In 24 hours our journey back to the United States will begin. First, the kids and I will drag our luggage across the street to the airport shuttle pick-up at Migeum Station. We will then travel 1 hour to the Incheon Airport, Seoul, South Korea and do all that fun airport check-in stuff and fly across the sea and over land to the US of A!
Honestly, it feels surreal that we are about to return to our homeland. I, on one hand, feel extremely overwhelmed with joy about seeing friends and family--and eating some Chipolte. Another part of me feels like I shouldn't be leaving the land of the Calm Morning Sun. It's normal but for most of the day, I have these two extremes of emotions flooding over me and I'm starting to feel a bit tired.
The week has been full of "goodbyes" or I should say, "we'll see you in August!" I have done some packing, drank tea with friends and visited all the sweet shop owners that we've come to know in our building. Tonight we will have one last "teacher/staff" gathering at Gecko's--they have fish-n-chips and that makes me happy! The kids and I will go to "girl's night at Whit's and see all the "girl's" and then I will try to finish up packing. It's a full and beautiful day.
I've been thinking about some of different things I do now that I didn't really do ten months ago when we arrived to Korea. Some of these new habits are funny, some are just how we live life here. I'm going to list the top 10 things that come to my mind. I'm sure the list is longer but for fun, I'll just list 10--in no specific order.
1. I bow. All the time.
2. I carry on conversations with Koreans and don't understand a word of what is being said. With that, I communicate in charades often.
3. We take the subway, taxi and bus everywhere.
4. I eat Kimchi. And like it.
5. I've gotten use to people staring at me.
6. I cross my arms in front of me like an X when I say "no!"
7. I can recognize some of the Korean characters and can form some words from those characters--I don't know what they mean but I do have a sense of triumph that I was able to do it.
8. I have lived outside of the United States for the first time in my life.
9. I've watched Korean drama's with subtitles--they are addicting and silly.
10. I have survived riding on a scooter multiple times. For this I am also grateful.
