Take it in, take it with you when you go

Ummmm...yeah. I have a ticket home. I knew it was coming. I was the one that started the conversation with my boss about it. But for some reason, seeing it in print made it so much more real.
This afternoon I was in the zone. I was getting work done. Work that I usually hate doing, but I was doing it, and happy with how great my brain was working today. I was tuning out all the usual teacher's room distractions. It was just me and my lesson plans. Then, my boss came to my desk. Her Asian spidey skills allowed her to sneak up behind me undetected. I didn't know she was there until there was a paper being held in front of me. The only thing not in Korean on the paper was my name. At first I thought it was another copy of my month utility bills or my Korean tax form. I have no use to for either of those. I think I used my tax papers to copy a pancake recipe off the internet.
I turned around and gave her my "I'm foreign, please explain in English" look. Then, she said those words.
Those words.
"This is your ticket home"
Those words that 14 months ago, when I had a "countdown to when I leave Korea" on my bathroom mirror, I would have given anything to hear. But now, hearing them was weird. Sad weird. The worst part will be leaving my students, my sweet and loving kiddies.
I know that the friends I've made here will always be a part of my life. But my kids, I will never see again, and that breaks my heart. I still need to take (by take I mean steal the pictures the school takes at every school event and saves on the network) some more pictures of them before I leave. But in the meantime, here is a video of them. This was our field trip in June, to the War Memorial Museum. They are playing on some North Korean military tanks and motorcycles.



And to ease the pain of leaving my kinderhearts, I have decided on taking the long way home, with a 5 day layover Istanbul to visit Anya, one of the raddest, funnest, kindest, and most creative people I know.

if this was an email, the subject line would be blank

My computer is on his last leg. I also need a Kitchenaid stand mixer. Tough choices. The last/only new computer I bought was shortly before starting my freshman year at ISU in August, 2000. I hate spending money on computers (as well as cell phones and sunglasses). Since the demise of that beast of a Compaq, sometime in 2006 I think, I've gotten by with used computers and using other people's. 11 years. I has been 11 years since I have bought a new computer. Whoa, I started at ISU 11 years ago????? I feel old. Perhaps it's time I suck it up and start looking at new ones.
Buuuuuuut, KITCHENAID STAND MIXER! My dream kitchen appliance! My two favorite things to spend money on are food and going places. I like to go to Amazon.com and look at all the different colors and attachments. PLUS, I recently discovered that they now make an ice cream maker attachment. Can a computer do that?
I guess I don't have to decide right away, because soon I will be heading to a place that has both a Kitchenaid mixer and a working computer. Two months from today, I am leaving Seoul. As I was typing that, I got a knot in my stomach and a lump in my throat. I love this city, even though it smells bad and the weather sucks. I have started talking to my boss about my ticket home, and my replacement at work now has an arrival date.
Shortly before leaving Bordeaux the first time, in an effort to get less sad about leaving my beautiful city, I made a list of reasons I was excited to go back to the US. I need to do that again. People are not allowed to be on my list. Obviously the people I get to see are the most important reason to be happy. Along those same lines, the goodbye are always the worst part about leaving anywhere. I cried the first time I left for France. I cried when I came home. I cried the second time I left for France. I cried the second time I came home. I cried when I left for Korea. And I will no doubt be crying at Incheon in two months. The goodbyes always always always suck.

gift to the world

Dear World,
Here is my genius. Enjoy.

I have taken the "private" setting off my blog. However, if the number of views from South Korea becomes high again, I will probably be scared into putting it back to private. Blogger kindly told me when I changed it, that they saved my approved readers list, and I can change it back whenever I feel like it. Thanks Blogger.

Also, I had a typo when I was giving my picture website address- http://pinkchickens.shutterfly.com/ will get you there. I don't even know what shuttyfly is, or why I typed that/didn't notice that I did it. But, I haven't put my Thailand pictures on there yet. Lazy.

Rain rain rain. EVERY SINGLE DAY. GRRRRR! Korea, I love you, but your weather stinks. What do dry shoes feel like? Please remind me.

I'm just going to throw this out there-I don't like green tea. I think it tastes like yard. I want to like it. I've heard it makes you skinny. But I just can't stomach something that tastes like (what I imagine, anyway) that clumpy grass that falls off the bottom of the lawn mower.

So what's a perfect day trip for me? A hot summer afternoon spent at Wrigley Field.

A perfect day trip for me in Korea? The green tea fields in Boseong, of course! Much like last year's birthday outing to the Noryangjin fish market, just because I don't care for the product a place is known for, does not mean I don't want to see it. So on yet another rainy Saturday (I don't think I have seen the sun since Thailand, I MISS SUMMER!), after a 4 hour bus ride to Gwangju, an hour plus bus ride to some small town that I don't know its name (but I thought I saw a sign that said Yulpo Beach, I dunno), though we passed by the tea fields on that bus ride, we found ourselves wandering around nameless small town, while wondering how the heck to get back to the green tea fields/Gwangju/anywhere. I was ready to chuck the tea idea, and settle down at a galbi restaurant that had a view of the South Sea, find a cheap motel, and figure out the answer to the "where are we and how do we get anywhere?" problem the next day. Luckily my travel companion was more determined than I, and managed to flag down the seemingly only taxi in this town of like 20 people. So we finally arrived at the tea fields around 5:30ish, I think. I didn't look at my watch. It getting darkish. But the fields were still crowded. We walked around. It was lovely. The air was clean and foggy. The fog added to the ambiance. Luckily, our new friend/only taxi driver in town happened to be driving back around the parking lot of the tea fields as we were heading out. Despite him telling us as he dropped us off to take the city bus back to town, he motioned us to the taxi, he drove us back into Boseong to the bus terminal, where we got a bus back to Gwangju, then took a bus back to Seoul, arriving around midnight. It was a lot of bus time, but definitely worth it. Here are some pictures taken with my trusty ipod.

VACATION...slideshow

The creativity to write anything worth reading isn't happening this week. Perhaps it's the rain. Perhaps it's my lack of sleep and vegetables. Perhaps it's the beauty of life renewing itself chez moi, in the form of fruit fly maggots in my trash can (gross). Whatever the reason, I've not been in the mood to write much, and Thailand is becoming a distant memory. So here are some pictures instead. Maybe this weekend the motivation will be there. It is a long weekend. 3 full days away from the stress and aggravation of my coworkers. And I can't wait! The rest of my pictures will be on my shutterfly site (pinkchickens.shuttyfly.com) sometime soon!

Koh Samui

Thailand is full of stray/friendly cats and dogs. Since my travel companion lost her passport the day before we (I) left, this was a solo trip for me. I appreciated the company of these buddies. I didn't really mind going alone. I think a solo trip to Thailand earns me some street cred.

Koh Phangan, home of the Full Moon Party, which I was nowhere near Haad Rin, nor was it close to the night of the full moon. However, I was still the only one on the island between the ages of 15 and 40 not wearing a neon "FULL MOON PARTY" tshirt.

Koh Phangan

Mom, this is for you

What the what? Is there a Chili's in Koh Pha Ngan?

Nope nope, my mistake. That is THE Chili's...I love that in Asia copyrights are meaningless.

Awwwww! I WANT A DOG!

This cat wanted to love me, but she just couldn't quite get there. She bit my hand. And in the background of this picture you'll see a street food vendor. I LOVE street food. It's cheap, delicious, and dodgy (It's really not a surprise that I got so sick in Thailand, SO worth it though). This magical creation is like Benihana for crepes. So cool. I went there twice, and waited among small crowds of tourists to get my crepe. I was the only nonFrench person in line, both times I went.

Old sad friend who ate lunch with me one day

Koh Tao

This this this is not what it looks like. From far away I thought it was that too. Then I got closer, and saw it was breathing. Gross. Then I looked around and saw the beach was covered in them. Tropical paradise.

I took one picture of myself to prove I was actually there. I hate having my picture taken.

This little guy followed me for the longest time as I took a walk around Koh Tao. It's not the greatest picture, but if you look closely at his face, you can see he has two black lines above his eyes. It looked like eyebrows.

Just another breakfast!

Koh Tao

This guy. I have a strict eat whatever I want and no exercise (aside from a leisurely walk or bike ride that involves a stop for ice cream or breakfast somewhere along the way) rule while on vacation. To each his own, but this guy! The beach by the resort I stayed at on Koh Phangan was short. I could walk from one end to the other in less than 20 minutes. But this guy was desperate for a speedo beach run. So he and his perfectly coiffed hair ran back and forth and back and forth and back and forth on the beach for at least 90 minutes, while I drank a cup of coffee, at some banana pancakes, drank another cup of coffee, then walked along the beach looking for shells and jellyfish. This guy! I'm not sure really why, but I found him amusing.

And I found a jellyfish. I also saw a guy that got stung by a jellyfish. He had huge long marks all over his stomach and arms, reaffirming that my fear of jellyfish is not irrational.

Friend

riding the rails

Ok, so I am working on a post about Thailand. It's coming. But, because I like to keep my readers entertained, here is a video making the rounds among the expats in Korea crowd. And I have to say, I take public transportation almost always when I travel, and the Seoul subway is the BEST I've been on.

It's cheap - about 90 cents a ride

It's reliable and efficient - I used to regularly wait 30+ minutes for the brown line in Chicago. One time here I had to wait maaaaaaaaaybe 5 minutes for a train, and I found myself wondering what the problem was

It's clean - aside from the woman letting her grandchild poo that one time, I've never once seen/smelled anything...questionable. I love you Paris Metro, but I'm talking to you

It's safe - that actually applies to all of Korea. It's like a little safe haven where you can walk alone at night on darkish streets and never for a second feel unsafe, except for the threat of attacks from our neighbors to the north

It's genius - let me count the ways! Each car has 4 doors, and each car/door is numbered. So if you need to transfer, on the subway maps, it tells you which car/door to use in order to make the easiest transfer. There are also a gajillion exits at each subway station. When I first heard that, I thought it was the worst idea ever. I was wrong. It is a great idea, and makes finding things that much easier, as long as you know what exit to go out.



Sorry, this is kind of rambly. I just have so much love in my heart for the Seoul Subway, I get so excited when I start talking about how great it is (90 CENTS!!) and I can't stop myself.