Home Sweet Home

---

I'll be honest most of 2010 was a giant countdown to October 1st! Not setting foot on Canadian soil for nearly 2 years was starting to take its toil on me. Everything sucked. I had 0 tolerance left for Korea and I missed the ability to speak in full sentences... and to speak face to face with friends and family! My kids were pushing me to the edge of insanity, I wasn't enjoying the pushing matches with ajumma's on the subway the same way I use to and I had a feeling that all the pigeons were out to get me. So when October 1st rolled around and I made the trip up to Incheon it wasn't a minute too soon!

When I landed in Vancouver I didn't have much time to go WOW I'm "home"! I was far to busy checking my cat in and dealing with too many bags and a yowling animal that didn't smell too great! I did however manage to find my way to a Tim Hortons kiosk… well I had to ask for directions as apparently I had lost the ability to read the sign that was pointing to Tim Hortons directly behind me. I shouldn't worry about it though because when I was walking back with my hot large coffee with one milk 2 girls stopped me to excitedly ask me where the Tim Hortons was, I smiled and pointed behind them! Korea does things to people this I now know for sure! The flight from Vancouver to Toronto was enjoyable enough. I was sitting beside 2 best friends who had gone out west for some girls weekend or something and we chatted about life and such… but mostly I talked about how happy I was to see my friends and family, to be honest I was one of THOSE people… I guess I understand THOSE people now… or should I say MY people!
I tried my best to hold back the tears of joy as Air Canada Flight 64 began its decent into Pearson but I failed miserably! I didn't even have to go through customs I'd already slipped through quickly in Vancouver… that alone was worth a couple joyful tears!

I hopped back and forth from one foot to the other impatiently waiting for my suitcases and then again for my cat who came zooming onto the "Oversized Baggage" counter as if someone had misread or simply disregarded LIVE ANIMAL scrawled all over the carrier. I practically ran from the baggage claim area, miraculously holding back my urge to skip behind my cart waving to the crowd as if to say "YES YES I have returned!!" My 2 university roommates stood waiting for me with big smiles on their faces and for a second I forgot about my cart and my urine soaked cat and embraced them both. They had come to rescue me from the airport as my mother had recently undergone surgery and despite her desire… will… overwhelming urgency to be at the airport to see her favourite daughter return my father had convinced her that a few more hours wasn't going to kill her and in fact would do just the opposite! As for my wonderful dad well you know how cats shy away from water like it's evil… well that is how my father is when it comes to Pearson International! Now I love Pearson but I've never had to be the driver there so I suppose I can't begin to comprehend! Anyway we were meeting him in Oakville so he didn't have to get anywhere near the dreaded airport! I eventually said goodbye to my dear friends and my dad and I started the very long (it wasn't that long like an hour) drive home with me talking non-stop, the cat meowing continuously and stinking up the truck and my father nodding silently probably wishing I'd stop talking!

When we turned into the driveway I grabbed as much as I could in the 2 seconds it took me to open the door and jump out and ran up the sidewalk where I was quickly greeted by Sadie wagging her tail ecstatically and making a noise that sounded like a high pitched muffled giggle of glee! When I managed to get by her I met my mom standing crying with her arms wide open making a very similar noise to the dog. Ah mom hugs… there really isn't anything better after 24 hours of travel! The rest of the night was spent with me talking about my life and showing them all the things I'd procured on my travels. I figured I'd bring all the things that meant something to me home with me instead of shipping them in boxes in March! I also had the pleasure of bathing my cat! Vlad however is not your typical run away from water cat he sat quietly albeit pathetically in the tub while I washed the stink off him much to the amazement of my mother who had watched our other cat run up the wall on a previous bathing experience!
Sleep came quickly and luxuriously that night! I forgot how amazing my bed at home was!

The 2nd was very rainy and cold but the despite the weather I met with my dear fellow Laurier alumni and we headed up to Waterloo to watch our beloved Golden Hawks trounce the University of Guelph 36-2. I'll be honest we left at halftime when the Hawks were up 36-0 because we had not dressed warm or dry enough! It was nice to walk around campus though despite the weather! I really love that school!

While home I managed to see just about everyone. We hosted Thanksgiving and my family came over and despite my sister being away at school we had a lovely evening! I also got to go down to the Vineland Art Fest which I hadn't done for a couple years and really missed doing. Not to be forgotten of course were the Toronto Maple Leafs as my best friend and I had ordered tickets the second they went on sale and got to watch our boys beat the Ottawa Senators 5-1! Sadly one of their few wins of the season so far!

I spent a great deal of time getting reacquainted with nature as that is something I miss the most while living in Korea. I'd drive around for hours and stop to take pictures or just admire rolling hills and leaves of red, yellow and orange while sitting on some rocks in a forest. Autumn in Ontario is breathtaking and I wish everyone could see it! I really enjoyed taking Sadie for walks through the bush and hiking alone or with friends. Every time I walked down the road I was shocked by the silence, I'm not sure silence exists in Korea… well it's pretty quite during air raid drills but that's a forced sort of quiet!

Perhaps the 2 things that I appreciated more, was the sky.. do you even realize how big it is? I mean when you live in Korea it's impossible to understand this fact, there's so much shit in the way, mountains, buildings, more mountains, more buildings, light up crosses on top of buildings surrounded by mountains, *sigh* oh the sky the splendid sky! Also the produce section at the grocery store… O….M….G seriously it's like Disney World for people who like produce! 30 kinds of apples, all different sizes and colours with different crunch factors. White onions, Vidallia onions, red onions, shallots, Spanish onions, big onions, small onions, things I had never heard of before, no salad dressing that looked like melted markers and it flows so nicely into the miraculous bakery of wonders which wraps around into the deli of taste sensations. I must have looked absolutely psychotic when I walked into Sobeys for the first time! But when you live in a country where only one kind of apple exists (they'll try to tell you there are 2 but don't listen to them, those green ones are not, I repeat are NOT Granny Smith's, they are simply regular apples that have not ripened yet!) the sight of such variety will have you jumping up and down and running from basket to basket clapping your hands like a kid that has just been told they've been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

I made sure to drive 8 hours north to visit with my old co-workers from Korea… they after all were the reason I had found a great job in the first place! I had not been to Ottawa since 1997 and that was in the winter so I was surprised by the beauty of the city, not to mention the outdoor activities. Truly a beautiful city (with a crappy hockey team :P). They showed me around and we visited a wonderful outdoor market and of course Parliament Hill! On my way home from Ottawa I stopped in Toronto as I had tickets to another Leafs game so I met up with some friends for dinner and then off we went to the game. Not such a great outcome the second time around but oh well!

The following weekend my parents and I flew out of Buffalo down to Raleigh to visit my sister at college in Mount Olive, North Carolina. She had a volleyball tournament so we spent a great deal of time in the school gym watching her work her butt off. Sadly her team didn't share her passion. We went to Wilmington and had a lovely meal and walked down Wrightsville Beach. I really like that area although I always have the strong desire to start singing the Dawson's Creek theme song… I don't know why!

While I didn't do everything I had planned on doing I managed to get the important things squared away! I laughed, caught up with and generally had a great time with friends and family. I got all the things for people in Korea purchased and packed away. We laugh over here because if someone is going home the 3 biggest requests are for deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste! Could you imagine someone going away and all you ask for is toothpaste! Ridiculous! I also had to purchase a new Mac as the motherboard on my old one bit the dust a week before I went home… honestly I'm surprised it lasted a year after I dropped it 4.5ft and spilled a mug of hot coffee on it! I'm pretty sure my old PC laptop would have blown up immediately!

Living abroad, especially in Asia makes one really appreciate the simplicity of home. Yes certain things aren't so easy but it's amazing the things you can find yourself longing for… like dealing with customer service people for yourself and Toronto traffic, filling your own car with gas, Tim Hortons, hockey, cooking with an oven, bathtubs, yards, big dogs, silence, narrowly missing deer, the whole sky, putting the flag down on the mailbox, the mall, the produce section at the grocery store… no the entire grocery store and of course your own language everywhere! I was pretty miserable all the way back to Korea and for most of the first day back at work but I've worked back into a routine and now only have 2 months left. Now it's time to get myself organized for post-Korea life which is possibly scarier than pre-Korea life. First a few months with my backpack, camera and a couple friends then home and the unknown! Strange how the one place I know so well contains so many question marks!

---