The past two nights before sleep has come to me I’ve thought of my students with the tiniest bit of longing. I thought about my hoarse-voiced third grader who improved so much and said hi to me instead of C; my little daycare kids on whom I got to test run my own classroom setup; Jeongyeon helping me make ramen at a convenience store in the dead of winter; the conspiratorial look of a third grader during G’s choral music; the girl who looked at me, I winked at her, and she winked back; my former sixth graders linking arms with me and catching me up on gossip; the little…

I wish I could tell you that something special and exciting happened during school my last day but it wasn’t much different than the last few months of this contract. C did have us play a game with the fifth graders so I did have more interaction than usual. Plus, I didn’t cry so that was good. We waited to tell the kids that it was my last day until the very end of class and they didn’t do much more than say goodbye. Of course one boy from last semester who I remember bowing in a 90° angle after he committed a grave error said “You can’t leave! Don’t…

C: Have you received any maintenance bill? Me: Huh? C: Or when you first moved in, was the landlady there? Or the real estate agent? Me: Nope, it was just me and S. Honestly I don’t think the landlady has ever come in to look at the apartment in the five years an English teacher has lived here. C: So what needs maintenance in the apartment? Where do I begin… Me: the cable doesn’t work, the microwave doesn’t heat up, the bed frame came apart, the AC is dirty as you know, oh and the light fixture is broken. To be fair, I broke that. I left out the part…

I got in to school and promptly received an email from S asking if I was free at 11. “We are going to have a party for you in male music teacher’s room,” she told me, and I lamented having not washed my hair. I got to the classroom and on the board were kind words from S along with a few balloons, and a spread of desserts across the makeshift desk table. All the previous subject teachers from last semester gathered, and male music teacher (well, now a homeroom teacher) made pour over coffee like old times and acted as our emcee. He grinds my gears I admit but…

Today is Liberation day and what with the rain and spike in cases I didn’t make many plans besides an eyelash perm appointment and promise to drop off housewares to an interested party to help lighten my moving load. Before noon I made my way to the beauty shop only to find it dark and locked. I sat on the basement stairs and waited until the owner arrived with her disabled dog and exclaimed “oh my”. Another young woman joined and the two of us lay down in silence while the lash lady prepared everything. I had a moment lamenting the lack of small talk in Korea until the owner…

C asked me about Busan and sighed wistfully at my response. “I’m really tired of Seoul,” she confessed, “I’ve only ever lived here. I want to try living somewhere else. But my family and my life and my new job…” I heard what she said and everything she didn’t. Family obligation, a long term boyfriend who doesn’t want to move, a five year contract at this school. I asked her when these thoughts came up and she said they’ve been around for the last few years. She had secured a job at an international school on Jeju this year but ultimately declined in favor of keeping her life here. Regret…

One of the newer PTs in a purple t shirt checked me in today at the gym. Since we’re still living in COVID times, I’ve had to write my name and other personal information on a sign in sheet since April. He gestured to a phone on a stand at the desk but I didn’t quite know what he meant. I think there’s an app? I don’t know. He said something about coronavirus and I said I prefer to sign the paper since I didn’t really understand the phone situation. That was fine with him and as I was filling out the sign in sheet, he read my address upside…

"No, you need a form from the bank," the immigration officer explained tonelessly. She seemed rather young to already be dead inside.

“Who is your hero?” “My hero is my dad. He makes lots of money. He is number one in his company.” I had to hold back the laughter so I just told this camp student that he did very well and great job. After I hung up I turned to C and told her that I just heard the most Korean thing in the world. Another camper uploaded her very beautiful superhero comic featuring Gamora with emphasis on her “beautiful body” and “attractive hair”. I told C to please tell the student in Korean it sounds a bit better to say cool or beautiful hair. “Oh really? We use that…