Good-byes

Well, we're up for our first big round of good-byes.

We were warned when we came over that the international community is incredibly mobile. Not only are our own company contracts only two years long, our students tend to move in and out quite often. As students' parents' job contracts end, are relocated, or just simply lost due to the economy, rarely will we have the same student for more than a few years.

On top of that, the Korean school year starts in February, so several of our seniors are graduating early in order to be ready to start at the university come the new year.

This year, whether it's due to the economy or what, we are saying good-bye to at least 27 students at the end of the semester. We have over thirty more that have taken admission tests to start in January. With less than four hundred students, that's quite a large percent to come and go in the middle of the year!

So, with the joy of Christmas and graduation, and the stress of finals, we face our first big good-byes. We hope that we have taught them what they needed to learn before they leave, give hugs, and wish them on their way. Always a relational person, this is going to be hard for me. But, I think, it is only the first of many to come.