It's hard to remember why I packed all of my belongings into two suitcases and a carry-on 18 months ago to move to South Korea. Anything that couldn't fit was gifted to my more-than-willing-to-accept teenaged sister, or stuffed into trash bags and thrown out. Coincidentally, my parents were in the middle of a divorce as I made my final journey preparations, and neither of them would have room to store any of my things. Tons of books collected throughout my childhood found a new home at the library. Odds and ends that I have a habit of hoarding made their way to the dump. And thus, lighter, it was time to embark on this sparkly new adventure. Oh, how we love things when they're new.

Why South Korea, though? That's the question, isn't it? It could have been anywhere, really. But, with Korean American friends that introduced me to the food, a Korean language teacher encouraging me by telling me how great of a way this would be to learn the language, and US expat blogs raving about their ability to pay their student loans with ease I dove right in. To be honest....I was running. I wouldn't have admitted it then, but I'm an entire 18 months older now. I'm wise. I know.

I was running.

My hopes when I first got to Korea was that I would learn how to be an adult. I wouldn't live with my parents. I wouldn't have to depend on anyone. I know, pretty basic stuff. I was enticed by the ability to completely reinvent myself. I could decide what kind of adult I wanted to be. I wouldn't be lazy, I wouldn't be messy, I wouldn't be anything like the person I had grown to be. But, I quickly learned that changing as many time zones as I did was not the same as changing myself. I'm still a sloth. I'm still a mess. I'm still almost exactly the same as I was before. I'm just 18 months older.

I did do some good, though.

All things considered, I have accomplished some major goals. I can easily pay bills in another language without any help. That's something. And, I learned how to make "ricotta cheese" from nothing but milk and vinegar. That's something else. Honestly, I've also come to realize a lot of personal truths about myself, although I'm not ready to share them just yet. There are a lot of things that I worry about as I prepare myself to head back to America in less than 6 months...

But we'll save that for another blog post.

As you could tell by the title, I'm participating in a weekly blogging challenge. It's called the Blogging Abroad Boot Camp challenge and it's a way to reinvigorate my writer's spirit (AKA wine isn't enough). It's a weekly challenge, and I'll be giving you new blog posts every week *hopefully* for the next nine weeks. How many times can I say week? If you want, check it out by clicking the image below. Also, go ahead and let me know, if you're are or were an expat, what's your why? For my homies that are in their home countries leave a comment about a time that you made a life-altering decision. Did you recently quit a stable job to pursue your cheese-making dreams? Did you drop everything to see a one night only curtain of your favorite Broadway play? Let me know!