See You Later, Alligator

(Note: there are no pictures of or references to alligators in this post. Herpetophobics are welcome here)

It's been three weeks since I said goodbye to Raffles English Academy and flew back to the States to be with my family. Finally I have gotten around to making a post about my last days teaching and my long journey home. 

I am pleased to report that I did not cry when I said goodbye to my students but mostly because it was such a busy day that there was no time for tears. I was so touched by my students. They were very thoughtful. My boss told me she didn't prompt them to do anything for me--all the gifts and parties were their idea. 

My fourth grade class had a little surprise party for me when I walked in the door for our last class. They bought treats and gifts for me. One of my students gave me a hand-painted fan.

Second grade class wrote and drew pictures on the board for me and gave me little gifts

Third grad class. Cuties!

Love my first graders/kindy kids. The twins are such goofs.

My middle schoolers taped balloons all over the classroom for me

And the sixth graders! 

Kindy kids <3!

I made little goody bags for my kids--stickers, pencil, eraser, and candy

I came home with a large bag of sweet hand-written notes and gifts from my dear students. I miss them already.

After a long final day at work, my coworkers and I feasted on delicious shabu shabu. Mmmmm shabu shabu. Then I met up with friends for dessert and Jurassic World! I had known for a long time I wouldn't be getting ANY sleep this night. And I was right.

Movie time!

After the movie, I scurried home and finished packing my room, cleaning all through the night until 4:30 am. That moment when you walk out your front door for the last time, leaving behind an empty room you called home for so long, is always somber. As I lugged all my luggage out to the main street to catch a taxi to the bus station, the neighborhood was quite and the morning air was fresh and invigorating. I looked around Hakdong one last time and reflected on how foreign everything felt exactly 365 days ago when I first arrived. 

Waiting for my 5:00am bus to the Incheon International Airport, running on zero hours of sleep

All settled in for my 4 hour bus ride to the airport. Everyone was sporting their MERS mask.

 From here on out, I don't have many pictures. All you need to know is that it was a long journey home. I flew two hours from Korea to Japan, 10 hours from Japan to LAX, and two more hours from LAX to Denver. Whew!

Unimpressive picture in the Tokyo Narita Airport...hey, it was a very short layover

 I cannot express the joy I felt when I saw my family. Words cannot describe.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I know I look awful. Let's see how you look after a day and a half of riding buses and airplanes

So now I'm home. And it's wonderful. I came home the night before Father's Day, which was such a treat. I got to make albondigas soup for my dad and eat cinnamon rolls--how great is that!

Here are some other great things I've done since I came home:

Chips and queso at Qdoba <3

Ahh driving. Just like riding a bike

My precious kitten!

Hanging out with my adorable nephews

Adorable nephew #2

Adorable nephew #3

And, of course, homemade chocolate chip cookies

 My heart is full of gratitude for the grand adventure I have had in Korea and the time I have been blessed with to be here with my family in Colorado. Here's to many more adventures!