Annyeonghi Gaseyo

My little brother putting me through my paces on the footie pitch.

No subway in the pastures of the West Country so it’s back to the road.

Finally a kitchen that is capable of producing more than white rice. Sorry, Korea, but your food never quite hit the heights of apple crumbles and roast dinners.

England’s version of baseball. Beer hats not required.

At home in the garden with my little sister and baby niece.

Gylly beach, Falmouth, Cornwall.

Back in the green fields of Somerset.

Phonics games with my little tots.

Final day with my 6th graders at Hagnam Elementary School.

Power Climb, Daegu. Some of the top climbers in Korea use this spot.

T-Rex in the desert.

Causing havoc with my sister in the U.A.E.

Dubai by night.

In the deserts of the Middle East, traffic isn’t restricted to cars.

Palgon mountain, 20km north of Daegu.

Daegu International Body Painting Festival.

Farewell rice wine with pals in Daegu.

Perhaps the sadness we feel when an adventure comes to an end is the only true way of knowing what an experience meant to us. Of course this rarely helps. Maybe the only way to deal with the longing and stinging sense of nostalgia is to keep on going. As one story comes to a close so another must begin.

After almost two years teaching in South Korea I feel now is the time to say goodbye and begin refocusing my energy on new and exciting ideas in surroundings that will inspire a new phase in my life. And while I’m barely even home, writing this in a large airport in the United Arab Emirates, I cannot ignore the special relationship I’ve developed with this small peninsula in the Far East. Despite all the goodbyes I exchanged over the previous weeks, there remains every chance that these sentiments will be little more than a prolonged ‘see you later.’

My final few weeks in Korea were divided between bouts of mud throwing, lazy wanders around old Confucius period villages and good-bye meals with some brilliant friends. But like so much of the last year in Korea, my last days and hours were spent in the company of one very special person, a girl who continues to play an important role in my life and someone who will outlast my memories of Korea. Change is rarely something that we embrace, and as creatures of habit few of us can easily leave things behind. My life is set to completely change over the coming months, I can only hope my experiences of yesterday will help shape and define the world I see tomorrow.

Dubai became something of a regular pit-stop this year as I jumped between Europe and East Asia, my now not so little sister being more than a good reason to drop in on a boom city that rose from the desert little more than 20 years ago. Towering columns of gleaming glass and row after row of prominent homes reflect the dizzying wealth that lies beneath the miles of golden sand that connect the seven emirates of the U.A.E.

I left Korea in December not entirely sure whether I’d return, even writing what I imagined to be a final entry of my thoughts about the country and the many ways it had enriched my life. Many months on and I feel no different. Korea, while often dancing with oddity, has given me two unforgettable years. I hope to return one day and see how the cities have adapted to their increasingly international communities, and whether old ways and traditions have been retained and respected in a nation that fiercely runs into the future.

When I let my mind skip back through my time in South Korea I’m taken on a journey alive with adventure, endless days spent in the pursuit of dreams in that bubble of optimism that carries those on the road. I remember the cold Siberian air lashing my cheeks as my sister and I struggled along the open roads of Korea’s ancient Gyeong-ju district on our groaning tandem bike. I can still hear the laughter of a bus full of friends driving through the night on the way to another weekend snowboarding in the mountains of Gangwon-do province. Neon lit streets into the early hours, cup after cup of Korean rice wine, parties in Seoul, parties in Busan, camping on beaches, camping on islands, late night bike rides through the city, the days jumped from one to the next with a dull moment never to be seen.

Inquisitive minds exceed in this proud country, a little wanderlust will bring you to beautiful nature, and intrigue and a warm smile will help soften communities and make you friends. In the end I guess a hopeful heart and an open mind are the best travelling companions we can possibly have.

So for now it has to be goodbye, to some forever and others just a little while. In this pace of change I’m holding dear to those who brought me so much happiness and without their company there would be no story to tell.

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~ by Jon Tamlyn on September 23, 2011.