The Most Difficult Thing About Leaving Korea

Rachel’s tears were making me more upset than I was used to being. I was emotional as well, I just didn’t show it as freely. Onlookers must have thought someone had died. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.

We were saying goodbye to the people who had mattered most to us in Korea – our friends. Somehow the term ‘friends’ doesn’t seem to do justice to how we truly feel about them. They’re our family away from home, our support, laughter, inspiration, and comfort. Some people reading this may think I’m over exaggerating. In fact, if I’d read this 2 years I would have been one of those people.

The truth is, travelling doesn’t change people, it’s the people you meet who have the biggest impact on you. I realise that more and more as I get older.

We’ve been with our friends from the start, through good times and bad – we had the EPIK orientation to thank for that. Despite living in different cities we made sure to see each other regularly. It was the one thing Rachel and I would stretch our budget for.

Now we’re going our separate ways, each on our own exciting adventure. Yet, no matter how far we are from each other, we know the door will always be open to us.

The last three weeks we’ve spent the weekends together. This weekend we headed to Seoul. The drinking was heavy, the conversation light (most of the time) but it was never far from my mind that we would soon be saying goodbye. When the time came, it was my most unpleasant experience to date in Korea.

On the bus home I asked Rachel what the hell was going on with me. I don’t get upset over this stuff. She said this time was different. She was right.

Ruth, Andy, Dave, Gi Ro, Luke, Holly, Matt, and more recently Rich, Brian, Bryan, Andy, Mike, Linda, Damien and Juhyang, thanks for making these two years the best they could have been.

Christmas with friends

Friends chilling in our little home

What a good looking group of mates