Reflections on Korea

I have been back home now for 3 weeks. It took me a few days to get back on track, the jet-lag coming home was pretty brutal. I left Seoul on a Thursday at 6pm and landed in Seattle on the dame day at 12pm. It was pretty wild! I basically came home and slept for 2 days straight while Greg took extremely good care of me. He brought me food, water and let me sleep on and off all weekend long.

Some highlights of my trip included:

Getting to meet some young locals and enjoying conversation and sharing normal activities with them. You find people are just like you wherever you go, and there are slight cultural differences, but there is a comfort in being able to relate to all people no matter what background they come from.

Traveling alone... I never thought that this would allow me to reflect in such a way and give me the confidence that it did. It was scary and liberating to be able to do it on my own.

Having a friend open her life and home to me without really knowing me all that well - Jin was so generous to give her time and space to me and take care of me when I was super hungover ;o)

The food, oh God the food! Kimchi, Korean bbq, and Bi Bim Bap was amazing!

The architecture of the old temples and palaces were incredible, the detail and infrastructure was a piece of art - it is hard to comprehend the history behind it all.

Upon my arrival home, I experienced some pretty severe anxiety that was hard to deal with. I think that absorbing what the trip meant to me was a hard process that I didn't expect to experience after the trip. It wasn't that there were any negative feelings of seeing where I came from, but I did find that my emotions of realizing where I could have ended up is a tough reality. It is hard to describe what comes up from deep within, knowing how different your life could have been.

I have a new appreciation for the many opportunities that my life has allowed me to experience. My parents have always given me everything that I need: love, support, travel, and instilled the importance of free thought, work ethic and education. I cannot express enough how lucky I feel to have had the type of parents who could truly give me all of these qualities and lessons.