(Partially) philosophical musings

Well, the honeymoon phase is supposedly drawing nearer to a close, but I’m still just as happy here now as I was six weeks ago. I’m slowly getting to grips with the Korean way of life, and learning the language. It’s quite a buzz to be able to go out and read some of the signs and menus (although understanding what the word means is a whole different ball game!). I’ve begun to establish a routine, which includes much more sleep than I was previously getting, and also going to the gym. 

The highlight of my day is still lunch – I could never get sick of the food here (just fat!). How anyone could come here and want to eat ‘western’ food and pay a premium for it is beyond me. But then again, everyone is different. I guess I’ve been away from home for long enough not to be homesick or crave particular foods (that said, please forward any jars of marmite, marshmallows and peanut slabs to my home address!).
It seems a little strange to see friends around me (some of whom are traveling for the first time) get homesick. I guess it hit me when I first went traveling but I’ve been moving around so much over the past few years that in some ways homesickness doesn’t really affect me as I have no tangible ‘home’ to go back to. New Zealand will always be home – don’t get me wrong – but I speak of home in the sense of bricks and mortar, as a familiar house or place of residence. Home is always going to be where my  family is – I guess distance has become all too familiar and the addition of technology (hooray for Skype!) means I can keep in touch with loved ones by way of phone and webcam which makes it infinitely more bearable.

I do miss my family and friends a lot, and have recently been considerably frustrated at events that are occurring for which I cannot be there for – both good and bad. New babies (Sas & Stu!), weddings (Kate &  Al!) , housewarming parties (Mel &  Thom!), and the not so good – family issues, sickness and the passing of loved ones. It’s times like this that I realize that every day is a gift and regardless of where I am in the world I need to appreciate and give thanks for my life, health and happiness. Over the last year or so I’ve become all too familiar (perhaps uncomfortably so!) with the concept of life and mortality, and as such have come to the conclusion that irrespective of where I am or what I do, the one thing I don’t want is to have any regrets. Granted, there may be some poor life decisions (dot com!) along the way, but life is all about learning. As ‘they’ say (whoever ‘they’ are), the only real mistakes are the ones from which we learn nothing. Mark Twain said it better than I ever could: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.”. So … onwards and upwards – Korea!