Since I arrived in Korea, I’ve been saying that each week seems better than the last. My first week felt a little rough, but the second felt pretty awesome because I discovered friends. It seemed to keep that upward slope for a while.
A few months ago, though, I hit a rough patch. I recovered from it, but I thought I’d plateaued. I figured I’d pretty much experienced all the new cool highs of living abroad.
Until this past week.
My worst week here felt worst because a ton of things piled up to give it that feeling. In reverse, this past week – my best week in Korea (so far) – well, it’s been piled with awesomeness.
I attended a retreat with my church here. Twenty or so of us holed up together in a lodge just outside Seoul. I got to know some friends I didn’t know as well before, and I got to know some others I didn’t really know at all.
After that, I worked for two days before flying out with Loren for a trip vagabonding around Jeju Island. Along with a bunch of other crazy stuff, I climbed my first snow-capped mountain.
It’s funny – going into the week, I wondered if it might turn out to be my best in Korea. I had high expectations, and at one point I thought maybe I’d set myself up for failure as a result of those expectations. By Friday, though, I realized the week actually surpassed the high expectations.
That’s when I figured it’s safe to award it the title of “best,” when expectations seem high, but reality soars even higher.
