I Miss Korea 1

I'm under no illusions that there will be less than 500 of these posts, so I may as well number them to differentiate.

My heart aches for Korea. I cannot see pictures of Lake Park today or talk to my friend Min Jung, or even look at Hangeul without having to hold back the tears.

Today will be my very first day to tutor a Korean boy named Haram. I am excited, and yet sad. Here I am starting this new life in Cambodia but once again, my heartstrings are being pulled by Korea/Korean/Koreans.

I miss Jaewon and San: Jaewon for his total confidence that occasionally turned boastful, San for his long, drawn-out stories about building working robots from pencils and string. (That kid will revolutionize something one day!) I miss Dong Yun and Kathleen playing together and Linda messaging me to meet her at 라페 베네. I miss the buses and taxis and Seoul Union and pretty much everything but the food. I miss the Fall weather and I wish I were putting on a flannel, jeans, and boots and grabbing a drink from Starbucks and walking all around Ilsan right at this moment. 

Korea is my true love but Cambodia is my arranged marriage. There's just no getting out of it. And Korea will never be right until my "parents" agree to it. 

I've heard that sometimes members of AA tell themselves, "I'll drink tomorrow" every single day, just to get to the next day. So for now I will tell myself every single day, "I'll leave for Korea tomorrow."