Farewell Busan, Goodbye Reading Town

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I finished my job! Wahoo! I've moved out of my home! Wahoo! I'm leaving tomorrow for the Philippines! Wahoo!

So my last day at school was very nice. Every kid in the school made me cute cards and we had snack parties in every class. It was a very chill, nice day. I got a little emotional reading some of the cards from the kids - they were so sweet and I will really miss a few of them! Funnily enough, about half of the cards had something to do with swine flu. They are all very afraid I will catch it! As one kid said, "Be health, teacher, because swine flu is matter." Haha. I also went out with all of the teachers for chicken and beer and we had a great time, especially because our manager had too much to drink and started telling embarrassing secrets. Yes!

It took a while, but I moved out of my apartment. I think anything bigger than a closet will now absolutely thrill me! I moved into Brittany's apartment for a few days. She was so nice to let me crash, and pile all of my things at her place, so props to Brit! It felt like I had a million things to do, but I think (hope!) I got everything done.

I had a going away party that started at a galbi restaurant for dinner and then moved on to Kino Eye bar, which was the very first bar I went to when I got to Korea, so it was fitting it was the last! Perhaps 10-11 people came to dinner and then we met up with more at the bar. Everyone comes out for a party! It was strange, though, to realize how many of my friends had already gone home. The evening was grand, and then when people started to say goodbye, I started bawling. It was so embarrassing! But as Haley put it, no one had ever seen me cry so it was touching and not painful. Haha. And thank God I had already planned a weekend trip with a few of those people, so I really only had to say goodbye to half.

Leaving Busan was hard, but I know it was the right move. I made so many amazing friends in Busan, and I'm positive I will keep in touch with many of them. Most are from the US and Canada, so no excuses! And anyone else is just an excuse for an overseas vacation!

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