all Vancouver in Korea

Well final numbers are in and this winter vacation will be an all Canadian group, heck it'll be 2-3 people all from Vancouver that will head all over Chungcheon-do for the next four days .I have to admit that that doesn't bother me too much. While I love having friends from all over the world here, it is sometimes nice to just chill and talk about where you are from. Also, with all of my co-workers being Korean or British it means I can spend days without talking to someone from Canada (or even North America). While it rarely bothers me I have to admit that I do look forward to being able to talk about experiences that are more than two years old with people who can actually engage (as opposed to telling stories to each other). Actually, as much as the destinations themselves I think I'm looking forward to that.

To muse a bit (skip paragraph if disinterested) one of the things you trade when moving abroad is having a group of people with the same experiences. By and large I love it. I have a best friend from New Zealand, I have good friends who are Korean, Chinese, American etc. That doesn't happen if you stay at home. Talking cricket with my English co-worker or the state of nutrition in upstate New York with Kurt, or how New Zealanders marvelled at the horseless carriage when it arrived in Auckland in 1978 (couldn't resist) is great. However, you do trade something for it. "I miss a pint at the Cambie", "Gordon Campbell is a schmo", "why is French an official language in Vancouver but Cantonese isn't?", "remember that time at uni when we got loaded on the patio and .......". You can't really do any of that. Also, with so many people coming and going you don't get the same opportunity to reminisce about life here. I only know a few people from my life in Ulsan that are still here (Paul, Jenny and Kwang-ho) and even of my Daegu life many have come and gone. The upside is that I'm constantly exposed to new people, new experiences (never just the same old group from school) and that is something that I still find very exciting. However, sometimes.... just sometimes, I really get excited about sitting back with a coffee or a pint and chatting about life before 2008.

next stop, Daejeon.