Leaving Korea

Well, it looks like God's plans for me do not include living and working in Korea long-term.  I did not experience any huge miracles of the kind I was hoping for.  (You know, the kind that would allow me to stay in Korea and teach for GVCS.)  I finished my last day in the classroom on Tuesday the 17th, and gave my last make-up test on Tuesday afternoon.  While I was proctoring the test, Dick Carroll (who teaches Bible and Christian Art) came in to relieve me so I could go to the regular Tuesday afternoon teachers' meeting.

At the meeting, Dr. Cho (the principal) presented me with a certificate of appreciation, and a small gift.  Sam Pak (the academic vice-principal) invited me to a goodbye dinner, along with anyone else who wanted to come.   I was planning to go to the Tae Kwon Do class one last time, which I mentioned, so Sam agreed that we would leave for dinner after the Tae Kwon Do class.

During the class, someone told me that Josh Carstenson (who teaches Bible and History, and coaches boys' volleyball & basketball) had left early to run an errand, and had left the key to the shuttle van on my desk, so I should drive it home.  Well, I don't like it when people put expectations on me, or "should" on me, but I didn't want to leave people stranded, either.  I talked to some people, and Chris Lee (who has a few different hats) offered to pick me up from the apartments after I drove the van there.  So, that worked out all right.

It was cold and windy, but Chris didn't make me wait too long.  Dinner turned out to be at the Korean barbecue that was just across a rice paddy from the apartment complex.  Chris Lee, Sam Pak, Dick & Sherry Carroll, Josh Kong (the head chaplain), another chaplain, and my roommate Justin Prock (who teaches History & Government/Econ) were all in attendance.  I appreciated their presence.  I had been a bit doubtful about how much they cared about me.  I wondered if they could have fought harder for my visa.  With these gestures, it became clear that they really did want me to stay, but they knew from experience that fighting a visa decision was a waste of time and money.

At the dinner, they divided up my classes between the available, qualified people.  Josh Kong, who has a math degree, and was available in the afternoon, took my fourth period, the troublemakers.  Sam Pak took the second periods, and that left Kwan Kim (who teaches physics & math, and works in the IT department) with the first periods.  There was some discussion about who had to call Kwan and tell him.  Sherry (who works in the School Administration office) said that she wouldn't, and I certainly wasn't going to.  Sam eventually delegated that task to Chris, who did not look forward to it.

After dinner, I rode back with the Carrolls.  Then I went over to the Carstensons' apartment to give the van key back to Josh, and say goodbye.  That was quite difficult, because we had become pretty good friends in a short amount of time, and I would probably not be able to come back.  I still get a lump in my throat when I think about it.
For the rest of the evening, I graded tests until I couldn't stay up anymore.  I had already arranged with Sherry to call her when I needed a ride to school, because I knew I could work more effectively at the apartment.  The next morning, I graded tests until I had finished, and I posted the grades online.  Then, about lunchtime, I called Sherry, and started packing in earnest.

I went to the school for the afternoon, to wrap up some loose ends.  I handed back some of the makeup tests I had graded, and left the rest for my replacements to take care of.  Several of my students gave me goodbye letters, and a couple of them gave me goodbye gifts.  I went to chapel, where Sam Pak gave me the details of my plane flight.  (I could have arranged a better, cheaper one if I'd had some notice, but I don't know how much time they had.)  I consulted with Kwan about my grading policies, and I left my computer on my desk for Kwan to take care of.    After dinner, which I ate with some of my students, I finished packing up everything that I wasn't taking with me, and went downstairs to find that the shuttle had already left.  That was disappointing, since that was the first time that had happened to me at school.  Unfortunately, no one else was leaving soon.  So, I turned on my computer, e-mailed the flight details to my mom, and killed some time until Sam Pak came out and offered me a ride home.

Sam Pak, however, wanted to make sure of some financial questions first.  The school was paying me for the full month of November, which I thought was pretty good, since they were also paying for the flight.  They did, however, have to take out of my salary a cleaning fee for the apartment, and some utility costs for the last two months.  Sam wanted to make sure that those fees had been debited properly.  So, I turned on my computer, logged on to the Korean Exchange Bank website, and verified that the last deposit had been reduced to cover the final living expenses.  Then, I finally went back to the apartment to finish packing.

Sherry had already loaned me (at my request) a luggage scale, which really helped me with packing my luggage.  Unfortunately, I had more things in Korea than I had brought on the plane, because of what my mother had sent me in the mail.  I had also purchased some things in Korea, most notably my wool coat, which I did not want to leave behind.

I ended up leaving a few small articles of clothing, like hand-me-down undershirts, worn-out underwear, surplus bandannas & hospital scrubs, and a dress shirt that was ink-stained on the back.  (Josh wanted that one.)  I also left toilet paper, my closet rack, rice cooker, and all the food except for some good travel snacks.  I even left the Tupperware, which I was loathe to do.  Unfortunately, I did not have extra space for it.  I knew I would not really need it when I was living with my parents, so it didn't make the cut.  I did manage to bring all my cutlery, which fit in some crevices in the small duffel without making it overweight.  I did have to pack an extra bag, which I hoped would qualify as a carry-on.

Sherry had volunteered to drive me to the airport, and we had agreed to leave at 8:00, which would give me plenty of time to catch the flight.  I had a 1:50 flight with Japan Airlines, changing planes in Tokyo (Narita), then a long flight over the Pacific, to arrive around 10:00 a.m. of the same day that I left.  (That's the International Date Line for you.)  Sherry and I had a great talk on the drive over, about how she came to be where she is now.  It seems God's timing took a lot longer than she had hoped or expected.

Well, we got there in plenty of time.  I had to pay for an extra bag, almost $100 worth.  Then, I went to the bank, and had all my won turned into dollars, in cash.  Then Sherry bought lunch for both of us.  (When I found my selection had walnuts, she graciously offered to buy another one.)  When we both finished, I cleaned up, collected my things (making sure I had my money properly stowed), and she walked me to the security checkpoint, where we said goodbye.  I will miss her, as I will miss all of my friends in Korea.

I got through the checkpoint with no problems, and successfully found the gate for my departing flight to Narita/Tokyo.  Once there, I checked for problems with my flight (there were none), and greeted an American who appeared to be waiting for the same flight.  (She was connecting to a Hawaii flight for a wedding.)  I then plugged in my computer, connected my magicJack, microphone, and headphones, and attempted to call my mother.  After a few tries I remembered to reconfigure it for headphones, and got connected successfully.  She was at a birthday party for a close friend, so we didn't talk long, but she was glad to hear that I got to the airport safely.  After we hung up, I killed some time, and then, when the boarding call was announced, I packed up my things, and got in line.

One thing that I realized, while waiting for my flight, is that Korea is safer (from a personal property standpoint) than either Tokyo or San Francisco.  Also, I was carrying most of my life savings in a man-purse.  So, I secreted some of the money in various concealed spots on my person, so that if I got mugged, I would be unlikely to lose everything.  Of course, I didn't have any problems, but it did give me a little peace of mind, that at least I wouldn't get stranded.

The flight was full, and my backpack didn't fit in the overhead compartment very well, but otherwise it went fine.  Soon after we took off, I was offered refreshments, which I accepted.  The food was apparently an appetizer tray of some kind, with eight different little servings of traditional Japanese food (not sushi).  I was given only wooden chopsticks to eat them with, which I was quite happy about.  (After so much time in Korea, I rather prefer chopsticks to a fork, when I don't have to cut my food.)  My seatmate didn't get anything, and I hope that was only because he was engrossed in his movie.  I enjoyed the food, and the window seat was fine for the short flight.  The landing at Narita was uneventful.

Thanks for reading.  In my next entry, I'll talk about my short experience in Japan.