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 5

I've come to the conclusion that I'm not traveling back to America, but moving. If I were traveling there then I wouldn't need to send off six boxes and try to squeeze what is left into two suitcases. But because I am moving, I am sending everything I own to a faraway location.

Today I cleared out my living space and put it all into my suitcases. Turns out I'm going to need that third one. In the end things are starting to look more and more empty in my little apartment here. Someone came by and took the last bookshelf away. Also with all the boxes gone space is opening up.

I thought I would get to dusting behind furniture and cleaning out areas today but I think my motivation will come tomorrow. I'm meeting up with a friend for dinner as a one last goodbye.

As I was walking home from Lotte Mart today (had to pick up more vacuum seal bags), a family was passing me by. One of the younger kids in the group said, "Oh Waygookin!" I closed my eyes but then put on a smile and gave a friendly wave at everyone. While I was walking away I couldn't help but think that could be the last time I have that experience. Which is both good and bad. I'm not really going to miss being singled out based upon my nationality. But at the same time it was a quark of Korea that you couldn't get pass.

Also I confirmed today that Korean Air allows pets under the plane no matter what the season. A few people on this pet Facebook group kept saying it might be a problem, but I knew it was okay. Just four more days, Tom! Are you ready?!

The Last Week: Day 6

Even though I don't have to wake up early anymore to head into work, Tom still wakes me up. He does it gently by first meowing in my face and then laying his paw on my chin. Then he slowly drags his paw away so that his claws catch my skin and wake me up enough. It's okay to get up early and feed him cause I can sleep in for the next two hours. Or when he wakes me up again for his treats. Who needs an alarm clock, when you have a cat?

I prepared my last box for shipping, which contains some blankets I want to take with me. I don't know what it is, but Korean blankets are really warm and I thought why not hold on to them for more years? I also moved a bookshelf closer to the door that somebody is going to come by and pick up. This revealed a lot of dust and cat hair, so cleaned that up. Then I headed out to the local Vet to pick up Tom's flying papers, which I am going to need to make copies of before I go. Afterwards headed to the small grocery store to pick up some items I need for the rest of the week.

When I got back home I did a little more cleaning but felt really tired from yesterday. So today was mostly spent resting and contemplating everything ahead. I got a lot of cuddle time in with Tom, though.

It definitely feels like spring is heading it's way to Korea. The days are getting a little bit longer and the temperatures are heading out of the 20's (Fahrenheit). I know I am going to miss seeing the blooms here but it's time to move on. :)

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!

Packing Logistics

I've been spending the past 24 hours figuring out how to get all my stuff to Seattle without paying more than I should. I might have too much stuff to begin with, but I've been here for five years. I have summer and winter clothes to take with me, along with my art stuff. It piles up!

I did a "mock packing" yesterday to see if I could fit all my clothes in two suitcases and not be overweight. Turns out things were too close to the edge. The maximum weight is 23 KG and after I would add all my knick knacks and stuff it would have gone over. So I took out my summer clothes and put those in box, since it should still be mildly cold in Seattle when I get there. Thankfully I have a military friend who is kind enough to ship these boxes out to America. I believe this will be cheaper and faster than using the Korean postal service.

However, I already sent three boxes to my family's house back home. Two of which already arrived. It doesn't really cost too much to ship out from the Korean post office, but just makes me a bit nervous when it goes by ship.

So now I've got it down to that one suitcase is empty and the other half full. My winter clothes are still hanging up in my closet but should fit nicely now without a problem. This extra leg room will be helpful for whatever packing surprises might come.

I also needed to ship my carryon luggage (a rolling backpack type thing) because I'm going to need my hands free at the airport. So I went out and bought a laptop backpack that wasn't too expensive. Something to just get me through this transition.

Tom certainly did not enjoy the frenzy of packing I was in lately. Because I am using vacuum seal bags to get all my clothes in a box, he hid from the noise. Sorry, Tom!

Well two more days of work left...wow time is flying!