After a week of constant stress, packing, saying goodbyes, and a near-panic attack in the mall, the time is nigh! As I write this I am on a flight from Charlotte Airport to LAX and despite the fact that I have had very little sleep this week, I cannot actually fall asleep. I don’t know whether to say that I’m nervous or excited (although I am both) it’s more that I feel ready. I did not feel ready as I scrambled to pack earlier this week. I did not feel ready as I went through my Korean alphabet (Hangeul) flashcards yesterday. I certainly did not feel ready when I said goodbye to my sisters and boyfriend this morning at the airport. But one-and-a-half plane flights, a rushed subway airport lunch, two reads of the ETA Handbook, and cry in a bathroom stall later and I feel ready. Maybe resigned is a better word? Just kidding! I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED AND COMPLETELY EXSTATIC to see what Korea holds for me and to teach my own classroom. I can’t wait to have my own students and be able to uphold basic conversations in Korean and to learn all about the amazing things that I know South Korea has for me. Truly, I am SO thrilled, but I still can’t really get over the thing about missing my family/friends, wondering if I’ll be a good enough teacher, and knowing that there will be a constant slew of language and cultural hurdles for me to leap over (or get smacked in the face by) over the course of the next year. Getting this opportunity is truly the chance of a lifetime and this is something that I’ve wanted for so long… but that doesn’t mean I don’t have reservations.
As the only things I’ve experienced so far are the Myrtle Beach and Charlotte Airports, I don’t really have anything else interesting to report. As such, I’d like to take the time thank some people because it has been a huge ordeal getting ready the past little while and I know that I’ve been a pill to deal with. I really appreciate the complete support and enthusiasm of my grandparents, who have been hugely encouraging in this process. I’d like to thank my mom for multiple reasons, but primarily because she has driven me all up and down Myrtle Beach the past week, packed my luggage, and most of all, because she didn’t cry when we said goodbye last night. Also, thanks to Ms. Kathy for being so sweet and supportive (and for listening to mom cry all last night after y’all left). I’d like to thank Leah for telling me to get over myself whenever I started being sad about missing people and for putting together some sweet letters for me. (Also to Shikky for putting together some sweet letters for me) Thank you to all of my sweet friends who wrote me notes but omg I can’t read them on the plane because I’m not emotionally stable enough to and I’ll be that weepy white girl on the 12 hour plane ride (but I still love you all dearly and CANNOT wait to read them when I have time to cry in peace). Thank you Darby for making sure I ate American food until I was sick. Thank you Natalie for always reminding me to be enthusiastic and for sniffing me so you wouldn’t forget my smell. Thank you to Zil for being patient with me as I turned into a 10-headed, snappy stress monster of doom all week. And thank you to Dad, who took time to see me off at the airport, even though you had a burning desire to get groceries and left pretty much immediately. (It’s okay, I know the goodbye was too emotional for you to handle). And thank you to anyone who has read through all of this without being mentioned because I’m sure it’s not particularly interesting for you.
I still have roughly 2 hours on the plane before I get to LAX, so I’ll try going through my Hangeul cards again. The next time I post, I will probably be in Korea!
On an airplane, Haley
As the only things I’ve experienced so far are the Myrtle Beach and Charlotte Airports, I don’t really have anything else interesting to report. As such, I’d like to take the time thank some people because it has been a huge ordeal getting ready the past little while and I know that I’ve been a pill to deal with. I really appreciate the complete support and enthusiasm of my grandparents, who have been hugely encouraging in this process. I’d like to thank my mom for multiple reasons, but primarily because she has driven me all up and down Myrtle Beach the past week, packed my luggage, and most of all, because she didn’t cry when we said goodbye last night. Also, thanks to Ms. Kathy for being so sweet and supportive (and for listening to mom cry all last night after y’all left). I’d like to thank Leah for telling me to get over myself whenever I started being sad about missing people and for putting together some sweet letters for me. (Also to Shikky for putting together some sweet letters for me) Thank you to all of my sweet friends who wrote me notes but omg I can’t read them on the plane because I’m not emotionally stable enough to and I’ll be that weepy white girl on the 12 hour plane ride (but I still love you all dearly and CANNOT wait to read them when I have time to cry in peace). Thank you Darby for making sure I ate American food until I was sick. Thank you Natalie for always reminding me to be enthusiastic and for sniffing me so you wouldn’t forget my smell. Thank you to Zil for being patient with me as I turned into a 10-headed, snappy stress monster of doom all week. And thank you to Dad, who took time to see me off at the airport, even though you had a burning desire to get groceries and left pretty much immediately. (It’s okay, I know the goodbye was too emotional for you to handle). And thank you to anyone who has read through all of this without being mentioned because I’m sure it’s not particularly interesting for you.
I still have roughly 2 hours on the plane before I get to LAX, so I’ll try going through my Hangeul cards again. The next time I post, I will probably be in Korea!
On an airplane, Haley