Moving Day and all I can say is man, this all feels so surreal. Sitting at our neighborhood Gong Cha having chocolate milk bubble tea, while the movers pack up everything at home (how have we accumulated so much?! -- all we came here with were four suitcases we traveled with)...
Tyler borrows a Hemingway quote when people ask how it feels to be moving. "It's like the quote about how you go bankrupt", he says. "Gradually and then all at once."
It really felt like we had SO much time -- even coming back here from Christmas in NY. I would finish Elliot's first year scrapbook! Learn tagalog! Learn how to make arroz caldo! Write 50 blog entries!
And now the movers are here. It's one of the first sunny spring days here in Seoul (the magnolias outside are blooming!), which gives everything a feeling of newness and possibility. But it's bitter-sweet to be sure (for me, more bitter; for Tyler, more sweet). We toasted last night to Tyler never having to take a bus to work again, never having to worry about whether he accidentally took the security sticker off his camera phone over the weekend, never worrying he's broken some security rule...
And I'm happy too. Coming back from Kenya and the Acumen Fellows Gathering two weeks ago, I knew in my core that our life in Seoul is very comfortable. But safety and comfort alone are not what makes my soul sing. I've become even more convinced that each person's purpose is to shine their light bright and to play big to serve the world... and for me, Seoul isn't the place to do that. Heck, I can barely even communicate with folks here, let alone shine bright by communicating and sharing messages that most matter.
But I'm sad as well. We started our family here, and by family, I don't just mean Elliot. Jhona has become family too, and it makes me beyond sad that we have to leave her behind. Tyler and I came back last night to her puffy-eyed and crying, hugging Elliot's clothes that she was packing for our flight home. To say I will miss her is an incredible understatement. For the last ten years, Catherine and I have written in a book every time we see each other somewhere around the world (incredible looking back and seeing entries from Nairobi, Hyderabad, Accra, NYC...) One of the questions we ask is: "who inspires you?" This time I wrote Jhona... the way she plays with Elliot with her whole heart and with such presence. It's something I aspire to.
This last week has been incredible. Easily a month's worth of fun crammed into one technicolor week. "A Day in the Life" photo shoot with Dylan Golby, where he followed our family from 6am - 6pm... discovering the little-known and my now-favorite Changdeokgung Palace... champagne playdate with Tesla and Sena... dressing up in hanboks and doing a traditional matcha tea ceremony with my girlfriends... incredible night food tour with Ongo (complete with learning drinking games and eating live MOVING octopus)... hike along the spiritual Sansa Trail at Samgaksan Mountain... Korean BBQ at Maple Tree with the noraebang crew...)
Thank you, Seoul, for the last 2.5 years. It's been in living here that I finally learned to live in balance, presence (a work in progress!), and focus on what most matters. I'm truly grateful for our time here.
And now...
Onwards!!
