Home Sweet Home

So I haven't written in a couple weeks, and I promise there is a reason. Reason #1 is this: Two weekends ago I was supposed to go to Busan to visit Angie, but I was still recovering from my disgusting bout of food poisoning, and I had allowed myself to sink into a black hole of homesickness and misery. I literally spent the entire weekend in my bed crying. It's pathetic, I know. It's not that there aren't some great things about Korea. Korea really is a lovely place, and I'm glad I made the trip. However, I think my mom said it best when she commented, "You've got the wanderlust, but you're just not meant to live there." It's true. Mostly I'm just really lonely. My coworkers are all "keep to yourself" kind of people, and the only friends I've got live in Busan. I spend every night on Skype because it's the only connection I've got to home, and I sleep until it's time to go to work because it's easier than dealing with being alone all the time. I enjoy a little bit of alone time...I think it's healthy. But to be alone all the time is depressing. If I've learned anything from this experience it's that I love to travel but I'm not meant to be away from home, family, and friends for an extended period of time. I think I'll stick to traveling on short vacations from here on out. So yes, I'm cutting out and heading home early. I gave it a shot, I learned some things about myself, and now I'm ready to come home. Home is where your heart is, and my heart is back in Maine, so that's where I need to be. Since I made the decision to come home I can't tell you how much better I feel. It's such a huge relief to know that I'll be back at home in 43 days (but who's counting...)! So April 23rd is my last day of work, and I fly out of Daegu on April 24th. I'll be home in time for dinner, too (through the miracle of traveling backwards in time)!
Reason #2 is that I went to Busan last weekend to visit Angie. It was cold/rainy/windy/crappy here this past weekend so we didn't do a ton of wandering. We hit up the Busan Museum of Art (which is free on Saturdays, not like it would have made a huge difference to pay the 700 won entry fee...the monetary equivalence in USD is about 70 cents...America seems to be the only place in the world that charges an arm and a leg to view art). There were a lot of really neat exhibits, some of which were noticeably Asian, thematically and artistically speaking. We also went out bar hopping for a friend's birthday, and on Sunday we spent several hours at a really posh salon where they make you fancy coffee drinks and serve you waffles with chocolate and whipped cream (both are complementary, even if you're not paying for a service). Angie and Shannon got their hair dyed, and I had mine cut.
So, you're all up to speed. I'll try to keep posting regularly as we have a few adventures planned before I head out, but I can't wait to see you all again soon!