I've returned

Dear friends,

I'm back in Korea, and I am safe, sound, and sad. I have never felt so at home in a place as I did in Tibet; it was quite difficult for me to leave Lhasa (capital city where we spent most of our time) on Sunday morning. We climbed on a bus and as we passed the Potala Palace (former residence of the Dalai Lama) one last time, I could not help but cry. Then we passed the Norbulingka (Dalai Lama's summer home), and off into the gorgeous countryside we drove, one last time. I could only comfort myself by telling myself that I'd be back as soon as I was able. The Chinese guy beside me kept asking me in Chinese what was wrong. It was kind of funny. I swear, between living in Korea and traveling in Asia, I am going to be a charades star when I get home!

So, I have over 500 pictures. Who's ready for a year of Tibet posts? *wink wink* Just kidding. Sort of. I feel the Tibetan people need their stories shared, and guess what, you get to be the recipients. I just got back yesterday though, and my mind is still a mess from trying to absorb everything I've experienced and trying to figure out just how I am going to convey my messages and pictures to you. Not only that, but recently there were protests about freeing Tibet in China by some Canadians, and one girl actually got arrested in Beijing just for having a blog about freeing Tibet! Free speech is a novel concept in some places, something that I didn't really understand fully before traveling. I am so full of anger at the injustices I've seen, and I want to tell you all about them, but at the same time, I want to be able to travel in China and Tibet again, and truly I would be inconsolable if I was not able to return to Tibet, so I may just have to leave out some of the most important details, and maybe when I get home I'll give you all a presentation or something.

Well that's all for now. I still have to think about how I'm going to do this, but I will try to put up a post every few days for the next little bit. I hope you will understand by the end of it why I've completely fallen in love with the Tibetan people and their country.