25th January 2009

I have been saying for weeks now that leaving Korea is going to be a happy and sad event.  Happy, because I am heading off on an adventure of a lifetime to help eradicate poverty worldwide in a meaningful way.  Sad, because I love Korea and Koreans especially. 

But - right now - it is the time for sadness.

When I first left the Philippines I wrote that it was good to be leaving sad.  It's the same here in Korea.  Leaving sad means that I have made many great friends who I will miss terribly when I go.

One of the persons is Angela Lytle.  She and I had a combined leaving party at the Curry Town restaurant in Itaewon, South Korea.  Angela and I have worked on numerous projects here.  From the top of my head, these include: V Day Seoul 2008, countless tours of the House of Sharing, protests, the Wild Women Performing Arts Festival, Rubber Seoul, the list goes on...  Angela was one of many people that made my experience in Korea a meaningful one.

The party itself was great.  About fifty or so people turned up to wish us well.  Much Indian food was consumed and the whole evening had a real positive vibe about it.

There were - of course - numerous goodbyes.  Too many to list here without getting too sad.  Here is a small selection of those who made my life meaningful here in Korea.

One particular person - who shall remain nameless - was very hard to say goodbye to.  I did not want to say goodbye to her at the party, so we met at a cafe the next day.  We chatted about our time here together, her and my plans for the future and how very different they are.  We said our goodbyes and tears were shed.  She plans to come to the Philippines to visit.  If she makes it, that would be awesome.

Sucks to say goodbye...