here i go again

This photo was taken while I was traveling up the Lynn Canal in southeast Alaska. It was at the beginning of my trip, although I had been delayed for 3 days already. I had slept the night before on the floor of Juneau Airport next to a large taxidermified grizzly bear and an older man who looked like he lived in the woods. Good times!

But I'm not going to tell you stories about Alaska. You can read last August's blog entries for that. I posted this picture because it was a very significant moment for me. I was embarking on an adventure and in hindsight it was one of my best adventures yet!

And now I have to tell you that I'm preparing to leave again, this time to a land far far away. This time I'll be teaching little kiddos how to speak in English in the bustling world of South Korea.

It's another new chapter for me. Another chapter in this really great novel I've been living. 3 months from now my culture will be colliding with different customs, strange mindsets, curious food, and my soul will be beaming with excitement! I am nervous, I am slightly intimidated, and at the moment I am frantically overwhelmed--but I'm working on that.

For the time being, I'm processing papers, getting documents notarized, choosing a contract, putting all of my belongings into storage, moving home, finishing the final weeks of both jobs, and spending any leftover time with good friends. There are many bittersweet moments realizing how much I will miss but the future beckons me with new hopes and new challenges and I cannot resit.

So I look again at that picture, my face to the wind, awaiting a clever adventure that unfolded with grace and mystery. And here I am again, and oh it feels so good!