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.