It has been one year and one day since I landed in Korea. I many ways if feels like only a few weeks, but at the same time it feels like a few years. There is no short way of explaining my experience here. It has been wonderful, terrible, frustrating, and exhilarating. It has brought me to tears and filled me with joy. I have had the urge to get on a plane and go home and in the next breath, I feel like I never want to leave. I have truly enjoyed my time here so far and I am definitely not ready to leave. I am very happy with my decision to stay another year.
One of the hard things about living and working in this country is knowing you will have to say good-bye to good friends every year. Most people come here with the idea of staying one, maybe two years. Many people don't plan on being here for longer than that, and because of that, you are forced to leave good friends way too often. I work at a school with 7 other foreign teachers. I knew when I started my year here that I would have to say good-bye to most, or all of these girls at years end. Next week, I will have to say good-bye to four of the girls. These girls were my "Korean Family." We were there for each other when we first arrived and were scared out of our minds. We were there for each other during our first weeks of school when we all felt like terrible teachers and we were in over our heads. We traveled to tropical islands and foreign lands together. We explored the city we now call home and tried weird foods together. We have shared so many laughs and been shoulders to cry on. In such a short time we made amazing memories and life long friends. I will be so sad to see them go and I will never forget all the fun we had. It is just one of the downfalls of this country. The good-byes are never easy.
The good-byes are definitely one of the hard things about Korea, but there are so many wonderful things as well. I have written twice about one of the amazing things about this country in this blog...the travel opportunities. I have seen some of the most amazing and beautiful tropical islands since I have been here. Being able to travel with such ease is one of the great perks of living here. Knowing I can go anywhere in Southeast Asia on a dime is a wonderful feeling. Knowing I can and will see so much of the world is one thing that makes moving and living here so worth it.
One thing that took me by surprise here was the food....and it was a good surprise. I knew coming here the food was going to be quite different. I knew Korean food was spicy and they used a lot of cabbage in their food. I knew they ate a lot of sea food and meat. I wasn't sure how this would fly with me and it took me awhile to really venture out and try some real Korean food. But man, am I sure glad I did!! I now have quite a few dishes that I truly enjoy, with Duk Doritang being my absolute favorite!!! For so many months I was craving American food, now days, I crave Duk Doritang, Kimchi Jongul, and Duk Galbi. It has been a wonderful surprise and makes for great dinners.
Korea has also brought someone into my life that I never thought it would bring. I met my boyfriend Jared about 7 months ago. I didn't really expect to travel half way around the world and meet someone like him. He has been a wonderful addition to my life and I am so happy I have him in my life. He has made life away from home so much easier. He has added new challenges to my life, like going on 91 kilometer bike rides, which was our first date. And he has brought a great deal of laughter and friendly banter to my life. He makes being away from my family a little bit easier.
All in all, taking the good and the bad, I am still very happy I made the decision to move here. This experience has been nothing like I expected, it has been better.
Thanks for the update Kates. Glad you are enjoying Korea. Miss you!
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