209) Farewell Party

Judith flew in to Korea on Thursday afternoon, and that night Patrick, James and I went to meet her and go out for dinner. I barraged Judith with a ton of random bits of information and stories about Korea- most likely completely overwhelming her.




I spent Thursday night at Patrick’s house, met his wife, his new baby boy, and we watched a movie and talked and smoked cigars- a great night. In fact nearly every night this past week was spent with Patrick and James, either drinking or eating or going to a jazz club- a really great last week!






Friday night was my farewell party. A couple people cancelled early on, and at around 8 or 9 it looked like it was going to be a sad lonely evening. I started to become afraid to answer my phone in fear of another person canceling. But eventually people started rolling in, and by midnight nearly all the real friends I made in Korea were there (with a few exceptions).














Overall it was a great night with great people- I wouldn’t have wanted to spend it any other way.

208) The Last Day

Today was my last day of teaching at the elementary school. Last days are always tough, especially with the youngest kids.



I spent an hour with these kids five days a week for a year. There are always a small few who you really grow close with. I knew a few months into this contract I would be missing certain kids when I had to walk away, and today that was fully realized.



It’s tough to see some of these little guys cry, but at the same time it is kind of re-assuring, it lets me know I did my job well. I am walking away from this job feeling pretty good- not so much sad for the kids I loved, but happy for the experience and opportunity.



It’s crazy how fast a year can go by- much less the past few weeks. The last few weeks of a teaching contract go by in a blur, and there are always mixed feelings. I will be happy to take a nice long vacation and get out of Seoul- but of course I will miss this job. I wont be missing it while I am getting massages and laying on the beach, but I am sure some day I will be looking back at the four hours a day I spent playing with these kids and wish I could go back.



The last day is never really a good day to take pictures- most of my favorite kids were sad and not photogenic, and I am only doing it half heartedly, just trying to preserve some memory in vain. Nevertheless here are some shots from today.

207) 10 From the Cigar Shop (Cigar Shop III)

Here are ten shots from the other night at the cigar shop. Jason (the main photo subject) and I decided to smoke some of the best cigars on special nights- our cigar meetings. Just great cigars, a nice bottle of alcohol, some good food, and good music and good conversation. We split the food and alcohol, I choose the cigars and Jason chooses the music (he used to be the producer for Korea's biggest hip-hop star- so he knows about music).

Patrick- the owner


This was the first real cigar night, and it was just Jason and I. Perhaps in the future more people will make it, but I don't know about that- I don't have much time left in Korea.