Saying Goodbye to Daegu

As I type, I am sitting in my new apartment in Seoul, where I will be through Monday morning (when I leave for my vacation in Kiev). I came up to Seoul with the last of my things this morning.

Yesterday I stopped by all of my favorite stores along my street to say goodbye to all my favorite shopkeepers. The woman at the accessories store gave me some free socks and a big hug; her husband shook my hand. My Paris Baguette gave me free ice tea. Everyone told me that I must come back and visit.

My students were also incredibly sweet. Several classes brought food, and many students gave me gifts, letters, and cards. A student who collects foreign coins gave me three American coins (a dollar coin, a quarter, and a fifty-cent piece). A student who collects pressed leaves/flowers and stamps gave me some of each. Another hand stitched a toy rabbit for me, another made me a cat-shaped fan. So many adorable gifts and letters. Here are some of my favorites:

I had just listened to this really interesting podcast on dollar coins, so I was quite amused to receive this!





(I often yelled at a student named Maria in this class - apparently that made an impression on her classmates!)

I feel silly blurring out my face and no one else's, but as long as I'm trying to keep this blog semi-anonymous, I figure I should... Anyway, below are some pictures of me with some of my favorite classes.

These two fellas are replacing me and my cousin. They're both named Seth.

Seth on the right will be living in my old apartment and keeping Charlie until I get back. She's rather terrified of him right now, as the only people she has had contact with are me and the vet... and of course the vet did not leave her with a positive impression of Other People. When I left, she was hiding under the couch :-( So sad; I miss her already. The youtube video below is the last Charlie video I'll be posting for six weeks or so. I'm trying not to worry. Meanwhile, if you'd like to follow the adventures of two brand new Korea newbies, here are their blogs: Seth in Korea and Minor Misadventures in Asia Major. Enjoy!