As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been saying good-bye to people (19 days to go!). At the faculty luncheon a couple of weeks ago I got a card filled with lovely thoughts and a gift (a brand-name wallet with a super-cool wooden clasp!) from the Korean teachers and a big ‘crystal’ “award” for 10 years of teaching at Ewha. Then, I was planning on having a going-away dinner with some of the ‘girls’ (Elena, Kristen, Haechin) the night before Kristen left for the U.S. and the wedding she’s in (see next post for the dress I made her!). It was the last time we were going to be together, so we planned on going out to a Mexican place.

That day we’re all running around finalizing our semester’s grades, then I thought we were leaving, but they insisted they needed coffee before dinner (?!?), so we sat in a coffee shop for an hour. It was fun, but I was hungry! FINALLY, we left.

We walked into the restaurant… and there were (almost all of) the full-time teachers and the TAs from the office! It was a surprise going-away party for me! And what a surprise it was — I had not a clue, and I had seen most of these people at least a couple of times that week already! No one spilled the beans.

I was so touched, to say the least. Not only was it totally unexpected, I believe it is THE VERY FIRST time anyone has ever thrown me a surprise party! They gave me a hysterical card — it had my head on Christian Siriano’s body, and the banner over it said, “Project Run-a-way!” (I would show it to you, but I’ve packed it already, apparently!) They also chipped in and got me a gift. Technically, a cash gift, but they printed out exactly what I had to buy with it (and it saved me packing it, yeah!). They “got” me an Italian leather portfolio presentation case for when I’m making my rounds with my designs to show clients/employers! So now I’m all set for that interview with Monique Lhullier <g>.

I tell you, them all being there, the wonderful things they said on the card, the extremely thoughtful gift — I almost started crying, and you KNOW how hard it is to get me to do that in public! So of course I made jokes, but it was a wonderful night finding out that I may not have been designing, but the 13-1/2 years I spent in Korea were well spent!

 

The bridesmaid’s dress for Kristin’s brother’s wedding is now complete! Here’s how it went:

First, we picked out the general style of dress she wanted:

 Note that we wanted knee-length instead of floor-length. She didn’t want the shiny fabric, either. She was looking for a “more vintage” look, and a little more “fullness” to add to her bust.

I have been so swamped physically and emotionally with finishing up the semester’s grading combined with teaching the summer session that I haven’t had much time for anything else. The inevitable slew of “Why did I get this grade?” and “Can I have a different grade please?” emails seem to have slowed to a trickle, and I’m back to packing and sewing in my free time.

This weekend I (nearly) finished the bridesmaid dress for Kristen. She’s coming over today for the final fitting/touches, so I will have photos very soon of the whole process to post.

In the meantime, however, I’ve been having dreams related to my new career. The other day I dreamed I was in LA and scored an interview with Monique Lhullier. For those of you who don’t know who that is, she is a FIDM graduate (the school I will attend), and one of the BIG names in the bridal market who has also expanded into evening wear, resort wear and table settings recently.

Anyway, so I’m being interviewed by Monique, and she LOVES me. We really hit it off and she gives me a job as an assistant to one of her head people. I leave the interview and run into two long-time friends of mine who are all excited to see me and why didn’t I call to say I was in town? (In real life, neither lives in LA, but it’s a dream, right?)

So I’m hoping this dream is prophetic. Dream job and friends.

Last night I had a different dream. I was in a high-end, snooty dress boutique with the bridesmaid’s dress I just finished. I put it on a hanger and hung it among the other dresses on the rack and then walked away. I came back later to see if anyone had looked at it. A very rich Korean woman was shopping there, and had looked at just about everything, dissatisfied. I found my dress in a new place and took it up to the head salesperson (VERY snooty-snob type) and asked, “Did she see this one?”

He gave me a look of utter disdain and said, “She HATED it.  I hated it. I wouldn’t wear that to the immigration office to get a visa!”

The store silenced, everyone waiting for me to start crying or something, but I was smiling. “Why are you smiling? They hated it!” I told them, “I just got my very first bitchy fashion review! That’s so cool!”

I’m thinking a sense of humor is going to be very important in this business!!!!! (Or maybe just a good case of self-delusion!)

I will be stepping on a plane to start my new life in exactly six weeks, and I’m now beginning to freak. I think it’s more the fact that I’m having to say good-bye to my students this week, since they’ll be taking exams next week — I’m admitting to them that I’m leaving Ewha and Korea, both.

Preparation-wise, I’m doing well, I think. I spent last weekend packing up my office (which is the biggest depository of my stuff  in the house. Then on Tuesday we went to the U.S. embassy to replace my daughter’s passport and Sang arranged for his visa interview. Those were pretty big things, so I’m feeling semi-organized. On track, at least.

I also went and bought new glasses. I’ve been getting some pretty frequent headaches, and figured out that it was my vision causing it (lots of squinting involved), so went to the opthamologist and then the optometrist, and bought two new pairs and one pair of prescription sunglasses. The set of three cost $260, which is pretty amazing, price-wise, which is why I stocked up.

So here’s my list of other things that must be done before I leave (in case you’re curious):

Full dental check
Renew my Korean visa (which expires four days before I leave)
Get international driver’s license
Fill out forms for having pension fund payout transferred overseas
Buy lace and buttons for Elena’s wedding dress
Finish Kristen’s bridesmaid dress
Make mother-in-law’s dress

Oh, and do all the grades/exams for the semester and teach 1/2 time for the summer school. I finish teaching 5 days before we leave!

I’m not even going to get into all the bureaucratic crap I’m going to have to do once I arrive in the States. Though I’m sure I’ll tell you all about it when I get there!

Ciao for now!