Final Post!

I realize I will look back on this year and always wish I could go back to it. I will probably never remember anything negative or annoying that happened during this year, because all of the new adventures had, new things learned, new friends made will take over the memory section of my brain. I am ending the blog with this post because I feel that any blog posts for 2010 will not begin to rival 2009. (I do think I have a bright future, yes, but I'm just sayin' being in Saint Louis for a year stuck in studio, working on Design Thinking & Degree Project, is not quite as exciting as traveling to Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, California, Mexico, Korea, and China in a single year!)

My main reflection of the year is that I have learned more than I ever could imagine, not just about architecture. I think I came into my abroad experiences with an open mind, with very little expectations. This benefited me in so many ways because I could really take in the culture around me. I have learned that paying attention to things I don't understand or don't agree with is still very important to experiencing new people and places.

Overall, my experience in Finland and in Korea were very different. I can't choose to like one more than the other. I have to say, though, Asia is one of the most amazing places in the world to me. It is so humbling to be in a culture very different from my own and I appreciate so much of Korean life. It is so eye-opening talking to new friends/professors and seeing how different perspectives can be in the same seemingly small world.

So, to finish the blog out, this life of traveling is priceless, but home is something I miss. And I don't mean Memphis, or Denver, or Saint Louis, I just mean an apartment with my stuff - my pillow-top bed, my grandmother's green chair I have made my own, my Cuisinart pot, my cat meowing for me to wake up and play with her when I have been sleeping for longer than 4 hours, a street I can get to know for longer than 4 months, a coffee shop on that street where I can spend too much money on lattes, an address I can give my Mom so she can send letters (and money) to for an entire year, a closet of more than 8 outfits, a place I can drive from to see my best friends instead of being oceans and hours apart, among other things. I am sooo blessed in my life to experience both - a life abroad and then to return to a life at home, wherever that may be, however it may change over the next few years.

Thank you especially to my parents and best friends (you know who you are). I would not have this opportunity if it was not for the people who support me. Thanks to my roommates, too. I can't tell you how much the relationships with you have meant to me and will always remain in my heart. :) Sorry for being cheesy, had to do it. Cassie & I - Helsinki roommates w/ James . . . who is pictured below James, Willie, me, Nick, Andy in Seoul sporting our Yonsei sweatshirts!

Thanks for following my blog this year and for being so supportive of me. Maybe I'll see you on a new blog. :)