In case anyone wonders why I have been writing about my life and experiences in Gumi, Korea and what happened when I first arrived in Korea three years ago let me explain. There are a few reasons for this:
- Firstly, and the most important reason is that I wanted to be true to my experience and since who I am now and how I view the world is so much a result of what I have experienced that it made sense to start my story [and thus my blog] at the beginning of my Korean Adventure. Since I kept both a trip diary and a personal journal from the moment I got on the plane in Halifax, Nova Scotia it wasn't that hard to go back and recount my experiences from the beginning.
- Secondly, it wasn't until I was at my Mom's house in Canada that I actually had time to figure out how to start and publish a blog [with much help from the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating A Web Page & Blog]. Moreover, since I was in Canada I couldn't exactly write about my day-to-day life in Korea since I wasn't there.
- Finally, the reason I was home in Canada and stayed in Canada for much longer than I thought was that just before Christmas my Dad died of cancer. He hadn't been ill long, in fact, he was diagnosed and died of cancer in less than 3 months. My family is a small one with only my Mom, my younger brother and myself left in my immediate family. It was a hard time for all of us and writing about the past and my adventures in Korea [several years ago] provided me with a welcome break from the day-to-day pain of my loss.
I have kept a quote journal for many years now and in it I write down quotes that I read that I love and want to always remember. The quote that seems to be the recurrent one in my life these days is one by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
"Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling into at night."
I think that it is at night when the hustle and bustle of the day is gone that we - or at least I - feel my grief the most profoundly. It is then that I think back over my memories and wish that things were other than what they are.
This is a picture of my Mom, me, my brother and my Dad at my graduation from University. I graduated from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. We are standing in front of Palmer Hall an all-female dorm that I lived in my first two years at Mt. A. 
This is one of the last photos that was taken of my Dad. We didn't even know he was sick when this picture was taken but looking at it now he does look rather old and sick here. ***
So, since I am headed back to Korea I will be traveling and getting set up in a new apartment and starting to work at a new school. Therefore, I will not have internet access for anywhere from a few days to two weeks or so. I want you to know that I will be up-dating my web blog as soon as I am up and running with internet access in Korea - and maybe even sooner if I get bored and find an internet room [PC Bong] that will let me use my zip drive [data stick, flash drive ... whatever you wanna call it] to up-load pictures and spell checked entries to my blog. So, keep me bookmarked and keep checking my site. I will be back.
***
Also, since I will be the only foreigner at my new school if you are in the Busan area and want to get together for coffee and/or to chat please e-mail me. I'd love to hear from you. My e-mail is queenforayear@hotmail.com [and the "e-mail me!" link on the left side of my blog under the "Recent Posts" and "Links" section works, too.]
Lastly, don't be afraid to comment on my blog I appreciate the feedback. I am moderating comments [just to avoid spam - as Blogger suggested in their guide to blogging] but so far I have published ALL comments.
Bye for now. See you soon.
Sounds like we both were in Nova Scotia around the same time and now we both have left to go back 'home'. I hope your journey goes smoothly and that soon you will be back to your normal life.
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