Bah

Prior to this whole Korea experience, the longest I'd ever been away from my friends and family was for a month. A month, at the time, felt long... but it wasn't too bad. I've always been proud of my ability to stay strong in whichever country or setting I was in and not give up or cave in and want to go home. I'm also very proud of myself for doing that now...

Now that I've been to Korea, those month long trips in the past seem like no time at all. I'm not going to lie... I've been counting down the days to coming home. I've numbered the amount of days I have left... the number of weekends I have left... the number of working days, workouts... and on the elevator ride up to my apartment this morning, I even figured how many more inches my hair could grow before I came home. Everything is being timed... calculated.. counted down. Not that I'm hating it here, but really, I just haven't had the chance to meet anybody that I know will be a friend of mine after I leave. I haven't really developed any close bonds with anybody and I'm pretty sure that after I'm gone, nobody will notice. It sounds so sad and emotional... but it's the truth. Dawna and I have always figured that if most people don't care about us while we're here... why will they care once we're gone? It's definitely difficult at times getting by without having close friends around us. We're lucky to have one another and we're lucky that we keep each other entertained... otherwise we'd go nuts. Oh, and the pups help a lot too.

What am I missing really badly right now? My closest friends at home. I had a dream last night that Bryson had picked Dawna and I up from the airport and we were in his car driving back to Waterloo. It was such a relief to know that we were back home with our friends... that the day we were counting down to had finally come and that I was in the company of a really good friend of mine. It's been a really long time since I sat down with a friend and just talked about meaningful things... or meaningless things... or whatever. I really miss that... and although we're about 80% done our contracts (78.6% to be exact... calculated that earlier today too) and we barely have 77 days left, I still feel like there's an eternity to be spent here. The time difference is also tough as I can hardly catch my friends online or give them a call at a time that would be convenient for both of us.

I apologize for the depressing rant... and I know how I am: I'm feeling like this right now but by tomorrow, I'll bounce back and feel better. It's how the rollercoaster of being away from home has been. Basically... long story short... I just really miss my good friends. A lot.

- Gilad