"Korea" Part 2: Fighting

"Grandma, I'm going to Korea."

I'm never going to forget the day I told my grandmother I booked a flight to Korea. I will also never forget when I thought my grandmother was right about not being a good idea to travel by myself.

During my first Korea trip, I fell ill. I was vomitting, waking up with a bloody nose, and just in general my body didn't cooperate. I've been to Canada and Mexico, but I've never been out of the North American continent until that time. I also never went out of the country by myself. Sure, I flew to other states and to Southern California on my own, but never to some completely foreign place.

Was grandma right?

I was bedridden, crying and felt like my heart was being ripped out of me. I was really depressed. Despite the fact I was absolutely sick, the thing killing me the most was...loneliness. Were things turning for the worst? "Jasmine: 22 years old, died from vomitting and nosebleeding whn she went overseas. Oh and was lonely." Was that going to be my fate? Was I going to continue being lonely since everyone else that I knew at the time was busy? Was I going to keep complaining that my original plans had to be scrapped?

Nope, I refused to let that slide.

I refused to let myself get thrown aside and let myself mope around the entire trip. I had to stop being scared. I had to stop letting myself be comfortable and lazy. I decided to try befriending my guesthouse roommates and socialize more. I ended up opening up my borders and exploring more.

If it wasn't for this trip, I wouldn't have been more adventurous. If it wasn't for Korea, I wouldn't be as curious to travel and make new friends. I met many people with different stories on why they came to the country. Some came to study. Some came to work. And some...well, came for love.

When some people ask me "Why did you go to Korea?" I came to accept that I'll be saying:

"I went to see a guy."