Goodbye Korea

Well, it's finally over. The beast that I have been fighting, cursing, and railing against for the past year has disappeared, just like that. Being gone from Ding Ding Dang has made the whole event seem like a dream. I find myself wondering, "Did that really happen?" And now that's it's over I can start on the road to recovery. Is there a 12-step program for this kind of thing? I guess the next best thing is a 2-month vacation to Southeast Asia, which is exactly what I'm doing.

Leaving Korea was bittersweet. I had to say goodbye to my student, Ken, who is about eleven or twelve. He's a great kid and I'll really miss him. I'll especially miss all the slang I taught him that he would hurl at me periodically throughout our lessons, like "Hey, you want a knuckle sandwich?!" or "Penis!!" Ken's mom gave us a beautiful Korean jewelry box as a parting gift.

Caroline's friend, Rupina, and her daughter, Susie, took us out for French food before we left. Rupina has done so much for Caroline in the past six months that sometimes I wonder how she (we) could have survived without her. It's people like Rupina and Ken's mom that have really made me realize what great people there are in Korea. I will miss them.

Leaving DDD was easy. I was sad saying goodbye to my preschool kids, but the day got easier after that. When settling finances on the last day, DDD was stingy with us (not to mention that they totally ripped us off and broke the law with certain matters like the National Pension). Anyway, can't end on a bitter note. The other foreign teachers took us for galbi on our last night, which was great. And our landlord, Mr. Lee, who owns the store below us, opened up his store to us on the last night.

The train ride to Seoul was on a grey, misty day, which matched my mood. Korea is really green this time of year, and the rice paddies were brilliant. I think Korea has so much potential that they haven't tapped into yet, and I have a feeling that they're going to make great strides in the next twenty years.

Goodbye, Korea. You've been hard on me, but strangely, I think I'll miss you.