The hardest thing....

The hardest thing about living overseas is the good-byes. You start out saying what you think are the hardest good-byes to your family and friends at “home” then you move to somewhere new and foreign and you make connections with people that you most likely would have never met and you know in the back of your head that you will have to say good-bye to them at some point, but you’ve made a new “home” so you don’t think about it.

Then that time comes, where one of you is leaving…and it’s time for more good-byes. The toughest part about these good-byes though is the fact that you don’t know when or if you will ever seen these people again. When I left home I knew that my family and my friends would all be there waiting when I got home, for the most part in pretty much the same place that I left them. However, when you say good-bye to people overseas, native or foreign you don’t know if you will ever lay eyes on them again. I mean sure you say that you will stay connected through Skype, Facebook and email but we all know how that goes, people get busy they get back into the “new” swing and routine of life and pretty soon all you are to each other is a memory of good times in a foreign land.

Don’t get me wrong I know that change is inevitable and I know that I would much rather have met these people and have had them impact my life than to have never known them, but watching them put their suitcases in the car as they head to the airport breaks a piece of something inside of you. I’ve always said that my heart is with the people I love so I guess it’s fitting that it feels like parts of me are broken because my heart now has more area to cover.

I’ve met a handful of people here in Korea that I can’t imagine the last year without. My Korean other halfs, Lina and Emily, saw me through home sickness, death and drama from home, translated and humored my obliviousness and loved me anyways. I don’t know if I could have made it through without the two of them. I reconnected with Stacy, a friend from the states that it took 10 years and Korea to bring us back together and remind me that some friendships truly know no time or distance. I met Allen and didn’t see what he would bring into my life coming. He was a truly unique and safe place for me in this country, a piece of home that I didn’t expect but that I will always be grateful for. My kids changed my life, some more than others and I expected that.

Now, I find myself 14 months later starting to say my good-byes and knowing that no matter where in the world I go or they go I will always be grateful for the impact, influence and love that these people have had on my life. No matter where I go next I’ll take a piece of them with me, just like they now have a piece of me with them.