4 years of ESL is coming to and end and this week especially I feel it. There are many parties with classes and "free talk" students. There is also a lot of packing going on. My room is a work site.
The official goodbye will be mid-August but for most of the summer I won't be in Korea. The week after next campus will be dead for the summer. Now students are swarming the campus and in the air there is a feeling of stress and pressure. Excitement is also there as tests and therefore classes are finished one by one. Students seemed pleased to get my final out of the way early. This made way for a class party. We were all completing our final English class. They have finished the series of 3 English Conversation classes. I have finished teaching their English Conversation classes.
My first class brought in a cake and insisted I wear the birthday hat. They tried singing happy birthday to me even though they knew the occasion wasn't a birthday. But they KNOW that song in English. We had a great time. My students brought snacks and together we ate and took photos.
Before they left I gave them the dreaded grades. Grades aren't exactly the best "party favor" but it was one of the final reminders that I am after all their teacher. Some left our final time together surprised--with either a higher or lower than expected score.
Grading at my school can be a bit tricky. My school's policy limits the number of A's to 25 percent. We can fill out paperwork to give 10 percent more. Policy is policy but when I could give more A's to those really great classes it causes a struggle for the teacher! I can not imagine this policy working in the US. But here it works just fine and students expect it.
Packing up my things has been an ongoing process. This week I have three stages of packing happening. I'm packing for my summer travel, sending boxes to the USA and I'm also packing for my final departure in August. When I return to Korea for my last time in late July I'll only have 3 weeks. My room feels nicely bare. Stuff is over rated! I can't believe how much I accumulated in such a short time. I can't believe how much trash I have.
Packing up a life chapter has never felt this surreal before. I'm so excited to be ending this chapter yet I'm sad to be leaving the people and the students. I'm used to ending semesters at KNU and going to the USA. It feels like I'm just getting ready to take another break between semesters. Eventually it will hit me that I'm really REALLY not returning.
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