Last Friday I mailed off step 1 out of an undetermined number of steps involved with moving to another country. This is real. This is happening. I mailed my passport renewal application. I have a telephone interview with a Korean recruiting office sometime in the next two weeks. K and I have started downsizing our stuff and making arrangements for my car and our big furniture. I am having to consciously make it effort not to commit to things beyond next December. I am tying up loose ends, trying to get a few trips with close friends in before I leave. K and I are wanting to travel the country a bit before we leave. I almost feel as though I have a terminal illness and I have to see as many loved ones before I leave as I can. Of course, I understand that there are things such as Skype, but beyond that, once I leave I don't really know when I will be seeing them again. It is definitely a strange detached feeling.
This is a charged topic that I most certainly do not like discussing with my parents. I have a deadline for telling my grandparents...another duty I am not looking forward to carrying out. My mom is probably the hardest one to talk about it with. I do not like making her sad, but it is hard to see a way around it. I wish I could make her see that this is what I want to do with my life. I love it; I'm happy. I am sooo excited about it. I feel like I've always been meant to move to another country and have adventures. Of course there is also sadness involved. I don't like how she thinks I've made this decision easily and am happy about leaving her. This was probably the hardest decision I've ever made. I am leaving my childhood home, my family, my friends, not to mention my language and social customs behind...permanently. Whoever thinks I hopped skipped and danced to this decision with a smile on my face is crazy.
Life is about change. Whether you are ready for it or not. Life is Change. I feel like in America, people enjoy "stagnant". They want to put roots down and never go outside of what is comfortable for them. And going beyond that, they look down on or shake their hand in a condescending fashion if anyone they know wants more than that for their life. I have never wanted to live in the same city I was born or grew up in my entire life. I don't want to die in the same hospital I was born in. Oh, I am sure I could live just fine in Knoxville Tennessee for the rest of my life and never go beyond that. But I would always regret it and I would never flourish like I see myself doing somewhere else. I would never be challenged to the extent I am about to challenge myself. I mean, god....learning another language and living in that culture! I love language but Korean is no walk in the park. Learning and becoming fluent in Korean is going on the top of my list of challenges of my life.
It hurts my heart to be leaving my life behind, but I feel like I am going into a new life. One that will be just as fulfilling and exhilarating as this one. I still have 10 months left before we have planned to leave. It has always been my hope for this blog that it would eventually serve as a sort of bridge between my life in Korea and the people I love that remain in America. I hope that you continue to read this blog throughout this coming year and once we are in Korea. I am already expecting many mishaps and adventures and laughs. And they will all go up on here. :)
This is a charged topic that I most certainly do not like discussing with my parents. I have a deadline for telling my grandparents...another duty I am not looking forward to carrying out. My mom is probably the hardest one to talk about it with. I do not like making her sad, but it is hard to see a way around it. I wish I could make her see that this is what I want to do with my life. I love it; I'm happy. I am sooo excited about it. I feel like I've always been meant to move to another country and have adventures. Of course there is also sadness involved. I don't like how she thinks I've made this decision easily and am happy about leaving her. This was probably the hardest decision I've ever made. I am leaving my childhood home, my family, my friends, not to mention my language and social customs behind...permanently. Whoever thinks I hopped skipped and danced to this decision with a smile on my face is crazy.
Life is about change. Whether you are ready for it or not. Life is Change. I feel like in America, people enjoy "stagnant". They want to put roots down and never go outside of what is comfortable for them. And going beyond that, they look down on or shake their hand in a condescending fashion if anyone they know wants more than that for their life. I have never wanted to live in the same city I was born or grew up in my entire life. I don't want to die in the same hospital I was born in. Oh, I am sure I could live just fine in Knoxville Tennessee for the rest of my life and never go beyond that. But I would always regret it and I would never flourish like I see myself doing somewhere else. I would never be challenged to the extent I am about to challenge myself. I mean, god....learning another language and living in that culture! I love language but Korean is no walk in the park. Learning and becoming fluent in Korean is going on the top of my list of challenges of my life.
It hurts my heart to be leaving my life behind, but I feel like I am going into a new life. One that will be just as fulfilling and exhilarating as this one. I still have 10 months left before we have planned to leave. It has always been my hope for this blog that it would eventually serve as a sort of bridge between my life in Korea and the people I love that remain in America. I hope that you continue to read this blog throughout this coming year and once we are in Korea. I am already expecting many mishaps and adventures and laughs. And they will all go up on here. :)
