Hard not to miss a place like this.
I love where I am and what I’m doing. I love being in Korea. I love the bustle. I love the hustle. Everything about this place screams at me to stay.
And I will.
Even with all that, it will never be Newfoundland. I used to dream about leaving when I was young. I always felt maligned by the fact I was born in such a place. I hated it, even. Wanted to lie about it.
Until leaving.
There is really something about it. When I went back last summer I remember sitting on this beach and just looking at the water. I don’t know why, I had been on this beach thousands of times since childhood.
Easy to take such things for granted.
Living abroad, people always ask me where I’m from. I never say Canada. Of course, I’m Canadian, but I don’t necessarily feel Canadian. I don’t know what distinguishes me as one. I never start a sentence with, “well in Canada we…”
I do often start them with,
“In Newfoundland we..”
It took me a long time to figure this out, but as much as I’m certainly a Canadian by law,
I’m a Newfoundlander by rite.
I love this place š
jtinseoul 
Amazing pictures!!
Thank you, Cat.
I understand what you are saying. I don’t think of myself as a Canadian but a member of this planet we live on. I try to relate to and enjoy the company of the people around me. I just happen to have been born in Canada so I carry a Canadian passport. It is also because of these sercomstances the best place for me to live. I also love the sea. As impressive as Lake Ontario can be it just doesn’t compare to the blue of the ocean and the salt in the air.
So, so, so perfect!
Thanks!
Great insight. I love the feel of this, it makes me miss Korea. The language, the food, the culture~ ah~
Haha, when were you here?
Just this last summer. I was studying in Suwon at Ajou University. It was so amazing š I hope to find myself there again someday.
That’s crazy I lived next to Ajou for all of last year, ha. Small world.
Very. Haha! What a coincidence. Happy to have been in Korea with you! Kind of.
One can choose and love a new place, make it one’s own, want it, need it. That’s like the partner that we join in our journey.
But down deep inside we all have a root, unmistakable. It’s where you grew up (not a country, but a place; not Canada, but Newfoundland: for me, not Italy, but Piedmont). You never chose it, but it made you. Like your parents, you can never leave them in your heart even if you live an ocean away.
Great post, JT
Yeah Giovanni, you’ve said it better than I.