Saying Goodbye

So today is officially my last day of winter break and I have very mixed emotions. On the one hand, I am very excited to get back into the classroom. I've really missed my students and teaching in general. Plus, I recently found out that this semester I will be teaching grades 3 and 5 instead of 5 and 6.  This will be quite a challenge because the 3rd graders will be studying English for the first time. They will not even know the alphabet! This is very different from last semester when all of my 5th and 6th graders could read and write. I'm a little nervous about working with the 3rd graders but am also very excited for the challenge! 

The end of winter break also marks my return to Hwacheon. I'm really sad about leaving my Chuncheon host family. I did not expect myself to grow so close to the Kyeong family in only a month. The mom and her son, Kyu Yeon, and I just spent so much time together this month and I've really come to consider them family. The three of us would have so much fun sitting around the house playing cards, doing puzzles and just hanging out. It really was similar to being home with my own family. I felt so comfortable in their home. Yesterday, I took the family out to VIPS to have a farewell lunch. VIPS is an all-you-can-eat Western style buffet that is very popular in Korea. It was a really great ending to the month and they really appreciated my generosity.

My unni and I at VIPS

The whole family!

This morning after breakfast I was driven to the bus station where I had to say goodbye to my family. I was a lot sadder than I was expecting- especially when my unni so sweetly handed me a bag of snacks in case I got hungry on the one hour ride home. The small gesture just reminded me how much she has taken care of me this past month. My host mom walked me to the actual bus and waited beside it until it left. The two of us looked like we were in some cheesy rom-com with her standing outside the window of the bus and the two of us waving and tearing up. I am so fortunate to have been welcomed into their home and I am so excited to go back and visit often. Despite the dramatic goodbyes this morning, they do live only an hour away!

Kyu Yeon and I made walnut-cranberry bark for Lunar New Years