Blossoming Seoul: Back to Reality...

It has been two weeks since I packed up and left Venice. Although I am still feeling the effects of traveling nearly 15,000 miles in the span of a week, I would do it again in a heartbeat! As I sat down to write each of the blog posts about what I learned in Venice, I slowly processed through the sea of thoughts and emotions that were entirely unexpected. Here's where I am at today...

First things first...while I absolutely adored Venice, I know that Seoul is most likely going to be my home for several years. I made a pledge to leave Korea debt free (that means NO MORE STUDENT LOANS), with a little money in the bank, and having traveled as much of Asia as possible. Several months ago I worked out a financial plan and in January 2013 my master's degree will be paid off! That means I will most likely be signing on for another one, two, or three year contract if it is offered this October. A few months ago I was ready to commit to a total of five years here, now I'm not so sure and I'm going to pray about it and see where God wants me to be. I know that Europe, and now specifically Italy, are definitely on my heart but I'm not certain if as a single teacher I can afford to make the move...or if I can find a job that suits me. Another area to be praying about! Right now I am blessed with a remarkably easy life. I am well paid, respected by my students, and very happy with my school and the people I work with. I am also learning one life lesson after another. If I do choose to pursue Europe, it is very possible that I may be sacrificing a fantastic working environment for something that is much less than satisfactory in exchange for a culture that is more desirable. Is that a fair trade?? I'm not sure. More to consider.

Second, I am very good at being single-minded and guilty of fixating on one idea, but I know I need to look at the big picture. Right now I want to get back to Venice...but I'm sure that will come in time. At this time next year it is possible that I'll be taking a group of students on a Discovery Week trip to Italy. We'll see. I need to figure out how to temper these feelings so I'm not missing out on everything else going on around me in my present circumstances. I need to celebrate the here and now while still working a bit at a time on plans for the future. Right now that means I'm going to take an online Italian class at the University of Wisconsin and do my best to pass through Italy at least once a year when I'm traveling in Europe (when I decided to move to Seoul I made a deal with myself that I would make it to Europe every year to explore a new place). I'm hoping to return to Venice next summer for another go at mosaic making after I visit Switzerland and possibly Austria.

Third, living abroad can be a lonely and emotional undertaking and as I reflected on my trip to Venice I realized how desperate I am to form deep connections with interesting and creative people. In short, this is simply going to take time. Perhaps it is the result of going it alone here in Seoul and really missing my family and good friends back home that makes me feel the need to put my life story out there and make friends whenever the possibility presents itself. I'm learning that I need to proceed cautiously when choosing who to let into my life and who to invest time and energy in. As much as I felt connected to the ladies in my mosaic class and desired to get to know my teacher better, I have to accept the fact that we were just passing through each other's lives temporarily, hang on to the lessons I learned from these ladies, and keep working on developing strong relationships with the people I see on a daily basis and who I can call on in a time of need.

This brings me back to life in Seoul right now. I have been blessed to work with a wonderful group of science teachers and the week after spring break we gathered together for a science department outing...crepes and noriibang (karaoke), it doesn't get any better than that! I was still totally exhausted from my trip, but in an effort to get back on Asia time I went and had a blast! Here are a few photos from our outing: