Entry 4: Making Friends

As I sat there, I wondered how this happened. How did a bunch of strangers eventually form to make a group? How did this group decide that they should hang out for long extended periods of time? Why am I even contemplating the reasons why this group formed? It was during the last lecture class of the day, thankfully a lecture that was both insightful and useful, where four of us sat in the second row talking about our plans for the next six months, together.

"They pay for us to travel?"
"Yeah, as long as we have a plan"
"Jeremy, you want to plan it?"
"Yeah, I love doing that kind of stuff"
"Then we just submit it?"
"Yeah, and if they approve it, we get to spend a week in Jeju for free."
"God, that sounds amazing."

Grace, Andy, Aileen, and I just sat there imagining what was to come for the next six months.

"Hey, write your name down and your email address, and skype name. Lets make sure we have each other's information" Andy said Aileen who then turned to me asking the same thing.
"Yeah dude, this sounds freaking awesome."

It's been less than three days and yet, somehow the group had been formed, and somewhat set in stone.

"By the way, lets not make this group to big, I hate big groups" Andy added as we were walking to the dining hall.

To say that I was excited would be an understatement. I was jumping for joy on the inside. I was ready to experience Korea, and I had friends to do it with. It wasn't going to be alone. It also has been pretty nice being able to get to know Grace a little more. The way that the orientation is worked out is that you take all the same classes with the people in your province, which meant that Grace and I would have someone to sit by in all our classes. Naturally Andy and Aileen joined into the mix and the four of us hit it off. I leaned over to Grace during one of the more useless lectures and whispered "The best part of this orientation is meeting people to hang out with during our time here."

I stopped to really think about what was going through my mind, and a very sad and somber thought popped into my head. I wish, I just wish that there were more people from UT here. How great it would be to go through this time, laughing and joking with people that I really shared common interests and beliefs with; how refreshing it would be to really interact with the people that I had chosen to be friends with.

Although the thought still lingers, I now realize that I am doubly blessed. I am able to really be thankful that I am taken care of here in Korea, and that I miss and am missed by the people back home. This trip so far has been far from what I had expected, and yet, it is definitely not in a bad way, just in a way that is forcing me to really grow up. I know that my friendships made here in Korea will be long term ones (at least hopefully) and that my time here, will make me grow more than I could have ever imagined. I'm going to grow up through this trip.

Growing up... something that I didn't realize was this painful. Something that is a mixture of moving on, picking yourself up, and just being flexible with whatever the world throws at you.

"I'm homesick." I told Grace as we were cleaning off our plates.
It was the truth.