"home for 3 months" playlist

I like to make playlists for each period of my life, usually defined by a location or an extended event.  I created a new playlist for each semester of college and the summers in between academic years. I shared a Glasgow playlist, inspired by my semester there. I have new playlists for each trip: one named "europe // 2017", another "europe // 2018", and have already made one titled "S. K O R E A", ready to be filled with what's yet to come.

For the past 3 months, I've been in a strange in-between period, (graduated from college, post-Europe trip, working part-time in my hometown, jumping through so many hoops so I can actually LIVE abroad and not just slum it in hostels), so I needed a playlist to reflect that.

Also, it's taking me too long to figure out how to embed a nice looking playlist (I need to PACK for KOREA, OKAY?), so I'm just going to post a link and just list the songs. We make do.

mercury in retrospect

happier / marshmello & bastille

make it sweet / old dominion

bad at love / old dominion (cover...better than the original, imo)

joan of arc / little mix

going going gome / maddie poppe

born to love you / lanco

burning man / dierks bentley & brothers osborne

thank u, next / ariana grande

be my mistake / the 1975

forget you not / little mix

because the night / patti smith

the cure (stripped) / little mix

money / cardi b

sad bitch / dillatante

boys / lizzo

baby / bishop briggs

weekend / death team

high hopes / panic! at the disco

hope is a dangerous thing for a girl like me to have / lana del rey

back to life (80s remix) / hailee steinfeld & aris archontis

let's go / matt and kim

wasabi / little mix

here you come again / dolly parton

drip / cardi b & migos

almost (sweet music) / hozier

golden wings / gabriel garzon-montano

moderation / florence + the machine

modern art / summy

bloodline / ariana grande 

Wow, this really is a good playlist. I have great taste. 

Technically, I'm Moving to Korea

Technically, I'm moving to South Korea next week. I have my fancy E2 visa in my passport (allowing me to work legally hell yeah), my contract is signed, and my bags are 30% packed.

But emotionally and mentally, I'm not going anywhere.

Applying to teach English in Korea is a LONG process with a lot of waiting and maybes, so for the entire three months I've been home I prepared myself to be disappointed. With so many hoops to jump through and so many variables, I knew I should prepare myself for Plan B. I put off learning the Korean language past the alphabet, knowing that it would hurt to put in hours of study only to be told that I wouldn't end up needing it after all. I told all my friends and family "maybe" and "hopefully".

"You're going to Korea next month, right?" I'd hear at least 10 times a week.

"Hopefully!" I replied with a big smile. "If all of the paperwork works out!"

And because I didn't want to deal with the crushing blow of rejection, I wouldn't allow myself to feel excited.

But now the tickets are bought and last minute preparations are being made and I'm actually leaving. I'm flying to San Francisco on Thursday (Valentine's Day!) to visit my college roommate for a few days then flying directly to Seoul on the 17th. This is it, I'm going!

Yet for some reason, it still doesn't feel like I'm leaving. I'm still half expecting the carpet to be pulled out from under me any moment now. I won't believe it, believe the fact that I'm actually moving to the other side of the world for a whole year, until I'm on that flight to Seoul.