roy

This post is going to be rather ironic, as I was just talking to Aaron not more than two days ago about my success in overcoming my past insomnia problems; I find myself unable to sleep tonight. Even when I was going through a rather rough work phase the past couple weeks, I had no problems with sleep. Now that those issues seem (largely) resolved, it's a bit funny to me that I can't sleep.

Anyways, I feel that wanderlust streak in me getting kicked off. While I have a trip to NC in October and Vegas in December, I have an urge to get out of country sometime in 2009... and wouldn't you know, Singapore Airlines has roundtrip tickets to Seoul for $550 out of San Francisco...

... That got me thinking about my past two trips there in 2002 and 2004, and thinking of all the people there and wondering what happened to them. If I went back to my favorite restaurants, would they still be owned by the same people? All those kids I taught in 2004 ... how are they doing? Christ, most of them must be close to graduating now... how time flies! I wonder if the hakwon I taught at is still owned by the same lady, and if the same staff works there... And my extended family ... how are they doing?

In my mind, I replayed a trip back to Korea - the random stench of sewage, the hustle & bustle of the subway systems, the fantastic food, the late night trips to Walker Hill Casino, the stench of cigarettes in the PC rooms, the long subway rides I took to visit my paternal grandparents outside of Seoul, the same pop songs playing everywhere you go, the wonderful ice desserts places, the joy of visiting those markets and trying to find fake watches, the visits to "restored" historical monuments, the forced drinking (social rules are very different there)... I do miss the whole experience.

This was my more advanced class ... I was trying to remember their names tonight, and for the life of me, I can't. I remember what they looked out and their personalities, but I can't remember a single one of their names.

Now that I'm writing this post and I'm looking back at pictures, I guess what I missed the most was teaching in 2004. The kids were great, and some of them were unintentionally funny.

I remember the exact girl who wrote this note (the note itself is rather nonsensical; most of it translates to "I'm tired, I don't like studying" with some really nonsensical phrases in there) ... I wonder what happened to her.

The students did like me, though. We shared a wonderful, honest rapport.

I wonder if going back is worth it. I know every time I go back to NC, the sadder I get - people (including myself) just move on with our lives. It seems that every time I go back to NC, things change a little bit more, and it's tougher to remain as connected to that part of my life. I wonder if in Korea, I'm hanging on to some semblance of the past that is no longer there...

Ah, sentimentalism. <shakes fist>