So long, for now...

On the Subway in Seoul

Making good friends can be challenging as an expat and not having one of those good friends around can be even more difficult. This morning I bid farewell to yet another good friend I met here in Korea who is returning to the States for a month-long visit, then returning to another city about four hours from me. Megan is quite a bit younger than me, but we have had some incredibly good times together. She says when she first met me outside that little coffee shop in Pohang, she thought of me as "the cool aunt". LOL... We have laughed together, cried together, stayed up way too late together, and just acted plain silly. She has a joy about her that is contagious and people want to be around her.


I think sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day activities, we forget to let our "surrogate family", aka expat friends, know just how much they mean to us. It is tough to be in a country where the language is not familiar and the alphabet looks like kindergarten line drawings. These people who share the same language and customs are cherished. For all rights and purposes, they are our family. Megan is part of my family now. Although it's hard to think of this chapter of our fun escapades in Pohang ending, it is exciting to know she gets to see her family and will return to Korea in a month for another year of memory making events.


So long, my friend. Safe travels and I'll see you soon!