Italics = in Korean

   “Next semester, you’ll be teaching at Sunhwa Secondary School. It’s a wonderful opportunity for someone like you! Older students are easier to teach....” Principal Cha’s words drifted into nothingness as I began to understand the meaning behind them.

    I sat at my desk, unable to process that I’d be leaving Daegwan Primary for an indefinite period of time. My thoughts were torn between my feelings of adoration for my current class of eager eight year olds and the sense of dread at the notion of teaching obnoxious pre-teenagers. When I first arrived in South Korea, I was prepared for the worst; the various horror stories online about foreign educators in Korea taught me a wealth of information about dealing with anything from prejudice to unsavory cafeteria food. I was worried because of the assumptions people placed on English teachers in Korea and how they would affect the relationships I would make at my school. I prided myself on status as a tri-lingual individual (English, Korean, and Spanish), but I was still nervous to teach in Korean for the first time. All of my insecurities only added to the stress of a new work environment and I braced myself for  rejection and embarrassment. But my experience at Daegwan proved to be the antithesis of my expectations. The teachers were incredibly welcoming - giving me tours of the school, advising me on the quickest route to school, and taking me out for coffee on the weekends. The students quickly adapted to my aesthetic differences and looked beyond them to appreciate (and even poke fun at) my personality and teaching style. As I reflected on my two years at Daegwan, I realized that it had become my home...filled with memories and people I wasn’t ready to part with.

The ride home that day was difficult. Despite there being three weeks left in the fall term, I was already distancing myself emotionally from my students and co-workers. I nearly missed my stop because I was so engrossed in my depressing thoughts. When I reached my cozy one bedroom apartment, I immediately immersed myself in a warm bath in hopes of calming down. I closed my eyes and pictured the faces of my fellow teachers: Jung Soojin, the 37 baby faced Math teacher with a penchant for slamming her tiny hands on the desk when her fifth graders got too rowdy, Geum Dohyun, the stern 26 year old six-foot tall History teacher who left encouraging notes on my desk whenever I was a little down, Min Hyunwoo, our 187 cm 22 year old maknae in charge of fetching snacks during our after school grading sessions - and sometimes teaching Health and Civics, and my best friend, Hong Hyerin, my hilarious lead teacher, fearless foodie, and height, age, and music twin. Our similarities were shocking when we first met: we’re both 170 cm, 23 years old, only children, and diehard drama and boyband junkies. Despite our initial commonalities, we served to be the perfect foil for each other, her milky skin contrasted with my darker caramel coloring, my shoulder length IU inspired hair caused her to cringe at the thought of cutting her waist length bone straight locks, and her disdain for the color turquoise made my head spin. Hyerin and Emma, nicknamed Dynamic Duo because of our tendency to burst into rapping when we’re a little drunk. I knew I’d miss her the most of all of my friends. Her outrageous commentary on the actions of our students would be one of the hardest things to live without. And I would miss watching 178 cm Vice Principal Do flirt endlessly with 152 cm Soojin every waking moment of every day. I’d even miss bratty Jieun, the nine year old daughter of some famous folk singer who would stick her tongue out at anyone who dared to correct her. Hyunwoo’s uncanny ability to mess up anything and everything he touched brought a smile to my face as I recalled the time he leaned on a kindergarten desk and it collapsed under his gargantuan form. I sighed and stepped out of the now lukewarm water, quickly drying off my body and going through my nightly routine before I shuffled into the kitchen to make myself a quick grilled chicken and spinach salad. While I waited for my food to heat up, I flipped on the tv to MTV’s top 100 countdown. Not soon after I finished my meal, I fell asleep on the couch with Sistar19’s Gone Not Around Any Longer fading into the background.