Dear Family and Friends,

A few Sunday mornings ago, my phone rang to announce that my friend Emily from Seattle had arrived at the Daegu train station – an hour earlier than expected. I hastened into a cab, spent the anxious journey learning Hangul from my cab driver, and after checking six different places where my friend could’ve been dropped off, I found her drooping with exhaustion on a sidewalk. We heaved her luggage into another cab, returned to my apartment and I gave her approximately 30 seconds to recuperate before marching her down into the subway and up into the best place I could think of to delay jet-lagged sleep: Daegu’s amusement park.

Dubbed “Woobang Tower Land” by a creative team obviously wanting in creativity, the park contains a variety of actual amusements including a cheesy haunted house (that Emily and I nonetheless clutched hands and anxiously listened for the scary), an Aladdin play land, a roller coaster called the Boomerang that disconcerted me to the point of needing to sit until my knees quit shaking, and Woobang Tower – big tower with nice viewing platform of the city. Emily and I quite enjoyed the day: stopping to watch marching bands, posing for pictures with the strange characters, sampling the Korean delicacy of a hotdog on a stick covered with fried potatoes, and delighting our Korean audience with “crazy meeguk-im” (American) antics such as whoo-hooing on the non-scary log ride. The sun was setting as we returned to my apartment, where I bustled to prepare my favorite Thai curry, she unpacked the goodies that she had hauled for me, and I moaned that I had to return to work the next day.

On Monday morning, while Emily tuned into the Super Bowl via the web, I grabbed my cuppa of coffee and returned to school for “spring” quarter. When originally informed of this time when students and teachers alike return to school but little educating is done, now somewhat assimilated to Korean school system ways, I shrugged about the why - but shook my head at the name:

“I’m sorry.” I interrupted. “Did you just say that Spring Quarter is in February?”

My guiding teacher confirmed.

Still mystified I pressed: “Is February spring in Korea?”

“No.” My guiding teacher laughed.

I didn’t get it. And I still don’t. But I dutifully returned to my desk in the faculty room and filled my days with school stuff – while my friend Emily filled her days with well-deserved relaxation interspersed with forays around Daegu. Although ironically, the rain that I was crazy for arrived and cancelled the city tour that Emily was supposed to go on.

On Thursday, students and teachers and parents alike dressed to the nines and gathered in the gymnasium to graduate our seniors (actually known as “third graders”). Although I had not taught the third graders, I am acquainted with many and was touched to observe them so serious in their suits, officially done with their childhoods. And I found their graduation ceremony especially pleasing as “Pomp and Circumstance” was not played and I was not expected to actually listen to the dull podium speakers. The ceremony ended with the graduates standing and saluting their parents with a chorus “thank you” and a bow.

On Friday, there was another assembly to mark the 1^st and 2^nd graders ascension to 2^nd and 3^rd grades. Again, I couldn’t understand a word but was far from bored as my British co-teacher, guiding teacher, and I stood in the back and chatted about next quarter. Then I found myself bidding a temporary good-bye to my guiding teacher and British co-teacher and a more final good-bye to the teachers that are departing from our school: including my reading comprehension co-teacher, the home economics teacher whom I quite liked despite not being able to actually talk with, my good friend Ji Young, and my next-desk neighbor, the beloved Handsome Mr. Park. Good-byes make me very sad.

But my friend Emily was there to give me a much needed hug. We took ourselves for a walk, zipped our bags, and hailed a cab to the airport. My duties now suspended, we were off to the very south and very north of the Republic of Korea.

Hooray!!!! --Laura