Change of Season. Final Korea note.

Spring wishes me farewell.

  The bare silver spines of trees transforming from into the pink and white plumes lining roads complements the closing of my Korea trip; The forward progress to the next stage of my journey.

 Every single day in Korea provided me growth. I built bonds with 이머,이머부,동호, and 나은 through laughs, adventures, chores, subway rides, dinners, and 찜질방's. I am infinitely glad for the privilege to become family with family. Apart from housing me, teaching me the little corners of Seoul, and playing with me, the family embraced me with love. I feel supported and I will always try to give back to Korea.

 In meeting the more distance branches of the family tree, I've listened to the names of faces unknown, hugged people I've never seen, learned anecdotes and stories about the people I did know. Family is almost an mystic power in providing a gateway for new relationships and learning of old ones.

Now I connect with the country to which all my relatives have ties. The extent of my Korean history knowledge falls behind a Korean elementary school student. However, I know enough to recognize the complexities and depths of the people after millennials on this peninsula. I've learned during my trips to the multitude of palaces, temples, and museums of how the life values and customs of my own life have been shaped by the collective beliefs of all the previous generations of Korean: From views on the importance of education to traditional roles of family, to how the chopsticks are set right of the spoon.

I sense that I am a part of a new branch of Koreans. Along with the others born in foreign lands, I am a different type of Korean. But my roots run deep. I am a Korean nonetheless.