Wrap it Up

Things are starting to come to an end. It's been 9 months and I've got 3 more left to go, but the goodbye's are on the horizon. The things on my to-do list need to be crossed off in the upcoming weekends because before I know it September will be here. That last trip to Busan or flight to China to see the Great Wall can not be put off any longer. It seems like all winter we were wishing for the summer, but now that it's here, it will be gone in no time. My pending trip with my Mom to backpack around numerous Asian countries is no longer a distant dream. Now it is a reason for coming home during my lunch breaks and starting to research information about hostels and customs of foreign Asian countries. I can no longer wait to figure out these important details as our trip is around the corner and there is so much to do! I can't put things off to tomorrow anymore, because tomorrow will soon be today.

I was asked today if I am staying another year once my contract is complete in August. I replied, "No I will be traveling for a bit, and then returning to the States." So it's official; my job knows, my coworkers know, and everyone back home knows I will be back in the US in the blink of an eye. My replacement teacher is being searched for as we speak, and my life here in Seoul is coming to an end. I have been here for so long that it is hard for me to comprehend how much of myself and my life has changed. How will all of this change translate back to life in NC? I have been dreaming of the day I walk through the airport back home giving my family a hug and seeing my puppy for the first time in a year. It was a day that I wouldn't let myself think of too much because it made me too homesick. But now it's right around the corner. Soon this tempting thought will be a reality.

I had similar questions, fears, concerns, and mixed emotions when I was nearing my year end in England. There is such an intense and extreme learning experience you endure when you live abroad, that to go back to a place of comfort and familiarity almost seems mundane. It's elating because of the people you reunite with, but stirs up questions of it's importance because you are no longer challenged on an everyday basis.

Here I am challenged daily with small simple things like going to the grocery store. I cannot read anything I am buying so I am continuously guessing or concocting something new whenever I get home and realize I have bought the wrong ingredients for what I wanted to make. I am challenged by trying to explain the definitions of words to students who don't speak my language, and challenged by the laws and rules of this unfamiliar custom. There is no such thing as simple, uncomplicated, or effortless in Korea. This is something that has made me grow and step up to the plate in order to thrive here, therefore making it something I am grateful for here. This will be invaluable, my ability to persevere regardless of what's against me, in the future. But it also will be something I will not miss. I will be ecstatic to get back to Harris Teeter or Trader Joes where I can read everything I am buying and even speak to the employees if I have a question!

I will miss the challenge though, the richness of culture, the amazing food, the kids, and my new found friends. But I will be so happy to get back to my family, familiarity, old friends, and most of all everything that encompasses HOME. My departure will be nerve wracking, exhilarating. heart wrenching, and bittersweet.

It will be a big PERIOD on an influential and monumental chapter in my life.

I'm a better woman for living in Seoul. I will be a better woman to bring the knowledge I learned in Seoul back to my life in NC. It will just be a whirlwind of adjustment for this southern girl to find her footing again.