Good-bye, T

Friends. Such pack animals, aren’t we? For I’m not sure I could go through my life without them. Somehow, in this strange, foreign land, I’ve found some of the best friends of my life, and this is one of them, T. One of the curses of living here (as a foreigner) is that one is constantly saying good-bye. It’s rare to find foreigners who stay more than 2-3 years before moving on, which is precisely what T is doing. We’ve been in Korea exactly the same amount of time, having landed, he from LA, me from NB, in Incheon together in 2007. Since we lived in the same complex, our favourite pastime was drinking wine and having long conversations about just about everything under the Asian sun. This year we didn’t see much of each other since I moved to the boondocks of eastern Seoul (and Incheon is Seoul’s western sister). But that didn’t matter. Each time we did get to hang out, it was as if we’d never been apart. Kind of a time-warp.

It was fitting that T’s last night in Seoul was celebrated on Valentine’s Day. Beyond all the silly pink hearts and candies and flowers, it’s a day to celebrate love. Love is the reason for everything good that exists on this little blue planet. The love of my friends is one of best things about my life! They are pretty much the reason I love life so much. Who needs a better reason to party than to celebrate a brilliant friend, a wonderful two years, and the start of a new (this time Japanese) adventure? So, celebrate we did! It was a fabulous (and very long!) night and one of the best good-byes I’ve ever said. But hand in hand with the happiness and joyfulness was, of course, the sadness. I don’t cry often, but last night was an exception, and I guess that says how much I think of T. Of course we will always be excellent friends, but I find it hard to imagine T not in Incheon, not running into him randomly in Seoul, not being able to meet when we want. It’s sad. However, Japan is not far, so I’m sure you’ll be reading a post about a weekend in Tokyo in the not-too-distant future.

Good-bye T, I love you. I’m so happy fate threw us together for this short time. The Land of the Rising Sun awaits.