On Leaving Korea

It's been a little over a week since I left Korea for what might be the last time. After a year of friends, adventures, and randomness, it was hard to say goodbye.

My last night there was exceptionally perfect, though: Galbi tong with Linsey, Elizabeth, Sascha, and Moon, followed by a brief fairwell with Andy. I was going to crawl back to my miserable internetless room and finish packing when Kevin (another coworker and friend) called me out to drink with my replacements and him at a local Ministop (a kind of convenience store like 7-11). He offered me company and some soju that I couldn't refuse, and the packing turned into drunken 1am packing and 1hour of sleep before the bus to Seoul. The unexpectedness of the evening was the perfect way for the year to end.

Now I'm currently traveling down Vietnam. I've been here for 10 days, and I've seen the most amazing scenery I've ever beheld with my own two eyes. Strangely here Korea doesn't seem that far away. A woman at the hotel I'm staying in mistook me for a Korean woman (?!?!?!?!?!?), and Elizabeth and I ate breakfast to the sounds of KPoP blarring on the equivalent of Vietnamese MTV.

Honestly, I'm not certain what the rest of this trip will bring. We'll be heading out to Cambodia and Malaysia, and then I'll be doing some solo travleing in Singapore. Beyond that is the overwhelming states and my state of unemployment, but right now I do know that I'm happy and extremely thankful for this past year.