It is hard to believe that just 2 years ago I arrived in South Korea., and today after 2 years of teaching English in South Korea. I am finished, done. No more are the days of eating pounds of kimchi, chatting with my favorite fruit lady, slurping delicious Korean soup, sleeping on heated floors, nodding to the nameless man at the garden store, trudging to Paris Baguette for my morning watery, overpriced coffee or seeing if I could coax a smile out of Mr. Grumpy, my school's old crossing guard each morning. (It worked twice!)All these familiarities will never be again. They took months to build but were gone the second I stepped on this bus to the airport., This is the weirdest thing about traveling. All these things that you take so long to carefully construct dissipate when you pack your bags and board the plane to another land. Life will, once again, completely change. Your normal will no longer be the same, it will and must adjust. It's strange and sad leaving a place you get to know, but then it is also so addicting to know the next destination will be full of unpredictability, challenges and newness.So I'm in that weird, magical period of transition. Saying goodbye to my old haunt, South Korea and greeting my new one, Thailand.Yet before I jump into learning what makes Thailand tick, I will wait a moment. And in honor of the past and all the happy memories that Korean life bestowed upon me, I wanted to make a list of all the beautiful things that I will miss ever, ever so much., in no particular order. And please excuse all the food references. I have a big love affair with food. If it were legal, I would be in holy matrimony with food. It would be the best husband. No ring needed, Sir Food, just give me Tuscan wedding full of what I love the best, food! ^^1. The Korean Apple ~ the most perfectly crisp, sweet, fantastic apple ever.2. Korean Elevators ~ ahhh the ride is so smooth!3. My students.. Of course not all of them. some I thank the Lord above that I'll never see again, but there were some angels among the devils. ^^ As you may have guessed, I'm one of those bad, bad teachers who had favorites. It's True!Gasp! Inge!? You what!?!Well, let's be honest here. It's just easier to like the kid who remembers to bring you a nectarine after lunch versus having affection for the one who steals one off your lunch tray without asking..hateful child! Yes! Again my world revolves around food, sad but true., and you better not ever steal fruit from me, or else!4. Koreans and their never ending willingness to help you.5. Slurping Korean stews (jjigaes) in the Winter, Yum, yum, yum!6. Market Day7. Eating7b. Eating with Chopsticks (Oh don't roll your eyes all you awkward chopstick eaters, these little devilish sticks are fantastic for more than just eating rice, If only you knew!, Angel hair pasta was never so easy to retrieve from a vat of boiling water and then when you're finished you can use the chopsticks to keep your hairdo up! Mr. Fork has nothing on you! and I bet you didn't know that you can eat cake with chopsticks too?)7c. Ordering a meal at a almost any Korean restaurant and getting it 8 minutes later. The service is incredible!7d. Korean Barbeque ~ but mostly BBQ Eel., Oh so tasty!8. Sleeping on the toasty, heated Korean floors in the bone chilling winters.9. Tea fields, sweating in rooms of jasmine ovens, and bathing in Green Tea saunas with Koreans.. Oh yes, I did!10. Getting told by a student that my hair 'looks like ramen noodles.' The most creative assessment of my knotted nest of hair yet.11. Eating silkworms, rotting skate fish, boiled blood, live octopus, and ehh... a bite, just ONE bite of man's best friend!... Yes I did it! I'm a terrible human being, I deserve death, but how many people do you know have done that, eh? Ruff, Ruff :)12. Learning that thanks to Kimchi, the Korean's manna!, garlic breath was the only acceptable smell for one's breath. No need for mouthwash in this country. So freeing! I feels as good as being old enough to tell your mom that you won't wear tights ever again! (don't judge, I had a weird childhood! and tights are oppressive!)13. Realizing that it is actually a complement and not an insult when Koreans tell you that you have a small face,white, white skin, and a pointy Pinnochio nose, who knew?14. Learning that the way to get out of trouble every time is to play the "I'm a dumb foreigner" card. Magic!15. Using toilet paper to clean up everything. No napkins needed.But Some of the most special memories, the ones that will stick with me forever and ever?1. My little orphan boys and girls., Without them I'm not sure I would have made it out of Korea sane. I would return to Korea just to see them again. I will write much more about them soon, I promise!2. My lovely Waygookin (foreign) and Korean friends., Amazing, Amazing, Amazing lifelong friends.3. My sweet North Korean Grandmother, chef extraordinaire that always made it her mission to fatten me up by giving me double the kimchi and a double-decker Korean pancakes., and never letting me leave her restaurant without giving me a million hugs and telling me how much she loved me.4. Learning that salsa dancing is my caffeine., Give me 32oz of espresso coffee at 1am and I'll be asleep by 1:30, but get me salsa dancing and I'll be going till 6 in the morning. ^^5. And every other amazing blessing, relationship, lesson, trip, conversation, etc.. that there is no time to write about, so, so blessed!So we need pictures, yes? Well I decided to focus on fully enjoying my last month in Korea will all my favorite people in Korea without the burden of carrying around my ever so heavy but beloved camera with me. Instead I decided to carry around the most awesome invention ever, the disposable camera, Magic! Here are the fantastically terrible pictures that came from all the fun!Pictures to come of Thailand, but right now I'm concentrating on napping, eating, yoga, eating fruit, salsa dancing and taking in all the sights and sounds without carrying around Sir Camera. He needs a vacation, like myself., but he'll be out in full force very soon I'm sure :)