One thing about living abroad is that you are constantly saying goodbye to people. Your environment is only temporary and therefore at one point, you will say goodbye or 'see you later' to everyone you meet...whether they leave you or you leave them. It's part of the deal. Sure when you're living in one place for a long time you have the occasional friend that moves away. But when living abroad for a one year period, there is a lot of peace-ing out.
On one end of the spectrum, it's really awesome. You meet infinitely many people from other countries, cultures, backgrounds, religions, philosophies, etc. Each new person that you meet can only provide you with a new perspective of which you've never had before. Sometimes you meet a person, say two words to them, and then never see them again. Sometimes no words are spoken at all yet you find yourself watching/observing this new person from said culture/background and learning so much from just watching. And then there's the times when you just really connect with someone. You can't believe, you are half way across the world, and you are fortunate enough to have come across a really cool person. I've been lucky enough to have this happen to me. And, I've already said 'hasta luego' to two of them.
The serendipitous way in which I met my friend John on the subway in Busan when I was running away from a crazy man blows my mind. His contract is up and now he's traveling in Malaysia. See ya later hopefully.
Then there's Matt, one of my ex-coteachers --who at first introduction I thought was pretty unfriendly. Later I come to find out we had so much in common and could just talk for hours about music, life, philosophy, etc. We made some pretty mean fajitas together. :) Now he's back in the good ol US of A.
Who will be next? Who will I meet next that benefits my life and I can only hope to do the same? And to whom will I next say goodbye? Only time will tell.
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