Summer 2007 Cliff’s Notes- July
July arrived, and Adam and I had just spent a month with 90 minutes between him in Seoul and me in Paju. Knowing we had another month of the same ahead of us, we were weary. Feeling especially homesick, we celebrated American Independence Day at an English Village party for Canada Day (July 3) and then with good old American cheeseburgers in Seoul on the 4th.
We went to an incredible Korean drumming concert a few days later. It was our first real encounter with traditional Korean music, and we loved it.
Adam and I prepared for the arrival of my good friend from college, La Tisha, who was coming from Los Angeles to work with Adam as an English teacher with Kyohaksa Publishing Company. That is, she would work with Adam until I finished at English Village at the end of the month and took Adam’s place. We were so happy to have La Tisha arrive, and I spent many of my off days showing her around in Seoul. During the week, Adam hung out with La Tisha while I finished up in Paju.
I was tired and anxious to be in Seoul with Adam and La Tisha, but I had reached the busiest weeks of my entire contract at English Village: the Two Week Program. The TWP is a program in which 700 students stay at the village for, you guessed it, two weeks. I had spent months preparing new activities and materials with my co-workers for the TWP, only to know that I would be leaving in its midst. TWP arrived the third week of July along with tons of new teachers, new classrooms, new everything, and a non-stop busy work schedule. I was enjoying the spunky students and my excellent co-workers, but it was hard to get into new, new, new in the last two weeks of my contract.
Of course, I had Harry Potter to help me through it.
And I had a little perspective in the midst, with the 40-day fast.
Not wanting to have to pack up in a frenzy at the last minute (as is our custom), Adam and I spent a Saturday and Sunday packing everything up, a week before we had to move. It made our wrap-up at English Village a lot easier, with more time for our goodbyes. We closed our time at English Village with a couple of nice farewells. Some of my friends from work brought me to a nice dinner. A few days later, we had a lovely party in our packed apartment. Hours were spent in a classic-rock sing-along with our friend Nolan on guitar.
On Tuesday, July 31, I taught my last class at EV alongside my friend Yu Jin, then I hopped the bus to Seoul to view the apartment that would become home for the next year…
