Episode 65: DFM Go Home

Well, all things must come to an end, and sadly today I had to fly back home to Canada.

My plane did not leave until 5:15 PM, which thankfully gave me some time to pack up all my things and clean my room.  

In hindsight, I should have done some cleaning the other four weeks I stayed at my place.  For the four weeks I have lived in my second gosiwon room, I do not think I cleaned up my floor once.  Now I have about ten cereal boxes and five empty milk jug containers scattered around the room, which is to say that I have a carpet made of cereal boxes and milk jugs.

When I originally came to Korea I had one carry on bag, and one suitcase that weighed in at 48 lbs.   When I had finished packing everything up for the flight home though, I had one carry on bag, another white garbage bag with all of my clothes in it which I would also carry on the plane, and one suitcase that weighed 75 lbs and cost me an extra $100 to load on the plane.

One last note should be made here about Korean efficiency.  I was in and out of security and immigration at the airport in well under five minutes.  I am definitely going to miss that when I got back home.

The plane ride back was quite pleasant (apart from the horrible movie selection) and quick too (I slept for most of it), but the domestic flights area of the Vancouver International Airport is nowhere near as nice as the international flights area I remember from my way too Korea.  

At the airport I had finally made it to the front of the line at the Customs area when I realized that I had forgotten all of my clothes on the plane in the overhead compartment.  I ran back to the plane only to find it was closed.  A woman there phoned someone who phoned someone else and a wild goose chase ensued for my clothes involving five different people.   Eventually my clothes came back to me, and I was able to continue on with my trip.  It must be said that airport staff in Canada are about 1000 times nicer than airport staff in any of the major American airports to which I've been.

When I finally got back to the Edmonton International Airport I was surprised by how normal everything felt.  I had listened to Canadians in Korea who told me they had felt culture shock coming home for the first time after staying in Korea for a while, but I guess two months is not long enough to completely lose your sense of home.

There were a few instances of minor culture shock in reverse though.  I had become so accustomed to reaching for money and everything else with "two hands" in Korea that I felt odd only using one hand again.  Also, every time I met a new person back home I wanted to say "반갑습니다", but had to  catch myself since the person would not have a clue what I was saying.

I wish I was still in Korea, but sadly this post concludes the most amazing two months of my life to date.  I would like to thank all of the wonderful people I met in Korea who appear in this blog (and any who don't), as well as all of my readers in Korea, Canada, or otherwise, who have been following along.  Keep reading The Kindergarten Cop for updates on my new website and any new adventures for DFM.