I sat down with some friends last night for a little get together with the folks that came here last august. We all went took classes together fall semester, and for one reason or another managed to stick around. There aren't many of us left, and I haven't really kept up with all of them, so it was nice to hang out.
The best part of it was catching up with a guy we affectionately refer to as "old mike." He's not old, but in his late 20's, which caused some of the hong kong students to call him dad. He's traveled and lived in China for several years, been all over the U.S. and has some knowledge about going away and coming home. I told him that I was nervous about going home. Nervous that everything has moved on without me, and changes will have taken place that I won't be able to understand because I've been away. I don't want to feel like a stranger in a place I used to feel so comfortable.
He kinda laughed at me and told me I had it completely backwards. "If anything," he said "it's that when you go home, you have to worry that it hasn't changed, and eventually you start to think it never will." For the short term, at least, I'm glad to hear it. I didn't know what to expect when I came here, and now that I'm returning, I have some loose idea of what it's going to be like, but no real clue what to expect.
Today is my last day of work in Korea, which is nice. I think those kids were going to give me an aneurysm. To shed the last of the days away, I'm leaving Seoul (which has been soaking wet lately), and going to check out the Korean countryside. It's a mad rush to the end, and I think this will be a good way to go out.
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