It's now almost been three weeks since we left Korea on our Southeast Asia excursion. We had some pretty serious doubts about whether leaving was a good choice for us, and if going forward with other plans was the right decision. Leaving our students was one of the hardest things we've had to experience, and yet after we left, we learned of some more issues with the school - the final news was that the school will close completely at the end of this week. We were shocked and saddened to hear about it, and yet we ended things with our kids, friends, and coworkers in the best way possible. It was a short but impactful chapter in our lives, and we have LOVED our time there. So here are some photos documenting our final days in Korea, and saying goodbye to people we love!!!
Our last day of school was the worst. We had all been really stressed getting final exams, performances, comments to parents, evaluations, and packing done, plus I had interviewed 5 couples for replacements. By the end of the week we were ready to party! So on performance day, we took some time to have a snack party and watch the kindy kids' favorite, My Little Pony.
I love the sequence of these photos. These are the girls in my class:
from L to R, Sarah, Jean, Hyeju, and Marsha
And this is my little squirt Justin. I would've taken ALL of these guys home in my suitcase if they would've fit (we joked about it in class, actually)...
Here are Taggart's two brilliant and awesome kids, Jay and Yeriel.
Again with the awesome sequence of shots. Here is everyone, plus Caleb, a remarkably smart kid who joined my class part time. Pluto+Simba+Bambi class members= The Plambians.
We did our best to get some good shots of the kids during the party (ish):
At lunch on our last day, Jay and Yeriel's moms took us out with our Korean supervisor Gloria for a wonderful last lunch. Their moms pooled together to make a scrapbook for Taggart of all of their favorite memories of Simba/Daisy class with Taggart over the past year (but they included me in some too!). These kids REALLY love Taggart and he loves them too. The book was the sweetest gesture of appreciation, and we both choked up when they gave it to Taggart.
Here's a shot of all of us at lunch:
Taggart with Jay, showing off his Japchae noodles... :)
The last week of class we talked a lot about the future, about summer vacation, my future job, what Taggart and I would do in America, etc. My kids do a daily journal, and this was Caleb's entry. Keep in mind that in U.S. age, he is 5 years old. I only helped him spell "scientist" and "famous".
It says:
"My Job in the Future: When I grow up I want to be a scientist. I will work in a laboratory. I will make rockets and comfortable cars. I will work with other scientists. My favorite part will be inventing a satellite. I will become famous. I need to study well so I can become a scientist."
(The picture is of a satellite and a comfortable car) I love this kid.
The other letter is from one of my afternoon kids named Kate. :)
My last time in my classroom was bittersweet. I had little presents for all the kids, and Taggart and I wrote notes for each one to say goodbye. We read them together, and then one girl started crying, and came and hugged me. I had been doing really well until that point, but I got choked up. Less than 1 second after I lost it (for a split second) all my girls were bawling, and Justin was trying to cheer them up by making funny faces (he gets uncomfortable with emotions). Those sweet girls cried until I took them to the bus, and I felt SO bad. I had an hour break after that that I just went into my classroom and took some time to get a hold of myself for afternoon classes.
My afternoon kids were much more chipper, since they've dealt with teachers changing more. We had snack parties after their final exams, and watched Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
1. Jenice, Stephanie, Kate 2. Jason, me, and Tom
1. Me and Tom 2. Daniel, Andy, Joy, Alex, me, Lina
My entire i-1 class (the smartypants!) From L to R:
Alice, Jenice, Stephanie, Kate, me. Tom, Jason, and the infamous and wonderful Lucas
After we ended our time at school, we still had a full weekend before our trip to say goodbye to our friends, pack, and get ready to go. We had a final movie night, per tradition, with some friends, in what used to be Heather's apartment (but we took over!):
Oh the snacks! Gina brought cake, and Dana made flipping salsa that was amazing!
I stupidly didn't get a picture of everyone at the party, but I did snap one picture of our friend Yeji!
We also made sure that we had our favorite Korean foods as our "last suppers" before we left. This included gimbap, bibimbap, samgyetang, and galbi, of course!
We love Korean food! We will really miss it when we go home.
One of my saddest goodbyes was to my amazing Korean tutor, Sung-A. She met with me 2-3 times a week for 7 months for one-on-one Korean lessons. I KNOW I would be much more terrible at Korean without her - she is an amazing teacher!
Our final days were spent packing, having lunch with friends, and exploring the city.
Korea is so green and beautiful in the summer, even though it's 98 percent humidity...
We found a basement Mcdonald's... And here is Taggart showing off his subway Sudoku skills.
I can't believe how fast July went, but look at how busy it ended up being!
Oh Korea, we love you and miss you - rest assured, we will be back someday!
