Teach them how to say goodbye

It's weird to think there was at time just before I left for Korea (over two years ago now! Wow, I'm just blowing past all of my own anniversaries over here) where I was just a constant mess of anxiety over how I would do at my new job. As I lay out in this very awkward post, I spent a lot of time before my initial voyage thinking that I would most likely be sent back to Canada mid-way through my training week with a one-way plane ticket and a "Kick me" sign stuck to my ass. I'd never taught before and there was nobody less confident in my ability to do so than me. But not only have I made it through eight semesters, I just started my ninth at a whole new school!

Well, I mean, a whole different school. It's a different branch of Chungdahm, which made the transition really easy as I'm still teaching all of the same material. Easier, even; my new school doesn't have an April branch so I'm back to a single curriculum, which has been a bit of a relief. Honestly, I didn't realize how much stress my old schedule was putting me under until it wasn't there anymore. Kind of like how you don't notice the fridge running until it stops, but also the fridge has been punching you in the face a lot and you didn't notice that either.

So hello Gwanggyo, my new home just north-east of Suwon! Damn, this is a pretty cool area too. You know how I was always complaining that Pyeongtaek didn't have any 24 hour cafes where I could hang out late at night and mooch wifi? If you answered "yes," then you're a liar, because I don't think any of the people who listened to me rant about that are still friends with me. But yeah, 24 hour cafe! I'm writing this from one just around the corner from my (small but very nice) new apartment. I live in an Officetel now, which is basically an apartment with three floors of businesses on the bottom levels. The businesses in my building happen to include my bank, a cafe, a convenience store and three different restaurants. Plus some other stuff. Like a yoga place or...or something...I dunno, they didn't have food. 

This whole community is very new so everything is in really nice condition. There is a ton of shopping, restaurants, cafes, parks and a subway station within a pretty short walk from my current apartment. My new job is directly across the street so if I ever forget anything at home or need to nap for twenty minutes while my students take a test, it's not an issue. I haven't taken any photos of this area but maybe there's a way you can, like, find images on the internet, and, maybe

It worked!

So things in this area are great! I've settled in well and I'm getting to know all of my new students, who are a lot like many of my old students except they're not sick of my dumb jokes yet. I am a little nostalgic for a lot of my former students though. I was only there two years, so not a significant portion of any of their lives, but I still got to see a lot of them change and grow up during that time. By the time I left, one of the first students I ever taught was almost two feet taller than he had been when he was in my class. I watched a lot of them change from bright-eyed kids into horrible, horrible teenagers who kept trying to throw stuff at me. I watched a lot of students come and go and I trolled them all (no joke, I convinced an entire class that I was Richard Branson's son for...some reason? Can't even remember why). 

And though I won't miss them all (oh man I will super not miss some of the kids I've taught and I made real sure they wouldn't miss me), I made some fantastic memories teaching in Pyeongtaek. More than that though - I feel like the experience of teaching has rewired parts of my brain to make me capable of feeling and thinking things that otherwise would never have occurred to me. I look at situations differently than I used to and I understand people better than before. I think, or at least hope, it has made me a better person. So for that it was worth it.

Today's title: