Sofie to Korea

Summer has finally rolled around here in Korea, and in less than a month I’ll be jetting off to Denmark for a full five weeks of vacation before going back to Seoul for another year.

I can’t wait to go home for a while and see my family and friends again. I also won’t be complaining about escaping the stiffling heat of the Korean summer for short period.

With Denmark less than a month away, I didn’t really plan on traveling elsewhere in June, but out of the blue, my husband suggested to me last weekend that we go for a quick trip to Japan to celebrate when I’m done teaching this semester. In less than 24 hours, we had booked our flights and four nights at a hotel in Kyoto. We also plan on spending one day in near-by Osaka, and we just couldn’t be more excited.

We leave in precisely two weeks, so this is also a great reason for me to keep focusing on studying Japanese. I honestly really enjoy learning this language, and I keep getting surprised at the similarities it seems to have with Korean. Yay!

I absolutely love planning trips to new places, and I cannot help thinking about an article I once read in the New York Times. Anticipating a trip can often surpass the joy of actually going. It really is true. Not in the sense that the actual trip will be a disappointment, more in the sense that the anticipation will prolong the joy of the trip. Right now, I’m immersing myself in travel info and blogs about Kyoto and Osaka, practicing Japanese conversation, and learning about Japan’s history. It feels great and I’m so excited to finally being able to visit a country, which just like Korea has fascinated me for a long time. (Mom, I promise I won’t move to Japan after Korea. Don’t worry.)