Happy Halloween/I'm not your teacher anymore!

Yesterday was my last afterschool class. These kids, as much as they have driven me crazy some days, are definitely my favorites. I see them 2 extra times a week, so I've come to know them very well; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

There's little 1st grader, Dan. Almost every class he cries, throws things, or starts a fight over something another students says to him. He's so sensitive. He gets so excited about knowing the answers during English games that he shouts out answers regardless if it's his teams turn or not. He gives the best hugs and immediately calms down when I rub my fingers through his hair.

Then there's Tiffany. The bubbly, always smiling 3rd grader who leaves her backpack, violin, or jacket in the classroom everyday only to come back 20 minutes later, giggling about being so forgetful. Every time she sees me she jumps with excitement and shouts, "Kelly teacher!"

Or Sara who tries to jump to my height every class. She likes to draw cute pictures of me on the chalk board or in her notebook more than she likes to focus on studying.

Two-thirds of them I want to adopt as my child or at least a little sibling. But now it's time to say goodbye...

Being as Halloween is on a Sunday this year, we had to celebrate on Friday with the students. They don't know a lot about Halloween (most have never even heard of it) but Korean kids will get in on anything that involves scary/gory things and receiving candy. Unfortunately, we had to combine Halloween with my farewell party making for a mixed emotions party.

We made bat crafts, feasted on snacks and candy (the hit: bloody eye ball gum I brought from the States), all while the students kept handing me gift after gift, letters, and tons of candy. We took final class pictures, group hugged, and off they went. They kept lingering at the door. "Bye, teacher.....bye....bye. See you next time?" with their sad faces. It broke my heart.

I hope to receive emails from students years down the road, in perfect English, telling me that they've just entered university or traveled abroad or got a good score on their final tests. Gaaah, I'll miss 'em, for sure.

I have NEVER been a crier but yesterday I was a blubbering fool. I've known in my head for a while now but now it's hitting me in my heart. I am officially closing the door on this chapter of my life, the Korea chapter. It feels right but at the same time, it doesn't change how extremely sad I am to say goodbye.

Ooooh Korea. What a long, strange, amazing trip it's been....

"We don't have your....."

This is now officially my 3rd day in a row without classes. I've cleaned my office, prepared lessons for my last week at school (did a whole year go by already?!), did some online shopping, and now am left with no excuses: it's time to blog. So much to share once again, my trip to Japan, my mom and sister's visit, and final countdown of my days left in Korea.

Not to disappoint, there was, of course, a classic-Kelly travels troubles with the trip to Japan. Months before Kat and I had booked ferry tickets knowing that the week-long Korean Thanksgiving holiday requires booking early as everyone is traveling at that time. We went through an English travel agency here in town to buy the ferry tickets, one we had used before and trusted. We bought our Japan rail passes and were all set to go....

We arrived at the ferry terminal at 6:30 am to depart for Japan at 7:30 am. Thinking we had plenty of time and proud that we made it so early, we hop in line to get our tickets. Markus was with us since that would be the last time I saw him in Korea. The ferry station would be our grand goodbye. We approach the counter to hear...the dreaded words..."There's no reservation under your names." What?! WHAT?! Panic. Anger. We cannot contact the travel agency. It's 6:30 am on a Saturday, the Saturday that begins the biggest Korean holiday of the year. No way, they are also on vacation.

But, we had to go to Japan. We'd been planning this for months. We had hostels booked. We had an expensive Japan rail pass that had to be used. It was our long awaited vacation. We HAD to go!

Fortunately, there were a few seats open we could purchase (again). Phew! Problem solved? Oh wait, but there were no seats coming back on the following Sunday like we wanted and needed (duh, school started again on Monday)! There were, however, tickets to return on Monday afternoon. That left us with 2 choices:

Originally planned trip to Japan + an extra day + a mess explaining to principals/co-teachers why we can't be at school on Monday+ mess dealing with travel agency

OR

No trip to Japan + mess dealing with travel agency.

JAPAN. We had to do it, had to go. We bought the tickets with 30 seconds to spare and we were off, skirting across the East Sea on our high speed ferry discussing the composition of our aggressive email to the travel agents. Sadly, the goodbye with Markus was tainted by the whole ordeal and left no time for a proper farewell...*sigh* It was the most emotionally exhausting morning I've ever had. YAY WE'RE GOING TO JAPAN! booooo, there is no reservation. YAY THERE ARE TICKETS AVAILABLE! booooo, we can't come back on Sunday. YAY WE'RE GOING TO JAPAN ANWAY! boooo, short, hurried goodbye to Markus.

We arrived 3 hours later in Fukuoka, the closest Japanese island to Korea. We found our lovely hostel easily and spent the day exploring the city. Our first stop in a 7/11 convenience store yielded the best discovery of the trip. The discovery of Hot Cake Candy....oh yes, little squares that taste like you've just eaten a pile of pancakes draped in butter and syrup. It's something Willy Wonka would have in his factory but it's REAL LIFE! Amazing.

We ate ramen for dinner along Ramen Street then went back to the hostel in anticipation of a relaxing night. But it was a Saturday night and our new, hostel friends convinced us to try out the nightlife in Japan, why not? A Japanese nightclub was definitely an experience.

The next day we boarded the high speed train to Hiroshima. It was a sad stop-over for sure, especially as an American. But Peace Park was absolutely inspiring, proof that complete destruction can be transformed into incredible beauty. As the sun went down we pressed on to Kyoto. We had no place reserved to stay thinking we could walk into a number of hostels and surely find a spot. The next day was a national holiday (oops, forgot about that) so no rooms in the inns for us! One kind man suggested that if we were really in a bind we could sleep in a Manga Cafe or Internet Cafe. After walking far too long with our heavy backpacks that's what we had to do. It was exactly what we needed, a great story and hilarious beyond that.

We spent one day in Nara, a more traditional town, not far outside of Kyoto and the other day on bike, riding endlessly around the city. Highlight of that day was the International Manga Musuem--where have mangas been my whole life? I have a lot of reading to catch up on. Kat's friend from Iowa State who is now teaching English in Kyoto met and hosted us for our final night there. We walked around geisha street (we saw one!), ate ice cream crepes, randomly ran into my Korean neighbor and friend Matt (it still blows my mind), and chilled along the river. It was a great, relaxing evening before we dove into the craziness of Tokyo the next day.

Tokyo was wild. Look up the metro or subway map for the city and you'll understand. Most of the time we were lost but we saw a bunch of fun stuff regardless. We met a great group of travelers at our hostel and explored the city together. We were quite the group, a few Americans (Kat and I), a few Germans, a Dane, and a Brazilian. Highlights were: betting at the sumo tournament, crossing the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world, and the all-nighter karaoke party with Holger and friends.

The extra day in Fukuoka turned out to be nice. I needed a day to recover from the Tokyo madness. We rented bikes again, cruised around the city for a bit, then read books in a great city park. We made it back to Busan the next day and things were worked out with our schools and the travel agency. Plus I missed all my 5th grade classes (the only classes I dislike). It was an all around WIN-WIN situation.

My overall thoughts on Japan: it's hip, it's surprisingly quiet, it's clean, it's EXPENSIVE. But, I love it. You can check out my photos on Facebook for some visuals.

This is long so the next post will have to be about the Fam Korean Adventure 2010....

:)