Thursday June 26th
I started to get anxious about leaving Korea.
I wasn't ready. I didn't feel like I had enough time.
I had 2 more days but I knew they'd fly by in a heartbeat.
That night everyone gathered to play games and drink together but one of my roommates opted to hang out in the room and have a good chat.
We talked about the trip, about our experience as adoptees, about our impressions of other group members, about how the trip has changed us, and what might happen when we went back to our regular life.
A glass of red wine and a long chat was exactly what I needed.
Just as we were wrapping up our conversation, we got a knock on the door. The rest of the group had bought fireworks and were heading out to the beach. My roommate turned in for a early night's sleep and I went out with the group.
It was a magical night. We all knew it was the last night together to be wild and free in Korea.
First we stopped at a small stand that had carnival games- balloon darts and a stacked block/ baseball toss.
We played, won more fireworks, and headed towards the water. There were beaches and a series of bridges and pavillions along the way. The edge of the water was lit up with rainbow lights that changed color and reflected off the water.
We stood on the bridge in a line and lit the fireworks all at the same time. You held the stick in your hand and they let off 6 tiny explosions.
After the fireworks, we all sat in a pavilion and had a long talk. Two volunteer staff members who had been on the trip before told us about their Journey Trip and their experiences when they went back home. Other people shared their experiences too.
Have I mentioned we talked a lot about our feelings? ; )
It was great to have the opportunity to do a lot of the processing while on the trip with people who can relate to your experience. I feel very grateful to have had such a great group of people to travel with.
The trust we all had in each other was so strong.
It's crazy to think that these people were strangers to me and to each other less than two weeks before.
Their openness and honesty was a treasure.No one pushed anyone to share if they didn't want to but we knew it was a free space to talk about anything.
Even the people who opened up less, listened intently while they worked things out in their own way.
It was already past the point of being late. We all headed back to the hotel together for some rest.
It was a great way begin the end of the Journey.
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