Fun matching t-shirt couple in Shinae (downtown Mokpo).What I'll miss about KoreaThis year was amazing. My fledgling passion for travel, for learning about different cultures, for being immersed in new and strange lands was marvelously nurtured by my time in Korea.
When I think of what I'll miss, - I'll miss the fun. It's been fun to explore, fun to party with the foreigners, fun to have made so many new friends and shared so many new experiences together. I love that we have this common bond of being adventurers who are earnestly building cultural bridges while living in the moment. I love that being suddenly illiterate and unable to speak the language makes the most mundane encounters an excuse for hilarity and perplexity. I love that suddenly there is no advertising. Mool eye oh! I also met many kind and generous Korean people and I felt truly welcomed here. The children in particular are a national treasure.
It's still quite an incredible time to be here since some of the older people have never seen a foreigner and you can see the surprise in thier eyes. Being hugged by an old lady on the street or waved to from cars happened a lot. I'll miss all the attention!
I'll also miss the beauty of Korea. The mountainous terrain creates a backdrop at once dramatic and soothing. The islands surrounding the sountern tip of the penninsula are endless and convey a bleak but humble charm. Mokpo city is an expanding mosaic, flung on the landscape like a scattered puzzle. Low red, blue and orange roofs are dotted among the highrises; the streets are tangled up in a wondrous confusion. And behind or beside many buildings, the varigated vegetable gardens. Yudalsan, a proud oasis of beauty and history. Visual distractions, colourful signs and stores and neon, multiplied endlessly to the point of monotony in the cities. Sure, the urban scene can be gritty and smelly, and certainly hot and erratic. But Korea is vibrant and contrasty, futuristic and ancient. And surprisingly comfortable.
Ang and I played traditional instruments with pensioners on Wando island. I'll miss the food, strange as it was at first, it's become very natural to eat lots of seaweed and kimchi, beef in a leaf, and fruits and vegetables whose names still remain a mystery. Seeing live octopus in the soup or a live little crab running around the table is ok too. Still haven't tried the larvae though. I'll miss the fabulous, well balanced school lunches. I'll miss the best yogurt ever and the gimbap, the mandu and the healthy green tea icecream.
I'll also miss my school and the teachers there, it's been one of the best jobs I've ever had, so relaxed - you can't beat walking around in slippers and spending the afternoons on the computer. I liked my little apartment too, and the peacefulness of living alone.
It's still such a big world though and I really can't wait to get back and see Mike and Jolene and my whole family, up close and in person, all this "tryin to communicate" over this long long distance is becoming too hard!
