You know that feeling that you have after being away travelling for a long time? You feel like you can't wait to go home, to sleep in your own bed, to get back to your old routine. Now maybe its just that I love travelling or maybe its because American Samoa isn't exactly home for me but when it was time to end my recent trip to Cambodia and associated SE Asia, I didn't have that feeling. In fact, it was quite the opposite, I wanted to stay. Not stay and continue paying for hotels, meals and whathaveyou but stay in what I consider home. I remember reading an article about Third Culture Kids (TCK) and Third Culture Adults (TCA), a very unscientific term used to describe someone who identifies strongly with multiple cultures and countries. It was coined by a sociologist Ruth Hill Useem (thank you Wikipedia) and its something that I think more people identify with than you would think. When I was in Cambodia, everything was different but the same. There were new buildings, cafes, roads yet the old hangouts were still there, the people still the same and the culture still colorful and vibrant. It's decided, come 2014, I am going to be actively searching for a way to move back there and work.......permanently.
Anyways, I flew back from Phnom Penh on 7/10/13, the entire trip all the way back to Am Sam took me 42 hours. This was mainly due to the fact that I had a nice long 13 hour layover in Seoul which was awesome cause it meant I had an entire day to explore a place I've always wanted to go to. Little known fact, when my parents signed up to be missionaries with Maryknoll when I was a wee babe, they were given two options of where they would like to go; Cambodia or South Korea. Obviously we know where they chose but I had always wondered what it would've been like to have lived in South Korea. Would I speak the language? Would I be way more academic? Would I be way more comfortable in city settings than I am now? Seoul was incredible, unfortunately it was raining the entire day so my backpack and I were drenched, even with our respective rain covers in full utilization mode. Went to see some temples, some of the markets and spent a lot of time in different noodle shops sampling local fare. Got to meet up for dinner with my old classmate Jaehyun who is studying to be a Vet and he took me to this amazing restaurant that was just swimming with character and good eats. As I was walking around looking like a total and complete tourist with my big ass backpack and my foldable tourist map of the city, looking for this street market, a very nice Korean came up to me and asked me where I was going, and happily walked 15 mins out of their way to show me where it was.....such a nice guy. I wonder if that happens much in the US, I think we are all so preoccupied with our lives we forget to be nice to tourists, but then again, I have never lived anywhere in the US where there are a lot of foreign tourists. I was also at this temple where I got ambushed by a bunch of teenage Korean girls who asked me to tell them my name, proceeded to write it down in Korean, and then asked me to copy what they had written, I did, they took a picture with me and headed out. I am surmising that this was some sort of school project or scavenger hunt to try and get the students to use their English with tourists, but it totally took me for a loop.
Now, 5 countries later and 10 new stamps in the passport, I am back in AmSam, and while its nice to settle back into a routine, this island is getting smaller and smaller every time I come back. Its the beginning of winter here (any by winter I mean windy and hot as opposed to just hot), which means there is the annual exodus off the rock. There are so many goodbye parties that I am beginning to be a little sick of them all. I begin to feel bad for thinking "just leave already, so I can stop getting all these e-mails about goodbye parties I feel obligated to attend." I've had 2 since I've been back and have another one tonight......uggg. When I leave, there will be no party, just dinner with my close friends.
Work is the same, although a little slower since we are done with application season. Now I can focus on implementation which is something I need to get better at at work. I hopefully will also be going to the Big Island of Hawaii in September for a training, that is if I can convince my State office that it is cheaper as well as better use of manpower to send me there rather than Oahu. I like Honolulu but I've been there several times now and would like to go see a different island.
Next week we have our camp. I am nervous it is going to be an utter disaster but, I've learned that Samoans have a way of making the most out of anything so if they bring half of the enthusiasm they brought to the last camp, it will be a smashing success. That being said, they all just got done with the camp in the outer Manu'a islands so they might be a little tired which means I will have to step up my game a little bit to compensate.
Alright, signing off, its Saturday and its the first sunny day in 5 days here so i'm gonna go snorkeling........I know all my complaining seems kinda ridiculous now eh?
Peace.
Check out this link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/31-signs-youre-a-third-culture-kid
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