The Amazing Life of an Expat.... Means Always Saying Goodbye

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Good morning from South Korea!

Today is April 6, 2015. I have officially survived 4 months living away from home in South Korea. In 4 months, I have spent my first holiday season away from my family... and discovered that family doesn't always have to be blood. I have watched my niece and nephew grow up via social media from the other side of the world... and realized how thankful I am for the technology I have access to. I have watched as several of my friends count down to and make huge life changes: engagements; weddings; babies... and, once again, I can only be thankful for things like Facebook giving me the ability to keep in touch with a simple click of a button.

In the past 4 months, I have made many new friends and met people from all over the world. I think the only continent I'm missing at this point is Antarctica! I even met some one who grew up just a couple towns over from me... as big as this world is physically, that (somewhat annoying) song at Disney World really rings true: It's a Small World After All. I am thankful for the friends I have made here in the short time I've been in Korea. In more ways than one, they have truly become like family. I've eaten holiday dinners with them. I've confided in them and spent time with them. I've vented with them and laughed with them. We have traveled together, been frustrated with each other, and made timeless memories together. I wouldn't trade any of it in for anything.

But there is another lesson I've learned in 4 months in Korea: everything is short term. Goodbyes happen much more frequently than they do at home. And those goodbyes are left with a big question mark at the end. Will I ever see this person again? Will our paths cross once more in the future? Or will we be relegated to intermittent communications via Facebook? For some, it is almost a definite that goodbye is for good. For others... I can only hope that's not the case.

Growing up in New Hampshire, goodbyes were fairly infrequent. Every now and then, a friend would move the the other side of the state, or to another state, but it was not a guarantee that it was forever. A friend in California meant an excuse to visit. The relative in North Carolina is still within reach: at least 1, if not 2 or 3, visits a year. For the most part, people back at home... well, they stay put. But the friend from Germany... from England... from South Africa... from Australia, well those are much harder to follow through on plans to meet again.

So we say goodbye with good intentions. "We will meet again!" And we hope it is true, but only time will tell. It took 6 years for a reunion of Derby room mates. Will it be another 6 years, maybe longer, before I see the friends I've made here? I hope not. But if there's one thing I'm learning about being an expat: goodbyes happen constantly. In the past month, three fellow English teachers have left Yangsan; another will leave at the end of this month. Four friends in less than two months, three of them off to homes or travels around the world.

But saying goodbye doesn't have to be the end. It's just the end of a chapter... and maybe they will come back up in another chapter. I get to write the story, after all... and, in my story, the only final goodbye is death. Every other goodbye is a "see you later" or "until next time."

So to those friends, and you all know who you are: "See you later."



P.S. The photos I put on here are limited as they are ones that I personally took. So many others on Facebook but I didn't want to "steal" them and post them here as if they were my own! So many other people that I am thankful for having met and become friends with, we'll just have to work on getting some more photos for memories!

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