My surgery date had come and gone a lot sooner than I expected. It went well, nothing overly complicated. my thumb should be healed fully in 8 weeks, however, they emphasized no writing, no kungfu, and basically no using my thumb to do anything. The surgery wasbreaking my thumb fully, then reconstructing it. Due to the large amount of tiny bones that needed to fuse together, a slight push too ahrd could throw off some of the pieces, permanently damaging my thumb (unless I wanted yet another surgery). So for the next 8 weeks, I just watched lots of dramas, went to classes, finished the Korean lessons online, and learned how to use my left hand for most things. Writing, however, is still very much a disaster. Luckily all of my professors understood my circumstance and allowed me to come after class to take any written tests, which would be aided by the TA or a former student, who would be the scribe for me.

   After the 8th week, I returned to the doctor and got my cast taken off. She examined my thumb with a few more x-rays, and congratulated me on healing well. I felt so proud of myself for not screwing anything up during that long period.

   "So, as you've told us, you will be going to South Korea for a few months. During that time, should anything happen, we've already connected with a doctor in the outskirts of Seoul. He will be there in case you have any problems or reinjure your thumb. Or if you get hurt some other way. Let's just hope none of those happen so you can fully enjoy being over there. I hope you have a safe trip Ms. Crissen." My doctor sends me off with my brand new thumb. Because the cast went to the middle of my arm, I haven't moved my wrist in 8 weeks, making it really weak and difficult to use. Because I didn't want to get injured in a car accident, I am very thankful I brought my mom to drive me home.

   In two days, I will be leaving for Korea, so I start packing and finishing up any laundry that needs to be done.

   "Do you need any help? Is your thumb still feeling okay?" My sister comes into my room, eating a popsicle.

   "I'm good for now. Packing for two months will be hard no matter what. Actually, could you just run to the laundry room and get anything that's in the drier? I want to finish packing tonight so I can spend tomorrow with my friends. And yeah, my thumb is perfectly okay." I give her a giant thumbs up, proudly showing off the small scar on the side of my thumb, showing where they cut it open, where the stitches were, and also, ironically, where the original fracture was. She just finished her popsicle, throwing the stick away in my trashcan, and runs to the laundry room. She comes back a few minutes later with a giant wad of clothes in her arms. I quickly take them from her and thank her before she leavesmy room again.

   "Alrighty now, what to wear to ASC?" I say to myself before diving in to rummage through my clothes.

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   Everyone sends me off, including my closest friends. No one is crying (yet) because we know we'll see each other in a few months. We say our final goodbyes, give some long lasting hugs, and I head to the security line, ID, ticket, and passport all in hand. I wave to them before turning around to walk through. I'm not scared at all. I've flown before, granted never internationally. But I know I'll have a blast in Korea. I know where I'm staying, I know the language, I have plenty of money. I'm feeling confident in this trip. It will be weird being in foreign country all by myself, But I know it will be worth the moderate lonliness.

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   "Welcome to Seoul South Korea!" Is the first thing I see walking off the airplane and into the airport. The plane landed in Incheon Airport. It was unblievably massive! I was amazed by how expansive it was. It took at least 10 minutes to walk to the baggage pickup area. As I waited for my cab to arrive, i checked my phone to see the date and time. It was the 15th, making it about two days ahead of when I was still back home. But the time was about 10 p.m, so I was going to have to explore Seoul tomorrow when I wake up (if I wake up tomorrow). I could start to feel the jetlag punch me in the head, so I was praying that the cab would arrive soon. 

   It came about 5 minutes after I called, and quickly got me to my hotel. I stared outside the window of the cab the whole way until we arrived. I knew what was around it in case I got lost, I knew what the hotel was called, I was prepared in case I got lost.

   I grabbed my suitcases, put them on a trolley, did the usual hotel duties, and took them to my room. I didn't bother unloading my suitcases to find pajamas. I messaged my family on Facebook to let them know I got to Seoul safely, and that I would be sleeping for an undetermined amount of time, so I would contact them when I woke up. Due to the time difference, it would be difficult to talk to them frequently, but we would do our best to contact each other every other day to make sure we were still okay and hear what's happened.

   I find my bed, which is unreasonably massive for being a single person, and quickly curl into the blankets to catch up on two days of lost sleep.

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Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far! Sorry for the extreme lack of Exo. I promise they WILL be appearing in it more! Also, sorry for any typos or grammatical errors in these stories. Nothing is written out beforehand and I'm too lazy to reread everything before posting it, so if there are any things that you can't understand what I was trying to say, just tell me the chapter and what the word is and I will do my best to correct it!