The word for the day was "bittersweet" and I got into quite the interesting conversation with Snickers in the car about how you have to have the sour to know and appreciate the sweet.
I had woken up with bitterness in my mouth, not literally but because of the realization that today I'd be meeting up with a family member in Seoul, my cousin and her husband. I've been living in Korea for well over 9 years now but today would be the first time any family member of mine has ever ventured over to visit me. Sometimes I wonder if because I'm out of sight am I out of mind and that bothers me because I think about my family and friends back in Canada all the time. Whether it's a song that reminds me of some memory with a friend, a laugh I overhear that sounds like a family member's laugh, or a good day I wish I could share with them, they may be out of sight but they're always on my mind.
Every year to a year and a half I visit Canada -- it takes a lot of prep, especially because of my four-legged babies, a lot of money and a lot of time. I haven't been to Canada in two years now, my longest span yet, and I don't think I'll visit for at least another year or year and a half. And it's not that I couldn't afford to visit, I'm just rather sick of visiting Canada and telling them all about my life when really, if they really cared to know, they'd come here.
My cousin hadn't actually come to Korea to see me, it was merely a stopover connecting flight home from her honeymoon tour of Asia. Regardless of it being a stopover and it being a very limited visit of only half a day, it was super sweet that they'd be meeting up with us. I was more than happy to head out to Seoul to see them and it was super cute to see them in tourist mode -- super curious and all excited about things I now find so common and normal. My cousin loved the waitress table button and her husband loved the Korean BBQ restaurant and tea shops. Both Snickers and I loved treating them and touring them around Seoul, giving them the insider's scoop on the culture and places.
Saying goodbye to them both at the airport was a lot harder than I had expected. I was just so incredibly happy to see family on my side of globe but saying goodbye meant I don't know if I'll ever see family again here and I think that's what hit me really hard. It was really strange to be the one on the other side, watching someone leave for their plane when it's really always been me leaving -- me leaving to go back to Korea. They weren't even out of sight when I started to get teary eyed but I didn't care. I figured no one knew me there... wrong.... so wrong. No sooner did Snickers wrap me in his arms but someone was yelling out our names. It was a common friend of ours; he worked at the airport and just happened to be steps away from us.
Later in the evening, Snickers met up with friends and I still felt the weight of having said goodbye to family. I didn't want to be sad about saying goodbye and instead wanting to focus on having been blessed with seeing them. I just couldn't shake it though so I headed to the one place that makes me the happiest -- our boxing club. Showed up just a little after midnight and then geared up for some late night training. I cranked up the tunes to max, threw on my sauna suit shirt and then flicked on the round bell. By the time 2am rolled around I was drenched in sweat and exhausted. I was too tired to go on and I was way too tired to get sad again about the lack of family visits. My endorphins were pumping, heart was racing, sweat was flowing and I had kicked my butt into a better mood.
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