one year ago

Well... as of 12am tonight I have officially been here in Korea for one full year. That's right, it was exactly one year ago tomorrow that I first arrived here in Seoul...and wow has it been an interesting ride. These past twelve months have seemingly flown by, which is definitely some indication as to how good a time I've had here, even with my recent apparent homesickness. I have never been so free to do whatever I've wanted in all my life, and it was nice to not have to worry about money for once. I've never had to pinch my pennies and stretch my paychecks here like I used to back home and I could actually afford to splurge every once in a while which I could never do before. Sure Korea has had its ups and downs, but that comes with every new experience or undertaking. In any case, I'd say the positives of my coming here definitely outweigh any of the negatives I may have encountered along the way. I wouldn't trade the memories (or the friends) I've made here for anything.

So now, with my time here winding down and coming to a close I've turned my eyes to the ever present and fast-approaching future. I'll be going home at the end of August, probably around the week of the 23rd, after which I will be flying directly out of St. Louis the very next day to go on my two and a half week-long excursion to Europe, starting with Edinburgh and the Fringe Festival. From there I'll be headed to Dublin for a few days before flying to Paris for the remainder of my trip. I'll officially be back to St. Louis for good on or around the 12th of September, just in time to get ready for my brother's wedding on September 30th, which is actually being held in Dallas. During the time before the wedding I'll be getting my life back together in St. Louis and moving in with some friends of mine in West County. I'm guessing I'll be driving down to Dallas for the wedding so hopefully I can put together some kinda road-trip thing with friends. After the wedding I assume life will be returning to normal, for a little while at least.

And then from there...who knows? I guess only time will tell.