One week to go

My boss finally confirmed my flight times with me. I will be leaving Korea on 19th April at 2 in the afternoon. Arriving back in the UK at 10pm on the same day. Weirdly enough, it is the same flight that I caught home when I last tried to leave here- wonder if they still have the walkman that I left in the overhead locker.

Of course, I am in a state of upheaval at the moment, both physically and mentally but the state that best sums up my feelings right now is one of disbelief. Can't believe that I have been in Korea for three years, really can't believe that I won't be here anymore. I am excited to see my family and friends back in the UK but can't help worrying that seven years out of the country will have seen their numbers somewhat depleted. I am also worried that I am going to be so homesick for Korea as to cast a shadow over the joy of being home.

I am a worrier. Everyone who knows me know that. I worry that I won't like chips as much I think I do. Worry that I am going to be so busy trying to shift some of this beer and dak galbi weight that I am not going to enjoy all the Cadburys chocolate. Worried that I won't find my mum's house as she has moved while I have been away- as a back up, I do have the keys to her old house and am sure that the new owners wouldn't mind if I turned up on their doorstep. Worried that England will have changed or that I will have changed so much that we won't understand each other.

Don't know how I am going to talk to kids that speak English as their first language, that take a bit more amusing than just seeing a foreign face. Don't know how I am going to get served in the bars if I can't just stick my hand up in the air and yell 'yogi-yo', worried that when I do get the bartender's attention I will just speak Korean to them- as I did in London two years ago. Nervous about freaking my mates out by bowing to them.

Slightly concerned that I might have lost some of my street savvy after being in a country where it is reasonably safe for a girl to walk home alone at any time of the day or night. Reasonably. Don't know how I am going to get around without the hundreds of taxis always trawling the streets looking for customers, the way that they do in Korea. Little scared that I might not want to leave England once I am back there- I have seen it happen to mates!

And last but not least, don't know how I am going to fit the last two year's worth of stuff into my suitcase within the 27kgs luggage allowance.

It will be a challenge- all of it.