4th of July

This weekend myself and 18 other people (Fulbrighters, friends of friends, and 1 Korean) went to a pension in Daejeon to have a very American 4th of July. Seth and I planned the event together and the whole weekend went surprisingly smoothly. The pension itself was really nice, minus being a little small. The area the pension was located in was beautiful. The only negative part about the weekend was the weather, but it could have been worse. We spent the whole weekend playing games, drinking, grilling, noraebanging, watching World Cup games, and just enjoying each others company since this will have been the last time some of us see each other for a very long time. The best part of the weekend was when all of us saying a very rousing (and for some of my friends, very drunk) rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at midnight on the 4th of July. Only in Korea...

1 Year Anniversary

Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary from when I first stepped foot in Korea. I literally can not believe it has been a year already. I've been excited about going home for months, but it wasn't until today that it actually hit me how close the end is. It feels like yesterday that I was arriving in Chuncheon for orientation with 70 other strangers, speaking no Korean, not being able to use chopsticks, and just being terrified about the year ahead of me. When I look back and read my blog posts from the first couple of weeks, or even months, I realize how much I have learned and the number of unforgettable experiences and relationships I have gained over the past year. Right now Korea feels more like home than America does. As one ETA said recently, I have stopped traveling and Korea has become my home. At this point I can not imagine what living in the US is going to be like. Coming to Korea is the first thing I have done in my life solely by myself and it makes me very sad that my life here has to end. In a funny change of events, I actually scared to go home now. I'm scared that this will end up being one of the best experiences in my life. I don't feel like I'm ready to say that yet. I'm scared that things will be boring and that I will feel like I'm settling by just living at home. I'm scared that all of the time and effort and everything that I have put into this past year will have been for nothing...that I will have nothing to show for it and that no one will really care about it. It's going to be difficult going home because I know that after the first time I see my friends again, they won't really care to hear about all of my stories from Korea. I'm afraid of having to start every sentence with "Well, when I was in Korea..." It's only been one year but I almost feel like it is all that I know now.
The only thing that is making me feel better about having to leave is the fact that I can always come back. I'm hoping that once I get back to America I will feel that I made the right decision not to stay longer. Only time will tell.