Well here I am sitting at the very seat and looking out at the very field, town and lough that I talked about in my last entry. The strangest thing about being home is how it feels as though I never actually left. It's almost an entire year since I was here and saw my family in person, but it feels like the most normal everyday occurrence in the world. Some things around the house have changed (the never-ending saga of home improvements) of course, but a whole year of highs and lows in Seoul don't hold as much sway in my mind than the 18+ years spent stumbling up here right now. I think no matter how settled you become somewhere else in the world, there's nowhere that can ever hold the influence over you the way home does. That is, if you're lucky enough to have been somewhere long enough to have been able to have called it home...
The flight was all very nondescript. Not much sleep, some young Korean sport's team being very loud and excitable the whole way to Germany, nearly having my duty free taken from me in Frankfurt because we're apparently not allowed to take any from Korea (I'd check that out if I were you and travelling soon), watching 'Inception' on the plane and not being blown away. My sister Charlene gave me a lovely surprise by coming to the airport in Dublin to meet me. That's twice in a row now (Catherine met me last time I went back to Korea) so I just might start expecting it! Then followed a late but sensible enough night out with Charlene, Lisa and Caomhain (I have given in) near Temple Bar. The DJ's second-last song of the night was this 'epic' that is expected to be the Christmas Number One here. Oh, the pride...:
I'd say that first night back in Dublin showed me the very best and the very worst of socialising in Ireland once again. All the good manners, courtesy, hello, excuse me, and generally being friendly and giving a crap about one another. On the other hand, we saw a fairly nasty scrap between a taxi driver and a lady of real 'class' in the wee hours on the way home. If only there could be a middle ground.
I only got back up home on Sunday night after a nice chilled out day with Charlene near Clontarf. I've been taking a few nice pictures that I'll get up on facebook (and a few here) after the holidays. I read an entire TIME on the bus back to Derry; the 'special timeframes issue' reviewing the key events from the past ten years, which was just brilliant. The strangest thing that struck me was how I generally forget how recent so many everyday things we take for granted actually are. Facebook and Youtube only came into existence in 2004 and 2005 respectively. It really makes you wonder what changes 2010-2020 will bring to our lives, and what we'll look back on and struggle to remember ever having happened.
The last couple of days have been quite chilled out. I've been going for massive long walks and enjoying the relatively mild weather we've been having and trying my best to stay offline and spend as much time as possible with Mum, Dad and Melissa. It's a bit frustrating because, like every other year, they have taken on a big job in the house in the mouth of Christmas so they're actually pretty busy most of the time. I just want them to drop everything and concentrate on me for the short time I'm home! How's that for honesty? My other sisters will be arriving home by Monday and that's when Ji will be here too so I guess that'll be when Christmas really starts. Shame that I'll be on a plane back to Korea just a few days later.
My plan for the next couple of days is to finish up my Christmas shopping (thank you duty free) and start catching up with as many friends and family members as possible. As I'll be in Dublin Saturday-Monday, I have precious little time home and I want to use it as wisely as I can. I have only really been chatting to Rob in any depth so far and he's not even home yet! Mind you, it was great chatting to him and I'm looking forward to catching up with both him and Hee Young on Christmas Day. I doubt many of us here in 2000 would ever have entertained the idea that there would be two Korean girls in the Craig household in 2010. I'm not sure how our neighbour, Willy, is going to cope with it at all!
The flight was all very nondescript. Not much sleep, some young Korean sport's team being very loud and excitable the whole way to Germany, nearly having my duty free taken from me in Frankfurt because we're apparently not allowed to take any from Korea (I'd check that out if I were you and travelling soon), watching 'Inception' on the plane and not being blown away. My sister Charlene gave me a lovely surprise by coming to the airport in Dublin to meet me. That's twice in a row now (Catherine met me last time I went back to Korea) so I just might start expecting it! Then followed a late but sensible enough night out with Charlene, Lisa and Caomhain (I have given in) near Temple Bar. The DJ's second-last song of the night was this 'epic' that is expected to be the Christmas Number One here. Oh, the pride...:
I'd say that first night back in Dublin showed me the very best and the very worst of socialising in Ireland once again. All the good manners, courtesy, hello, excuse me, and generally being friendly and giving a crap about one another. On the other hand, we saw a fairly nasty scrap between a taxi driver and a lady of real 'class' in the wee hours on the way home. If only there could be a middle ground.
I only got back up home on Sunday night after a nice chilled out day with Charlene near Clontarf. I've been taking a few nice pictures that I'll get up on facebook (and a few here) after the holidays. I read an entire TIME on the bus back to Derry; the 'special timeframes issue' reviewing the key events from the past ten years, which was just brilliant. The strangest thing that struck me was how I generally forget how recent so many everyday things we take for granted actually are. Facebook and Youtube only came into existence in 2004 and 2005 respectively. It really makes you wonder what changes 2010-2020 will bring to our lives, and what we'll look back on and struggle to remember ever having happened.
The last couple of days have been quite chilled out. I've been going for massive long walks and enjoying the relatively mild weather we've been having and trying my best to stay offline and spend as much time as possible with Mum, Dad and Melissa. It's a bit frustrating because, like every other year, they have taken on a big job in the house in the mouth of Christmas so they're actually pretty busy most of the time. I just want them to drop everything and concentrate on me for the short time I'm home! How's that for honesty? My other sisters will be arriving home by Monday and that's when Ji will be here too so I guess that'll be when Christmas really starts. Shame that I'll be on a plane back to Korea just a few days later.
My plan for the next couple of days is to finish up my Christmas shopping (thank you duty free) and start catching up with as many friends and family members as possible. As I'll be in Dublin Saturday-Monday, I have precious little time home and I want to use it as wisely as I can. I have only really been chatting to Rob in any depth so far and he's not even home yet! Mind you, it was great chatting to him and I'm looking forward to catching up with both him and Hee Young on Christmas Day. I doubt many of us here in 2000 would ever have entertained the idea that there would be two Korean girls in the Craig household in 2010. I'm not sure how our neighbour, Willy, is going to cope with it at all!
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