Home - A Guest Post Series

Not long from now, I will once again be moving to a different country.  This brings many ideas about what makes home Home.  Over the next few weeks, I will be posting stories and musings from other bloggers here about that very topic.  I'm really excited about it, actually.  I've gotten to read many of the posts already, and I can tell you there's a lot of good stuff on the way.  And, it's our first guest post series!  You can see all posts in the series here.

Be sure to check in on what these bloggers will be writing.  Their work will be posted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until the end of the series.

I know I'm not a guest here, but I want to kick off the series with Seoul and how it's become home to me.

My first week in Seoul had me already in love with the city.  My first city.  My first place where I lived completely out from under all the wings that protected me at home and at college.  My first completely on-my-own experience.  Besides one friend I didn't know well who was living in Korea ahead of me, no one from my past was coming with me.  This adventure was mine.

I've gotten pretty connected to this place in the past 16 months.  I've built many communities and relationships.  I've tried most of the must-do's and seen most of the must-see's.  I've gotten lost and claimed favorite restaurants.  And while I have collected many friends and acquaintances in this time, the fact that I'm technically on my own has given me ultimate power to completely claim this experience.  The freedom and its adjoining responsibility that came with moving to Korea  has been one of the defining factors as to why Seoul will always be immensely special and important to me.  I got to, and had to, do things on my own, and carving my own way here has made my time in Seoul unforgettable and distinctly mine.  Distinctly my own home.

The other half of why Seoul rocks my world is those friends and acquaintances I've collected.  I gotta say, it's their fault I chose to add 5 more months to my year-long contract.  My church, guys, my church is IT.  I think I've written here before about how I felt like my soul was home the first second I walked into the sanctuary at Jubilee Church.  Who knew the people I'd meet there would prove to be a life-saving support system and my favorite part of this entire experience?  Seoul is a great place even if you never put a foot inside a church, but Jubilee made it deep, amazing, and dag-gum hard to leave.

Really, those two things are all I needed, but before I finish, I want to share two of my super favorites that have made Seoul the bomb diggity!

The area of Hongdae!
Known mostly for its hopping bars and clubs, but I appreciate Hongdae most for its cultural diversity.  Most Korean young people dress the same and look the same, but in Hongdae, all the fringe cultures come out to play.  Punks, Hard rockers, rockabilly rockers, photographers, spray paint artists, krumpers, hippies, indie hipsters... I'm pretty sure there's something for everyone there, and I know there's lots for me.

This is a performance during a funk/b-boy dance off I found one night at the Hongdae park.

The Han River and the size of the city!
It just always seemed to me that the coolest cities had a river.  Now it all makes sense.
I live south of the river.  Crossing above means serious things.  That's where Itaewon is, that's where the palace is, that's where Hongdae, the craft market, the traditional village, and the older architecture is.  Seoul is very large, and there are many different boroughs.  I really like getting to venture into each of their different atmospheres.  Being part of a large city never has to be dull.  There is always something else to explore.

I am so thankful for what Korea's been for me.  I've grown in many different areas, and learned more lessons than my journal can hold.   My life has crossed the lives of many different people I'd never have met otherwise.  I have been continually challenged, fascinated, and encouraged, and I've loved it all.

The end!