First of, the wedding was gorgeous and wonderful and a TON of fun!!! It was great to see a bunch of my mom's side of the family for something fun (the last couple of gatherings, besides Nick's wedding, have been funerals and memorial services. Not so much fun). My cousin Katya looked GORGEOUS and the wedding was not thwarted by rain. My family even got along pretty well, which is quite a feat for two 9 hour car rides in 3 days.
 |
| Katya with her family |
 |
| She's such a goofball and was really eager to say "I will" before the guy told her to |
 |
| D'awww first kiss! |
 |
| Just married!!! |
And now a couple of my family
 |
| With my daddy! |
 |
| The whole family! |
 |
| Look how classy we all are |
 |
| My mom, uncle Rob, uncle Jim and my Grandpa! |
 |
| A bunch of us lookin' fly |
Overall, it was a great wedding. It was lovely to hang out with a huge part of my family before my departure. I got lots of well wishes and hugs, and I'm glad I got to feel lots of love before I leave America.
The next week was a bunch of shopping not for clothes, this time for basic necessities like toothpaste, vitamins that aren't available in Korea, travel sized necessities for orientation, and most importantly CURL CARE, which is NONEXISTENT in Korea and also initial attempts at packing. Thus far, I'm about 97% packed, and I'm bringing about 100 pounds of stuff. Not an exaggeration- I have two suitcases clocking in at 50 pounds and about 37 pounds, a duffel bag, and finally my backpack. Amounting to probably about 100 pounds that I'm dragging across the world.
Right now, it doesn't feel like I'm leaving for a year- right now, it feels like I'm packing for college or another semester abroad, not a full year that includes missing major holidays and everyone's birthdays. It's scary. I've been visiting friends and family for the past few days, trying to say all of my goodbyes. But in actuality, a year isn't so long, and I know I will have friends in Korea and meet new, amazing people from all over the world. How could I turn that down?
People always ask me if I'm afraid... Well, wouldn't you be if you were leaving everything behind to go live in a place where you don't speak the language and can barely even sound out what I'm reading? Wouldn't you be if you were 13 hours ahead of your family that you love and adore? Of course, I'm terrified. But I'm also crazy, crazy, CRAZY excited for this new adventure. I think that it will teach me so much about myself and will open so many new doors for me. I obviously can't deny that I'm scared, but right now the feeling I have is overwhelming excitement (with a little bit of dread for the 14 hour plane ride...). I cannot wait to start having adventures in Korea with my new students and my new friends and to start posting pictures!
In other news, I went to Lilydale this weekend, which is a famous little place that has been home to a community of spiritualists/mediums about an hour and a half away. A couple of my aunts, Cesca and some friends, and mom and I went. It was a beautiful place- readings were really expensive tho, so we just went to the group ones. One of the mediums called on me, but just told me random stuff that didn't really apply (like that I'm a HUGE procrastinator- any of my college or high school friends can attest this is highly inaccurate) and we think that maybe the reading would be more applicable to Cesca, but I dunno. So I'm still on the fence about mediumship, especially cause if I got called I was hoping to hear from my grandma, but many of the messages seemed quite generic. I like my one on one readings at the Renaissance Festival better. I'll reserve judgment on mediums until I actually go to an individual, or maybe I'll just avoid it altogether.
Regardless, it was a great last weekend filled with family and friend time, and I did enjoy myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment