The Comeback (Vacation Time and Thanks to Korea)

I like how I look here, despite the beer in hand. 

Tomorrow I fly back to the US to spend a month revisiting family and friends before starting the new semester in March. It’s become a cliché statement for people to casually throw around thoughts and surprise on how fast the year has passed by. It always seems to come crawling to back to people, as they look back fondly at the year that has quickly passed them by, so many happy memories like the chapters from a book read long ago.

I can’t speak for those who had a rough year, for those who endured a year of grueling cultural differences and hardships that didn’t equal the long venture from their country of origin. I know quite a few people like this and for them, I feel sorry. Life has a tendency to be a real bastard sometimes and giving someone a difficult time in a foreign country is a cruel fate to subject a person for a year.

Luckily, my experiences have been incredibly positive in Korea. Sometimes it seems that your attitude is instrumental in determining how you will respond to differences and challenges, and that a positive attitude triumphs over all eventually. If anything, a year working overseas has helped to change my attitude towards many things in life, gaining new perspectives and depth on all aspects of life. A year working overseas has made me realize that in the end, no matter where we come from, we all want the same thing.

We all want to be happy and healthy. We want success for our family and friends. We want to wake up every day with a sense of purpose, asking ourselves “What are going to do today?” rather than “Why am I waking up today?”

We all want fulfilling experiences. People always have a way to fall into the trap of becoming set on a routine, choosing the ordinary and safe route to achieve goals and make their way through life.  Many of us yearn to break out of our daily grind, to do something different and exciting, to prove to themselves that their life is more than a factory assembly line.

I understand that for some, the daily grind can be difficult to stop or alter, especially when others depend on their routine for survival and support. That is why I appreciate the opportunities constantly presented to me. For I have an advantage others do not: I have age and time on my side to branch out and explore. To truly take chances in my life and test just what I can and cannot do.

I’ve meet wonderful people I can’t imagine being without. I’ve traveled to places I previously only read about, never once thinking that I would be able to witness their intricate beauty and majesty, putting even the most high resolution photos to shame. 

There are times to act silly and times to be serious. This was a  hybrid of both. 

Going home and marking my one year anniversary of working abroad stands for much more than a relaxing vacation and reuniting with friends. It stands as a timestamp on my memories for a point in my life that served to create an incredible year. It stands as a place in time where I was able to shrug away the restrictions and routines that we can so quickly become accustomed to.

That’s not to say this isn’t possible anywhere but Korea. Whether you go to a town just outside your own or the deserts of the Mojave, a new location with new faces always helps to invigorate your life again. A cleansing of the soul and chance to start over, to forget the vices and missteps of the past and strive to become a better person. To achieve the person we all dream of being, but some never seem to make. It could have happened anywhere, but Korea just happens to be the country I ended up in, and therefore making it a place that will never be forgotten in my mind.

There are too many people to thank, and not enough gratitude to express in these short paragraphs. I hope a simple thank you will suffice.

Thank you Korea for providing me with the life experiences I will never forget. Thank you to the people who have entered and stuck around in my life. Thank you to my co workers and those willing to help me with my first awkward steps.

I didn’t do things perfectly, and made plenty of mistakes. I didn’t get to say my goodbyes to all the people I wanted to. I didn’t get to travel to all the places I wished to, nor did I always take advantage of situations presented to me. However, that’s the great thing about vacations with old friends and family, time to think and process. Time to improve for the future.

I will enjoy seeing old friends and family, but I am always anxiously looking forward to the future, for even better days than those I have had and preparing for the times where it can possibly get worse.

I dream of tomorrow, an even better year. An even happier year.

Ended the last night of the old year singing and being merry. Bring on 2013!