It’s 130pm at an Airbnb in Seoul, South Korea. It’s been 22 hours since I left my prior Airbnb in Helsinki, Finland. I’m tired but freshly showered so anything is possible. I don’t have a specific plan with this post beyond to share what’s on my mind. I’m challenging myself here to dive into my feelings rather than the facts. We’ll see how unorganized and rambly my mind is.
“Work hard, play hard” – Mom, when asked to describe what it seemed like I was doing this summer. I agree. Vimeo work, trip planning logistics and living in the moment at the place and with the people present. That’s a balancing act. That’s been my life. My life since I left the US a month ago. Really since I left Tokyo in July. I suppose actually since I left Boulder in late April. In two days, I make it back to Tokyo – around the world since I left on July 3rd. I am elated to be in one place for an extended period. New places and visits are exciting so I’m amused at how excited I am for the opposite.
Home feels more flexible than it ever has before. I do feel like I’m going home. In Tokyo, I’ll be staying in the same apartment where I spent the month of June. The last few months, I’ve repeatedly gone to new places where I can’t visualize the next step. This time, I can. A couple months ago when I visited Boulder, that also felt like home. It was my home. Both the city and that specific apartment. I cried when I left – the only time this year. Home is a powerful thing. I suppose it’s more a sense of belonging. Sitting here in Seoul, I feel a much stronger sense of belonging in Tokyo but I’m sure when I arrive there, I’ll quickly be reminded of all the ways I don’t feel that sense. Everything is relative.
Relatively, Seoul feels like Tokyo. Useful subways that close earlier than you’d expect, non-cobble stone streets (so cool to have them in Europe) with similar widths, a written language I have no hope sounding out, legit 24/7 convenience stores that are great, a currency where I have to divide the numbers by a lot… All of that is foreign compared to the US. All of that is foreign compared to the European places I visited the past month.
It’s a been a bit of a wonderful blur for me. I decided to make sure to learn how to say thank you in all the languages where I visisted. Here they are!
Takk – Norwegian
Merci – French
Gracias – Spanish
Kiitos – Finnish
Aitäh – Estonian
Gamsahabnida – Korean
I’m tired and need to sleep. I’ll share more here soon.
Cheers! PS – here’s a picture with Rob and Giaco from a week ago in Tallinn, Estonia at the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea
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