Adjusting to life at home...

Leaving Seoul I had to leave a lot of great people behind. When you spend so long in a place it inevitably becomes a home from home, and the people you see everyday during that time can become just as close to you as those you grew up with. It was a weird feeling to suddenly be back in the UK, where I 'belong' technically, but where I felt like a tourist. Being the kind of person who tends to just go with the flow, I'm much more accustomed to my new/old home and I think the effects of 'reverse culture-shock' have worn off.

When I first came home there were so many things that were strange to me, I had forgotten how to get to places I used to go every day, I had no idea how to sort out simple thing like my oyster card, I didn't know where things in my own house were, I was living with my sister, who I haven't lived in the same city with since I went to University in 2001...

Things weren't bad but they were un-familiar and I had some kind of mental shut down. I just wanted to stay at home and not really see anyone as I found it hard to go out and be social, I found that I was no longer speaking Korean and struggled a little with English as I had come to think in Korean a lot. I found it intimidating to walk the streets of London I used to cycle around in such a carefree way all those years ago.

Now a few months have passed and I feel like I am home again, I re-discovered a lot of places and a lot of memories have come back to me, tourists are still asking me for directions (although I can't help them as much), I'm itching to get back in my car and get out. As my life is starting to come together around me again I realise more than ever that I miss my friends over there. With an excess of 1000 phone numbers I have accumulated over the years I can say that I knew a lot of people there but distinguishing between friends and acquaintances I know I had a few real friends there. People with whom I shared exciting, traumatic, life changing, ridiculous moments with.

One of these people is Cory, I have memories of visiting cafes, bars, clubs, random shoots, shops, markets, a hospital, karaokes, you name it we've probably been there. It isn't the same living without my partner in crime and I harass her to come here every time we chat..

Because it is fun to play with blood and wear random costume we both loved Halloween and she has a party brand that hosted bloody/scary parties when it wasn't halloween.. lol

Halloween 2011

Halloween 2009

She owns an on-line store called Closet Creeper that sells a cool selection of fun and versatile clothes and accessories mainly, but not only, from Korea.

It is a shame her father became American and didn't sort out any paperwork for her because she needs to come be my partner in crime again. Someone sort it out.