And the Firsts turn to Lasts

Dear God,
Thank you for bringing me here to this city in South Korea. Thank you for my students. Thank you for my church. Thank you for my coworkers. Thank you for Elizabeth. Thank you for safety..especially that one night when I thought for sure that thunder was the North Koreans dropping bombs...Thank you for hearing and answering my cries when living here got to be too much to handle on my own. Thank you for the reminders that I'm never alone, you're always there. Thank you for how you've guided me and brought me through so many joyful situations and also difficult situations. Thank you for loving me so I know how to love these people.

Well, I can't even explain how much stuff I've accomplished just today! So many things to do when moving..especially to another country...AND planning a trip to Seoul AND a 9 day vacation in China...AND saying last goodbyes. I'm pretty sure I've created at least 5 different to do lists in the past 24 hours. However, for Monday's to-do list, this is the last item on it. However, I have no idea how I'm going to put into words what this past year has meant in my life.

I think I will do my best to keep it short and simple. And if you really want to know more about my future plans or feelings about this past year, let's have a face to face convo or long email conversations :) For now, I will include the past couple day's events and some pictures and then give you a little glimpse into my thoughts.

Well, Friday is when the "lasts" began. Friday afternoon, Mrs. Ko, Mrs. Nam, Mr. Che and I went over to GoChang to see this very beautiful park and temple. We ate some tteokboki and kim bap, walked around and just enjoyed one another's company one last time. They like to call themselves the "foundation" of the morning class. And they really are that.

Friday afternoon, we had one last movie day. I made some homemade popcorn and surprised the kids with no worksheet for the movie. I thought they would be happier about the popcorn but they were so floored that they didn't have to answer questions about the movie. Anyhow, I'm glad I could make them happy on the last movie day.


Saturday, I went to lunch with the ladies from my church and then spent the day with Pastor and Alex walking around the seawall area. It was nice and a great way to procrastinate packing.


Sunday was the last day at church. It was just so stinkin' emotional. Those people really feel like my family and it's hard saying goodbye to them. After church, a group went over to Pastor's for some pizza and some yute. Even though my team totally got robbed and we lost the game of yute, it was still all in all a really good time.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I got very serious about my packing. So on Monday, after I assessed that I will definitely have some space in my suitcase, Seul Ki and I decided to do a little last minute shopping spree. I bought some clothes, a few purses, some socks, some make-up...nothing that I really needed, just little treats to remember Korea by :) On Monday night Seul Ki and I went to Santa Rose at Eunpa Park and reminisced about our time together. She is so extremely sweet and she has been such a blessing in my life. Her goodbye present was incredible. She translated her diary entries that included me, and she also wrote this extremely kind letter. I'm excited to keep her as a close friend as she enters college next year. I think she is one of those life long friends.

And so that brings us to Tuesday, today. Today I took my last walk to work, taught my last classes, worked out for the last time in that awful gym, and rode my bike back home from work for the last time.

I actually took a video of my walk to work. Hopefully someday soon here I can put it up on facebook. The morning class was difficult. I felt on the verge of a breakdown pretty much the whole time and when I saw Mrs. Ko wipe away a few tears, I gave in a little. We talked about memories of the past year, they had insanely nice things to say about me, my teaching, how I've improved. I've never felt so encouraged. I left in tears, but I am so thankful that I was able to spend every weekday from 10am to 11 am with that group of people.

I made my way to the gym. Said goodbye to a few of my locker room ladies, ran a few miles or seven, and came back home to continue the packing and organizing. In all of my kid classes we ate oreos and drank milk. I made sure they experienced the heavenly taste of a somewhat soggy (with milk) orea. They were all impressed.

The first class was the best. They made me this AWESOME choco pie tower and put candles in it. They also decorated the room in their own special way and had me blow out the candles as they cheered.

This class was definitely my favorite kid class. Not only were they the best in English but they had such great attitudes and personalities. They are funny too..On the board, they wrote, "See You Next Monday!" Something I have said to them every Friday for the past year.

In every class today I either gave them a hug goodbye or gave them a "hand hug." When I gave Sharon a "hand hug" she held on and said, "Teacher, don't go." Oh these kids will make you want to stay here for forever!

The other classes didn't go as far as the first class for our goodbye parties, but they all went out of their way to decorate the white board. Here are some of my favorites:



And here is my trouble class. We are missing three, but those two girls on the right count for at least 6 other junior highers! They were difficult but they had personality and even though I won't miss them as let's say the first kid class, I WILL miss them..well, some of them ;)

And so the day ended and I am officially unemployed :)

Right now I feel so overwhelmed and busy that I don't feel like I have the time to let myself really feel sad about leaving. It sort of feels like my first week here. I feel like I'm just going through the motions, doing what needs to be done, and I feel a little disconnected. I feel like I'm watching myself do all these things and say goodbye to all these incredible students, but nothing has really hit me yet.

A few things I will really miss about Korea:
*my students *my church *the convenience of living in a bigger city *my one roomer apt *riding my bike to work everyday *the food..especially tteokboki, kimbap, and chopchae

A few things I really won't miss about Korea:
*rude old men *the constant hacking of loogies *old woman snapping their gum *the way people walk in a zig zag fashion on the sidewalks *the gym owner

A few things I will miss but didn't think I'd miss:
*living alone *my market *the locker room ladies *Lily

I think I could go on, but then that would leave nothing for me to tell you to your face. Thank you so much for following my blog. I know I will appreciate this blog even more 10 years down the road when I want to remember what my year of firsts was like! Let me leave you with two things, first, a Bible verse that I memorized in Mrs. Kielsmeier's 5th grade class. This verse has been a huge encouragement to me.

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will go with you wherever you may go."

And lastly, I will leave you with two pictures.

First picture is my first official day at my first official job out of college, October 4, 2010

The second picture, my last day at my first official job, October 4, 2011. Here I am, longer hair, a few LB's lighter, and a whole lot more cultured.

Thanks again for reading along. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.