Goodbyes Cont'd

Goodbyes in your home country are different than goodbyes in a foreign country. Each time I say goodbye to my friends and family in the states I know full well that I will see them again upon my return. In one sense saying goodbye to people here in Korea has been more difficult than back home. Odds are I will not see a majority of these people ever again, so it truly is a goodbye. We were at the same place during the same time and now we part ways. I value the relationships formed here, but due to the nature of our lifestyles and location we may never meet again...although I hope that our paths will cross in the future.

Let the Goodbyes Begin

Today was our last day of class, which will be followed by a week of student exams. We had an end of year assembly where student awards were handed out and the official goodbye was given to each departing staff member - that included me. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but I was caught off guard. My principal said some very kind words to/about me while I stood before the student body. I got just a little bit choked up, but not too much...you know, just a couple small tears. The principal said goodbyes to the three other departing staff members, then the assembly was finished. Afterwards, student after student approached me to say some nice words, tell me that they'll miss, and give me a hug. This is where I struggled. I was sad to begin with, but when I see other people cry, I share that experience with them. So a lot of hugs and tears later I was in the clear.

As much as I hate Korea, I love it. As much as the students frustrate me, I truly care about them. As much as the parents drive me crazy, I've built some great relationships with many of them. Four months into my stay here I was ready to bail on my contract and move home. I endured. My time here has been a mixture of love and hate, frustration and joy, camaraderie and loneliness, along with a number of other emotions.

Although I'm ready to leave, part of me desires to stay. I will miss my students, my coworkers, my friends - all those that have been a part of my life here in Korea. I'm moving on to what will be another chapter of travels, adventures, and new experiences, but I'll be taking with me many great memories of Korea.

My New Home - August 17

Here are just a few pics of where I'll be living for the next two years starting August 17. Looks nice, doesn't it? :)

Attempting to Wrap Things Up

Seeing that I haven't posted in quite a while you may assume that I've been busy or that I'm lacking motivation...both are true. I'm down to my final 5 weeks in Korea. It's hard to believe. I'm swamped at work and I don't think that I'll get everything done that I need to do before I leave...I can only do so much. Wrapping up things in one place while getting ready for a move to another place is quite overwhelming, enough so that I don't even want to deal with it. But I'm trying to knock out things one a time. Last Monday I visited the Swiss Embassy to submit my Swiss Visa application. If all goes well I should receive it right before I leave Korea. Last Friday I had a shipping company visit my apartment to provide me with a quote to get all my crap to Switzerland. My ticket is booked to leave Kansas City on August 16th and arrive in Geneva on August 17th. I'll get to try out LOT-Polish Airlines. I've been spoiled here flying with Korean Air.

There are a lot of things running around inside my head, but I'm going to save them for myself or another post. I'm ready to be back in the USA right now. I need/want to see my family and friends, and touch base with "home."

Another Change

After an unexpected turn of events this past Monday I was offered a job in Switzerland at Leysin American School. I'm beyond excited for this opportunity to live and work in such an amazing place. I don't think I could be working in a place that is a better fit for me than this school. In August I'll be moving to the Swiss village of Leysin, which is on the east side of Lake Geneva, and up in the mountains. This will be a huge change from where I'm at now. Suwon = 1.25 million people. Leysin = 3,000 people year round and 10,000 people during the ski season. I'll have daily access to skiing, mountain biking, road cycling, and hiking, right out of my front door. Ah!!!!!!!

The timing of all this was a bit difficult as I had verbally committed to another year at my current school. Thankfully I work under some wonderful people who support and understand me as a person. They knew my heart wasn't here in Korea and that it was a dream of mine to move to Switzerland. So when the opportunity arose they were supportive of me pursuing the position.

Something tells me I'll have a few more visitors at my next location :)

Back From Vietnam

After 8 days in Vietnam I'm back in Korea and back to work for the final stretch of the school year. Vietnam is a great place to visit and I might even consider living there despite its extremely hot weather and crazy amounts of people. English is widely spoken due to the tourism boom. The Vietnamese people are friendly. The food is yummy. And the country is beautiful! My friend and I stayed at a hostel while in Ho Chi Minh and then stepped it up a few notches for the few days at the beach. Accommodations at both places were comfortable although much nicer at the beachside resort.

Ho Chi Minh City was busy, and full of scooters, prostitutes and travelers. A lot of the people I met were on trips that lasted up to a year and with their extended travels came some good stories. We did a couple of day trips to some significant sites outside of the city. We visited a Cao Dai religious temple and watched their daily ritual, which involved mostly chants. The Cu Chi tunnels were definitely the most interesting place I saw in Vietnam. These were the tunnels used by the VC during the American Vietnam War. A portion of the tunnels were enlarged so that tourists could go through them. They were still very small and I couldn't imagine going through them during war time. The VC built over 200 kilometers of these tunnels at depths up to 10 meters. Pretty crazy endeavor! We toured the Mekong Delta by motor boat and row boat. The other time was spent wandering the street markets, eating good food and bumming around.

After Ho Chi Minh City we went to the Mui Ne beach, which is a famous spot for kite boarding and wind surfing...but I did neither, ha. The only semi-constructive thing we did was rent a scooter for a day and drive around to some of the different sand dune parks. Towards the end of our ride we took off our helmets because they wouldn't have done squat for our heads had we actually been in a wreck. Well, it turns out that the only thing the Police care about in terms of road safety is the use of a helmet. We were quickly pulled over. The police officer asked for my Vietnamese driver's license. I obviously don't have one. A small crowd started to gather because what's more fun than watching a couple of tourists get pulled over...? Nothing. The police officer said that he was going to have to keep the scooter because I had no license and was not wearing a helmet. I kept my cool, although nervous on the inside. Thankfully after being polite, apologizing and promising to wear our helmets, he let us go. A lot of time was spent lounging around the beach, swimming in the oceans, watching movies, eating food, drinking some beers, and sleeping. It was a very relaxing 2nd half of the trip!! A hot and sweaty 5.5 hour bus ride brought us back to HCMC where we had to kill a couple of hours until going to the airport for an overnight flight.

We arrived back in Korea at 7 am, and I got to my apartment at 9 am...showered, made a couple of phone calls and hopped in bed for some sleep. Overall it was an excellent trip!

Kickboxing and Vietnam

I'm in my 4th week of kickboxing and it's going pretty well. Despite looking and feeling like a fish out of water I've been making small steps of progress. There is a lot more rhythm and coordination involved, so I'm still trying to get the feel of the movements. It's fun. It's engaging. And at times it's painful. Once the weather warms up I'll be riding my bike to and from the gym, which will eliminate the time wasted sitting on a bus. Instead I'll get a 45 minute ride each way to/from the gym and then 1.5 hours of kickboxing. I should see a drastic increase in my fitness sometime in the next month.

On Friday my friend and I will be getting on a plane to Vietnam. After a 5.5 hour flight we'll arrive in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon. There we will spend 4 nights in a hostel while exploring the city and surrounding areas during the day. From Ho Chi Minh City we'll go east to an area called Mui Ne and spend 4 nights at a beach resort. I'm ready for some warm weather, sunshine, and ocean water.