goodbye korea T_T

this is likely the last post from our current east asian life. tomorrow is our last day in korea, our last day at work. almost everything in our apartment has been packed up and sent home, or thrown away, or given away. our computers will be sent home tomorrow morning by express mail - our bags are (nearly) packed!

goodbye desk ...

our replacements, emma and patrick from ireland, have arrived, and are well on their way to learning the ropes at school. my final days have been spent having snack parties with each of my classes (a class period of literally eating and playing games, totally productive). my last class with some of my little guys this afternoon was spent with six pairs of curious eyes on me as i choked back tears during attendance. ok, and by "choked back tears" i really mean, splotchy red face and massively watering eyes. and emotionally-garbled "did you do your homework?" inquiries.

goodbye students ...

as organized as we've tried to be, a crisis (or two) came up in our southeast asia travel itinerary. we are scheduled to fly to bangkok on wednesday morning, and the currently political state in thailand's capital is not cooperating in our favour. for those that haven't been keeping up with the sensational news, the red shirt protesters have brought their month-long "peaceful" protest to an end. as in, it's no longer peaceful. the military's been called in, 20 people have been killed, and thailand is currently in a state of emergency. so, needless to say, after some minor freakouts (mostly on my part), we've rearranged our schedule and will be skipping bangkok-as-a-first-stop as originally planned. instead, we will immediately head north to chiang mai, where the anti-government protests aren't cramping our style.

goodbye bangkok ... (for now)

thus, our loose itinerary continues as follows:

• chiang mai, thailand
• siem reap, cambodia - angkor wat
• phnom penh, cambodia
• phuket, thailand
• islands: koh phi phi, koh samui, koh pha ngan, koh tao

... and then back to bangkok, where hopefully the violent protests will have subsided by mid-may. wish us luck! i promise to avoid any civil unrest, at all costs. i by no means am looking to get shot with a rubber bullet. or a real one, for that matter.

so while we wrap up our odds and ends in this part of asia, a new chapter is just about to begin.
goodbye korea, it's been a slice.