the (really) last day

this is me writing to you from the floor of my friend Annie's apartment in Seoul on my official last night in Korea. you can't imagine the range of emotions in this emotional girl at the moment. the past three days have been, as per usual, a whirlwind of insanity and beauty in this fabulous city of Seoul. i don't have much time for details at the moment--much more will be written in the coming weeks and months about all that has transpired this year, this month and this week, but for now, i'll give you the highlights of the Last Great Weekend in Korea:

• Showing up in Insadong on the eve of the Lotus Lantern Festival and being quite surprised to find out it was being held this weekend not next weekend and not having a hotel reservation to speak of.
  
• Being helped by a very lovely Korean man who walked us to the only place that had a room in the area -- a love motel, of course -- where we drank blue juice, ate ice cream and relaxed in their "romantic coffee" shop.
  
• Returning to our original hotel and being "gifted" the last room in the house (though we still had to pay) and later realizing that it was probably not rentable at all due to the extreme wood eating mold in the bathroom and the broken chair.
  
• Eating a delicious real Italian meal of steamed mussels, crab lasagna, salmon linguine and foccacia while relaxing on the patio of a very lovely restaurant in Insadong.
  
• Finding out that the jacuzzi tub actually has to be full before you turn on the jets or everything gets really really wet.
  
• Saying goodbye to Jim as I got into a cab to head to my friend Annie's house and he got onto a bus to go to the airport to go to the states.
  
• Wandering the streets of Insadong and discovering the most gorgeous temple with the most incredible lanterns covering the space in a thick canopy.
  
• Finding Korean b-boys rockin' it on stage at the street fair.
• Buying an awesome glowy lotus lantern.
  
• Witnessing the most insanely Korean parade ever -- thousands of people walking the streets of downtown Seoul with gorgeous lanterns and lantern floats of Buddha, elephants, pagodas and dragons -- as it changed course no fewer than three times in 45 minutes. We had a perfec (seriously perfect) spot which we had to run to and fro from as the parade changed course. Ridiculous.
• Walking around Insadong in the rain with good friends and eating grilled Korean chicken one last time.
  
• Waking up this morning and heading to Hongdae for a fabulous meal of artichoke and sun dried tomato sandwiches, finding a funny cafe that actually looks like a cathedral in Prague, and discovering a troupe of Korean swing dancers in the park.
  
• Eating Indian food and spending my last night in Korea reading in an awesome underground cafe that we had been searching for all day.
  

enjoy the pics. there will be more soon. for now, anyeonghasaeyo from Korea. stay tuned for tales from thailand.

the last day

Today was it. My last day. Been saying goodbye to so many people over the past week. But today, I find myself in a state of the following: amazement at having finished an entire year in Korea (we celebrated one year on May 1^st!); relief for finally being able to step away from my classes (despite how much I love my kids, this was an exhausting job); total excitement for the coming months (Thailand, SF, Tucson, burning man); and, yes, sadness for having to leave it all behind. But like I said in my last post, I’m so grateful to have had the chance to really connect with people and to feel so very loved by everyone here (I have been begged and pleaded with to stay on at our school by everyone from the bus drivers to the bosses, to the Korean teachers to some of the foreigners). On Saturday at our big going away party, a dear friend of mine, Young Jeong, who is a fabulous Korean artist, gave me a piece of her art that I feel in love with the first time I visited her studio. It was just before her big show, and so I inquired about the price. It was far out of my range, though. On Saturday night, she and her boyfriend show up and she pulls out this very well-protected package with her gallery flyer on the front and a small little picture of the art in the corner. Of course, I cried. In that moment, I knew everything I needed to know about my life in Korea – it will forever be part of my heart and the people I have known here, well, most of them will be part of my life for a long time to come.

On a side note, since I don’t have time to blog about the party, just wanted some folks to know (Katie & Jake, particularly) that I just happen to meet Zaid, the manager of Ron’s bars for 9 years (Tonic and Blur), who, when I said, ohmygod, not only do you live 4 blocks from me in SF, but you also worked for my two of my dear friend’s friend…his reply: your friend wouldn’t happen to be a prenatal yoga instructor, would she? Also named Katie? Ohmygod, yes. He completely 100% randomly happened to be invited to our party, and we connected that night. What a small, small, beautiful world we live in. just had to share. Here’s a pic of us! (take note that one week ago today, it was like 50 degrees F here, and now, it is seriously 88 degrees outside).

Also, also, we spent one last afternoon with Swan and her mom, where she, of course, took us to a wonderland of beauty. But again, since I don’t have time to blog about it, I had to share this awesome drawing that Swan did of Jim and I. She was hiding behind her mom’s camera, saying she was drawing something secret. We discovered from the image on the camera she was drawing a portrait of us. Well, what to our wondering eyes should appear but this completely amazing picture – me and jim as stick figure puppets. You wish you knew this kid. You really do.

xoxo

catie