'Home'.

Well, I am home now, not sure I feel it though.
My house-mates, Ryan & Phil (+ Manny), were absolute legends last night. Phil came and picked me up from Brighton Coach Station (even though he was tired!) and they left me out a pack of bacon from the freezer with a note saying 'Bacon nom-noms for intrepid traveller types! Ryan & Phil'. It meant so much to me that they did that! It was a thing of beauty to sit down and enjoy that bacon sanger and cuppa' this morning!

You'll be pleased to know that I smugly got a taxi at the first shot when I left Dalian, China on Monday morning (They are notoriously hard to get on a Monday morning rush hour, especially to the airport!) However, I was then humbled when my flight from Dalian was delayed by three hours due to a 'dense fog' over Incheon airport (South Korea). Hanging around in a 'small airport' for a delayed flight is not as much fun as hanging out in a 'HUGE' airport. The flight went smoothly though, once we were on board a plane though.

The final night with Joanne & Suang Il was really cool. We went and had sushi at Matsoi Sushi (an all-you-can-eat authentic Japanese sushi house!) and then went to the N tower (the highest building and most beautiful view of Seoul by night!). The chef at Matsoi Sushi was so happy to see a foreigner in his restaurant that he made a special dish - Grilled Salmon fat sushi! It tasted so good and they were also impressed with my chopstick skills (although had not seen my boo-boo a few days before - let's just say that it is a good thing my hoodie was already soy sauce coloured! Good times, good times.
Joanne & I, then, said our goodbye's to Suang Il and I "escorted" her home, which she found sweet (although, to be honest, I just wanted more time with her and a visual of where she lives, as I have a visual memory). The next morning we had breakfast together at Starbucks, a SWEET cheese scone & a sausage croissant (weird!) and a cup of 'Tea latte' (double weird!) & a Coffee We then went to the airport together. We chatted a bit more about things regarding my letter to her and also about her strong preferences regarding Facebook 'tagging' our photographs. And then she left. The flight was difficult. It was cool, but difficult. I felt like I was, both, heading 'home' & leaving home at the same time. 

When I woke up this morning I stubbornly refused to unpack my bag. Having done so much travelling over the last few years unpacking my bag has become a way of ending journeys & establishing a 'rooted' home again. This is something I was reluctant to do after such a cool time with TirZah in China & Joanne in Korea - although I have, albeit with gritted teeth, unpacked now. I do still feel a little lost though.

So this is a message to let you know that I am 'home' and it is also the beginning of processing my trip. Feel free to comment & question where you would like, sometimes it helps to have other people tweak & trigger thoughts.
Thank you for your prayers, your questions & your advice. They have all helped me to be objective & understand myself a little more at this time. You are treasured friends indeedily.

- Written on Wednesday, the 22nd of December 2010.

Sean Older, Brighton, UK.

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