We arrived in silence, went through our bedtime ritual, and laid down like statues in bed. The atmosphere was tense, and I waited for dawn to arrive. I couldn’t wait to board my flight and be away from complications, cities, and bad juju.
The hours ticked to the right. 2am, 3am, 4am, and then it was time to wake up. Meanwhile, I was wide awake, readying myself to run, mentally clutching my suitcase and tracing the outline of my shoes (and the act of putting them on) with my mind. I’ve noticed that this can be a pattern, this sine wave of experience in a place and in a situation. Things build up, and I’m super happy. Then they fall apart, and I enter the trough of disillusionment. Then I quickly bolt. Lately, bolting has taken the form of a last-minute one-way ticket (not bad!). If I keep running faster, then it’s hard for things to catch up, I guess. Now, I’m in Thailand doing nothing, and my hope is that some of this processing time will be helpful for me. Maybe I can “catch up” with myself instead of continually running and experiencing new things to outpace the hammer of “reality,” if such a thing even exists.
Korea, Korea, Korea. Jeju. Seoul. Cheonan. DMZ. New friends. Family. Work possibilities. Vacation. Future home? Identity.
My conclusion is that Seoul would be a very livable expat experience. Life is pretty easy for foreigners. The country seems to be opening up much more to outside influence in general. The younger generation speaks English and rejects some of the conservatism of the older generation. Most expats are English teachers and relegated to a certain tranche of life in Korea or work at Samsung or another big global conglomerate (chaebol). If I moved there, I would consider a startup looking outward, seeing a way to serve the entire Asian market (as the Korean market alone is quite small). The funding climate is positive to entrepreneurial ventures and outsiders, and I believe there is a ton of opportunity that hasn’t been tapped yet because it isn’t quite mature. Oh yeah, and I’d like to learn Korean for real.
Korea was good for returning to my roots, for connecting with family and understanding to some extent the reality of Korean culture (vs. assuming my family experience somehow exemplifies what it means to be Korean).
I (sort of) learned how to be in a more normalish relationship of sorts, even though it now lives in some sort of time capsule.
It was nice to be around people who are nomadic, build things, and reject living by prescribed life paths and rules.
I drank and ate too much in Korea, but when in Korea, do as Koreans do.
It all opened up my mind and my heart. Now I just need to keep these things open instead of running back to the familiarity, comfort, and strictures of how I’ve been taught to live and think.
My last moments in Seoul
Sleepy people at dawn on the subway, a common sight:
Going over the Han River at dawn, so happy but feeling somewhat broken:
My last Korean meal at the airport – I should’ve doubled up:
On to the next chapter! Up up and away!
