Anyong! ( Friendly hello)
I am currently at six days until I fly out for South Korea. At this time next week, I will have already landed in South Korea, and will be most probably exploring the city. I am ready to be in South Korea.
I have said my goodbyes, for the most part. I don't necessarily see the point of a large goodbye. I will only be gone for 6 months, however that 6 months - I hope- will be some of the greatest in my so far short and relatively naive life. But, I digress. I have been fortunate enough to have a few friends drive a fairly long way to say goodbye to me this weekend. I appreciate all the words of support from everyone, as well as all the words of encouragement that go paired with the words "be safe". At first I wasn't entirely sure why everyone was telling me to "be safe", am I traditionally an inconsistent teenager? Of course I am, I'm a teenager coming from a family that puts a lot of emphasis into being a strong rooted individual with hefty "bootstraps" as my Baba and Mom call them. I'm proud to be a Williams, and I feel so fortunate to have all the love and support from so many individuals who have been present for an array of different time frames of my life. So, this is just one giant thank you to a large population of friends, family friends, old teachers, and family members. I would not be so excited to go without all the positive reinforcement that you all have presented to me so consistently.
I was really scared that I would have to change my flights and postpone my trip, the thought of not going was even lurking in the back of my mind. All of this was because my Visa just arrived last Thursday. But, now that I have my Visa and all my other documents safely tucked in a mini travel sized wallet thing dangingling across my shoulders, I am ready to go. Well, mostly.. Airport security is such a hassle, I wish I could skip that part of travel. But I am all packed, and my room is mostly picked up (Don't worry, Mom! I'll clean it before I leave!) and now I'm just anxiously waiting for Sunday night, where I know I will be up all night waiting for Monday morning.
For those of you wondering what I will be doing, I must confess that I do not entirely know... From the emails that I've exchanged with South Korea, and the project package that I received early on in the process, I'm either going to be working in an orphanage, teaching english at a YMCA kind of establishment, or teaching swimming lessons- which would be rather amusing because I'm not one for swimming, or water, in general. But, I will keep you all informed when I find out more. From what I gathered I will be living in a "Hostel, hotel room, dorm, apartment- like building with the other volunteers" for six months. What this actually means, who knows. I guess we will all find out! I will definitely be living in Seoul, however.
By now I'm sure some of you are even more worried or skeptical about my decision to go to South Korea where I appear to have no known plans but to spend six months in a foreign country where I know a total of 15 words. My response to these fears, you have every reason to be skeptical! But, I'm optimistic, after all I am the daughter of the woman who lost our itinerary for our South Africa trip two and a half years ago. If things go wrong, oh well! What a fantastic learning experience! If things go perfectly fine, well that's a very secure adventure! I do know two other girls who are going to be in South Korea with me, and probably living in the same place as I am. Lauren, from the East Coast, and I met in December at the orientation in New Hampshire/Boston. We hit it off instantly, and still talk nearly daily about or packing process and other worries about this journey that we have. I have also made contact with another girl named Vivi from Denmark, she seems nice, and her biggest worry is learning how to do laundry in South Korea. I guess we will all have our challenges abroad.
There is a mountain in the middle of Seoul, so I've heard. And as an Bendite, I feel bad for not being a huge rock climber, so I'm going to take on rock climbing as my weekend physical activity for the next six months! I wont be blogging much the first two weeks, but I will be keeping a journal so that when I have time away from orientation and acclimation into the society, I will be able to remember everything that has happened and keep you all updated. I will have cell phone over there, but I will be working on Wifi. So if you have Viber, Whatsapp, Skype, or Imessage feel free to ask me ( privately) for my contact information! I will gladly give it to you.
Well, here I go! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures, and I'll make sure to post my SK address on the good Ol' Facebook once I know where I will be at. I would love letters!
Komhapsumnida! ( Thank you)
Jal-ga! (Friendly goodbye)
