Time Flies: Last Days in Seoul

I can't believe it's already been a year. 12 whole months. 52 whole weeks. 365 whole days.

But, it has. With my last day approaching this Sunday, I'm trying to figure out where all the time has gone.

Needless to say, the time has flown. I feel like I blinked and a year went by. It feels like only yesterday I was riding through Seoul after being picked up from the airport, seeing my school for the first time, and wandering around getting lost in the maze of alleyways nearby. (It also feels like only yesterday that I wrote my last email to everyone, alas that was 10 months ago... sorry, hope you guys have been enjoying the photos http://lifeindrive.shutterfly.com)

Since I last wrote I:
>visited the DMZ,
>visited the former 'Comfort Women',
>went to see Cirque du Soleil's Alegre,
>visited Gyeongju and Busan
*went to temples and historic sites,
*went to Haeundae beach,
*went to one of the largest jimjilbangs (indoor bath houses) - 300 nude women hanging out in steaming, herbal baths - quite an experience
>went to Lotte World (the amusement park here) - the first time it was with school and I was responsible for not losing 15-20 kids... and charged with making them agree on what to ride and then leading them there, it's 4 stories and has a large outside part to boot,
>went to a Korean baseball game - cheap tickets and you can bring your own food and drink in,
>led a once a week sing-a-long for 450 kids,
>worked on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's Eve - but did order in a really nice Western style meal for Christmas with everyone from work and made it to midnight mass on Christmas Eve,
>survived Winter Camp and Summer Camp where we work for a month straight - no days off,
>worked night shift at work 11:45am-9:00pm - teaching, watching movies, running talent show, overseeing domino tower building,
>spent 2 weeks with my sister - 1 in Japan (where I was incredibly ill) and 1 in Seoul,
*spent a week either hugging a toilet or lying sickly on hard wooden slats (aka my bed)
*walked around 1 day in Kyoto
*went to the ER in Tokyo
*took my first and only sick day while in Korea because I *still* had a migraine
*re-visited Gyeongbukgung palaces,
*made my first voyage to Namsan Tower and the 63 Building,
*ate at a Buddhist temple food restaurant where you got 40+ dishes and got to see traditional Korean dancing,
>walked about at the cherry blossom festival,
>spent 2 weeks with my Mom - 1 in Seoul and 1 in Jeju-do (a large island off the southern coast of Korea - described as Korea's Hawaii),
*re-visited the palace, the tower, and the temple food place (Mom danced in the show!),
*took more trips to Lotte World and Olympic Park,
*went to one of the old tea shops in Insadong,
*went to Dongdaemun area and visited Namsongol Folk Village,
*went to the lava tube caves in Jeju
*went to the hedge maze (a la Alice in Wonderland) in Jeju
*went to beaches and stayed in a hotel by Sunrise Peak in Jeju
>went to Thailand,
>went to the Mud Festival,
>saw 2 friends from Memphis - 1 who teaches in Korea and 1 who was in Korea to study architecture

Another email from a student

I must say I was VERY impressed by this email. This girl was not particularly talkative in class when called on, but obviously it was because she is shy. Since she wasn't very talkative, I was a little confused why she wanted my email. Usually they ask for it and then never write, so I thought it was just one of those situations. To my amazement though, she wrote me the day she got home from camp. We talked about who is in each student's family in my class (brothers, sisters, etc), so her email is even on topic for class, hah. Enjoy.





heatherg teacher Hello?

I'm sarah

My family introduction

↓

I'm so glad to speak to you about my family.

I have four family members that I like.

they are ordinary people like other families.

I really love ead of them. my father, mother, and older sister.

at first, my father, he always wants to make a good relationship with me and my sister.

especially, He is familiar with me because I'm the youngest at my home

so, my daddy takes care of me whenever he is at home even if he is busy.

my mom is 48 years old. I think, she is the ddest mom in our class.

but she still looks like a young and beautiful and kind.

I likd her when she cooks for me.

sometimes she makes my favorite foods like fried eggs and suoup.

she is good at cooking and she kiips our house clean.

she spends most of her time taking a walk in the park or playing with me at home.

she also enjoys to chat with her friends.

she knows all about me. What I like and don't like.

My older sister who is 13years older than me is a student in untversity.

she has a similar face with me. I have heard abou this story from others.

people often tell us that we are similar to each other.

she helped me with my homework when I was faced a difficult question and

tought me how to use the computer.

lastly, as you know, I'm in the fourth grade in an elementary school.

I'm usually shy and quiet but when I'm hanging out with my close friends,

I'm very outgoing and lively.

I'm very happy when I'm with my family. i want this happines to go for a long time.

thank you

Good bye

♡sarah♡

More letters from students

Hellow, Crazy Heather teacher.
My name is Jim. In tean 7.
I think you are very kind. So your class is fun and interesting.
And you teach students very well. I like your class.
Love. Jim
(One of the boys from my Major team during Winter Camp)

Hi my name is Toma
Teacher very Thank you
My passport lost But Teacher New Passport
Thank you
Form Toma
(One of the boys in my homeroom that lost his "passport" which happened to be very important that week because one of the banks was doing a big sponsorship for the top students... he drew a picture where he was crying and I was a superhero bringing a new passport, haha)

Dear: Heather teacher
Hello! ;)
My name is Anny!

Emails from students

[Note: They call me Crazy Heather because there are two Heathers here right now. This is how they distinguish us. My boss started this trend... Thanks Stella :)]

Hello MY NAME IS A TOMMY

CRAZY HEATHER YOU BY THE PIZZA IS A VERY DELICIOUS

I LIKE YOU

THIS camp is a very funny class



summer vacation camp meet you

tommy