But anyways, after getting dropped off at the hostel I met up with a few people and we walked to get our last Korean ice cream at a convenience store. I got a fish shaped ice cream sandwich thing with red bean in it, it was so good (like all Korean ice cream, haha). But then we walked back and hung out for a little bit. Most of the supporters stayed the night at the hostel with us so we just talked and played games. We also had previously voted on superlatives and so the NSLIY superlatives were announced and they were really funny haha. We played a lot of Korean hand games and took selfies and basically spent as much time together as we could.
We got yelled at for disrupting other guests (I don't think individually we were disruptive, there is just a ton of us haha) and so they made us go back to our respective hostel rooms. It was like 2-3 o'clock in the morning by then and everyone just kind of went back with the people they wanted to- not many people stayed in their assigned rooms. We watched a little tv, talked some more, and then I set an alarm so we could take a nap and still have time to pack in te morning. At least I thought I set an alarm. Turns out it never went off and we all woke up ten minutes before we had to be downstairs and we panic packed and rushed to the first floor of the hostel. Then we got on the bus and they gave us sandwiches for breakfast haha. The supporters all came to the airport too, which was really nice. On the way there we got our last view if Seoul, and the sky was so pretty~
We didn't want to leave haha
When we got to the airport it took forever for us to get our luggage checked in, so we had to rush to security.
(Me with the class gangster)
The goodbyes with the supporters was so sad DX they were so fast, like all of the nsliy goodbyes. I had one of the best supporter groups, and definitely the best supporter (I'm obviously not biased haha) so it was a really sad goodbye. Going through security was awful haha, I was so cry-y from goodbyes and just leaving the country in general. Just thinking about my nsliy journey coming to a close was really hard. Six weeks ago It seems like I would be in Korea forever, but now that it was ending I saw how fast the time had gone by. I loved my life in Korea, and knowing that that part of my life was ending was sad, especially when it had seemed like it had just begun. Anyways, we practically ran through security and got on our plane with barely enough time to spare. The same thing happened in Detroit- we landed and had to run through the airport. A few students actually missed that flight! But we took plane selfies and all that jazz too haha
Then NYC. As soon as we got off our plane we split into two groups, depending on where everyone's outgoing flight was taking off from, and said like a less-than-five-minute goodbye. Of course I was crying. It was awful. Thankfully some of my close friends were in my group, but saying goodbye to them was the worst. I made some amazing friends on this trip. We spent every day together and just the experience of being in someplace totally foreign with someone else really brings you closer together. These were hands down some of the hardest goodbyes I ever had to say.
(Ps see my pants? Over half of the NSLIY kids wore their ajumma pants in the airport LOL! We got so many questions xD)
But after the goodbyes I was totally done. Then came the flight nightmare. So my flight from NYC was delayed so far that I would miss my flight from Atlanta to Jacksonville, and my flight from Jacksonville was the last flight from Atlanta for the night. Basically I was hoping that my Atlanta flight would be delayed or else I would be sleeping in the airport. When I landed in Atlanta there was own Jacksonville flight that was leaving in 20 minutes. It wasn't my flight but I ran to the terminal anyways to try and get a seat on it because I was just ready to get home and see my family. After talking to like five different people, I found one nice lady who finally figured out how to switch my flights. I got a window seat all the way in the back and I was so happy and stressed and feeling gross I almost started crying as my tickets were printing haha. But then I got home safe and reunited with my family and everything and it was great. Honestly though I think about Korea every day and I miss it so much. Korea really did change me. I learned a lot about myself but also just learned a lot in general. I will never ever forget my nsliy experience. We will never be all together again, which makes it so much worse. When I go back to Korea it won't be the same without you! I have so much to say about nsliy but it's so hard to express it in words, so I'll just leave here with a picture. From our first day in the hostel to our closing ceremony, the NSLIY journey was the best thing I have ever done! I love you NSLIY friends~
