Finally, August is here! For other people, maybe August is just a normal month of the year. But for me and other KGSP recipients, August is an exciting yet nervous month. You know why? Because we are going to leave our home countries to start a new life journey in a wonderland called “South Korea 🇰🇷”. 😊

It is 3 weeks from now until the departure date. I am supposed to leave for Korea on August 22nd. I am still not sure about the exact date since I haven’t received my flight ticket yet. Hopefully, I will get it within this week (that’s what NIIED coordinator said in the email). I will start packing my stuff right after I get a flight ticket.

I resigned from my workplace last week so I am now taking a rest and do personal stuff at home. This is the first time in 4 years that I am unemployed. I actually feel so good about that. I don’t have to worry or stress out about work tasks. Sometimes, it is a good idea to get away from the normal daily routine and live freely for a while. Sometimes, it is good to have “Me Time” which means a moment that you absolutely be yourself.

Staying at home for 3 weeks might sound so boring to some people but it is literally not enough for me. I am an introvert so I like to lock myself in a room and do my stuff quietly. Yet, I have never had enough time to do that. So now I am so excited for this moment. I can spend more time on writing, do a reflection on what I have done in my life so far, plan ahead of what I should do next, and think of what do I really want in life. It seems like I have lots of things to do just in 3 weeks and let alone packing my stuff.

After these 3 weeks, it is gonna be a time for me to start a new life adventure. I will switch myself from a locked-room-girl to an explore-travel-adventure girl. This is the moment I have been waiting for since I was young. Sometimes, I get so scared because I don’t know if I am good enough to do all those things (alone). I have only been dreaming about it but soon, I will be able to do it for real. This is not a dream anymore!

I have always wanted to live independently apart from my family but when the time comes, I have started to feel scared. I know that I am going to miss them a lot. I am going to miss my mom’s cooks, my dad’s advice, and my younger brother’s jokes. Apart from that, I am going to miss Khmer foods a lot especially street foods since I am a street-foods lover. So I decided to spend these 3 weeks on the things that I am going to miss. Another thing is I have started to realize how much everyone means to me (my family, my relatives, my friends, and everyone).

Well… This is the feeling of a girl who is going to spread her wings and fly away to explore the world for the first time! I bet everyone felt like that too when they first started their life adventure.

Starting from late-August onward, my life will be changed. There are so many incredible adventures for me to experience… I am way more than ready for that!

South Korea, here I go… See you real soon! 😉✌️