Past gone by: "The life of a stranded traveler"
The rush of the city traffic below my 8th floor Seoul apartment that morning was barely audible beyond the voices in my head telling me it was time to go. A city of 20 million people moved with seeming effortlessness behind the walls of my apartment, but I lay stuck in the thought of impossible movement. After two years adjusting to a completely foreign culture, it was now time to say good-bye to the 'foreign' that had become normal, and return to the 'normal' that now seemed so foreign. I lived in South Korea for two years teaching English, living famous, fighting only crowds, and always being pleasantly welcomed, admired, thanked, congratulated, honored and liked. In Korea I was a Western Superstar. Korea was my fifteen minutes of fame. However, to every 15 minutes of fame, there is always a last minute, and mine was realized that morning sitting in my apartment. My time in Korea had come to a close, for now. Two months later, my contract finished, I delivered my ...