I left Jeju for the last time on December 25th. It was a bitter-sweet car ride with my friends Bryan and Insil, from Seogwipo to Jeju-si. The air was saturated; the fog wouldn't allow you to see more than a half mile ahead. It was fairly fitting and reminded me of my blind arrival on Jeju. This time it was nice to be leaving with good friends instead of sitting on the airport bus alone, not knowing where I was or how to speak/read the language.
The last few weeks on Jeju were great. I tried not to have too many 'real' good-byes, as I hate them and tried to leave everything as a 'see you soon'. As much as everybody on Jeju likes to travel, there's a solid chance I'll see the people I want to again. In school I was basically on autopilot. Kids could pretty much count on some holiday themed coloring sheet, game or word search for my final days. On my last day I had the pleasure of once again sitting through an agonizing sticker party. By the end of the day, I'd gotten my hugs from the little ones, good-byes from the bigger ones and some tears from the co-teachers. After all the ups and downs that I experienced (especially in the beginning), the ending was fairly said. I'd grown to really enjoy spending time with my young class, (everybody except Dexter...), my co-teachers had become amazing friends, and I really loved the island. All-in-all, and with miles between me and Jeju, I can honestly say it was probably one of the most memorable years of my life. I'll never forget the people, both Korean and foreign; the numerous adventures, the norebang nights that turned into mornings, the mart drinking, the galbi eating, the scuba, snorkeling and especially surfing.
As I boarded the prop plane to Seoul/Incheon, I sighed slightly to myself wondering if I'd ever make it back to the island. I have a tendency to repeat my incredible vacations/experiences expecting to have the same if not a better time and am undecided if it's a good idea to do that or not. I don't know if Jeju could be as much fun after I've seen and done so much, and I really doubt that any new people could really match the friends I grew to value in that short year.