Update: I left South Korea

This week I decided to do a "midnight run". The term "midnight run" is used when someone just packs up their things and leaves without telling anyone.(I think it's pretty common in Korea). They usually leave late at night, early in the morning or on the weekend so they won't get caught. People usually get their paycheck and then run. I left a week after payday because the school had my passport and I couldn't leave.

I was very unhappy at my school and I just couldn't take it anymore. I didn't tell anyone that I was leaving. The only people that knew was a former coworker, my parents and sister and my boyfriend. So I think it was a big surprise. I left about 32 days before my resignation was up. I just didn't think I could survive 5 more weeks.

I decided to leave Monday morning. I booked a one way flight through Expedia on Saturday morning. I had to pay $1200. Its so expensive! I borrowed 600 from my family so I could make it home.

I got up at 4am on Monday morning. I took the 5am airport limo and arrived at the airport at 6:30. I waited around till 8am to check in for my 10:30 flight. Everything went smoothly. I wasn't questioned at immigration. I had only been in Korea for 5 weeks and still had 11 months left on my Visa so I was thinking they would probably want to know why I was leaving. The immigration officer looked at my Visa and just took out his stamp that says "Departed". No questions asked.

I boarded my 10:30am flight around 10am and we didn't depart till 11am. My first leg of the flight was a 13 hour flight to Atlanta with Korean Air.

We arrived in Atlanta on time at 11am. I found something to eat. Then I checked in for my 3:05pm flight to Charlotte with Delta around 1pm. Then I had to sit until my flight boarded at 2:35pm. This time I wasn't assigned a seat until a few minutes before boarding. I got a middle seat which is fine for a 1 hour flight. We left and arrived on time. I was actually able to sleep for most of the trip.

That night we discovered that my recruiter sent an email to my mom and me. He notified her that I didn't show up for work and that I left bills behind. It sounded like he wanted her to pay them. I still don't know what I owe exactly. I don't think it could be that much. I already paid half of the airfare. The only thing I should owe would be my utilities and half of the airfare. I think those should be around $600-700 maybe. I worked a week without pay (I left a week after payday) so I think that should be applied to what I owe, but I don't know if they will do that or not.

I wrote to my recruiter once he threatened to take legal action. The school is mad at me. The school wants to sue me. I don't have the money to pay them. I don't know what the outcome will be yet. Some forum posts on Dave's ESL cafe say that they cant do anything because its between 2 countries, but my recruiter says they can. I personally don't think its a good decision to sue me for less than $1000.

I have less than $100 in my bank account. I filed a claim for a forbearance on my student loans because of economic hardship. I hope its approved. That will help me out until I am able to find a job.

I think I may be jet lagged. I haven't been able to eat regularly. I also haven't been able to sleep much. I sleep a few hours at night and then take a nap in the daytime. I'm hoping everything goes back to normal soon..

It's amazing how one bad experience can ruin my plans.

I have one regret--there were so many things I didn't accomplish. I wanted to explore Korea, go to festivals, try new things, but I left early


UPDATE: April 2013--It has been almost 2 years since I left South Korea. The school never took any legal action against me. The principal wrote me one letter saying they were disappointed about 2 months after I left, but then I never heard from them again.