~Goodbye Korea! Til Later~

So, I'm sitting on my bed, or rather, my host sister's bed as my time in Korea has turned into mere hours. I can't believe I'm already going home.  As I think back to when I first got here, it sort of feels like a long while ago and sort of feels like yesterday.  I guess most good things feel like that... 

When I got to Korea, it was damn cold! And the snow lasted forever! It warmed up in MN before it warmed up here, which is very atypical.  My bags are mostly packed and I think I did a much better job of keeping things under control this time... Last time, after study abroad, was kind of a disaster...  My luggaged ended up weighing almost twice the allotted amount.  Oops...  That sucked.  I have two suitcases, a carry-on, and my backpack.  I did ship a box of winter clothes/jackets and all of my Korean textbooks home, as I swear it was my textbooks that did me over last time!

LAST TIME:

THIS TIME:

I met as many people as I could fit in the past few days, did as much shopping as possible, and called/contacted everyone else.  I went out to dinner with my host family tonight and they were asking about my various friends who were in Korea, and most of them have now left! or are leaving soon.  Susie is gone, Kyungmoon is going, Becca left, Mary and I are going together, and Nik and Emily are going leaving in a month, although they'll be back in Korea by the end of the summer for another year.
 

At the best Chinese restaurant! 

Bye Kyungmoon! See you at SupHo!

 Nik and Dan

Originally, I was supposed to leave July 3, but since I got sick/had surgery, I'm leaving a bit earlier.  I kind of wish I could stay longer, but c'est la vie.  Plus, I'm pretty sure I'll be back sometime next year.^^

A picture from my last tutoring session with Sara and Justin~

Yesterday, I met up with Sarang and we had lunch with her uncle.  Then we went glasses shopping at namdaemun.  I got new glasses, as well as a suitcase. Then, I met up with Mugong, from Tte to buy the cloth for tying drums.  A few of the other tte members came along too (Maktoe, Ttegu, and Mangsa).  We were in the traditional music area and I totally ran into my drumming teacher from 4 years ago, when Sarang and I took drumming lessons (summer of 2006!).  Crazy! and I was really surprised that he A. recognized me and B. remembered my name.  Funny.  Anyhow, we went out to eat and then I headed back home to drop off all of my stuff, which was really heavy!

Tte - Maktoe, Ttegu, Mugong, Mangsa

 Then, around 9, I met up with Jacyln, one of my classmates at Dongdaemun.  Fun fun!  I got some summer clothes and gifts for people.  But they've kind of redone the market area, so we were really disoriented and couldn't find the main 시장...  weird.

1. Mmm.. goodbye delicious street food!     2. we witnessed some serious organized chaos Korean style - the unloading of clothes and merchandise for the markets and stores. wow...

Today, I met up with Eugene, from my drumming class at 9:30 and we hungout for a bit.  She is so sweet and gave me a bunch of really cute socks!!!  Then, I headed over to 종로5가 insearch of drumming pants; Eugene told me I should buy them there.  Then, I headed to Itaewon to meet Sarang and Youngwha unni for lunch and to get a few gifts.  At 4, I met my reading/listening teacher at Sogang for a bit.  That was fun - she is really nice and one of the most cheerful teachers I've ever had!  Then, I came back and tutored John one last time - he has a test coming up next week. And then, my host family and I went out to dinner one last time^^

Ku Eunmi seunsangnim

My host family took me to a gogi restaurant and we had kalbi, grilled ribs. Yum! After dinner we went to the park across the street from their apartment complex.  It was a really nice night out so there were a lot of people around and my host siblings went wild, running all over the place.  There was a big group of ajumas exercising. My host mom told me they are there every single night! It was so quintessentially Korea; a large group of ajumas, most wearing matching shirts, dancing in unison to a choreographed song.  Plus, there were people practicing their inline speed skating, which is also very popular here. 

Anyhow, my flight leaves Incheon at 11:40.  So, my host dad being super nice and giving me a ride to Gyeongbukgung to KoRoot, where I will meet Mary and from there YunJeong unni is going to give us a ride to the airport. How sweet!  So, I'll probably need to leave the house around 7:15 am.  Hm... maybe I should go to bed.

There is  a huge match against Nigeria tonight though, so I think at least half of Korea is still awake.  The match starts at 3 or 3:30 am Korea time...  I talked with Emily, who originally had plans to wake up and watch the game at her students dormitory, although, she is rethinking that idea.  I also met up with my reading/listening teacher today and she said her current students (summer session) are all going to jimjilbang (public bath house) to watch the game.
And I think Mary is just staying up all night and hanging out with people and watching the game, and then leaving tomorrow morning. Crazy!
Well, good luck Korea!
Wish me safe travels!
Til next time~