Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold.

Yay - found a computer.... I need to write this all down before I forget what I've been up to...

Friday was my last day at school (photos will be added at some point - update: See Flickr link), and I (of course) got gifts from the teachers and a few cards from the students: "Dear Baginia. I am regrettable. Don't go to Mokpo." I guess that means that they liked me after all, even if they still can't spell my name. After school, I ran to meet up with Karen and head to Gwangju where we would finally get a closer look at the new incoming teachers (including my friend Jen, who has come back to Korea), and say goodbye to Matt and Helen. After two weeks of goodbyes, it was so hard to say a final goodbye to them, so Matt and I decided to simply say, "See you tomorrow" instead of the usual weepy "I'll never ever see you again... waaaaah".

On Saturday, I presented to the new recruits. The fun part was that I got to see friends like Kirsten, Dustin, Jen and Daragh. The unfun part was that I was not firing on all cylinders... I got back to Suncheon on Saturday and called Melissa. We headed out to Julianna's with her boyfriend Chris for supper. Even though I kept insisting that I wanted an early night, we ended up going to a soju-bang afterwards (yummmmmmmy soju cocktails), then to WA bar, and finally back to Julianna's, where I met up with some other friends to say goodbye. Congrats were in order for Cassie, who tested (and got) her black belt that day. (I'll have to wait a few months before I can go test for mine).

Sunday morning, I woke up quite early and immediately started packing and cleaning. Since Jakob has moved to Gwangyang to be with Jessica for the next month, I was able to do all the final packing, cleaning and garbage-ing etc without his help. Kim, Jeannie, Steve and (especially) Nina helped me out on that final morning by grabbing some of my extra things (either to keep or to store) and I was finally off to Mokpo, where I met up with Alex who has agreed to store pretty much everything I have in his spare room. After a few back-and-forths between Brent and Stephanie's place and Alex's, we headed out for supper. I'm really looking forward to my eventual move to Mokpo - a lot of the people seem really nice and I know that Jen and JP will be there to keep me company too.

Monday morning, I said "See you tomorrow" to Brent and Stephanie (get it? Instead of a final goodbye....), took their laptop to transport to Canada, and boarded a KTX (like the French TGV) to Seoul. The train ride was great since the tracks pass through so many neat farming villages and countryside and mountains. Wow. Springtime really is the most beautiful season in Korea. I arrived in Seoul and decided to try to find a hotel room. I ended up wandering around Dongdaemun Market and Stadium for over an hour before wearily checking into the first hotel I saw. I'm actually quite glad, since I have a glorious comfy bed, TV with all the fun channels (like On Style) and internet down the hall. I wandered around Dongdaemun and began buying souvenirs for friends and family back home. The thing about Seoul is that a foreigner just isn't as hot a commodity as in Suncheon or Mokpo, and other foreigners seem to go so far as to pretend that they don't see you! It's a big difference from Jeollanamdo but I guess it's good practice for Canada, when I will look like everyone else. Another funny thing is that I am having a real hard time understanding the Seoul accent - they speak sooooo fast here! I guess Seoul reminds me of Toronto - fun to visit, but I would never live here.

So.... right. I checked my e-mail on Monday afternoon, and there was a message from Brent saying "Please check the pocket of my laptop case and tell me if you find my passport". So... yeah, it was there, in my hands in a hotel room in Seoul while Brent and Stephanie, who were flying out on Tuesday morning, were sitting in their apartment (packing and cleaning) in Mokpo. Don't worry - it all turned out okay in the end with a midnight meeting in the Yongsan train station, and I was able to say another, "See you tomorrow" to them last night.

This morning, Tuesday, I got up early-ish (but not early enough to meet Brent and Stephanie for breakfast - ooops!) and decided to play tourist. I headed to the Seodamun Prison, which was a Japanese run prison during the Occupation of Korea by Japan. The main prisoners at that facility were members of the Korean Resistance, some of whom are considered to be National Heroes, including Ryu Gwan-sun, a young woman who eventually died there. The images and scenes of torture were quite jarring, but many of the descriptions had a decidedly propaganda-ish twist - this was not a place of unbiased history... but perhaps that's how historical atrocities should be presented, instead of being sugarcoated by political correctness. (On a side note, the Japanese government issued a formal apology to the people of Korea in October 2001.) Anyway... I met up with Nicola at noon and we went for a final lunch together before heading to Insadong, a great shopping area (I went there with my mom in October) for traditional items. By that time, I was a bit shopped out, so we went for tea in this great place called the Old Tea Shop. Absolutely crowded with tables, cushions, chairs, knickknacks, antiques and birdcages, this is a really special teashop. There are even live birds flying around!

After saying goodbye... I mean, "See you tomorrow" to Nicola, I headed back to Dongdaemun, and hit up a corner shop for as much soju and weird Korean candy as I could carry. Now, I've got a date with my big comfy bed and my fun TV channels.... tomorrow is going to be a hellish day of non-stop travel.

"See you tomorrow".