Goodbye to Korea

After 2 years in this strange and wonderful country, it is time to say goodbye. How do you pack up and leave a place that holds so many memories and friends from around the world? It only occurred to me afterwards that I would never be called 'teacher' again and would probably never eat kimchi again (despite my love/hate relationship with cold fermented cabbage).

All my friends who will be missed in Korea.

I have seen so many weird and equally amazing things in this country, from matching couple outfits (shoes and all) to seeing a neighborhood grandmother take a dump in our local park. There are so many teaching moments that stick with you, from the sweet and innocent little girls who say “I love you teacher” to the extremely chubby 5^th grade boy who likes to call me 'Jelly Girl' because I'm more 'jelly fat' than any of the other pin thin Korean teachers. Or maybe even my old high school students who continue to offer me free cigarettes on the street.

Letters from my students saying goodbye.

At the bus station in Yeongju, about to leave.

How do you wrap all those experiences up in a neat little box and go home?

Honestly, I'm not sure but we had a damn good CU crawl anyway.

One of the charms of Korea is that public drinking is completely and 100 percent legal. Sitting at a local convenience store like 7/11, CU or GS25 and downing beer after beer at their picnic tables is totally normal and done. Therefore, because my neighbour, Mark and I, were leaving at the same time, we managed to round up a bunch of our Yeongju friends and went from one convenience store to another drinking. I think we finally all crawled home at about 3am. It was awesome.

On our Yeongju CU crawl!

Most of all I want to dedicate this blog post to some of my closest and dearest friends in Korea who made my experience so special. To Yeongju, a weird, conservative, and apple loving town in the middle of no where – thank you for being so welcoming and loving to a little South African like me.

Saying goodbye to two awesome co-teachers.

To my always comical neighbors, Simon and Mark, I hope Haneuleche-one-room will be as fun for the newbies to live in as it was for me. To Andrea and Sharon – two women who were simultaneously my friends and my mothers overseas, your kindness is always remembered. To people like Frances and Heather, ever level headed and sweet, I will miss eating junk food with you two. To friends like Lauren, Faridah and Karina – your crazy and often hilarious banter will be missed. To the 'new' girls – Irene, Erika and Mel I hope Yeongju becomes your home away from home. To two very sweet co-teachers who made my second year very easy! And lastly, to Marc and Barbara (who I arrived with), I wish noting but the best for that little ball of joy on the way!

Goodbye Korea! I will miss you and thanks for 2 years of adventure and learning.