This is it

Friday, August 20 2010

I think I got to bed around 5:30am and was up by 7am.  Mum & Darmesh got up too and the first thing I did was pack up all my linen and take it outside. In Korea, people just leave things they don't need anymore outside on the pavement...and you can be assured that within 5-10minutes, it will be gone! There are usually elderly people who walk around and collect such things, from cardboard boxes to linen to clothes to furniture.

My Korean mum, Mrs Lee stopped by just after 7:30am on her way to work. She came to drop off a gift for me and say goodbye. Then, my other friend Angelina stopped by on her way to work.  The next person was Mrs Ham, who gave Darmesh and I a ride to the post office (absolutely last visit there!). My brother and I then decided to quickly go to Bucheon to exchange something at Hyundai Department Store. Taking a bus to and from would mean over an hour of just travel (and mum didn't know we were going) so we took a cab. 

In fact, we were the first two people in the mall, as they were just opening the doors when we arrived. After doing what we had to do, we rushed home. I had a few more errands to run - go to the bank, pay a few bills and get the last bit of packing done. Thank God for my mother being there, who cleaned my cupboards for me. I had to clean the apartment before leaving.

The last hour. I started to become very tense. This was it. Packing up the last few items, I gave a final look around my (now bare) apartment. I'd spent three years of my life there. So many different emotions washed over me in that moment. I was happy to be leaving, because it felt like it was beginning to close up on me. On the other hand, I felt sad (of course I would) - the apartment became my little haven where I could escape everything and everyone. I traveled the world from my computer ... in my apartment.

I was also very grateful to my building manager, who helped with calling cabs and for helping with our luggage. Just as we arrived at the bus stop, I realized I forgot to give my building manager the chips for my apartment lock. So I had to rush back to the apartment and then back to the bus stop to catch the airport limousine.

This was really it. When the airport limousine arrived, we loaded our luggage - and made our way to Incheon airport. For the last time.

My apartment door