So here I am sitting in Incheon International Airport gazing at the mounds of unexpected snow hindering planes from taking off. I am comfortably sitting here right now thanks to my boyfriend and his brother who helped to successfully get me here not only through the stupid snow storm but through the subway with 4 heavy bags of luggage. I owe them a lot that’s for sure! This morning when I woke up I looked outside and started to panic- my boyfriend lives on a hill that is almost impossible for any vehicle to get up when it snows. I couldn’t believe my eyes- it was only supposed to lightly snow….not have 4 inches by 7:30 in the morning snow! As feelings of panic started bubbling up, I reminded myself to breathe and everything will be ok. There was a reason why mother nature decided to pour snow down on Seoul today, the day I am supposed to fly out to Tokyo to catch an AA flight directly to O’Hare. Joon looked at this with surprising positivity- he waws much better at that then me today. Thank god. Sometimes, you can’t control things. But you can damn well control your own stuff.
I wonder if take off will be as scary as landing in Tokyo back in August- remember the typhoon that almost took my plane down? Yeah….the snow storm is lookin’ pretty bad right now…. So who knows. I thought this morning was going to be a lot more frustrating than it was- thank god Beum and Joon were there to help me. They are troopers. Poor Beum was woken up to help us drag my baggage to the airport. Things were a lot better than I thought it would have been. For one, I owe a lot to a random guy telling Joon, Beum and I to get into his car as we were struggling down the treacherous hill to the subway. He saved us a lot of time. IF it wasn’t for him I probably would be still panicking right now and running here.
I couldn’t believe this random Korean man and his wife- they stopped told Joon to throw the bags in the trunk and get in. it was one of the nicest things I have experienced in Asia. It was a great reminder that there ARE good people out in the world willing to lend their fellow humans a helping hand.
There is just too much to write. Hopefully when I get home I will sit down and write it all out. I can’t believe I am sitting in the airport going home. It feels just like yesterday that I was sitting in O’Hare waiting to jump on a plane to Japan. I definitely have grown in many ways from my experience. Too bad my pocket hasn’t grown yet! But like I said, there is just so much to write about. My experiences in Japan and Korea were totally different but both fantastic. I’m interested to see what I will be like when I get home- I am expecting to experience something called re-entry shock. Yay, culture shock all over again. Hopefully I will sleep on the plane. I am sure I will because my Ipod will only hold out for so long…. As will my eyes. The snow is really pretty…despite it being a nuisance.
I hope I can play in the snow with Ted when I get home. That would be cool.
There are a lot of things that I missed about home, especially during the holidays. I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t hard or unsettling. I am really excited to go home. But I am sad that time has flown so fast. It only means that time will fly even faster. I think that is a n important lesson that I have learned. Time really does fly too fast. But this is a good reminder to all to make the most of our time in all our experiences we wish to have in our lives. I think I have learned to enjoy things and going out more- before I didn’t know what to think of it.
Grown up
Self sufficient
Can survive especially with body language
Never under estimate people- they will always surprise you.
Push yourself outside the box
Keep a good humor with you at all times
Even though the culture isn’t yours, you still have to respect it, and try your best to follow good manners
You, are a foreigner and are expected to act as such. Do not simply adopt this stereotype in order to get what you want.
Try not to think too much about peoples thoughts- you can be VERY wrong.
It never hurts to try and speak a language you know NOTHING about. Your willingness to learn is more than you know.
Do not be afraid to make mistakes.
Translating is very hard- give your friends and whoever else who translates not a hard time. It’s exhausting
Always express thanks when you want to.
Smile. People will warm up to you better that way and you will warm up to you better. It’s good. Duh!
Make good memories. It’s worth it.
Spend money on travelling. THAT is worth it.
Know what your stomach can handle and what it can’t.
This was written quite a while ago and I never had the chance to post it. I have reflected much much more on this experience and it really has and probably will be the most valuable experience in my life. I am so thankful for the opportunity- so shout out to EVERYONE for making this possible for me!
Much Love and Peace.
Ashlee~
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