Informing Friends and Family

Telling everyone you're dropping all of your classes for the next semester and getting a one-way ticket to the other side of the world isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. What do you say? "You have four months left to see me ever" doesn't really cut it. But, it's been surprisingly simple thus far.

Roommate: I made th decision while talking to my roommate, so she saw my thought process and I didn't need to plan telling her. She's surprised, a little sad, and pretty excited. She's actually Korean, and there's a good chance I'll live with her parents when I get there. So, whenever she visits home, I'll see her; and, if she moves back there when she graduates, we'll be neighbors. No matter what, I know we'll be lifelong friends.

Friends: I wrote a post on my much-neglected Livejournal, which is automatically imported to Facebook. Isn't technology great? Then I changed my Facebook status to "Kristin just decided to change her life completely by moving to Korea in March." So, I got a lot of Facebook replies and a few friends called me to talk about it. So, that was easy.

Brother: I called him. He's supportive and excited. I was never worried that he would disapprove. Also, he was there when I started thinking about it and said it would be really amazing if I went through with it.

Parents: Because it's a time-sensitive matter and I'm always busy except when they're asleep, I sent me parents emails explaining my thought process and my decision and the plans I already have. Then I called my mom yesterday to talk about it. As expected, she's not happy about it and never will be, but she doesn't think it's a bad idea. I'll go home to the Detroit area next weekend, after my final exams. Then I'll talk to both of my parents (they're divorced, so everything involving my parents always comes in pairs).

Extended family: I'll let my parents handle that. I've never really been close to my family. Plus, some of them have Facebook so they've already seen all about it.