End of trip wrap up

Korea was a wonderful experience to say the least and though my clothes began to become unkempt and dirty, my heart still had a steady palpitation of love. The last week was full of teaching once again. I was losing my patience quicker because the sight of Home was illuminated on the horizons of my thoughts. Perhaps the reason I was not at all reluctant to disembark from teaching in Korea was due to the fact that I was severely fatigued. I seemed to have strayed away from writing the last week I was teaching, usually I would be irked because of my lack of discipline. However, I did make an exception, as it was nearing the end of my teaching trip this summer.

To sum up the entire last week would be quite ridiculous and rather improbable. What I can do is tell you how this trip has affected me, how the lessons I have come to learn will impact my life indefinitely. I was incredulous at the aspect of leaving Korea, though I was direly homesick, I loved my students. You come to love things with time, especially people. I found that my stomach -against my will- had come to love Korean cuisine, and my western mind had come to not so much enjoy, but rather, to respect Eastern culture as it is. The last day of the Wanju-gun English Camp was on Friday, August 13th. The ceremony was drawn out and tiresome. Although I could barely retain my cognitive faculties, if they existed at all, I fell even deeper in love with my students. Two of them left the hall crying in front of their parents. One particular student, Kim Bo Ram Chan stood in front of me to snap one final picture, as I creased the corners of my mouth in a smile I glanced over to see his head slouched down and tears welling up in his tiny eyes. He blinked with a fury, his black eyelashes fluttering to keep out the moisture. Red rings circled his eyes and soon he was in a terrible fit of tears. He turned on his heels and pressed his fifth grade head into my shoulder and started sobbing. I looked at his father and his face retained a hint of benevolence, and he smiled assuringly that he understood what his sons emotions were doing. Bo Ram Chan peeled his face off of my sleeve and meandered towards the exit. His father shared with me his business card, so we could keep our friendship active for the future.

I learned a multitude of things while I was abroad in Korea. The hard times that I faced while I was teaching was just preparation for the turmoils that adult life seem to beget. It showed me that no matter how difficult a classroom may be, I should persevere . I have counted this new knowledge as invaluable, and store it in the back of my brain for the next time I am in a teaching situation. Lord willing, this situation will be soon.

Until I am again overseas,
your quirky writer,
David