Goodbye Sweden, Hello South Africa... My SSS

I am packing.  Maybe for the last time.  Hopefully not, just the last time for the long-run.  We've been living abroad since November 2009 and I can now readily say I am looking forward to unpacking for a while in my own home.  Tonight is my last night in Sweden.  Today I took my last bus ride, yesterday my last tram ride.  My last Swedish Fica (a tradition I want to keep doing in SA) and... my last snowflakes (yes this afternoon, while sitting on the bus a couple of snowflakes gracefully said their goodbye's)!

The last two years has been exuberant, exhilarating, exhausting, exquisite, excellent, exceptional, extravagant and a experience!  An experience I would do over and over again and one I would never forget.  It would stay rooted in my mind and heart forever, forming part of who I am now.  I can never be complete, but it started to build my completion-blocks.   

The first S:

South Korea, you came as a shock, physically and mentally.  But I overcame my fears and in the process learned things about myself and did things I never imagined I was capable of doing. 
You taught me to be patient, to make sacrifices, to be more gentle on myself, to open my eyes to a new and interesting world that existed beyond the glorified walls of a conventional life.   I met the most amazing people;  was part of a expat group in Gyeongju who I will always be grateful to for welcoming us with open arms and showing us how the expat life really should be like.  I look back on you with a proud stillness in my heart.  I will always wonder about you, South Korea.  Wonder if the 90degree backbone of your stature grew to heavy, if your rice fields still wake in the morning fog, if your women in their traditional Hanboks still walk silently up the path to Bulguksa and Songron Grotto.  If your war with the North echos into the very hearts of your youth.  I will always taste your Kimchi on my tongue, missing and hating it at the same time.  I will long for Sangipsal and the gossip around the charcoal grills and ventilation pipes.  I shall miss you, even when I'm not thinking about you. Thank you for inviting me into your realms, sharing with me your beauty, grandeur and youth.  I will always be thankful.

Sweden.  I arrived in Sweden unsure of who You were.  But then I had to shed my skin.  That was your price.  I had to grow again.  To start anew.  You taught me to trust myself again, and others.  You taught me to open my heart to new friendships and let go of others.  You nurtured my spirit with your glory mornings and snowflakes.   You showed me to stand on my own two feet again and believe in what I believe again.  You abled me to see the world and made some of my wildest dreams come true. I will always be grateful to your kindred spirit and your, sometimes, harsh words (and winters).  You showed me nature in a way I've never seen.  You shared the language with me, even just for a little while.  Most importantly you showed me childish innocence and taught me to find mine again.  And the importance of holding on to the child within me.  I will always be grateful to the people who made us feel welcome in Sweden, right from the beginning straight to the end.  For the expats who shared my frustrations and disbelief sometimes, thank you.  For everyone at work, thank you for your kindness and friendship and amazing farewell.  I will always remember that.  The lessons I've learned in Sweden are priceless and forever rooted in my soul and for that I thank You.

Now I am going back to where it all started, South Africa (My first and last S).  There are still a lot to be learned, a lot to be discovered, a lot to experience.  I will never let go of the traveler in me, I can never set her free, for she will always be part of me and steer me on different and adventurous paths I would never have dreamed to go before I met her.  South Africa holds a dream for me that I have yet realised or accomplished.  I need to chase that dream now and find my roots again in My Beloved Country.