잘가요, 내 사랑*

in names: me, Jiwon Unni, Hyerim Unni, Jihye Unni, 장미, 지원 언니, 혜림 언니, 지혜 언니. in a word: love, 사랑.

* = goodbye, my love (jal-ga-yo, neh sarang)

I first felt tears beginning to gather in my eyes as I hugged my reading/listening teacher, Yang Sunsaengnim, goodbye on Friday afternoon. Shortly after that, it was goodbye to Jihyang Unni and Miyoung Unni in the 7th floor office. That night, it was farewell to some of my best-loved classmates, Konomi, Kanako, Hatim, and Casey. Yesterday afternoon, Hyemi Unni; yesterday evening, Jiwon Unni, Jihye Unni, and Hyerim Unni. After Jihye Unni left the noraebang where we were screaming out the latest K-pop hits (at my insistence, of course), I began to cry for real, and by the time Hyerim Unni deposited me in a cab bound for Mapo-gu Sinchon, I was practically incosolable. I wept for about 30 minutes after we got home, too. I don't know how large a role the SoJu we merrily consumed played in my emotional reverie, but I don't think it was all that large. The truth is that I'm just going to miss everyone - everything, really - about this place more than I can put into words.

It's so weird that this is my last day, and I've decided that I'd rather not try to cram stuff in. I don't want to rush through experiences that I feel I should have had, or try to hastily see places I've not yet been to. I have some things on my to-do list (evidently, we're going to McDonald's, of all places, for lunch because I've not yet had the (in)famous bulgogi burger), and I do plan to buy another 2 pairs of jeans from Uniqlo (fabulous cuts, good prices), but I feel like I'll just play a lot of today by ear. Aside from the practicalities of getting myself prepared for another 18-hour journey tomorrow, I just want to enjoy the feeling of living here one last time.

In a very strange way, it's almost as though I want to say goodbye to people I've never met or been formally introduced to. The girl at Etude House, who has no doubt seen me pretty much EVERY DAY this summer, since she has to work outside screaming into a headset in order to try to get customers in; the lady who works at the convenience store next to my goshitel where I bought banana milk and kimbap more times than I can count; the ajummas and agashi from my favorite restaurant, who fed me over 100 dumplings and countless plates of delicious, delicious ddeokbokki (actually, the people who work at ANY of the restaurants we frequented); the girl from Angel-in-Us Coffee, who must have wondered how many yogurt smoothies I could drink before getting a headache. There are more, but you probably don't care about the descriptions. It's just...like, I want to say, "Hey! You've been kind of a fixture in my day-to-day life. I'm leaving now, so I won't see you, but thanks for...being there."

I'm such a sap.

One thing, though, that has been common in all of my goodbyes, from the email sent to Choi Sunsaengnim after final exams to the tearful words I blubbered into Hyerim Unni's shoulder last night, is a half-promise, half-hope: "내년에 봐요!"

See you next year.

Let's make it happen.

[p.s. This is not the last blog entry. I'll for sure be posting when I get back to the States. As this blog serves not only as a personal means to document my travels for family in friends, but also as a guide for future students considering studying at Sogang in Korea, I'll probably be updating with some kind of overview of Sogang's KLEC program, plus my own take on it. I also have more pictures that I intend to upload soon, since my blog was never all that picture-heavy. And some concluding thoughts and what-not. I'm sure you're really looking forward to it. Snort.
p.p.s. I'll say more about it when I update again, but suffice it to say that my studying paid off well enough, and my grades from KLEC were considerably better than just passing :) I think my speaking teacher was surprised, but not surprised enough to pop out her baby. Thankful thought.
p.p.p.s. For good measure, SBS KJE Chocolate's SNSD stage. Best performance of this song I've seen so far, which actually doesn't say a lot, but these girls have been such a part of my Korean experience this summer. A very hearty thank you to Tiffany, Jessica, Taeyeon, Yuri, Hyoyeon, Yoona, Seohyun, Sooyoung, and Sunny - you've actually been good teachers and have taught me a lot of vocabulary, plus invested me in Korean pop culture in a way that I wouldn't have thought likely or possible. 소녀시대 화이팅! I can't believe I turned into a 소원 fangirl.]

For the last time in Korea (this time around):

Jangmi out.