I am at a crossroads in my life. Here I am, a 23 year old single, American woman living in South Korea, and this is what I've discovered.

Recently I had lunch and coffee with my co-teacher. Whenever I talk with her, I always find myself feeling like my life is too... "goody two shoes." I've never really lived. She's always telling me stories of her life. Her family, the people she's loved, the people who have loved her...

and I'm left feeling... shallow. Why is this? What does she have that I don't?

I think the answer is pain. She's known poverty, depravity, confinment, sickness and loss. She has so much love, so much hope in other people and she's been disappointed. She's had a lot of pain, a lot of hardships in her life and, she's come out stronger on the other end.

Now, I know this isn't uncommon. Many people have experienced these things... even people I'm related to... even I have experienced these things to a certain degree...but for some reason, her stories always strike me. Her journey's are always interesting to me and her pain is always so real to me. Why?

I think it's because I see in her a restlessness that I feel in myself. She is so restless, so... caged. And, in her I see the same determination and fragility that dwells within me. I more than see it; I feel it.

Up until now, I've really thought that it was so strange that I would connect so well with a 46 year old Korean woman. But, people are the same... we are the same. I think the only difference is, I have hope in my life; I have the answer. She's still searching for the solution and, I think that's why it's so frightening to me to see how similar we are despite my having the solution...

We are the same.