We typically share our travels and experiences here with you, but I figured I would break the norm and share a little of our day to day lives with you guys! Maybe it’s all the rain we’ve been having for the last two weeks but I’ve been reflecting and getting a tad bit sentimental.
It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve already almost completed our first year contracts in Yeosu. Just one year ago, we were in the midst of training and preparing ourselves for the transition into public schools. We’ve loved every minute of this past year and three months ago we made the decision to stay here for another year.
But with our yearly contracts coming to an end, it inevitably means saying goodbye to friends who have decided to leave Korea. It’s never easy to say goodbye, especially when your friends have become like family in such a short amount of time. In particular, watching our friends Tom and Elicia leave is quite surreal. While living in Seoul, I met Elicia online through blogging. We started talking and soon I found myself explaining our difficult situation with our old jobs and how we were actually a bit envious of their obvious bliss living on the coast surrounded by a large group of friends. She immediately recommended us to the Jeollanamdo Language Program and that suggestion and her helpful insight led us to where we are now. We ended up moving to the same city as them and became fast friends.
It’s really strange how events seem to unfold, like they are somehow just meant to be. But Tom and Elicia are meant to be moving on and after traveling Asia and spending time at home with their family during the summer, they will soon start another adventure teaching in Morocco. We wish them all the best, but a realization has started to sink in about just how short our time together truly is. It really hurts to see your friends slowly start to leave and I just want to hold onto this time a little bit longer.
Three of these awesome people are leaving in a few short days and three more will be leaving in just a few short months.
What can you do? Enjoy the time you have with the ones you love and don’t take them for granted. Anyway, here are some pictures for you to enjoy from our past week so we don’t have to end on such a sad note!
Not happy with all this rain
What to do on a rainy day? Coffee and affogatos!
One of the only sunny days this past week was thankfully the day Ryan’s school had a picnic day with around 60-70 other schools!
So thankful that the rest of this week is supposed to be sunny. We finally brought all our plants back out on the roof. Check out the view!
Saying goodbye is the hardest part! One thing I loved about my friendships in Korea was how quickly they developed. Having the same schedule, being in the same situation, and appreciating similar things meant the friends I made in Korea quickly became some of my best. I came to think of it as concentrated friendship 🙂 All the goodness packed into one or two years.
Enjoy your next year in Korea! I’m looking forward to your future posts.
Yes, it does feel like we have been able to become such fast friends due to our situation in such a short lived time in our lives. We are all experiencing the same highs and lows of living abroad but that just makes it so much harder to lose those friends who become like family that quickly. Hopefully we will meet again one day!