July 10
January – June
Me: I’m having a hard time
Seoul:
July
Me: I’m moving out of Seoul
Seoul: But wait! Look at the clear air! The students came back! You get vacation! You and your coworkers have grown closer! We’ll open the parks!
Life is like that. The last few days I stopped and wondered, am I making the right decision to leave this school?
I’ve finally grown comfortable in my neighborhood and with my new coworkers and my students are such a joy, can I give them up?
Then I realized, if I asked the school if they would allow a super late renewal, I hoped the answer would be “no”. Which is its own answer. Like the moment you realize your truth before the quarter lands on tails.
I think finite endings bring greater meaning to experiences. I will definitely cry on the last day and am considering bribing my kids with candy if they want to write me a goodbye note.
I’ll cherish their precious faces and gremlin antics, most especially because they were the first on this new journey of self discovery.
They are my first class, and from here on out I’ll have to say goodbye so many more classes. That’s the nature of teaching.
What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.
Jack Kerouac