Well Ryan and I have spent the past month(s) going crazy trying to figure out where to store all of our stuff. Lucky for us we have some amazing friends who were more than willing to help out any way they could. Both Jasmine Teacher and Jose have offered to let us store stuff at their places and another friend with a small SUV offered to move our stuff for us. So finally after what seems like forever Ryan and I finally got to pack everything up in the SUV and send it off to Seoul (where our next job will most likely be). So now here I sit waiting for the guys to return so we can head out and get some late night Korea BBQ trying to figure out how I feel.
A year ago today Ryan and I popped up in a small town in South Korea. It was like being in Oz and we often worried about what we had gotten into. Our town has just about no Americans in it. I would have to guess in our part of Anseong, more or less Gongdo, that there maybe about 5 of us, 1 for the middle school, 1 for the high school, 1 for the elementary school, and Ryan and I. So well in a town where you stick out like a sore thumb everyone takes note and slowly gets to know you if not personally at least to where they will wave or smile. Saying good bye to some of these random people has been harder than I thought. I mean we made friends with a woman at one of our local pizza restaurants, we made friends with the people at the bank and gym, we made friends with the man who does all the wallpapering/remodeling in our apartment complex, we made friends with the owners of the small mom and pop store, and so many more people. Don't even get me started on some of our co teachers or students that I have grown to love (key word there SOME of them).
Saying good bye sucks and I really am not any good at it; however as I grow older I am learning that it is a part of life and normally it symbolizes progression and change. Sadly knowing that does not make it any better. Knowing that both Grace, Jasmine and maybe even Annie will all make it up to Seoul to see us next year makes me smile but it still wont be the same. Going through life people accumulate things and most of these things are just possessions that we think we cannot live without or hold some sort of special meaning for us but at the same time we collect memories and I think those are worth the most.
Without babbling on and on I guess it is a feeling I cannot quite place. I am happy to be getting out of a job I am not happy at, a place where everyone is upset/stressed/angry/etc, I am happy to get the chance to go home and see my family. I am not happy to be leaving our great little town, or that I have to say good bye to some amazing people. I guess this feeling maybe what they call bittersweet.
Hope everyone is having a great week! We are just counting down the days till we fly home.
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