With love, from South Korea: A Farewell to Remember

Packing has commenced. Pictures have come down off the walls. Useless clutter has finally made it's way to the trash can. I quit buying groceries or anything else for my apartment that will need to be disposed of in two short weeks. I don't even teach anymore. Who in the public education system thought it was a good idea to have a two week semester of classes after winter break and before sixth graders graduate? He or she should sit and stab themselves in the forehead repeatedly with a sharp pencil, because that's what school feels like every day lately. This is absolutely absurd. Right now my kids are back and forth between having puppy death depression and ADHD. You literally cannot get them to do a thing being that they grade up in a few weeks and there is no text book or agenda for class. They are either bouncing off the walls or staring (not at me, but past me) in la la land. Everything you request of them is followed by a grunt or slouch. Anything educational is almost completely out of the question. I have even recommended some activities that have gotten turned down by my co-teacher as it is "too educational" for the last two weeks of school. However, who am I to complain.. today I had a snowball fight during class time and had a blast with my kids outside. I'll take that any day.

As the my year comes to a close, I have been making it a point to see a lot of my best friends. Between dinners with Cam & Aileen, Kim, and James, my schedule seems to be getting pretty hefty. Next week I will be doing a Hanok stay (an overnight at a traditional Korean house) with my coteachers, which I'm really looking forward to. It's hard to believe that I only have two weeks and WORSE, two weekends left here.

This past weekend we had a big party that we named, "The Last Hoorah." We planned a big event (facebook official of course) and invited everyone from our original orientation group. On Saturday night, we all went out together in our best dress and with our best attitudes. There are no words for how much fun we had. It was awesome and we went out with a bang to say the least. Our night was packed full with gin and tonics, agwa bombs, dancing like our lives depended on it (seriously.. we got down), heel clicking competitions with strangers from France (for money), playing with stuffed animals in 7/11, eating pizza at 6am all the while having sing-alongs to Lion King with 8 other random foreigners (and entertaining the Koreans running the place), doing headstands in the subway station, planking on the subway, and getting home and in bed by 10AM. I didn't plan to or want to stay out ALL night and ALL morning but let me say, it was WELL worth it. I haven't had that much fun out in a long time. I'm so glad that I decided to go. A wonderful farewell to Seoul, it was indeed. Although it was supposed to be our last "hoorah" we all had such a good time that we want to do it again one more time before we leave and hopefully we can find the time. I cannot believe that in such a short time all the best friends i made will be dispersed all over the world. 19 days and counting...

Aileen (holding Brownie), me, and Cam!

We look pretty good for 4am.