Endings Are Hard Too . . .

If beginnings are hard, as my first post on this blog made clear, I've come to realize the endings are just as hard.

Here it is - my last day in Korea, the land of kimchi, palaces, rice, and adjoomas. After a plethora of random moments of wondering what this day would be like, what I would do, how I would feel, I am finally experiencing it.

When I arrived in Korea, taking that first step onto the land I would be walking on for the next year, I didn't know where it would lead me. But putting one foot in front of the other, I made my way through immigration, to baggage claim and customs, and out the airport doors into the country I would come to view as home.

The difficulties I've had, the joys I've known, the people I've come to love, the food my taste buds have delighted in, the sights my eyes have seen, and every single experience I've had, be it good or bad, has gotten me to the point I am at in my life TODAY. This is a year I will never, ever be able to forget. When my hair is gray and my knees ache (more than they already do. lol) and my face has deep smile lines by my eyes, I will still remember the time a student came to vespers because of me; or having to depend on people to guide me because I had no idea what the signs said; or hitchhiking with a random Korean man; or traveling and experiencing a multitude of cultures and learning to adapt to situations quickly. Every day I have learned something. Through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the downright awkward and strange, I've grown and learned so much about the world, others, and myself. I feel as though I've lived two years within this one.

Living in a new place is strange at first, be it in your home country or abroad. But then, it starts to become familiar. The smells, the sights, the language, the routine of daily life. In a foreign country, if you allow yourself to become totally immersed in the culture and way of life, you begin to feel as if that country can no longer be called a foreign country. A special type of loyalty to and love for that country grows within you, one that no one can feel unless they have lived in a foreign country for an extended period of time. And then the time comes to leave - and you wonder what is waiting for you back in the land of your birth. That's what I ponder on this day of my departure.

Many goodbyes are still to be said this afternoon. A lunch date with my ladies is still to be had. Tears are yet to choke me up and be forced to stay in my eyes (I'm not sure if the tears or I will win that battle). I am hoping and praying that as I leave behind this unforgettable chapter in my life that I have the courage and strength to enter yet another new chapter.

So, until my feet are planted solidly on American soil . . .