What is something difficult that you had to learn?
Over the last 10 years it seems like there are a lot of things I've had to learn the hard way, but one that comes to mind is realizing how important friendships are. More importantly, cherishing the friendships I've made over the years, even if it means sacrificing other things, like time, money and work. Even though I grew up in a large family (I'm one of 10 kids), I usually kept to myself, and occasionally met some friends from my small hometown. It wasn't until I left home at 19 and joined the Air Force that I started branching out. After 2 years of work in California, I got stationed in Osan, Korea. Compared to my childhood and first 2 years in the Air Force, life seemed to move much faster in Korea.
I realized the importance of making friends quickly and keeping up those relationships when I had a high turnover of friends because I was in the US military. US military members often change duty stations (every year or two). I saw many of my American friends come to and go from Korea, and eventually I had to leave my Korean and American friends behind here too. Even though I wasn't able to maintain face-to-face relationships very long I started to contact them through Facebook and other SNS. Some of my early Korean friendships have lasted over 8 years. Despite the fact that I kept going back and forth between Korea and America I cherished the short time that I was able to spend with my friends here, on leave or around holidays. At the time I didn't know when I would be able to see them again since I was halfway across the world most of the time. Now I'm glad that I kept up with them and am able to see them more often since I live in Seoul.
What always makes you nostalgic?
When I came to Korea for the first time one of the things I remember was going to see the lantern festival near 청계천(Cheongaecheon River) and eating 단팥빵(red bean paste bread). The weather was getting cold as fall weather was setting in, so I stopped at one of the carts to get something that was warm. Not only was the bread inexpensive, but it was a good snack for a cold day. Now, when the weather gets cold I always long for some good red bean paste bread. A couple weeks ago (in mid-November) I had the opportunity to go to PNB (a famous bread company) in Jeollabukdo Jeonju City. The weather wasn't as cold as Seoul's, but it was beginning to cool down. While enjoying the fall foliage, I stopped by to visit because one of my friends recommended the bread store, since it has some types of bread that you can't buy in Seoul. Even though they had many new tasty breads, I made sure to get some 단팥빵too!
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