The End Is Nigh

Another week has flown by. This one consisted of presentations and our final classes at Korea University. It was such a relief to get these presentations out of the way. The weather was typical summer, nice sunny days with temperatures in the 80s and on a couple days we had some thunderstorms. Luke and I got caught walking back from class in a hailstorm. It was painful, yet refreshing.

We spent the majority of the weekend preparing for our final exams, or procrastinating that at least. One evening we went to an area of the city called Insadong. It is known for its gift shops. We got there a little late and decided to have dinner first. We figured we would try a Vietnamese place. I'd never really eaten Pho (pronounced Fuh) before, but it was quite interesting. It was pretty much a beef broth with noodles, onions, and beansprouts. I thought it was pretty good, but I'm not really a Vietnamese food expert. Martin and Huyen, who are Vietnamese food experts, said it wasn't that great. Oh well... More for me!

Pho

After dinner, we went out to look at the gift shops only to find that most had already closed for the night. A couple were still open, so we went in and looked at all of the oddities they had in stock. We ended up getting a few gifts so it was a mission accomplished after all. The rest of the weekend was spent in that weird limbo between studying and procrastinating.

But, it's all come down to this. Our last week in Korea. The most exhilarating and shortest four months of my life are coming to an end. It's a mix of emotions. One one hand, I'm ready to get home to see my family and enjoy my summer in Inez. But on the other, it'll be sad to leave Korea not knowing when I'll ever get to come back or hang out again with all of the great friends that I have made.

I've grown to love this place over the last four months. The people, the food, and the memories that I have made will be forever etched in my mind. It's amazing how much you can experience in such a short amount of time. I'm not sure if I'm the same person I was at the beginning of this trip. I've learned to be more independent and even more empathetic of foreigners. There are times when I've felt alienated and detached from the culture, but that has given me a deeper understanding of it and I've grown to value the differences and similarities that exist between the East and the West.

I'll try to write one or two more blog posts at the end of the week and when I return home, but for now I'm signing off! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we take our finals and journey home.