Unexpected Goodbye

As I am counting down days to leave Ewha, I become really cautious and anxious. Moving in/out is never an easy thing and (many) small things could really ruin the day... Karena nila setitik rusak susu sebelanga.

Then the first unexpected attack came yesterday evening. An unusual email from my coordinator came to my inbox. This time, for the very first time (and ironically also the last time) it was written in Korean.

My first reaction was "mmm why is it in Korean?"

I scrolled to the end of the email, making sure that she sent it not on behalf of the Korean teacher. Yes, it was marked by her name,

I read the email slowly... "What is she trying to say?"

I read the whole thing like 2 or 3 times before I got the sense of what's happening. The word "떠나게 되어" was written there. She is leaving. And suddenly I felt really really sad.

No, it's not like we're best friends or something like that. We never exchanged words apart from 'professional' relationship. I don't know anything about her, apart from her contact and office hours. We contacted each other only when something happened, and it was never really a good thing. She would never hear from me unless a problem happen and I need her help. Although I got her email in weekly basis, it was all about announcements and warnings. That's it. 

But in the other hand, she is not your ordinary coordi. She is the best coordi I've ever met. Well I wish I could give her a better title than just a coordi, but 'teacher', like how we call her in Korean, doesn't sound right either.

She would thoughtfully craft one long email that leave no room for question rather than quickly send things to us, only to correct herself later on (that's my style muehehe). She is very efficient and always ready to address whatever problem I have in an appropriate manner. Leaving in a new country alone is not easy, but the job of taking care students from all over the world is even harder. She really pulled it off and set the standard high. 

As expected, I quickly replied her email, saying how grateful I am for her assistance in the past year. She is awesome and she should know it. But I guess the chance never really came for us to directly say it to her and I doubt the rest of the girls got the motivation to reply her.

Now I learned that you can change someone's live and leave a mark just by doing your job excellently.

I know she is just doing her job excellently yet 'thank you' somehow feels insufficient this time. Out of so many thankful moments, the most remarkable one would be my first impression of her. I wish I could say it to her directly as it sounds really cheesy to be typed through email... "Thank you for speaking perfect English"