It is now September, seven months from when I first
came to Korea and began working for EPIK and stepped foot into Korea for the
first time. Before I get too far into details, I will say that this is going to
be a slightly sentimental post on all of the things that I have seen and
witnessed since coming to Korea. However, this was not a blog post that was
planned or even given second thought. There were no plans to celebrate my
anniversary in Korea and the time spent here.
The truth is that if I were not writing this post, I
would have probably forgotten about how long I have been here. The old line of
feeling just like yesterday has never made more sense to me since coming to
Korea. Time seems to go so fast here. There’s always work to go to, people to
visit and places to go. I used to enjoy the quiet moments of doing nothing and
being lazy but with this new, upbeat lifestyle change, I find it hard to sit still
more than a day. I am always wanting to move around and always wanting to get
outside, even for a bit and get some fresh air. I am slowly becoming a man of
motion, and stopping for anything feels odd and like a waste of time.
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| It's not a birthday without cake |
The last couple weeks have been significant in
contributing in the nonstop lifestyle. I recently celebrated my birthday with
my first birthday party with friends in my life. It was a small and simple
event but one that I was very fun to take part and of and very thankful to
participate in. I always used to feel that celebrating your birthday was a
slightly selfish act of self indulgence and always felt slightly embarrassed for
wanting to have one, however this was a lot of fun. I loved having some good
friends around to eat, drink and have a fun time. It’s taken 25 years but I
finally figured out that the best birthdays aren’t the ones where lavish
attention is spent on the birthday boy/girl, but rather its using your day of
birth to spend time around and remind yourself why you are thankful for being
alive for and kicking for this long.
Last week also marked two events held at the same
time, the birthday of one of my dearest friends and the departure of another
good friend.
Our histories go back a few years. The person
celebrating their birthday was someone I knew from back in the day as a
university student. We became good friends and quite close before she had to go
back to Korea and I went my separate way. It was not until this year that I would
actually see her again.
As for the person leaving, this person was the best
friend in Korea to my friend from the university (still following?). I ended up
becoming friends with her and despite the short time of knowing her, got to
become good friends.
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| The group assembled |
The party was a dual celebration of one friend
leaving and one friend’s birthday. What made it special was the attendance. I
had meet friends and friends of friends through various networks and meet ups
through these two people. When I was finally able to see most of them all in
one place, in the same room, talking to one another, it was a great moment for
me. I was always a sucker for uniting groups of people for common causes and it
was especially heartwarming to see all of us coming together to give one person
one last goodbye and another person some birthday wishes.
My months in Korea have been memorable and exciting.
I have learned, grown as a person and discovered more about myself and others
than any other point in my life so far. I hope my remaining time in Korea can
be spent learning more, growing more and meeting more people.
Despite being miles from home I can say with
complete conviction that I am content and happy with my life. I don’t have all
the answers yet, but right now, I don’t need to. Life is simply on auto pilot now.
The top is down, the skies are clear and the road is long and empty for miles
on end.
