Reflections and returning home

June 24, 2008.

Wow, it feels like the trip just started and already I am packing my suit case to go back home. I cannot believe I have spent 11 days in Spain; the trip is definitely one of the highlights of my life.

Thank you again to all of our supporters and staff for sending Youth4Water to Spain. Thank you God.

What has the trip meant to me? What has is meant to the group? And how did it change me? These are questions I am asking myself right now. The answer is I really don’t know.

But I can say for sure that the trip meant a lot to my group members and me because it elevated us to a new level by brining us closer to each other. We also learned a lot of new information and material that can really help us out. We can also bring this information back to our communities in Canada. For example, we learned about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and it turns out their website has tons of useful scientific information. We also learned about the Japan Agency for Marine – Earth Science and Technology (JAMTEC) their website also has very credible and useful information.

I realized in Spain how important our trips, workshops and activities have been. It all makes sense when looking back at it now. It was only after that I realized this and I think it will be after when I realize the real reasons of what the trip has meant to me. I am not talking about educating ourselves and what not about water, I mean what the trip has really meant to me, the group, our journey and to our lives. I don’t really like to talk about inner deep touchy emotional things, but by being truthful to myself I have to tell the truth.

Even though I am sad I am excited to be going back home. To tell you the truth I really miss home, there is no place like home. Being in Spain I also realize how unique and different Toronto is compared to other European cities. I know I am being very general considering Spain is the only European country or as a matter of fact the only country that I have been outside of Canada.

To tell you the truth I think Toronto is more unique than Barcelona, maybe I’m saying this because I am a Torontonian and a proud Korean Canadian. There is a song that I know that I think represents Toronto very well, excuse me if the lyrics are not correct but the song goes something like this:

We got the whole wide world in our hands, we got the whole wide WORLD in our hands, we got my brothers and my sisters in our hands, we got me and we got you in our hands, we got the whole world in our hands.

- Jae Kim