Doing It While I Can: Saying Goodbye to Korea in retrospect

So my departure from South Korea was not as I had hoped it would be, but it was full or surprises for better or worse. Let me take a few steps back, and note that I knew in February that my final day of work at my school would be Friday, April 26th. The way it works is that when a foreign teacher leaves our school their replacement teacher is supposed to show up as soon as possible. Now, from my personal experience at the school, the new teacher never shows up on time, and the other teachers are responsible for covering the departing teachers classes until the replacement teacher arrives. This is normally the case because of extended and unexpected waiting times for Visas, and other paperwork that delays the new teacher from coming to Korea on time. Twice, in my time at my school, I had fellow teachers leave, and both times we had about 3 to 4 weeks of either a complete schedule change, or basically just every teacher picking up an extra class a day. None of the foreign teachers really like this time because it means that we lose a break and we don't get paid extra for it because we are technically all still working under our contractual amount of hours. The Korean English teachers complain also, but they get paid per class taught, so for them it means a few extra bucks in their pocket, although they are losing a break. I am not extremely fond of these times, but I do get to teach students I don't normally interact with, which is fun and interesting. After all, they don't know "Matt Teacher" very well, so it is easy to mess with them and make them laugh.

With my knowledge of the situations that had happened with the prior teachers, I was expecting my replacement to arrive at least a week after my last day. I personally did not want to finish on the 26th, and then depart Korea the following day. I wanted to make sure I had a proper amount of time to say goodbye to all of my friends. So, I wanted to schedule my flight for the following Tuesday, April 30th. Thus allowing myself an extra 4 days to say my goodbyes and get ready to leave. Normally, the director buys the plane ticket for the departing teacher, but I opted to have my director pay me my flight money in cash, so I could buy my own flight to Thailand when I wanted. So I went ahead and purchased my flights to Thailand and then back to America in the middle of February.

Fast forward to the middle of April. About a week or two before my final day, I was notified that the girl who would be my replacement already lived in South Korea. She was finishing up a teaching contract in Seoul. I immediately realized that this meant that she would probably not be late arriving to the school. She wouldn't have any paperwork delays and could pretty much show up whenever my director told her to. My director knew that I had scheduled my flight for 4 days after my last day, and because the new teacher would be moving into my apartment, offered for me to stay in his home until I was scheduled to leave. I was extremely grateful because I was aware that the cheapest local hotels that I would need to stay in, during the interim, were about 30-40 dollars per night. The head teacher, who is an American, told me that this was quite an honor, as the director had never opened his home to a foreign teacher before, except for him one time when he was locked out of his room after returning from a trip to the USA. He was an exception though, as he was the head teacher and had taught there for 4 or so years when this occurred. Anyway, I was all set, and knew that I had a place to stay and began to sell my things, throw away accumulated crap, and pack my bags.

During my final week, I met up with some Korean friends for the last time and said my goodbyes. Each time I walked away with a sense of loss and I felt the weight of saying goodbye. These were wonderful people, who had helped me, taught me Korean, and cared about me during my time in Korea. I knew that I would always easily be in touch with them because of Kakao Talk (Korean Whatsapp) and Facebook, but it wouldn't be quite the same. I could always return to Korea to visit and meet up with these people again, but it might not be for a number of years. Here are some pictures of my close friends and coteachers.

My last day at school had a few emotional moments as well. I knew that, unlike my Korean friends, my students and I would likely never see each other again. Many of them were so young that they probably wouldn't remember me that well. Not to mention that they are not on Facebook or Kakao Talk, and I don't even know their real names. All I know is the English names that they are given as students at my school. One of them could become a famous actor in 20 years and I wouldn't even know for sure that this was the same person who I taught when they were a small child. For the most part, I held it together during my last day. Only once did I nearly get overwhelmed by emotion and I posted it on Facebook, so I might as well just repost it here because I said it best then. This is from April 26th:

"So today the reality of my departure from Korea finally became real when I reminded my kindergarten class that today was my last day and for them to sit down and be good. Right as I was saying this sentence, I felt two small hands gripping my legs as a firm hug was being planted from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw this little face pressed up against my side with his eyes shut. I put my hands over his and rubbed them, and after about 15 seconds he let go and went back to his seat without a word exchanged. He was holding back tears, but remained strong and I knew that I had to do the same.."

It was hard to say goodbye to these little faces.

These are just a few, of over 100 students, I taught over my tenure at that school. They are special little people and saying farewell was not easy.

Okay, so my last day at school came and passed. Afterward, I went out to eat with all of my co-teachers that night. The mother of one of my students actually paid for the whole dinner, as a show of appreciation, which was surprising as the meal must of cost several hundred dollars. The following day I packed the remainder of my things and put the majority of my clothes in a goodwill bin. My director notified me that the replacement teacher wouldn't be arriving until Sunday, so I could remain in my room Saturday night. This was great news, so I did some more packing, got a haircut, and I took care of some errands. That night I went to the annual Gimhae Gaya Festival that is held in my city. I met with my closest co-teachers and we had a nice time. I remember feeling a bit different during the festival, not emotionally, but physically. I thought I was just hungry, so I bought some fried chicken from a local vendor, who had some of the best fried chicken I have ever tasted, ate it, and I went to sleep.

Gaya Festival Shops

The night however, wasn't over for me, and at around 3 am I woke up and vomited. Then again at 5 am I awoke, in a cold sweat, and vomited. Since my director was due to pick me up at around 10 am to bring me to his home, I sent a message to his wife notifying her of my condition. She told me that he would take me to the hospital when he picked me up. Luckily I was pretty much ready to leave my room except for some final cleaning. After throwing up again at 7 am, I felt okay for about an hour. During this time I was able to complete the final touches cleaning my room, and finalize packing my backpack for my journey in South East Asia.

It was after 10 am when my director came to my room and took me to a hospital. Before leaving my room, he commented that he was impressed with the state of my room. He said he had never had a room that was so clean when a teacher was leaving. I was happy to hear that, but felt too sick, and just wanted to go to the hospital. After arriving, he communicated my ailment to the doctors and they put me on an IV. He left to run some errands for the new teacher and I laid in a bed. After about 30 min I vomited again and then fell asleep. The nurses, although they didn't speak English, were very kind to me. They wiped my face and mouth while I was sick and made me feel okay in my vulnerable state. An hour or so later, my director picked me up, paid for my medication at the pharmacy, and brought me to his house. His two young daughters, ages 5 and 8, the older of which is my student, were waiting for me at the house. Upon my arrival the younger one cheered "Matt Teacher!" and began to jump around. Her father told her that I was sick and needed to rest. She responded in Korean that she wanted to play with me, and we had a little laugh at her cuteness. He then set me up with a bed in one of their bedrooms and told me to sleep. I was due to meet up with one of my best friends that afternoon to say goodbye, but he wisely advised that I cancel the meeting. Good thing I did, as I spent the remainder of the day throwing up about once every 2 hours. I couldn't hold down anything, not even water. I was not doing very well.

That night I didn't feel any better, but they purchased me some food so I could attempt to eat. As I was in no state to eat more than a bite or two, I just watched TV with their family. I would have to leave the room and vomit each hour or so. Despite my condition, they made me feel so comfortable and at ease. I am extremely grateful to my director, and his wife, for the care they showed me during my final days in Korea. Although they no longer had a financial or business interest in me, they took care of me like family, and displayed the kind of care that my own mother and father have when I was sick as a child. The next day my director's wife even took me to the doctor to see if they could write me a note, so I could delay my flight to Thailand for a day or so. I really did not want to get on an airplane in this state, and was sad because I hadn't been able to use these last few days to say goodbye to my best friends as I had planned. I had specifically decided to leave on Tuesday, so I would have a chance to say goodbye, and here I was stranded in bed. It was a pretty crappy situation to be in, but I got to know my director and his wife a lot better during that time which was a blessing in disguise. The doctor told me that I would most likely be fine by the time I had to fly and he would be lying if he wrote that he didn't think I could. He did say I could pay him about 100 dollars and he would write the note for me, but the directors wife and I didn't care for his offer, or his attitude, so we left.

Here are some photos of my director and his daughters while I was sick in their home.

After the doctor's office, although I was weak and hadn't eaten in about 36 hours, I went to my school to say my final goodbyes to the kindergartners. Now I think this would have been an emotional time for me, but because I was malnourished, on about 3 hours of sleep, and still sick, I felt quite numb. Everyone was surprised by how I looked, as I must have lost about 6 pounds since Friday and looked very pale. Koreans are not one to hold back what they think about how you look, and today was no different. I was told many times that I looked like a ghost. My director's wife then brought me to the Post Office and helped me mail my computer, suit, a few shirts, and some personal things I wanted to send home. She was great, and helped me navigate all the different options. She took care of everything while I sat on a bench, as standing at this time was making me nauseous. Afterward, I returned to the school and waited until everyone left and took some final pictures with everyone that I didn't have pictures with. I couldn't feel anything at that time, and it's much sadder in my mind now, thinking back on it, then it was at that time. That night, I finally got to meet one of my best friends who I cancelled with the day before. We exchanged gifts and sat in a park for a little while and talked. Afterward, I met up with another close friend and we went to my favorite restaurant for some pig spine soup. Unfortunately, I could only sip the broth of the soup and eat a little bit of rice. This was a real shame because I love that food so much.

Here is what a portion for 3-4 people looks like. We only got a small bowl for 1 person that night though. We didn't even come close to finishing it because I couldn't eat much and she wasn't even that hungry. Just smelling its deliciousness one last time was good enough at that time.

That night I stayed up and watched some Korean drama with my director. His wife and his two daughters were in bed. They were all sharing one bedroom because I was occupying their daughter's room. This was my first time actually watching a Korean drama. It was a mid-evil period drama about a war between Korea and China. Although I had almost no idea what was going on, it was still pretty entertaining and my director gave me some history lessons about Korea. It was a good night and nice to get to know my director a bit better before I left.

The next morning was my day of departure. I had breakfast with my director and his family. We had a traditional Korean breakfast, and I was able to actually eat, albeit not that much, and I said my final goodbyes to them. I was very grateful for their hospitality, and I gathered my things and after expressing my gratitude, I left their home. It was a beautiful spring morning and I walked to a nearby park to meet my friend who would drive me to the airport. While I was waiting for her, I saw one of my students walking to school with her grandma. I was feeling pretty sad at that time and was happy to see one of my students one last time. She was a first grader, and in her first year of English education, so she couldn't speak to me very well. Just seeing her smile, and saying good-bye, brought a smile to my face. I had sat in this park many times during my breaks recently and was happy to spend my last moments in Gimhae there. After a few minutes, my friend arrived and brought me to the airport. Gimhae and Busan share an airport, which is technically in Gimhae, so it was only about 35 minutes away. She then helped me square away things with my cell phone and we talked. After a few tears, and some hugs, I said goodbye to her and entered the airport. A few hours later I was on a plane to Shanghai and then eventually (after a 8 hour layover) on a flight to Bangkok.

I'll always remember South Korea very fondly. Not just is South Korea a beautiful country, full of amazing food and culture, but because of the wonderful Korean people that I met there. They, along with some amazing fellow foreign teachers, will always be the most important part of my experience teaching English in that wonderful place that became my home.

This my neighborhood from the mountain behind my apartment.