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Published: January 18th 2009
The past 10 months living in Daegu, South Korea have been everything I could have hoped for and so much more which is such a cliche to say that I almost don't want to say it! That being said I stick by it! Since arriving I have traveled across this wonderful country, visited Hong Kong, Australia and Tokyo and I have met some amazing people from all over the world. So when it was time to start thinking about where to go for winter vacation I thought to myself "Self you can go anywhere in the world, the world is your oyster (sidenote what the hell does that even mean! The world is like your very own bivalve mollusk that may contain a pearl...o...k!) go and explore it!" So I looked at a map and made a list of places that I really want to see. First was somewhere in Europe...Italy, Switzerland, Prague. Next I threw Moscow in which I quickly scratched off as really who wants to go to the former capital of the USSR in the dead of winter a time that does not strike me as being prime travel to Russia time! Instead of winter climates I started
to look further south and added Hanoi, Manila and Burma to my list.
Now I really did have my heart set on going somewhere unfamiliar to me but I suddenly realized that going home to renew my Visa was no longer a necessity which meant that I would not be seeing my family or friends for another whole year...and even if I did go home at the end of my contract people would be working or at school which leaves very little visiting time. So I had a little chat with my lovely boss who graciously granted me an extra week of winter holidays and the following week I booked my ticket home for 2 weeks of catchup time, Christmas festivities and a few tears as the best part about the trip was only a select few people even knew about me coming home!
I convinced my family excluding my dear sister who kept the whole thing from our parents, that I was going to Italy to explore the wonders that it has to offer! As the time drew nearer I had a harder and harder time not telling them about my plans...I had to really make sure
that my Italy story didn't change too much because I didn't want them to become suspicious. Everything was set, I would leave Daegu on Friday December 19th on a 7:15 flight to Seoul then fly to Tokyo then Minnesota and finally to Toronto where my two university roommates would be waiting to greet me. I would stay over at Meg's that night and Baillie would pick me up on her way back to Niagara and we would drop in and surprise Kerri and from there I would go home to surprise my parents who would hopefully be home!
Well there is a reason that people come up with backup plans! The flights were all fine (well they were subpar as far as comfort and enjoyability) and up until T.O everything was on time or even early. We boarded our 50 seater jet bound for Toronto at the scheduled time only to be told that the storm that had been ravaging Southern Ontario since early that morning was still wreaking havoc on Toronto and because of "Stormaggedon" our flight would be delayed for another hour which meant that we had to deplane. I was tired from my full day of
travel and just wanted to get home so I was less than impressed...me the one that had wished for a white Christmas was pissed off because the snow that guaranteed a white Christmas was delaying my arrival home for a white Christmas...got that!
I forgot to mention that the customs people were less than friendly. I got in trouble because I didn't put my final destination as Canada in "US CITY". How was I supposed to know!
I skyped Meg who had been glued to my flight status all day informed me that the storm was indeed a bad one and tried to lift my spirits which I was grateful for.
FINALLY after 4 hours of sitting in Minnesota's less than stellar airport we were told that the visibility warning had been lifted and we were allowed to head out. We all got back on the plane, many of us hitting our heads again on the low storage bins because no one ever learns after the first head bump! We sat and waited again...and waited and the girl behind me was complaining that she just wanted to get home because she'd had a long day of traveling all the
way from (prepare yourself!) PORTLAND! The woman beside her was very sympathetic to her situation before throwing in that the girl in front of them was traveling from KOREA which stopped her from complaining for the rest of the flight! After waiting for about 20 more minutes our pilot informed us that we were waiting for the carry-on luggage to be loaded again (most carry-on's don't fit in the smaller jet's storage bins so have to go under with the rest of the luggage). After the wonderful ground crew in Minn. finally got around to that we were informed that we had 9 minutes to get onto the runway otherwise there would be no flying that night because we would have lost our flight spot. Now I respect these people for the job they do, I mean it's cold outside and they've got lots to do blah blah blah but that airport was NOT busy and there had been many delays or canceled flights coming in so their workload had been lowered by a substantial amount how it took them so long to get our flight organized I'll never understand we just needed to be pushed back from the gate!
ANYWAY we arrived in Toronto to a fairly dead airport which was nice considering it has been known to be a tad busy!
Meg noticed me before I noticed her and her father and I was very happy to see them to say the least. I may not have shown it because I was so tired but I was. Naturally Court wasn't able to make it because the main stretch of highway leading from her place to Meg's had been closed baring her from joining us. Which was just as well because had anything happened to anyone because they were getting me I would have never forgiven myself.
So Meg and I caught up and the following morning we headed out for breakfast where I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of Eggs Beni and coffee. Soon after Baillie arrived and we went off to Kerri's place. We had a great visit before Kailey arrived to take me home. We couldn't get there soon enough!
Kail walked in first to divert my mom's attention from the door and when I walked she did a double take before grabbing me and bursting into tears. That reaction was worth the hassle
of the trip! Dad was downstairs in the "winery" with his "associates"! So we went down to see him and I was greeted with a "What are you doing here!" before being hugged! Our one neighbour, the grape supplier, whom I had never met before started crying when she found out that my parents hadn't known about me coming home!
Over the next few days we surprised the rest of my family and the reactions were all very similar! My uncles did the "what are you doing here!" and my aunts either screamed, cried or both! My mother's father's reaction was almost like her's but a little more subdued!
I was very excited to be home and be with everyone again. I don't think I realized how much I missed them all until I was with them. Christmas flew by followed by New Years and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to everyone again, this time really not knowing when I would see them all again. I jammed my suitcases full of stuff, said goodbye to the animals, knowing that it would be the last time I would see our old guy Reilly and jumped
in the car bound for Pearson International.
My mother said that this time it was going to be easier to say goodbye because she knew that I wasn't going into the unknown but rather I was going "home" where I knew everyone. Low and behold as we approached the US immigration doors she burst into tears which in turn made me burst into tears. I must admit that the line to get through US immigration was torture as for 1/2 of it I could still see my parents through the doors and I was having a near impossible time pulling myself together. My entire trip to Detroit I debated going back home, asking my self if there was anything in Korea that I needed so I could have someone mail stuff to me, wondering how hard it would be to change my flight from Detroit to Tokyo, to Detroit to Toronto. As soon as I got on the plane that was bound for Tokyo I felt myself loosening up a bit more and by the time I arrived back in Seoul I just wanted to get home to Daegu and unpack. So all my worrying was for nothing as
I really do love this place, I just don't love having to say goodbye to my family with our future meeting so unknown.
I've been back for 2 weeks now and I'm very happy that my negative thoughts didn't get the best of me because I really do love this country!
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mom
non-member comment
Home for Christmas
Yes Meg, your coming home was the best gift we could have hoped for. (And for the record I did cry when I read this blog...but then again I tear up at Hallmark commercials!)