a dirty place. It sucks to move in somewhere and then have to clean it to make it comfortable. I suppose I am putting money into my good karma bank!

While I was cleaning I started to think that it would be a good idea to reduce the weight more on my suitcases, so I ended up going to the post office for one more box. But that's it! Everything is pretty much empty in my place now. What I need to get by on for the next few days is out, so it really feels like I'm moving now.

I met another friend for dinner and had a lovely last time. I can't believe tomorrow is going to be "day 3" and then I'm almost out of here. Time flys, it really does!

Last night I felt a twinge of sadness that I'm leaving behind a lot of memories here. I'm hoping the withdrawal I feel from leaving Korea is something I can get through. But I'm up to the task and making new memories back in America! :)

The Last Week: Day 7

It's starting to hit me that I have just about a week left in Korea. All the memories and people I have met are going to be in a far away place when I go back home. When I ride the subway I can't help but think that this would be my last time on the bustling train. As I walk past the usual shops in my neighborhood and hear the fruit stand lady shout, "Oranges, 3,000 won!" (In Korean) I know that I won't hear that again.

I am not scared to be saying good bye to all this but I now really I understand it's something I'm going to have to do. Korea has been my home for the past five years and I made it so. I adjusted to all the differences and nuances. I can read Korean fluently and work my way around a crowded busy street like slick butter. It's time to wrap all this up and put in my memories.

Yet I am looking forward to being far from here and having the time to mentally hash all this out and go through what was precious about living in Korea. For a while I was telling myself all the reasons it will be good to go home, and how Korea has it's flaws. But today I realized that there is nothing wrong with Korea. It is what it is, and will tick and sputter along as it always does. With that said, I also feel there is nothing wrong with America, and not one is truly better than the other. They both have their way of living and I am choosing to live back in America.

I am calling this Day 7 because I will countdown to the last day when I leave. I hope to put up a post for everyday on my reflections and updates on what is going on.

Today I was going to putter around the house doing some chores and cleaning before heading out to the Seoul KOTESOL workshop. Instead I picked up my tote bag and headed to Gangnam. There I went to the Kyobo bookstore, because at the bottom level is their stationary store. I still felt compelled to get more little sketchbooks and journals. Let's just say I hope I can fit it all in my suitcase.

The Seoul KOTESOL workshop was really well done this time. Stafford presented us with the topic of "Error Correction" and I have to say I should really have done more to correct my students English. It opened up my eyes to the breadth of this profession and got me excited for my coursework ahead.

Time is ticking...

If these shoes could talk...

Those are a pair of shoes that I have worn every since I came to Korea. They have been my work shoes, because you change your shoes when you go to work here. I always said to myself I would get a different pair but I never bothered. They have seen me through 1 hagwon, 2 public schools and this last one. These shoes have taken me through a lot of drama and hard times, but also through fun experiences as well. I'm not going to take them back with me, so I suppose they can live here in Korea.

I just finished my last classes and I feel good. I thought maybe I would feel really sad, but I'm all together okay. (I'm thinking it will all hit me when I strap in for my plane ride). The students seem surprised and pleased with the gift card and nice candy I gave them. They really enjoyed the video and were amazed I made it. I left them the title of the video so they can search for it, and also gave out my email.

I know I will miss these students. The hardest thing is not going to be here to see them grow up, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

The following are pictures of student homework. For their last assignment I had them write a sentence about their favorite subject they learned in Math, then draw a picture of their favorite experience. Some of the results were really amusing and I liked the fact that they were varied. It showed I gave them a range of experiences. It was also fun to see their hand drawn renditions of me...so take a look!

I'll start with ones that are renditions of myself. Sorry for the cropping on this one but I'm in the bottom left. I've got those wild eyed teacher eyes.

Here I am depicted in threes for some reason. For the most part I'm distinguishable because of my curly hair, which was rendered with quite a lot of curliness. As for what the kid is depicting it was a weighing demonstration I did with them. I had a spring scale where you attach something to the hook at the bottom and it pulls down to show how many grams, many of them got a kick out of this.

I like the nose I was given in this one:

 A lot of them liked the "potion" activity which was done last week. It was an activity I devised for measuring using milliliters. However, I couldn't find a water dropper for the life of me in my area and so just poured tiny amounts. I relabeled colorful sports drink bottles as, "Fire potion", "Electric potion" and so on. They first filled out a worksheet then came up to me to get their "potion."

Here a student enjoyed the "animal cubes" project we did earlier in the semester:

Another one for the weight unit, here I had students construct a "gallon man" craft, which a lot of them liked.

Another one that enjoyed the measuring unit. She is depicting a scenario that actually happened. I made a large inch ruler by laminating an example. Then I walked around and measured the student's heads as they guessed the size. Yep, that was a big hit too!

I'm quite impressed with this kids memory of sorting black and white baduk beads to represent area. Something learned back in the Spring semester. It's also a really accurate rendition of the activity.

This last one hear I like because it's basically a drawing of this kids desk when they are in my class. Open book, eraser, pencil and pencil case all shown in good detail.

When I looked through this homework assignment I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. I couldn't help but think that I did get through to these kids and left them with happy memories.

I did receive a present from one of the homeroom teachers that she gave to me privately. I could really tell she acknowledged the hard work I put in and was sad to see me go. I reassured her I enjoyed teaching at the school and will miss it very much.

So this was my last day of work here in Korea. Just about a week left and I'll be off on my new adventure. Thank you kids!

Proud of My Work

Before I ever left for Korea I was working at an Insurance Company in San Francisco. My boss was this kooky old Japanese man who lived by a lot of morals and codes. Have you ever watched Mad Men? The office was kind of like that, and even had old type writers.

While he was training me to be an Insurance Agent he would now and then pass on knowledge. This one time he told me that when you do a job you should do it right. You should do such hard work that when it comes time for you to leave (for whatever reason) the company should be sorry to see you go. At that time I was fresh out of college and with a small work history behind me. I tried my best at that job, but know I could have left it better.

His wise words have carried with me in Korea. As you know I struggled at the first few jobs I had here, then I started to get momentum and understood what hard work means. It doesn't just mean showing up on time, doing paperwork and being there. It means going beyond the call of duty and probably working more than you should.

At the job I'm leaving now I know I am leaving behind hard work. My colleagues and supervisors might not be exactly telling me, "We wish you could stay" but I know I've left my mark. Although the Vice Principal did say she was sad to see me go.

However, I'm proud of my work at this job because of what I experienced today. I was organizing my desk and getting things ready for the new teacher. Throughout the year I kept binders of my work so to keep a record and just in case things came to this. I looked through my two full binders of "worksheets" and realized what great work it was. I made 90% of the worksheets by scratch. The binder of "lesson plans" weren't just short pages with an outline of what to do, but detailed and lengthy. In the storage spaces along the walls were spread out five large plastic bins full of materials, I also made from scratch. In addition, I bought blocks, cards and other hands-on stuff for the students. I'm leaving this all behind for the new teacher, and hope they use it.

When I walked into this school to teach 1st Grade math I was left with scant supplies and lesson plans. I started from scratch and built up a curriculum that I think is effective. However, I know that there is room for tweaking, but that's for the new teacher to deal with.

Leaving a job feeling satisfied and proud is a really good feeling. In the end, I don't really need a supervisor to tell me "good job" because I saw the results in my students and work. If you are an English teacher here in Korea I would encourage you to put in more than you have been. You might think it's not worth it because of the salary and quality of your institution, but it will develop yourself so much.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on this last Monday at work! (Official last day is next Thursday...next Monday is a holiday).

Goodbye desk~

Goodbye chalkboard ~

One Last Stroll Through Insadong

It's the center of Seoul, and the place where you will likely make your first memories in Korea. When I first came here it was indeed one of the very first tourist areas I walked into. I am talking about Insadong, the tourist trap of Seoul. Despite this nickname, Insadong delivers souvenirs, art and traditional food. It was once an area known for it's art galleries and secret alley ways. Nowadays it has let make-up shops and typical cafes move in. 

But I needed some souvenirs before leaving, and also wanted to have a last look at Gwanghwamun Square. Upon my first arrival in Korea, the golden Sejong statue wasn't there and the gate in the background was a wall. Things were more under repair when I came here in 2008, and since then the area has blossomed.

On my way to Insadong I stopped at the Kyobo bookstore to find the right journal. I really enjoy Korea's way of designing the simplest of items, such as notebooks. I didn't find the exact one I was looking for but took away one I felt would do the job.

 To get to Insadong I meandered through some alley ways admiring the silly sights along the way. Plus it was good to get off the main (noisy) road. I liked the following sign advertising fish soup, cause I figured someone worked hard to paint that picture.

At one point I saw someone had these chipmunks in a cage nearby their shop. They were too cute to pass by. Then as I popped out now and then onto the main road I caught a glimpse of a bum making a fire to warm his hands. That was the first time in Korea I ever saw something like that.

A bar named "Seattle" was spotted, which was a sign ...right?

As for Insadong itself not much has changed since the last time I was there. However the street certainly has changed since 2008. I admired the trinkets for sale and various street carts with their random bites to eat.

Ssamzigil is still the same spiral staircase it always has been. I hope that place never changes and brings in more spunky fun.

 It's amazing how places shrink after you see them over and over. When I first stepped into Insadong it felt like an endless road of people and shops. This was when I was at YBM and had my training days just with the first week of arriving. I'll never forget the feeling of wanting to explore it more.

For lunch I had some bulgolgi at a typical restaurant you can find in the area.

I managed to get everything I came for and some extra, of course! Revisiting Insadong for the last time obviously reminded me of times past, but it also made me think of other parts of Seoul that I might want to say goodbye to before I go. Time is quickly falling through the hour glass and soon enough all of this will be out of reach. However, I think with all the amount of exploring I have done over the past five years I think I've made enough lasting memories. 

A Goodbye Video to my Students

As part of a package of things I will be giving to my students to say goodbye to them, I made this video. It's a collection of photos and videos from our various field trips over the past two years. There was a lot I could put in but I narrowed it down to the following that you will see. I'm not looking forward to my last class time with the kids, because they really gave me the strength and inspiration to be a teacher. But I hope this video and my other gifts will leave a lasting memory in their hearts.

Enjoy ~

The Varying Incarnations of Foreign/er

If you have read my blog for some time, you would know that I often change the picture header-image on the top. Over the years this amounts to several different headers and schemes for the layout of this blog. Since this blog is heading towards it's end I thought I would celebrate all the different incarnations the header came into being over the years.

Please feel free to comment on which was your favorite and not-so loved header. I'll definitely miss finding the right picture, tweaking it in Photoshop and updating this blog.

(In no real order...)