13 months of kimchee, galbi, adventures, travel, incredible life-long friends, incredible food, new perspectives, new thresholds of patience and tolerance, new understandings of likes and dislikes - in sum, it has been 13 months of honing who we are, but also challenging so much of what we thought we knew about who we were. We can safely say that Korea has been the most challenging experience of our lives.
In the past two months we have slowly said goodbye to everything and everyone we have
become accustomed to. Our friends here have
made this experience so much of what it became and so much of what we will remember. As for Korea, we will remember it as a good friend, but also managed to piss us off when we didn't understand it, or, when it did something so annoying we just had to throw our hands up and
scream.
In one breath, we have never been so confounded, confused and frustrated in our lives. But at other moments we have never been so touched by the kindness and warmth of strangers when we needed it the most. Korea is a complex dichotomy and it has existed as a culture for
over 4 millenia . Koreans would
describe the confusing contradictions -to westerners anyway- as Yin and Yang. Yes, there are massive inefficiencies, but that has bred a culture that relies greatly on the group and less on the individual. They are too safe with some things, but amazingly lax in matters that would be highly regulated back home. For whatever reason it works for them.
Mindy and I both value our independence as individuals and Korea is decidedly NOT about the individual. To me, I find its heavy reliance on the group and hierarchy to be a detriment to its
progress, but its economy and incredible ingenuity prove to me otherwise. If you want to sink into a culture that is so different than your own and to truly travel, come to Korea.
We are ready for home! We are ready for aestheti
cally pleasing neighborhoods, well planned out cities, ease of communication, familiar faces, ease of travel, unparalleled natural beauty and individu
alism. We truly live in a amazing part of the world and this trip has helped to
solidify that perspective.
To our friends in Korea: You will be genuinely missed and know that you weren't just people we met in passing. Had we grown up in the same countries and the same towns we all know that we would have evolved the exact same friendships that we currently have. We ex
pect to see you in our town and we are excited to see you in yours. Thanks for the laughs, the challenges, the eye opening perspectives, the conversations, and the memories (as fuzzy as some may be).
To our friends back home: We are excited to see you and get up to date on your lives. The two of us are going to hack it out in Bellingham: scrambling for jobs, school (Mindy's MBA at Western), and basic Hamster lifestyle. We are flying into Seattle on May 4th and will be back to Bellingham on May 10th. Looking forward to another amazing spring and summer. What a time to come back! Lets get some adventures lined up, some bonfires built, some BBQs cooking, guitars tuned, hikes mapped out, and kayak paddles penciled in. I foresee another great season of memories.
~Scott
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