Tea, Tears, and Transitions

Today was the last day of school.  I can’t even believe I’m saying that.  We had a staff meeting this morning so the twelve out of about sixty teachers who are leaving could say goodbye to everyone.  In Korea, teachers move around to different schools every few years or so.  Several of them started crying as they were giving their mini speeches.  Everyone laughed when I went up to the microphone knowing they wouldn’t understand what I was going to say, but I think from their reactions they appreciated the "감사합니다" I tacked on at the end.

We had a closing ceremony for the first and second graders today and the twelve of us went on stage to say goodbye to the students.  The vice-principal went down the line and said our names and where we are going next.  I was the last one and as I took my step forward and bowed, the vice-principal said I will be returning to the USA.  The collective “Awwwww!” from the sea of faces in front of me brought tears to my eyes.  There were about 500 students standing there in the auditorium and I have had the chance to be their teacher between the two semesters (not to mention a couple hundred more third graders who had graduation yesterday).  It seems crazy to have had so many students, but when you teach each class once a week, it adds up quickly.  I remember going to my first few classes last March and telling them I was excited to be here with them.  They really were just a sea of faces to me then, but as I was standing on the stage today, I saw the two peas in a pod who are always giggling and loved to visit me but would be so quiet in class (reminds me of me actually), the boy wiping his eyes because of the teachers who are leaving and me remembering how impressed I have been with his English as a first grader, the girl with the thick, round glasses who loved mocking me in class but was quite funny, and two others who said, “Ahhh Kelsy Teacher?!” when they realized I was joining the other teachers on stage.  I have admitted that teaching in Korea is not my favorite, but that is okay.  The language barrier really got to me sometimes and I wondered what I was doing on the days when my class would just stare at me blankly and my co-teacher would be checking her hair in the mirror in the back of the room instead of helping me out.  I think it’s impossible to avoid those situations completely with two languages in one classroom, and even though times were frustrating, today reminded me of the connections I have made with my students (and my co-teachers) and how great of an experience this has been.

Following the closing ceremony, the twelve of us had tea with the principal and vice-principal.  I don’t know what everyone was saying of course, but the principal got up and she gave everyone a hug.  I could tell some of the teachers were uncomfortable, but I was okay with a hug!  There aren’t enough of those in Korea.  The vice-principal asked me to share what I’ll be doing next, even though only a few people would understand.  Then for some reason he shared with them in Korean about my dog and how I was upset.  Because he definitely walked in on me a mess that morning at work after I had talked to my dad about Logan.  Of course that sparked more tears and had me joining the majority of the circle in crying at some point today.  Just reminded me of what I had to give up to come here.  A reminder that even though I somehow mustered up the courage to move to Korea and leave everyone and everything I know, it was so worth it.

Today was the last day of school, but my last day of work isn’t until February 25.  I’ll be desk warming until then, which may drive me crazy because I don’t have any work left to do, but I’ll have plenty of time to start looking into things at home.  Until then, I’ll be enjoying my last 15 days in Korea.  Because today it finally hit me a little bit that I’m leaving so soon.  What an awesome journey this has been.