I’ve mailed my packages, closed my bank account, paid my final bills, cleaned and closed up the apartment, and crossed that channel bridge for the last time. My final mission was to bring personal closure with my “little man”, the student struggling for acceptance and destined for the extraordinary. He ran to me as he exited […]

When people ask why I’m leaving, I simply respond Because I can. It can be hard as hell for a “Westerner” to live in Korea, perhaps harder than anywhere else in the world with a similarly high standard of living.  From conversations, discussions of everyday experiences, it seems to be that a lot of foreigners have a love/hate relationship with […]

Could this process possibly be any more unpleasant?  First, I get reamed a new asshole when I called the Coordinator at the Office of Education to tell her that I’m leaving. Her response was “You can’t leave. You have a contract.” I suggested she talk with the American Embassy to confirm that I can, in fact, leave without […]

To celebrate my last day, I brought in treats ~ loaves of cake and fruit breads, jelly rolls, and assorted pastries.  I had estimated the sweets buffet to satisfy 40 adults the entire morning ~ unfortunately, the bounty lasted less than 15 minutes ….  WOW!! 

gobble, gobble …

Depart Seoul @ 11:10 am  Thursday, June 4

Stopover in Tokyo-Narita

Arrive MSP@ 1:20 pm Thursday, June 4

My last day at school is tomorrow (June 1).  The next few days will be dedicated to packing and paperwork, and I will leave the island for the last time on Wednesday evening.

Hallelujah.

At the end of the day on Friday, the teachers took me out for a “farewell” dinner, to a very nice restaurant in the country near Gimpo. I almost cried when we arrived ~ the restaurant overlooks a pond and the lawn is equiped with “American-style” barbeque grills.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing ~ it […]

I asked that the teachers not tell the students until the end of the week that I am leaving, simply because it’s too disruptive ~ I wanted to keep the questions about “why?” to a dull roar. But they know … I’m not sure how it was announced, but they know. I started getting the “love […]

We enjoyed 18 wonderful years with our cat, Cid Stosha.  I remember the day that we went to the Humane Society, where Marie chose the “pretty one”.  I remember the day that our neighbor in the condo called to report that our kitten had climbed out the window and was strolling on the ledges of the […]

We are celebrating the anniversary of the opening of the Boys Middle School. Whoopdee-damn-do. I have no obligations, no schedule.  I checked, and double-checked, (and got it in writing) that I actually do not have to be physically present at the school today.  Remarkable, only because it is an exception to the other “off” days when […]

Here’s the situation ~ I’m sitting in the teacher’s room during my 2-hour free period, at my desk, minding my own business … Following another delightful meal of fiery-assed, nasty-smellin’  kimchi, I can’t get the rotten taste out of my mouth ( yes, I brushed my teeth, with everyone else …)  so I’m chewing on a Dentyne Ice […]

A bit of sarcasm in my original post?  Maybe … Statistically (in terms of attendance), Everland is one of the world’s most successful theme parks.  I  don’t know why.  The park has a nice setting in between forest-covered mountains and contains all the standard theme park features like roller coasters, water rides, themed villages, flower shows and animals, […]

The teachers + 250 kids went to Everland today.  The Samsung Everland amusement park is one of the biggest theme parks in the world, and features “thrill rides”, a water park, a zoo and safari park, an enormous botanical garden, and multiple “themed” sections (American Adventure, European Adventure, Magic Land, etc) . The first thing I noticed is that […]

Summer is approaching – the first indicator is the parasol (or sun umbrella), but you know that summer is near when the dreaded enormous head visors come out. While the foreigners enjoy a nice “sun-kissed” color, Asians are very cautious about exposure to the sun and  go to g reat lengths to avoid it.   It’s early May, but there […]

“I am very surprised that you are eating kimchi. You adjusting to the Korean food?  Is better now?” That is a direct quote from the co-teacher that has been previously referred to at the Ct2.   Going forward, let’s just call her “Princess”. Going forward, the woman fka as “Ct1” will be referred to as Mami,  the woman fka […]

I could hear car horns blowing and people shouting as I approached the intersection ~ a middle-aged woman was practically dragging a crazy-legged man across the street.  The pair had clearly exceeded the 20-second pedestrian crossing  allotment, but I could see that the man was not drunk (which is, unfortunately, the first assumption), but quite severely crippled […]

As I was walking back to my apartment today, I came upon an elderly man pulling a cart loaded with stuff.  I approached him, offering to assist by putting my hand on his cart, but he slapped away my hand and marched forward.  I waited for a minute, and approached again ~ this time replacing […]

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!  I hope you got the flowers!  I love you and I miss you!!  Your darling-est daughter   HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the moms out there!!   We just concluded Celebration of Family week~ “Children’s Day” ( which would be more appropriately called “do you have any more Tylenol? or soju?” Day, given the frenzy of activities scheduled to […]

The food here affects all of us differently ~ I’ve lost weight, but other foreign teachers have put on some pounds.  I poop like a rocket launching, but others have been to the hospital to deal with constipation.  But we have one thing in common ~ we all hate traditional Korean food.  WHAT A RELIEF […]

I’m getting used to the bus to Seoul.   The great thing is the departure schedule ~ there’s a bus every 20 minutes or so.   The bad thing is every bus is almost always FULL and you will generally have a seat-mate, which is always a crap shoot.   I’ve been lucky so far ~ no weirdos, […]

I’m walking home from school and I see a white guy with red hair, smokin’ a cig and hangin’ his head over a residence wall, observing the construction activities in our alley.  So, of course (shy gal that I am), I approach and say, “Hey, what’s goin’ on?” ~ and I hit a “jackpot”. John […]